5e Race I: The Myconids

Myconids

The Fungal Adventurers

Cathto - DeviantArt

Rare is the myconid adventurer, the sun scorches their bodies and they are often met with confusion and hostility - especially when spraying spores to establish telepathic links.

On occasion, circumstances may force a myconid to leave the comforts of home and seek out adventure - your colony was wiped out and vengeance is the only thing that drives you forward or perhaps, you search in vain for a new family. A scouting mission may have led you deep into the Underdark and now you’ve become lost. Or, you could simply be struck by wanderlust - that awesome desire to seek out the unknown.

Any relief from sunshine is welcome: myconid adventurers often wear cloth veils, turbans or headdresses, some even carry huge parasols and others wear tinted goggles and long-sleeved gloves. How do you try to beat the sun’s hateful rays?

Myconids are incapable of producing spoken words. They can hear and understand other languages but have no spoken language of their own (they rely on telepathy to communicate). Myconid “names” are usually important beliefs or any natural phenomenon that occurred at the time of their birth. Myconid adventurers are usually nicknamed by their allies, since their mycon names have no pronounceable linguistic elements. Myconids have no concept of clan or family names, but have a strong sense of community nevertheless.

Myconid Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age: 4 to 24

Alignment: Lawful Neutral.

Size: Medium, Myconids continue to grow their whole lives. Add 1d4 inches per level, x1d4 pounds per level. Myconids over 8 feet tall are considered Large creatures with all the benefits/drawbacks of their size.

Height: 5’0” +3d6 inches. Weight: 150 +3d4 x height modifier result in pounds.

Speed: 30

Bulby Bludgeon-hands: Myconids tend to have huge, heavy hands and feet. Their unarmed strikes are very powerful. Punches and kicks deal 1d6+strength modifier damage.

Not-so-Spongy Morels: The large, strange shape of myconids means that armour is expensive and custom made (armour built for myconids will cost 5 times more). Myconids do not have a culture that produces armour as other races do because their spongy bodies harden and firm up over time. While unarmoured, you may add your constitution modifier to your armour class.

Sun Bad, Darkness Good: Myconids prefer cool, wet climates and avoid direct sunshine. They suffer -2 to all rolls when in bright sunlight. Little can be done to mitigate this discomfort. Even special clothing does little to help, though they will try anything to protect their moist, spongy hides.

Nearly All Things are Food: Myconids can eat almost anything. Any bio-matter can be consumed by standing atop it and resting, nutrients are consumed through the feet while “sleeping”.

Non-verbal Casters: Myconids lack a spoken language. However, there still exist among them many types of spell casters. Myconids may ignore verbal spell components, but their spell castings are slow and showy. Myconids use combinations of spores and wild gesturing to cast. Casters are -4 on initiative to cast spells.

Rapport Spores: Rapport spores create a telepathic link between you and the affected target (communication is only with the myconid, separately affected targets can not communicate with each other telepathically). Spores have a 10 foot range and establish a telepathic connection up to 200 feet away. You can maintain a link with a limited number of intelligent creatures equal to your level plus intelligence (or charisma) modifier. Rapport spores can be created at will. Rapport lasts 12 hours, or until the link is broken.

Pacifying Spores: A burst of spores with a powerful telepathic command can be emitted once per day. (Functions as Command spell, p.86 Basic Rules)

MacRebisz - DeviantArt

Hallucinator Spores: At 5th level, you can produce a cloud of powerful hallucination spores that cause confusion once per day. (Functions as Confusion spell, detailed below)

Animator Spores: At 9th level, you can animate a corpse with animator spores. The spores grow up out of the head, back, arms and legs of the host like horns of fungus. The spores require 1d4+1 days to reanimate the dead creature, after which it can be controlled through Rapport spores. The “zombie” is not undead and can not be turned. Only one zombie-like creature can be created at a time. The risen body continues to decay and after a period of 1d4+1 weeks will fall to useless pieces.

“Zombies” have one HD no matter the number of original HD, but they keep any natural attacks they had in life. A zombied owlbear would have 1HD (1d10), but make 3 attacks (2 claws and a bite).

Meld: Groups of myconids gather for several hours a day to meld. Melding is a telepathic interlink created by an elder. Myconids depend on the meld for worship, entertainment, social interaction and mental well-being. It is the raison d’etre of a myconid to engage in the meld. When adventuring, the meld becomes more difficult to perform. A 5th level myconid can create a meld with another myconid and gain one of the following benefits:

• +1 to one type of saving throw roll (constitution rolls only, for example).
• +1 inspiration point.
• +2 to skill checks with an untrained skill of their choice.

This benefit lasts only 12 hours.

Myconids that go without the meld for extended periods become depressed and withdrawn. Un-melded myconids die after 1 year, shriveled and in anguish.

Languages: You can understand, read, and write Common and one additional language. You can only “speak” telepathically.

Confusion

3rd level enchantment

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 60 feet

Components: V, S, M (a dash of mushroom powder or poppy flower)

Duration: 1 round/level

A weirding wave surges forth from the caster landing in a burst of powdery fragrance. All creatures in a 15 foot radius sphere centred on that point make a Wisdom saving throw. A target is confused by strange hallucinations on a failed save (targets are unaffected on a successful save). Their actions become unpredictable. Confused targets should consult the following table at the start of each round (roll 1d6):

1. Wander away for 1 minute. Do not re-roll each round, this creature leaves the scene.
2. Cower and whimper for 1 round.
3. Scream and gibber for 1 round.
4. Attack nearest ally for 1 round.
5. Attack nearest creature for 1 round.
6. Act normally for 1 round.

Any confused creature that is attacked automatically attacks its attackers on its next turn.

Inspirations:

Cathto at DeviantArt: Myconid art

(Check it out. Cute monsters, too.)

MacRebisz at DeviantArt: Myconid art

(More good stuff.)

Wikipedia: Cordyceps

(Seriously, fuck cordyceps. Too creepy.)

OSR Version: Fungal Murderhoboes

(Such great fun, this OSR mushroom-man.)

2e Monster Manual: Myconid

(Invaluable resource! Online!)