Physical Conditions - Ooze (TIP)

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It's just disgusting. Oh, you want details? Well, you asked for it....
==Getting Here==
Why in the multiverse anyone'd ever want to make her way to the para plane of Ooze is beyond explanation. Fact is, Ooze is gradually being depopulated as any berk who can flee to a more respectable place does so.
'Course, a planewalker who really wants to reach Ooze can probably find a portal in Sigil that'll do the job. The odds are, however, that it won't be found anywhere she'd care to look for it. Most folks figure that such portals must exist in the sewers or some other similarly revolting place-and they're right.
Not all gates leading to Ooze are in Sigil. There's one deep in Shedaklah, the 222nd layer of the Abyss, in the kingdom of a tanar'ri basher named Juiblex. He calls himself the Faceless Lord and claims to be the master of all slime and ooze (though it's a safe bet that no one's ever challenged him for the title). Anyway, at the heart of Shedaklah is a gelatinous orb some 30 feet across. Its outer surface is thick enough to hold a round shape, but still viscous enough for a body to push through with effort. The key to open this portal is a platinum disc, which must be pressed against the outside of the sphere. Because of the unusual way in which the gate is triggered, the person activating it-that is, the one who stands there and holds the disc against the orb-gets left behind. Lucky sod.
Vortices to the paraplane of Ooze are rare things. They're found only at the heart of primordial prime-material worlds where life has yet to fully emerge, or in vast concentrations of filth and debris. The former type of vortex is more common, but that isn't saying much.
In order for a vortex of the latter type to exist, a truly staggering volume of garbage, filth, and offal must be packed into a very small area. In times of plague, when refuse and slain victims often pile high, a vortex can form at the decaying, liquefying base of such heaps-but is any planar travel worth crawling into such a place?
==Hazards==
Repugnant as the thought may be, it's possible for a sod to survive in the paraplane of Ooze. In fact, it's actually one of the more hospitable parts of the Inner Planes.
===Breathing===
Even though it's a good deal thicker, the goo that makes up the paraplane of Ooze is a lot like water. In fact, it's enough like water that magical items designed to let a cutter breathe while submerged work fine. Thus, a body can make reliable use of a ring of water breathing. Spells, however, must be slightly modified to account for the concentrated mass, as with an airy ooze spell.
Creatures who are naturally able to breathe water, like fish or merfolk, can't survive in the paraplane without some manner of magical aid. The primordial slime of Ooze is too thick to be processed by gills or similar organs.
===Vision===
Although the color of elemental Ooze varies, it's generally translucent. As such, a body can see a few feet even without the help of magic. In general, a planewalker can make out objects as far as 15 feet away-assuming that she has a light source, of course. Normal flames won't bum here, so torches and lanterns aren't any use. Magical or biochemical illumination, on the other hand, works normally.
===Elemental Pockets===
Elemental pockets may be more or less common in the paraplane of Ooze than they are throughout the rest of the Inner Planes. It's difficult to say. See, with so many types of muck and sludge pressing in on a sod from every side, who can say whether the revolting goo she's just stepped in is a natural part of the paraplane or has been tracked here on the boots of an unexplained cosmic force?
Elemental pockets in Ooze tend to resemble those found in the plane of Earth (in regions where the muck is thicker) or the plane of Water (in spots where it's thinner). The most common pockets in the paraplane are those that drift in from Earth and Water. Bubbles of air tend to form hollow cysts in which a body a can seek shelter and find a breathable (if foul-smelling) atmosphere. Earth pockets provide solid matter upon which a traveler can firmly plant her feet, though many of them have been hollowed out or laced with traps.
===Other Dangers===
A number of very dangerous things wait to smother a sod who comes to Ooze. Because of the nature of these hazards, a planewalker seldom even sees them before she walks right into them. In game terms, any of the following hazards can be assumed to be 90% invisible to a casual traveler, or 50% invisible if a cutter's watching out for them.
ACID. Caustic chemicals form and concentrate at certain points in the endless mire of the paraplane. In time, they become so potent that they can eat quickly through almost all living matter. These acid pools can be very large. To determine their size, the DM can roll on the table for elemental pockets (found on page 14) and then cut the result in half.
Once the size is determined, the DM can use the following chart to find the strength of the pool's acid.
{| class="article-table"
! 1D6 ROLL || ACID STRENGTH || SAVE ADJ. || DAMAGE
|-
| 1 || Very diluted || +4 || 1d4
|-
| 2 || Diluted || +2 || 1d6
|-
| 3 || Weak || none || 1d8
|-
| 4 || Strong || none || 1d10
|-
| 5 || Concentrated || -2 || 1d12
|-
| 6 || Very concentrated || -4 || 1d20
}
A berk who moves into the area of an acid pool must make an immediate saving throw vs. breath weapon. This roll is adjusted as indicated on the chart, so a victim who stumbles into concentrated acid makes the save with a -2 penalty. Anyone who fails her save suffers the damage shown on the chart; a successful saving throw cuts the damage in half. A new saving throw is required at the start of each round spent in the acid pool. (Bloods who are immune to acid are unaffected and don't need to make a roll.)
Objects exposed to the acid must make a saving throw as well. Failure indicates that they've been utterly cons1,Jmed by the fluid. The acid formed on the paraplane is so caustic that it can eat through glass and other such materials. A cutter who manages to collect some of this powerful acid (usually through magical means) finds that it's very valuable in other parts of the multiverse.
DISEASE. Pockets of disease and illness are not uncommon in the paraplane of Ooze. As before, the DM can find the size of such places by using the elemental pockets table and cutting the result in half. 
When a sod enters an infectious zone, she's instantly affected as if by a cause disease spell, and she must make an immediate Constitution check. If the roll is successful, she develops a disease that is merely debilitating. If she fails the roll, she contracts a deadly illness.
POISON. Just as chemicals can concentrate and become deadly corrosives, so too can they form toxic fluids. A sod who stumbles into a poisoned area might grow sick or even fall straight into the dead-book. 
The DM should first determine the size of a toxic region by rolling on the table for elemental pockets and then halving the result. Then he can use the following chart to determine the type of poison encountered (the entries are drawn from the DUNGEON MASTER Guide).
1D8 ROLL	CLASS	ONSET TIME 	STRENGTH
1 	G 	2d6 hours 	20/10
2 	H 	1d4 hours 	20/10
3 	I 	2d6 minutes	30/15
4 	J 	1d4 minutes	Death/20
5 	K 	2d4 minutes	5/0
6 	L 	2d4 minutes	10/0
7 	M 	1d4 minutes	20/5
8 	N 	1 minute 	Death/25
Class K, L, M, and N poisons act on contact. The others on the table must be ingested (which includes inhaling them while using ooze breathing and similar spells).
When an explorer moves into one of these areas, she must make a saving throw vs. poison. This roll is adjusted as shown on the table for determining acid strength (above). A sod who fails her save suffers the damage indicated before the slash in the "Strength" column. A successful saving throw results in the damage shown after the slash. Cutters who're immune to poisons are unaffected.
Unfortunately, about 25% of all toxic areas in the paraplane are also acidic, which means that they have the effects described in that section as well. 
==Moving About==
The paraplane of Ooze has no gravity (except in the area known as the Slag Marshes, which is a strange exception). Because of this, a body can simply remain still and drift along wherever the languid currents carry her. With a little effort, she can even swim in the stuff. AH in all, it's about the same as moving in the Elemental Plane of Water. Due to the thick medium, though, progress is slowed by one-third.