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The players entered a room with a gibbering mouther hiding behind some boxes on one side of the room and a black pudding on the ceiling on the other side of the room.
The room has a 15 foot ceiling. Theyy dealt with the gibbering mouther just fine. Since the black pudding only has a 10 foot reach, I figured that they would have to be directly underneath it in order for it to reach them from the ceiling. However, no one actually moved directly under it.
That's where we ended the session.
Should I have been rolling Perception checks for the players and a Stealth check for the black pudding? If I did that they would see it easily with its Dex of 1. Does it just naturally hide until it moves to attack? If I can't explain why they couldn't see it, I think my players may be upset.
Couple of things here.
First off, a black pudding is Huge. On a 15 foot ceiling, it'd reach all the way to the floor. It should have been impossible for the players to move directly underneath it without entering its space unless it was a smaller variant or some other special situation applied. It'd also be hard to miss since it isn't really appreciably "above" the players.
Aside from that:
They can sense organic or metallic objects within 60 feet and mindlessly attack such items or beings until they are dissolved or the ooze is killed.
For a bog-standard black pudding, I'd expect it to begin approaching to attack as soon as a potential meal entered its detection range. Whether it moves along the ceiling doesn't matter much to detecting it, per above, so it probably would default to dropping to the floor to move more quickly, depending on whether you believe natural selection applies to the insticts of non-Intelligent oozes.
In any case, players should always get a Perception check to see a creature even if the creature isn't using Stealth to conceal itself. Use the Perception table to figure out the DC, which might be as low as DC 0 (if it's in plain sight) or even lower if conditions are favorable. It might be higher if it's in a shadowed area (favorable conditions) and/or the players are distracted.
Black pudding is mindless ooze that organic or metallic objects within 60’ and mindlessly attack them. It should be attacking anything organic or metallic when it gets within 60’ of it.
I don’t think a mindless creature can actually use stealth. The base DC to spot a visible create is 0. I would consider being on the celling to be a terrible condition so that gets a +5 to the DC. The players were also dealing with the gibbering mouther so would be considered distracted which gives another +5. There is also a +1 to the DC for every 10’. So depending on how far away the black pudding was the players DC to spot it should be 11. Use the rules for diagonal movement to get the distance from the plays and add that to the base of 10.
One thing I am curious about is why the black pudding did not attack the gibbering mouther?
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Couple of things here.
First off, a black pudding is Huge. On a 15 foot ceiling, it'd reach all the way to the floor. It should have been impossible for the players to move directly underneath it without entering its space unless it was a smaller variant or some other special situation applied. It'd also be hard to miss since it isn't really appreciably "above" the players.
OMG!! I was thinking it was 15'x5'!!! There is no way they would miss seeing it. I'm going to have to move it to a different room. Obviously, it will move to attack as soon as they open the door. I also realize it's difficult enough as it is without adding being able to hide.
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I’m sure that some mindless creatures can stealth, like spiders. My rule of thumb is that if a stealth score isn’t listed for the creature, then it probably won’t stealth.
One thing I am curious about is why the black pudding did not attack the gibbering mouther?
Because eldritch? Seriously, good question. Maybe there's some situational reason that they've learned or been forced not to mess with each other.
I’m sure that some mindless creatures can stealth, like spiders. My rule of thumb is that if a stealth score isn’t listed for the creature, then it probably won’t stealth.
+1, this is a great default rule.