In the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a gibbering mouther is a horrible aberration seemingly drawn from a lunatic's nightmares. It resembles a writhing mass of grey flesh covered with dozens of randomly placed, different sized and shaped eyes and mouths.
Characteristics and habits
The gibbering mouther is not regarded as an evil creature, but in order to sustain its mad self, it must feast upon the bodily fluids and sanity of mortal creatures, preferably intelligent ones. It attacks by spitting strings of protoplasmic flesh which end in a mouth and one or more eyes at opponents, which then bite them, causing both acid and blinding damage. A gibbering mouther can also speak gibberish which causes people to go insane, and has an unusual ability to turn nearby ground into a sinking substance similar to quicksand. When it has defeated an opponent, it swallows them whole, and then proceeds to suck the bodily fluids and sanity. It is possible for the victim to cut their way out.
Having so many eyes, gibbering mouthers are difficult to use sneak upon.
Gibbering mouthers can speak Common, but seldom speak anything other than mad babble and gibberish.
They are regarded as neutral in alignment, but have distinctly evil habits.
References
- Findley, Nigel D. "The Ecology of the Gibbering Mouther" Dragon #160 (TSR, 1990).
- Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).