Engulfing

Various creatures are capable of engulfing the player or other creatures. While the exact effects of engulfing depend on the creature employing it, typically engulfed creatures will be trapped within their attacker and will be unable to move of their own volition, and will take damage in some form over time.

Overview

Creatures who are capable of engulfing possess the "Engulf" activated ability, which is categorized as a "Physical Mutation" within the Abilities menu. This ability possesses no cooldown and can be used on any creature, but requires the user to be adjacent to their target. Engulfing will fail if the target is out-of-phase with the attacker, or if the target is flying.

When used, the target will become "engulfed by a [creature name]" and the engulfing creature and their target will come to occupy the same tile; this is accomplished either through the engulfing creature moving onto their victims tile, or the engulfing creature "pulling" the victim onto their tile. Most engulfing creatures will be unable to perform any action other than passing their turn while they are engulfing a creature, and thus will remain completely stationary.^[1] The engulfed creature will become unable to move of their own accord and will be trapped within the engulfing creature; any attempt to move in any direction will instead cause the creature to melee attack the creature engulfing them. Additionally, they will become incapable of performing various physical actions. The engulfing creature will typically deal damage every round by "digesting" their victim,^[2] and may trigger additional effects depending on the specific creature.^[3] Engulfed creatures cannot be attacked by other creatures, and attempting to do so will instead damage the creature engulfing them.

Engulfing creatures will continue to engulf their victim until either they or their victim dies. There are, however, various methods through which one can prematurely escape being engulfed.

Actions Restricted by Engulfment

Various physical actions that cause the player to move or change their body's position cannot be performed while engulfed:^[4]

Charge
Jump
Juke
Dismember (specifically the activated ability)
Rejoinder (cannot be triggered)
Sprinting/Power skating
Flying
Make Camp
Cooking
Sitting on an object
Going prone/lying down
Entering an enclosing object, such as an iron maiden

Attempting to perform any of these actions while engulfed fails and displays the following popup message:

"You cannot do that while engulfed by [creature name]."

Methods of Escaping Engulfment

Engulfed creatures can escape being engulfed through the following methods:

Teleportation
Being displaced, such as by a displacer bracelet
Becoming out-of-phase

Creatures Capable of Engulfing

red death daccas pull adjacent creatures in to engulf them, and inflict bleeding that deals 1-2 damage every round.^[5]^[6]
tongue tyrants pull adjacent creatures in to engulf them, and inflict bleeding that deals 4-5 damage every round.^[5]^[6]
gelatinous wedges engulf creatures and deal 2-6 damage every round.
gelatinous frustums engulf creatures and deal 3-7 damage every round.
gelatinous prisms engulf creatures and deal 3-7 damage every round. They will also periodically create a clone of the creature they are engulfing, who will be hostile to the creature.^[7]
gelatinous cupolas engulf creatures and deal 4-7 damage every round. They will also periodically "melt through the floor", causing them and their engulfed creature to descend by 1 stratum.^[8]
gelatinous antiprisms engulf creatures and deal 4-8 damage every round. They will also periodically create 2-3 clones of the creature they are engulfing, all of whom will be hostile to the creature.
k-Goninon engulfs creatures and deals 6-9 damage every round. It will also periodically "melt through the floor", causing it and its engulfed creature to descend by 1 stratum.