Inkblots

From: The Shifting Enigma

Splotches of animated ink that dart along the walls and floors, occasionally coalescing into mischievous, biting tendrils. They respond to direct attacks with splatters that obscure vision or momentarily bind attackers.

Expanded Lore of the Inkblots: The Inkblots are not true creatures, but animate fragments of the gnome tinkerer’s fractured creativity. The arcane inks with which he experimented gained a form of sentience warped by the chaos consuming his mind. They retain a rudimentary memory of his whimsy and love for mischief, but without the context of moral guidance.

• Purpose: Inkblots exist to act out the fragmented impulses of the dungeon’s master. Sometimes they act as simple guardians, other times as pranksters leading explorers off track. Occasionally, they coalesce into more complex shapes, mimicking simple tools or creatures from the gnome’s memories.
• Nature: Their nature is akin to animated constructs, driven by echoes of the gnome’s will rather than self-preservation. They “disintegrate” back into formless puddles of ink when dealt sufficient damage.
• The Whisper Connection: Inkblots occasionally appear to form crude letters or symbols along the walls. Adventurers might discover hints on how to bypass obstacles or solve puzzles from these scrawls, as if the gnome is unwittingly trying to help from the depths of his broken mind.

Inkblots: Tier One Stats

• Size: Tiny (a single splotch might be mere inches across, larger forms up to the size of a housecat)
• HP: 4-6
• Armor Class: 12 (naturally slippery)
• Speed: 30 ft. (climb 30 ft.)
• Abilities: STR 6 (-2), DEX 14 (+2), CON 10 (+0), INT 2 (-4), WIS 5 (-3), CHA 4 (-3)
• Skills: Stealth +4
• Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning
• Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Exhausted, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Unconscious
• Senses: Blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius)
• Challenge Rating: 1/8

Strategy:

• Inkblots are not primarily meant for head-on combat but serve as obstacles and distractions.
• They swarm targets, clinging and hindering movement.
• Their attacks are more disruptive than damaging.

Attacks: Ink Splatter (Recharge 5-6): Ranged attack: +4 to hit, range 10ft., one target. Hit: target’s vision is obscured until the end of its next turn (as per Blindness), and its movement speed is halved.

Vulnerabilities:

• Fire: Inkblots take double damage from fire attacks.
• Area of Effect: A single well-placed area spell can wipe out several Inkblots at once.
• Dispel Magic: A successful casting can negate an Ink Blot’s form, dispersing it harmlessly.

Tags: Construct, Swarm, Nuisance, Arcane

Battle Behavior:

• Ambush Predators: Inkblots rarely charge at enemies directly. They lurk in shadows, on ceilings, or within cracks, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
• Swarms and Distractions: Their main strength is numbers and disruption. They’ll surround a target, clinging and splattering to slow movement and hinder attempts to fight back effectively.
• Tools of the Master: If driven by strong echoes of the gnome’s will, a group of Inkblots might coalesce into a simple object form – a makeshift sword dealing bludgeoning damage, a rope to trip the unwary, or a floating blob obscuring light sources.

Sounds:

• Movement: Inkblots make soft rustling or wet sliding sounds as they move across surfaces.
• Formation: Larger groups will produce a collective low gurgle as they coalesce into a defined shape.
• Attacks: Their ink splatter attack is accompanied by a sharp splattering sound.

Environment: Inkblots thrive in places saturated with arcane magic, making the Shifting Enigma their perfect home.  But here’s how they may adapt to different dungeon elements:

• Workshop & Library: Splotches scrawling across diagrams or momentarily reforming spilled ink from ancient books.
• Paradoxical Garden: Inkblots mimic iridescent plant shapes or lurk as camouflaged spots on unusual fungi.
• Mirrored Surfaces: Inkblots manifest warped reflections of the adventurers, making it difficult to tell real from illusion.

Remains & Uses:

• Residual Ink: Defeated Inkblots dissipate into a puddle of inky residue. Initially, this holds faint arcane potency.
• Alchemical Component: With the right knowledge, the residue could be a minor component in enchanting inks or temporary illusion-crafting potions.
• Scrying Target: A skilled diviner might briefly utilize the ink as a focus to catch a glimpse of other sections of the dungeon, as it retains a link to the gnome’s fragmented awareness.

Perceived through both traditional and extra-sensory means:

• Sight
  • Perception: An Ink Blot in its dormant state looks like a random splash of ink. Only with focused attention might one discern slight, twitching movement. Upon becoming active, it stretches into tendrils and moves as a cohesive form.
  • Description: Inky black, glossy texture, occasionally shimmering with hints of residual arcane energy (faint purple or blue undertones). Its shape remains amorphous, shifting between simple tendrils to brief imitations of objects, and back again.
  • Positives: Highlighting a difference between it and mundane ink spills can help adventurers know what’s dangerous.
  • Negatives: In a dungeon already prone to illusions, distinguishing a living ink blot from trickery can be quite challenging.
• Sound
  • Perception: Inkblots produce faint squelching, rustling sounds as they move, like wet cloth dragged across a surface. Larger groups create a low, collective gurgling noise.
  • Description: These sounds are generally subtle and might blend with the ambiance of the labyrinth.
  • Positives: Careful adventurers may catch these sounds before spotting the Inkblots visually.
  • Negatives: In the Shifting Enigma’s chaotic ambiance, it might be hard to isolate these noises as a distinct threat.
• Smell
  • Perception: Inkblots emit a subtle but sharp scent, an amalgam of ozone and the lingering chemical fumes from the gnome’s alchemical work.
  • Description: It’s not overwhelming but might become more distinct for creatures with an acute sense of smell.
  • Positives: Can serve as an environmental clue to the proximity of Inkblots, even before they’re actively sighted.
  • Negatives: The Shifting Enigma has its own overriding scent of arcane energy, which might obfuscate this more subtle clue.
• Touch:
  • Perception: If encountered physically, an Ink Blot feels damp, cool, and surprisingly slick for its texture.
  • Description: Unlike spilled ink, they leave no lingering stain on the skin.
  • Positives: A direct encounter immediately clarifies that this is no ordinary ink splatter.
  • Negatives: Touching one likely initiates a hostile reaction, especially as part of an instinctive self-defense.
• Extrasensory Perception
  • Detect Magic: Inkblots, as constructs suffused with the gnome’s chaotic magic, register strongly when within range of spells like Detect Magic.
  • Arcane Sensitivity: A character attuned to arcane flows might experience an uneasy prickling sensation in their presence, hinting at the unnatural nature of the Inkblots.
  • Detect Thoughts/Emotions: The Inkblots don’t have true thoughts of their own but are animated by echoes of the gnome’s fractured psyche. A strong mental probe might produce fleeting flashes of intense emotion: whimsy, playful cruelty, or profound confusion.

Tale of the Blotted Gnome and his Shadow-Spawn

In ages past, beyond the veils of forgotten time, did dwell a Gnome of clever mind and curious heart. This Gnome, his name lost to the whispers of the winds, sought to peer beyond the boundaries of seen and unseen, driven by a thirst for wisdom unmatched. With crucible and mortar, he toiled within his shadowed workshop, concocting potions of wondrous potency and weaving enchantments to bend reality’s threads.

Yet, as his knowledge swelled, so too did his spirit’s strain. Each answered question birthed a dozen more, his mind cracking beneath the weight of secrets unveiled. Strange runes danced before his fevered eyes, and voices echoed within his dreams, none but his to heed. Then, from the darkest corner of his alchemy bench, spilled a drop of ink, no simple ink this, infused with the wild magic surging through his troubled form.

That droplet did writhe and twist, no longer bound by earthly chains. It swelled into a blot, a shapeless thing of flickering shadow, born from the Gnome’s shattered mind. It mimicked his gestures with mocking glee, echoed his laughter with hollow tones. Yet, this was no mere reflection, but a twisted child of his brilliance corrupted. Soon, not one blot remained, but many, swarming as mischievous thoughts loosed upon the world. They splattered and coalesced, leaving trails of cryptic glyphs where they danced upon the walls, forever taunting their unknowing creator.

Thus, did the Gnome become prisoner within his own creation, bound to a labyrinth of his own broken wit. And the blots, they remained – testament to the perils of chasing wisdom without care, of peering into the abyss only to become the monster gazing back.

Moral of the Story: Knowledge sought without wisdom is a poisoned chalice, and pride that peers too far may tumble into shadows of its own making.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

• SAN Loss: Witnessing the Inkblots’ unnatural movements and their connection to the fragmented mind of the gnome might have a 1/1D3 sanity point cost.
• Knowledge Check: An Occult or Mythos skill check may reveal fragments of lore regarding the blots and their link to the gnome.
• Combat Traits:
• HP: 4
• Armor: None, difficult to target due to morphing form
• Attacks: Ink Splatter (melee, causes temporary blindness akin to the effects of the Blindness spell until the end of the target’s next turn)
• Vulnerabilities: Fire – takes double damage from fire attacks.

Blades in the Dark

• Score Type: Inkblots might represent an obstacle during a ‘Tinker’ Score (solving arcane problems) or a unique complication during a ‘Sneak’ Score (since they could reveal intruders).
• Harm: Can create minor consequences: temporary setbacks, loss of resources, or heightened stress for PCs as they try to manage these distractions.
• Crew Upgrades: An alchemist focused crew might have special upgrades against animate constructs like ink blots (alchemical potions to disperse them).

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Inkblots

• Tiny construct, chaotic neutral
• Armor Class: 12
• Hit Points: 5 (2d4)
• Speed: 30 ft. (climb 30 ft)
• STR 6 (-2) DEX 14 (+2) CON 10 (+0) INT 2 (-4) WIS 5 (-3) CHA 4 (-3)
• Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning
• Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Exhausted, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Unconscious
• Senses: Blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius)
• Challenge Rating: 1/8
• Actions:
  • Ink Splatter (Recharge 5-6): Ranged Attack: +4 to hit, range 10ft., one target. Hit: Target’s vision is obscured until the end of its next turn (as per Blindness), and its movement speed is halved.

Knave

• HD: 1
• Armor: As leather (due to slippery consistency)
• Attack: Ink Splatter (causes an obstacle of difficulty 14: target becomes ‘Blinded’ unless successful DEX save)
• Special:
  • Splits upon destruction – defeating one generates two more of a smaller size.
  • Vulnerable to fire – destroyed instantly.

Fate

• Aspect: “Shadows of a Fractured Mind”
• Invoke (positive): To create distractions, hinder pursuit, leave misleading glyphs!
• Invoke (negative): Spotting flaws in illusions becomes very difficult while Ink Blot distractions are present.
• Compel: An Ink Blot might try to mimic a known memory on a PC, compelling them to act on emotion rather than logic.

Numenera & Cypher System

• Creature Level: 2
• Motive: Driven by echoes of the Gnome’s broken will, acts on chaotic whimsy
• Combat:
• Damage: 2 points
• Movement: Short
• Modifications: +3 due to slippery form, +3 due to morphing to reach a target
• Combat Abilities: Successful splattering obscures target vision for one round and causes them to become Hindered for one round.
• Special: Takes no damage from physical attacks unless fire-based (then 4 damage to instantly destroy it).

Pathfinder 2e

    Ink Blot

• Tiny Construct, Chaotic Neutral
• Perception DC 12, Initiative +4
• HP 6, AC 13
• Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
• Weaknesses bludgeoning resistance 5, fire vulnerability 5
• Resistances mental 5
• Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, nonlethal attack, paralyzed, poison, unconscious
• Low-Light Vision
• Ink Splatter (frequency once per minute) + 5 to hit (ranged 10 ft.), target must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1 round and slowed 1 for 1 round.

Savage Worlds

• Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4-2 (creature of instinct), Spirit d4, Strength d4, Vigor d4
• Skills: Fighting d4, Notice d6
• Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 4
• Special Abilities
• Construct: Immune to poison and disease; +2 to recover from being Shaken
• Swarm: Ink Blots are considered Swarms when attacked on mass. This makes them harder to damage from area-effect attacks.
• Ink Splatter: Range 3/6/12, damage is not rolled but targets automatically become Shaken with a failed Notice roll as their vision is obscured.

Shadowrun (5th Edition)

• Attributes: Body 1, Agility 3, Reaction 3, Strength 1, Willpower 1, Logic 1, Intuition 1, Charisma 1
• Skills: Perception 4 (for spotting movement)
• Powers:
• Ink Splatter: Considered a Physical, Indirect Combat spell. Opposed test vs target’s Reaction + Intuition. If hit, causes temporary disorientation (equivalent to one level of Stun damage) and vision penalties (-2 to ranged combat dice pool).
• Matrix Actions: Inkblots might manifest within corrupted data files with abilities tailored to manipulating data and obscuring information.

Starfinder

    Ink Blot

• Tiny Construct, Chaotic Neutral
• CR: 1/4
• HP 4, EAC 13, KAC 14
• Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
• Melee slam + 4 (1d3 B)
• Ranged Ink Splatter +4 (1d3 special – target is confused for 1 round on a failed Fort save, DC = 10 + 1/2 CR + creature’s Con mod)
• Offense: Blindsight 30 ft.
• Defense: Immune to mind-affecting effects

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

• Characteristics: DEX +2, END +0, STR -2
• Skills: “Zero-G movement” 2 – able to maneuver well on walls and ceilings despite low strength in standard gravity.
• Combat:
• Unarmed combat causes minimal damage but is used to splatter, causing visual impairment (a -2 penalty for actions requiring sight).
• Can form into simple shapes to hinder a target, imposing a task difficulty modifier against DEX related tasks while attached.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

    Ink Blot

• WS BS S T Ag Int WP Fel 35 0 2 2 40 5 10 5
• Skills: Climb +20, Perception +10
• Talents: Fearless, Swarm
• Special Abilities:
• Ink Splatter – causes immediate “Blinded” condition; can make Challenging (-20) Willpower Test to recover after one round.
• Weaknesses: Highly vulnerable to fire.