A Slithe of Toves
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
— excerpt from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
(Art: detail of The Slithy Toves by John Tenniel)
A masterwork of wordplay combining silly nonsense and thought experiment, or thotcents if you will, Jabberwocky (and indeed many aspects of Alice’s Wonderland from Lewis Carroll) can provide a wealth of inspiration for imagining fantastical creatures.
Toves, oh those slithy toves, are the perfect introduction to a world where jabberwocks are real. If we suppose that the Alice books are all a fever dream recollection of Carroll’s actual travels to that Realm of Wonder, one can only guess at what might have ignited the fever that caused the author’s words to get so jumbled in the first place…
A Good Time Had By All
A hard encounter for a party of four 5th-level characters (Encounter CR 10)
Summary. Investigating rumors of innocuous creatures with semi-magical properties, the adventurers find themselves knee deep in muck and surrounded by a slew of slithering snakey-toad-thingies.
Setup. Having overheard a group of raucous tavern revelers regaling stories of shenanigans and hijinx that ensued when they caught a few toves and ingested their magical slime, the adventurers are about to see for themselves if there is any truth to the tomfoolery.
They SAID it was FUN. They SAID they couldn’t stop laughing. They SAID a good time was had by ALL. They didn’t say ANYTHING about the boot-sucking mud or the face-whipping branches or the constant high-pitched noise that could drive a body crazy.
A Slithe of Toves
Combat Encounter (2,600+ XP)
The mud and densely grown trees make the area difficult terrain for non-native creatures (the toves are unaffected). There are 2 slithes of toves plus another 4 (1d8) individual toves currently making this part of the forest their home.
Toves are muck-dwelling, reptilian-like creatures that look to be an unnatural mash-up of frog, snake, albino mole, and horned lizard. About the size of mouse, they somehow manage to resemble tiny, wriggling, slimy badgers.
These little monstrosities are expert tree climbers and move easily in mud or water. They secrete a bitter, slippery slime that makes them hard for predators to grab hold of. While their diet consists mostly of insects and berries they can snap up with their long sticky tongues, large groups of toves called slithes have been known to take down and devour larger meals when the need—or opportunity—arises.
With an Arcana or History check, characters can learn the following:
DC 5 or less False rumor: Toves are small, harmless creatures akin to the common garden snake.
DC 10 Tove slime is slippery and has a slight hallucinogenic property to it when ingested.
DC 15 Individual toves are fairly easy to deal with, but a slithe of toves can swarm and climb all over creatures much larger than themselves.
DC 20 The shrill, ear-ringing sound of croaking toves makes it difficult to maintain rational thought.
Defeating, capturing, driving off, or somehow taming the toves earns the party 3,000 XP, and each adventurer who successfully ingests a tove’s entheogenic slime also earns 100 XP.
In addition, searching the area (DC 13 Investigation) yields the following treasure:
a small, velvet purse containing 140 pp and a perfume vile
a wooden box containing 2 bloodstones (worth 50 gp each), an archaic creed, and a paired set of ivory knights
TOVE CHALLENGE 1/2
TINY MONSTROSITY 100 XP
AC 13 (natural armor)
HP 27 (6d6+6; bloodied 13)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
Initiative Dex +2 (12), Insight –1 (9), Perception –1 (9)
STR: 7 (–2) DEX: 7 (–2) CON: 12 (+1)
INT: 6 (-2) WIS: 8(–1) CHA: 10 (+0)
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Saving Throws Str –2, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +0, Wis –1, Cha +0
Skills Acrobatics +4 (escape artistry), Athletics +0 (climbing), Stealth +4 (camouflage)
Damage Resistances necrotic
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, petrified, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9, tremorsense 30 ft.
Languages —
Active. The tove adds an expertise die (1d4) for using the grab on basic maneuver and has advantage on attacks made on creatures it is grappling.
Entheogenic. A humanoid can ingest slime from a living tove by placing the tove in its mouth for 1 round (requires a successful grapple action if the tove is unwilling). The humanoid gains immunity to poison and can cast the guidance cantrip (self target only). Both effects last for 1 hour. When the effects end, the humanoid gains 1 level of strife which lasts for 4 hours or until it completes a short rest.
Smooth. The tove is covered in a slick gel which makes it difficult to grasp. It has advantage on rolls to avoid and escape being grappled.
ACTIONS
Gyre. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 +2) piercing plus 3 (1d6) poison damage.
BONUS ACTIONS
Gimble (Recharge 5–6). The tove uses the grapple or grab on basic maneuver.
VARIANT: SLITHE OF TOVES
MEDIUM GROUP OF TINY MONSTROSITIES
A group of 5-10 toves is a slithe of toves.
The slithe of toves is CR 4 (1,100 XP). It has 135 HP (30d6+30; bloodied 65) and the following traits:
Area Vulnerability. The slithe takes double damage from any effect that targets an area.
Squad Dispersal. When the slithe is reduced to 0 hit points, it turns into 2 (1d4) toves, each of which is bloodied.
Squad. The slithe is composed of 5 or more creatures. If it is subjected to a spell, attack, or other effect that affects only one target, it takes any damage but ignores other effects. It can share its space with Medium or smaller creatures or objects. The slithe can move through any opening large enough for one tove without squeezing.
Damage and Healing. The slithe deals five times the usual damage, or half that if the slithe is bloodied. Any action or trait that restores hit points restores five times the usual hit points, or half that if the slithe is bloodied.
The slithe has the following additional action:
Slithy Song. All the toves in the slithe join together in a chorus of high-piched chirps and whistles. A creature within 10 feet that can hear makes a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or is confused until the end of its next turn. Toves are immune to this effect.
Combat
A single tove will rarely attack anything larger than itself, preferring to slink beneath the mud or up into a tree. Slithes of toves sneak up on larger creatures, surrounding it if hunting prey or leaving a clear avenue of escape if aiming to drive an intruder away. Slithes open with their Slithy Song from 10 feet away, especially if still hidden from view or if there are several creatures huddled together. On subsequent turn they will enter the creature’s space to Gymble (bonus action) and Gyre (action).
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
This work includes material taken from the A5E System Reference Document (A5ESRD) by EN Publishing and available at A5ESRD.com, based on Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, available at www.levelup5e.com. The A5ESRD is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
All narrative elements (lore, story, and proper names) in A Slithe of Toves are © Anthony Alipio, VSR Ink 2025.
