Monster I’d Like to Fight: Slag Spitter

Slag spitters are quadrupedal Elementals with a rocky exterior, sharp claws, and a wide maw with the faint orange glow of red hot magma from its belly. They eat stone, rock, ore, and metal that they find in their surrounding environment which is eventually reflected in their skin’s appearance. Often the first sign of a slag spitter is a hardened pool of liquid metal; a byproduct of their digestion.

Pet Rocks. The first slag spitter was created on accident by a young wizard attempting to make pet rocks to sell to children. He used rocks gathered from a nearby mine and infused them with fire so they would gently glow when touched. One of the rocks was part of a defeated earth elemental and once infused, created a slag spitter. While trying to destroy it, the slag spitter multiplied, eventually destroying the wizard’s laboratory and escaping.

Dwarven Forges. Master dwarven blacksmiths value the heated belly of a slag spitter in the creation of new forges and consider it a blessing. A small warband led by a master blacksmith will capture a slag spitter and bring it to the site of the new forge where it is ritually sacrificed and its fresh remains are incorporated into the forge.

Slag Grenade. As part of a long rest, if you have proficiency with tinker’s tools, you can use your tools, slag spitter remains and 100 gp in additional materials to create a slag grenade. As an action, you can throw the grenade at a point you can see within 60 feet of you and it explodes. Each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on that point must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The area is covered in hot slag for 1 minute. A creature takes 1d6 fire damage when it enters the area for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.

Slag Spitter Offspring

When a slag spitter takes enough damage, it spawns a slag spitter offspring in a nearby unoccupied space. Use the slag spitter statistics with the following changes:

Hit Points 8 (1d10 + 3)
Senses blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), tremorsense 60 ft.
Slag Spitter Spawn trait is removed.
Claw attack and Spit Slag are removed.

Slag Spitter

Large Elemental, Typically Neutral

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 85 (10d10 + 30)

Speed 30 ft., burrow 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	8 (-1)	16 (+3)	5 (-3)	10 (+0)	5 (-3)

Saving Throws Con+5

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities fire, poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious

Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), tremorsense 120 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages —

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

Slag Spitter Spawn. If the slag splitter lost 20 or more hit points since its last turn, it creates a slag spitter offspring in the nearest unoccupied space. The offspring shares the same initiative as the slag spitter but takes its turn immediately after the slag spitter.

Actions

Multiattack. The slag spitter makes one Bite attack and two Claw attacks.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) slashing damage.

Spit Slag (Recharge 5–6). The slag spitter launches a blob of molten slag at a point it can see within 60 feet of it. Each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on that point must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The area is covered in hot slag for 1 minute. A creature takes 3 (1d6) fire damage when it enters the area for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.