| Hit Dice: | 6d10+36 (69 hp) |
| Initiative: | −5 |
| Speed: | 10 ft. (2 squares), climb 10 ft. |
| Armor Class: | 4 (−1 size, −5 Dex), touch 4, flat-footed 4 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +4/+10 |
| Attack: | Slam +5 melee (1d6 Str) |
| Full Attack: | Slam +5 melee (1d6 Str) |
| Space/Reach: | 10 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Strength damage, improved grab |
| Special Qualities: | Blindsight 60 ft. |
| Saves: | Fort +6, Ref −3, Will −3 |
| Abilities: | Str 15, Dex 1, Con 18, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 1 |
| Skills: | Climb +10, Hide –9 (+3 in shadowy areas); racial bonuses |
| Feats: | — |
| Environment: | Plane of Shadow |
| Organization: | Solitary |
| Challenge Rating: | 6 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Always neutral |
| Advancement: | 7–9 HD (Large); 10–18 HD (Huge) ♊ |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
This creature resembles a pool of undulating darkness—a patch of mobile gloom.
A shadow jelly is a nonsentient shadow driven by a desire to feed on life and light. As concentrated shadow-stuff, it is not incorporeal, as undead shadows are; its touch is somewhat more solid, and it can engulf prey like oozes from the Material Plane can. But rather than dissolving its prey with digestive acids, a shadow jelly drains all the warmth and life from its target.
A shadow jelly naturally seeks out the darkest place it can find, so it can be difficult to see. But because of its size, it stands out even in dark or gloomy areas, where it appears to be a large patch of deeper darkness. In places of bright illumination, the presence of a shadow jelly is painfully obvious.
Mindless and always hungry, a shadow jelly is an aggressive predator with no fear of multiple opponents. It attacks such opponents one after the other, though it tends to ignore opponents at least as large as itself.
A shadow jelly has no language and does not speak.
Shadow jellies lurk in the darkest of dark places, waiting for living prey to happen by. On the Plane of Shadow, they gravitate toward the darklands, from where they originate. When prey presents itself, a shadow jelly lurches forward out of hiding, seeking to get a grip on its opponent. Once it has caught a foe, a shadow jelly withdraws to its hiding place, even if it is still under attack. It changes tactics only if it loses its grip on its foe.
Strength Damage (Su): The touch of a shadow jelly deals 1d6 points of Strength damage to a living foe. A creature reduced to Strength 0 by a shadow jelly dies. This is a negative energy effect.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a shadow jelly must hit with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can automatically deal 1d6 points of Strength damage each round.
Skills: A shadow jelly gains a +12 racial bonus on Hide checks in areas of shadowy illumination. A shadow jelly has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.
Source: Planar Handbook, page 129.