The Lazaret classes the sporing brood as Sporophore; common folk call it the bloom. It
does not attach to anything and does not need a host: it grows on ground, on stone, on
burned timber, and on creatures, and it sheds constantly. Three of its four lines do not hunt — they occupy, and everything that walks
through them breathes some of it in. The fourth took a creature, and does what a creature
does: the orcshroom tribes range, raid, and recruit.
Either way, this brood is the one a party walks into, and the Lazaret’s standing instruction for it: go at noon, and
bring tools for letting it in.
How a Sporophore works
No single Sporophore is the creature; the colony is, and every creature in this brood
is part of one.
Colonies and lines
A colony is a family: everything grown from one original growth, however far it has
spread, held together by Mycelial Chorus.
A line is what a growth became — rotgill, ashcap, reredos, or orcshroom — and the
ground decides it, not the parent. A colony whose spores drift across a flooded cellar,
a burn scar, and a standing wall grows all three of those lines and remains one colony.
Kinship follows the colony; form follows the ground. This is why a driftling carries
the Chorus before it has a line: it is already its parent colony’s, and only its
landing decides what it grows into.
The shared traits
Three traits carry the colony, printed in full on each stat block:
Mycelial Chorus. The creature knows the direction of, and can communicate
wordlessly with, every member of its colony within 1 mile, and it has Advantage on
saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened while another member is within 60
feet. Mindless growths — mats, larvae, and fruiting bodies — carry a reduced version:
the colony can direct them, and nothing more. An apex is the center of its colony,
aware of every member within 5 miles, and can speak through any of them.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight the creature can’t regain Hit Points, the
Difficulty Class of its Sporing and its spore actions decreases by 5, and it takes 3
(1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns. The Difficulty Class reduction
applies to both passive Sporing and limited-use spore actions.
Sporing. Every Sporophore sheds. A creature that ends its turn within the trait’s
radius makes a Constitution saving throw or gains 1 Spore Load.
Sporing’s shape varies by line, because a colonized wall and a colonized orc do not
release spores the same way:
Line
Radius
Trigger
Spore action
Orcshroom
10 feet
Always
Cone — they exhale it
Rotgill
10 feet
Always
Sphere — wet air that hangs where it lands
Ashcap
15 feet, from a 5-foot trigger
Only once disturbed, by approach within 5 feet or by damage — Sporing (Disturbed)
Emanation that lingers a round
Reredos
5 feet
Always
None — it sheds a burst as a Reaction when damaged
Apexes shed to 30 feet, because there is more of them shedding.
NOTE
A creature makes one Sporing save per turn no matter how many Sporophores it stands among, against
the highest Difficulty Class among them, the same way overlapping contaminated areas resolve. The
save falls at the end of the creature’s own turn.
Spore actions
Sporing is what a fungal body loses by being open to the air; a
spore action is everything it has packed and stored, thrown at once.
CHALLENGE RATING 8
From Challenge Rating 8 upward, a spore action grants 1 Spore Load even on a successful saving
throw.
Large and larger bodies carry 2 uses per day, Medium and smaller carry 1 — except the
rank and file (the orcshroom warriors, the stalkers, the mats and swarms), which hold
nothing in reserve and fold a weaker, always-available burst into their turns instead.
Variant: running dry
Tables that want spent colonies to feel spent can use this
rule: while a Sporophore has no uses of its spore action remaining, the Difficulty
Class of its Sporing decreases by 2. It applies only to creatures whose spore action
has a daily limit — the rank and file never held anything back. The variant applies to
all Sporophores in the encounter.
Spore Load
Every Sporophore contaminates through one counter. A creature can carry up to 6
Spore Load — the same 0-to-6 shape as the Inquiline’s Depth in
chapter 4, and symptomless like it. Every penalty in
this brood comes from a disease’s stage, never from the load itself: a creature learns
what it carries from a Lazaret officer’s eye, a Detect Poison and Disease spell, or
the moment the counter fills. What the load changes is how the brood fights it —
several spore actions bear down harder on a creature carrying 3 or more, and a
stalker tracks anything carrying 1 or more.
Colonization
On reaching 6 Spore Load, the counter resets to 0 and the creature contracts the
disease of the line that gave it the sixth point, at stage 1 — or advances that
disease one stage if it already has it. When a creature first contracts Metaplasia,
record the location where it received the sixth point as its colony reference point.
Metaplasia measures direction and distance from that fixed point, even if the growth
there moves or is destroyed. Repeated colonization advances the disease without moving
that reference point. That is the only way a Sporophore disease advances: a fungal
colony does not incubate, it spreads, and it spreads only while a creature keeps
breathing it in.
Shedding it
A creature loses 1 Spore Load at the end of a Short Rest and all of it
at the end of a Long Rest, provided the rest is taken more than 1 mile from a colony. A
Lesser Restoration spell removes 3. Inside a brooding ground none of that works —
Spore Load is not lost while the colony is close enough to replace it.
MIXED EXPOSURE
Spore Load is one pool no matter how many lines contributed to it. Only the sixth point decides
which disease the creature takes.
Contaminated ground
Several spore actions leave an area contaminated. A creature that enters a contaminated
area or ends its turn there repeats the saving throw against that spore action.
Contaminated areas do not stack: one save per turn, against the highest Difficulty
Class among the overlapping areas.
The brooding ground
A brooding ground is a colony’s territory: everything within 1 mile of any of its
members. Inside it:
Spore Load is not shed. Rests remove none of it; the colony replaces what the
body clears.
Diseases do not recede. The recovery save below is made only when the Long Rest
is taken more than 1 mile from any colony.
The colony knows. Where a stalker or an apex is present, anything carrying Spore
Load is tracked (see Spoor-Reader), and the tracking does not stop at a camp’s walls.
Reading the ground
Every line marks its territory before defending it. A rotgill
ground sweats — damp walls, standing water that never clears, a smell of wet cellars
where there is no cellar. An ashcap ground is a burn scar that never greened over, warm
underfoot, with dust that rises too easily. A reredos ground looks like weathering:
gray frost-lines along the mortar, brackets nobody built. An orcshroom ground is the
tribe’s — spoor, dust in still air, gray stipple on everything they have handled. A
creature that succeeds on a DC 13 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Survival) check
recognizes the ground and which line holds it.
Daylight
Sunlight stops a colony healing and blunts its spores, so a colony grows
away from the sun — under floors, into hillsides, behind shutters — and every opened
roof, felled wall, and dug trench pushes it back.
Between colonies
Nothing a Sporophore grows harms its own colony: its contaminated areas, Difficult
Terrain, Sporing, and spore actions have no effect on a fellow member, whatever line
either of them belongs to. A rival colony is another matter, and what one colony can
do to another depends on their lines:
Rotgill and ashcap prey on anything with substance to take, including each other.
Rotgill rots what is wet; ashcap dries what is damp and feeds on what is left. Which
of them holds a stretch of ground is mostly a question of whether that ground is
flooded or burned. Both can also take orcshrooms, which are still flesh under the
gray.
Reredos and orcshroom take nothing from the brood. Reredos wants stone and
timber, orcshroom wants people, and neither has a use for a body that is already
fungal.
Nothing takes reredos. A reredos growth is bound into masonry with nothing in it
to rot and nothing to dry, so the other three lines cannot touch it.
When one colony takes another
A Sporophore that reaches 6 Spore Load from a rival colony does not sicken. It dies,
and a first settled form of the winning colony grows from the remains within 1d4 days,
according to the remains’ substrate. Orcshrooms are the exception, being flesh: one
that reaches 6 Spore Load contracts that line’s disease and runs the stages like
anything else, which is how a tribe overtaken by rotgill ends as Drowned Choruses still
speaking Orc. This contest is also why there is no single Sporophore super-colony: the two lines
that could expand without limit spend most of their effort on each other.
How they speak
Most of the brood does not. Mycelial Chorus is not speech — it carries direction,
condition, and attention, no words, and cannot be overheard. An apex speaks through any
member of its colony that has a mouth, which is how a party usually hears one first:
the creature speaking is not the creature they can see. The apexes’ own voices, where
their bodies allow one, are described in their entries, and the transformed hosts — the
Drowned Chorus, the Cinderwalk, the Buttress — kept whatever speech their bodies kept.
The diseases
Each line’s disease advances only through colonization, and recedes naturally only
with distance:
Receding
At the end of each Long Rest taken more than 1 mile from any colony, an
infected creature makes a Constitution saving throw against the Difficulty Class for
its current stage — 12 at stage 1, 14 at stage 2, 16 at stage 3. Success: The
disease recedes one stage, and receding below stage 1 cures it. Failure: No change.
Stage 4 allows no save.
Recession is the Long Rest save above. Restoration magic and remedies reduce a disease
directly, while a successful procedure ends it; none of these treatments count as
recession.
Restoration magic
The spells work by stage, identically for all four lines:
Spell
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Lesser Restoration
Cures
Reduces to stage 1
Nothing
Nothing
Greater Restoration
Cures
Cures
Reduces to stage 2
Nothing
Heal
Cures
Cures
Reduces to stage 1
Nothing
Mass Heal
As Heal
As Heal
As Heal
Nothing
Treatment
The Lazaret’s other tiers, shared by all four lines:
Care. A creature that spends a day of downtime tending the patient makes a DC 15
Wisdom (Medicine) check. Success: The patient has Advantage on its next saving
throw to recede.
Remedy. A preparation rendered from the line’s own growth (see
remedy material). Taking a line’s remedy drops its disease one stage.
Procedure. A physical treatment, different per line, listed with each disease
below.
Any creature can attempt a procedure. In this chapter, a trained physician is a
creature proficient in Medicine. A trained physician makes its Wisdom (Medicine) check
with Advantage, and a Lazaret officer automatically succeeds on the check.
Stage 4 in every case is governed by the library-wide rule in
chapter 1. Two of these diseases kill and two do
not; each stage table says which.
Mortification
The Lazaret files the rotgill disease as Mortification; common folk call it wetrot.
The fungus takes the wet tissue first, and the wet tissue is where a body keeps
everything it cannot do without:
Stage
Effect
1
Wounds stop closing. The creature gains no benefit from a Short Rest, and takes 3 (1d6) Necrotic damage at the end of each Long Rest.
2
The creature’s Hit Point maximum decreases by 10, and it has Disadvantage on Constitution saving throws.
3
The Hit Point maximum decreases by a further 20, healing the creature receives is halved, and it has the Poisoned condition.
4
The creature dies. After 1d4 days it rises as a Drowned Chorus.
The Hit Point maximum reductions last until the disease ends and do not stack with
themselves. Stage 2’s Disadvantage counts twice: the save to recede is itself a
Constitution save, so a creature at stage 2 is measurably worse at leaving stage 2
than it was at leaving stage 1, before the Difficulty Class rises.
Its remedy and its procedure:
Remedy. The gills of a rotgill creature, boiled and inhaled.
Procedure — extraction. An hour of surgery and a DC 18 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
Success: The disease ends and the patient takes 11 (2d10) Slashing damage.
Failure: The patient takes 22 (4d10) Slashing damage and the disease is
unchanged.
Calcination
The Lazaret files the ashcap disease as Calcination; common folk call it the drying.
Where Mortification rots a body, Calcination takes the water out of it:
Stage
Effect
1
The creature stops sweating and stops shivering. At the end of each hour spent in warm or cool weather without clothing suited to it, the creature makes a DC 10 Constitution saving throw, gaining 1 Exhaustion level on a failure.
2
The dried skin splits. The creature has Vulnerability to Fire damage, and its Speed decreases by 10 feet.
3
The creature has Vulnerability to Bludgeoning damage in addition, and its Speed is halved.
4
The creature dies. The body does not fall. After 1d4 days it walks as a Cinderwalk.
The Game Master determines whether the current weather is warm or cool enough to trigger
this effect, and that determination remains fixed until the weather or the creature’s
shelter changes.
DESIGN NOTE
The Vulnerability to Fire is not a defense of the fungus — it is preparation. A body with
Calcination in it is being dried into fuel, so that whatever eventually burns is full of spores.
Stage 1 costs time, attention, and pack space rather than Hit Points: heavy layers against cold,
loose cover against heat, changed at every boundary the party crosses.
Its remedy and its procedure:
Remedy. An oil pressed from ashcap growth, worked into the skin over several
hours.
Procedure — immersion. The patient is submerged in fresh water for 8 hours,
breathing through a reed, tended by someone who makes a DC 16 Wisdom (Medicine)
check. Success: The disease ends and the patient gains 3 Exhaustion levels.
Failure: The disease is unchanged and the patient gains 3 Exhaustion levels.
Ankylosis
The Lazaret files the reredos disease as Ankylosis; common folk call it the settling.
The joints fuse, the skin plates over, and the victim slows toward a stop. It is the
only disease in the brood that offers the sufferer something in exchange:
Stage
Effect
1
The creature’s Speed decreases by 5 feet, and it has Resistance to Piercing damage.
2
The creature’s Speed decreases by 10 feet, it has Disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, and its Resistance extends to Slashing damage.
3
The creature’s Speed decreases by 15 feet, and its Armor Class increases by 2.
4
The creature’s Speed is 0 and it can no longer act. It does not die. Over 1d4 days it hardens and stands as a Buttress.
DESIGN NOTE
At stage 3, a character has Resistance to two damage types, +2 Armor Class, and 15 feet less
Speed. Stage 4 replaces those effects when the character next reaches 6 Spore Load. The disease
never grants Resistance to Bludgeoning, because the fungus does not have one either: a body
plating over like masonry inherits masonry’s weakness.
Its remedy and its procedure:
Remedy. A draught ground from reredos growth, taken over 3 days.
Procedure — manipulation. The fused joints are broken and reset by hand over an
hour, with a DC 16 Wisdom (Medicine) check. Success: The disease ends and the
patient takes 13 (3d8) Bludgeoning damage. Failure: The disease is unchanged and
the patient takes 27 (6d8) Bludgeoning damage. Success or Failure the Bludgeoning damage ignores resistances gained by the disease.
Metaplasia
The Lazaret files the orcshroom disease as Metaplasia; common folk call it the greying.
Where the other three lines take a place and wait for people to pass through it, this
one takes the people — not eaten and not killed, but converted, a little at a time,
into a member of the tribe:
Stage
Effect
1
The fungus eats first. The creature needs twice as much food each day; on any day it goes without the full amount, it gains 1 Exhaustion level.
2
The creature is drawn toward its colony reference point. At the end of each Long Rest it makes a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw; on a failure, it can’t willingly increase its distance from that point until it finishes another Long Rest with a successful check.
3
Gray shows plainly, and the creature’s breath carries the colony. It gains the Sporing trait (5 feet, DC 11), and orcshroom creatures don’t attack it unless it or its allies attack them first.
4
The creature does not die and knows the exact location of its colony reference point. Over 1d4 days the change completes, and it stands as an Orcshroom, a member of the tribe, under the Game Master’s control.
DESIGN NOTE
Stage 3 puts the victim on both sides at once: still themselves, still fighting, and a hazard to
stand beside, while the tribe has stopped treating them as prey. Stage 4 is the only terminal
stage in the brood its victim walks away from. A tribe grows two ways — whelps are born colonized,
and Metaplasia takes everyone else. The Spore-Struck is the swifter route, a
settled driftling rather than this disease, and its Not Yet Gone trait belongs to that route alone
— an unfinished growth is still a guest the body can be made to reject, which is what that Lesser
Restoration spell does (see Stage 4). Metaplasia follows
the rules above at every stage.
Its remedy and its procedure:
Remedy. A bitter mash rendered from the gray shelving of the tribe’s dead, eaten
over a day.
Procedure — starvation. The fungus eats what the host eats, so the host stops
eating: a strict fast of 3 days, tended by someone who makes a DC 16 Wisdom
(Medicine) check at its end. Success: The disease ends and the patient gains 3
Exhaustion levels. Failure: The disease is unchanged and the patient gains 3
Exhaustion levels and takes 13 (3d8) Piercing damage, as the fungus eats the creature’s flesh.
Remedy material
Each line’s remedy is rendered from its own growth, using the canonical
harvesting rules. The Rotgill
Fleece carries its own check for cutting loose filament cleanly.
Metaplasia is the other odd case: its line colonizes people, so the remedy comes from the
gray shelving of the tribe’s dead.
The creatures
The two every line begins with
These belong to the colony that made them and to no line at all. Every Sporophore line
starts here and diverges
according to what the spore lands on:
Driftling
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Tiny Plant, Unaligned
A spore that has germinated and not yet settled: fingernail-sized, the color of wet paper, and too light to steer its own course. What it becomes depends entirely on what it comes down on — damp flesh, burned ground, or old stone. A driftling left alone for a day is no longer a driftling.
Mycelial Chorus. The driftling is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the driftling makes a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the driftling can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Windborne.
The driftling has no legs and does not walk. It is carried on moving air, and its Fly Speed changes with the weather.
Air
Fly Speed
Still
5 ft.
A breeze
15 ft.
Strong wind
30 ft., and all of its movement must be downwind
Gale or stronger
It can’t move deliberately. At the start of each of its turns it is carried 1d10 × 10 feet downwind.
A driftling carried out of an encounter this way is not destroyed and does not come back. It lands somewhere else.
Taking. If the driftling spends 24 hours undisturbed on viable substrate, it is replaced by the stage 2 creature for that substrate. On living flesh, a Lesser Restoration spell cast before the 24 hours elapse destroys it.
Actions
Tendril. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 5 ft. Hit: 2 (1d4) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load.
Spore Veil
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Large Swarm Of Tiny Plants, Unaligned
Driftlings that never landed, held together by the colony that made them. From a distance it is a haze; from inside, a wall of grit that gets into everything. It thickens in still air, stretches thin in a breeze, and has never once chosen a direction.
Swarm. The veil can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and it can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny creature. It can’t regain Hit Points or gain Temporary Hit Points.
Mycelial Chorus. The veil is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the veil makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the veil can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Windborne.
The veil is carried on moving air, and its Fly Speed changes with the weather. It can hover only in still air.
Air
Fly Speed
Still
20 ft.
A breeze
30 ft.
Strong wind
45 ft., and all of its movement must be downwind
Gale or stronger
It can’t move deliberately or use Engulf. At the start of each of its turns it is carried 1d10 × 10 feet downwind.
A veil carried out of an encounter this way is not destroyed and does not come back.
Actions
Engulf. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in the veil’s space. Failure: 14 (4d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only.
The orcshroom line
Cave orcs whose tribe was colonized generations ago and has never known otherwise.
They keep their language, their weapons, and their arguments, and none of them can say
when the change happened.
The tribe is what the line’s stat blocks coordinate: its orcshrooms, its
spore-struck, its blightboars, and the rootfather at the center of it. The rest of a
colony cannot be given orders — mats, crusts, rinds, and fruiting bodies carry only the
reduced Mycelial Chorus, and a warchief has no more to say to a reredos rind than to a
wall. Kinship still runs colony-wide; command runs no further than the tribe.
Orcshroom Whelp
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Small Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
Knee-high and already gray. Orcshrooms are born colonized, not infected — the ribbing is present at birth, the crest comes in with the teeth. Whelps run messages for the warband, and they are not kept out of a fight so much as positioned inside one.
AC
13
Initiative
+2 (12)
HP
60 (11d6+22)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
12
+1
+1
INT
8
−1
−1
DEX
14
+2
+2
WIS
10
+0
+0
CON
14
+2
+2
CHA
8
−1
−1
Immunities
Poison; Poisoned
Skills
Stealth +4
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages
Orc
CR
1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The whelp is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the whelp has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the whelp makes a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the whelp can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Pack Tactics. The whelp has Advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the whelp’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally doesn’t have the Incapacitated condition.
Actions
Shortspear. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) Piercing damage plus 5 (2d4) Poison damage.
Bonus Actions
Scurry. The whelp takes the Disengage action.
Spore-Struck
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Medium Humanoid, Neutral Evil
Not yet an orcshroom, and no longer whoever it was. The gray climbs the throat, the cough produces dust, and the victim slowly loses interest in everything except being somewhere else. A spore-struck can be of any species, and is most often whoever the tribe took last.
AC
12
Initiative
+0 (10)
HP
71 (11d8+22)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
14
+2
+2
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
10
+0
+0
WIS
10
+0
+0
CON
14
+2
+2
CHA
8
−1
−1
Resistances
Poison
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages
the languages it knew before
CR
1 (XP 200; PB +2)
Traits
Drawn. The spore-struck knows the direction of the colony that infected it. If it starts its turn with no creature within 30 feet of it, it must use its movement to move toward that colony.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the spore-struck makes a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Sick. While in sunlight, the spore-struck can’t regain Hit Points.
Not Yet Gone. If a Lesser Restoration spell is cast on the spore-struck while it has more than 0 Hit Points, the infection ends. It is no longer a Sporophore, loses every trait in this stat block, and is whoever it was.
Actions
Multiattack. The spore-struck makes two Claw attacks.
Claw. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) Slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
Orcshroom Stalker
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Medium Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
Leaner than the warriors and grown low, the crest flattened back along the skull and the gill-ribbing reduced to a fine gray stipple. Stalkers range days ahead of the warband. They do not track by sight or scent but by the spores the tribe has already put into the world.
AC
14
Initiative
+3 (13)
HP
91 (14d8+28)
Speed
30 ft., Climb 30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
14
+2
+2
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
16
+3
+3
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
14
+2
+2
CHA
8
−1
−1
Immunities
Poison; Poisoned
Skills
Perception +3, Stealth +5
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 13
Languages
Common, Orc, Undercommon
CR
2 (XP 450; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The stalker is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the stalker has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the stalker makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the stalker can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Burst Spores decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Spoor-Reader. The stalker knows the location of every creature within 1 mile that has 1 or more Spore Load, and it shares that knowledge with its colony through Mycelial Chorus.
Actions
Multiattack. The stalker makes two attacks, using Handaxe or Shortbow in any combination. It can replace one attack with a use of Burst Spores.
Handaxe. Melee or Ranged Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 feet or range 20/60 ft. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) Slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Attack Roll: +5, range 80/320 ft. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) Piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Burst Spores. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 15-foot Cone. Failure: 5 (2d4) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Slip Away. The stalker takes the Disengage or Hide action.
Orcshroom
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Medium Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
A head taller than a living orc, and gray where an orc is green. Pale ribbing climbs the throat and splits into a low crest across the skull, and the whole body sheds a fine dust that hangs in still air. It carries a spear it made itself, and it argues with its warband in Orc while it fights.
AC
15
Initiative
+1 (11)
HP
97 (13d8+39)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
16
+3
+3
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
12
+1
+1
WIS
11
+0
+0
CON
16
+3
+3
CHA
10
+0
+0
Immunities
Poison; Poisoned
Skills
Athletics +5, Intimidation +4
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages
Common, Orc, Undercommon
CR
3 (XP 700; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The orcshroom is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the orcshroom has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the orcshroom makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the orcshroom can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Burst Spores decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Actions
Multiattack. The orcshroom makes one Spear attack and uses Burst Spores.
Spear. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) Piercing damage plus 7 (3d4) Poison damage.
Burst Spores. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 13, each creature in a 15-foot Cone. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Aggressive. The orcshroom moves up to its Speed toward a hostile creature it can see.
Blightboar
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Large Plant (Beast), Unaligned
A cave boar that stopped being one. The bristles have gone over to gray filament, the tusks are sheathed in shelf-growth, and a crest of gills runs the spine and opens when the animal runs. Tribes herd them, eat them, and drive them ahead of a raid. Nothing about the animal objects.
AC
14
Initiative
+1 (11)
HP
123 (13d10+52)
Speed
40 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
18
+4
+4
INT
2
−4
−4
DEX
12
+1
+1
WIS
10
+0
+0
CON
18
+4
+4
CHA
5
−3
−3
Immunities
Poison; Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR
4 (XP 1,100; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The blightboar is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the blightboar has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the blightboar makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the blightboar can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Relentless. If damage reduces the blightboar to 0 Hit Points, it drops to 1 Hit Point instead if the damage was not Radiant or Fire damage. It can’t use this trait again until it finishes a Long Rest.
Actions
Multiattack. The blightboar makes two Tusk attacks.
Tusk. Melee Attack Roll: +6, reach 5 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) Piercing damage plus 5 (2d4) Poison damage. If the blightboar moved at least 20 feet straight toward the target immediately before the hit, the target has the Prone condition.
Spore Trail (2/Day). The blightboar moves up to its Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks and leaves a trail of spores in every space it leaves. The trail lasts until the end of the blightboar’s next turn. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 13, each creature that enters the trail or ends its turn in it. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only.
Orcshroom Sporespeaker
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Medium Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
Where the warriors grew plates, the sporespeaker grew inward: its ribcage has opened into a shallow basket of pale gills that flex as it breathes. It speaks for the colony in a voice not quite its own, and the tribe defers to it on everything except the fighting.
AC
14
Initiative
+2 (12)
HP
120 (16d8+48)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
12
+1
+1
INT
12
+1
+1
DEX
14
+2
+2
WIS
17
+3
+6
CON
16
+3
+6
CHA
14
+2
+2
Immunities
Poison; Poisoned
Skills
Medicine +6, Nature +4, Perception +6
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 16
Languages
Common, Orc, Undercommon
CR
5 (XP 1,800; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The sporespeaker is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the sporespeaker has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the sporespeaker makes a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the sporespeaker can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Spore Bloom decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Voice of the Colony. Each allied member of the tribe within 60 feet of the sporespeaker has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened, whether or not another member of its colony is nearby.
Spellcasting
Casts using WIS as the spellcasting ability, spell save DC 14.
At Will: Anamnesis, Druidcraft, Poison Spray
2/Day Each: Entangle, Glebe, Spike Growth
1/Day Each: Plant Growth
Actions
Multiattack. The sporespeaker makes two Blightstaff attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Spore Bloom.
Blightstaff. Melee Attack Roll: +6, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Spore Bloom (1/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14, each creature in a 15-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the sporespeaker can see within 60 feet. Failure: 14 (4d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Blinded condition until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Draw from the Sown. One allied member of the tribe the sporespeaker can see within 30 feet regains Hit Points equal to 5 × the number of creatures within 30 feet of the sporespeaker that have 1 or more Spore Load, to a maximum of 20.
Orcshroom Warchief
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Medium Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
The crest has thickened into a plate running from brow to shoulder, and the ribbing down the arms has fused into something closer to armor than skin. A warchief fights at the front of the warband and never more than a few paces from it.
AC
16
Initiative
+1 (11)
HP
127 (15d8+60)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
18
+4
+7
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
12
+1
+1
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
18
+4
+7
CHA
12
+1
+1
Immunities
Poison; Frightened, Poisoned
Skills
Athletics +7, Intimidation +4
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages
Common, Orc, Undercommon
CR
6 (XP 2,300; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The warchief is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the warchief has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the warchief makes a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the warchief can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Burst Spores decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Actions
Multiattack. The warchief makes two Battleaxe attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Burst Spores.
Battleaxe. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Burst Spores (1/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 15, each creature in a 20-foot Cone. Failure: 17 (5d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Drive Them On. One allied member of the tribe the warchief can see within 60 feet moves up to its Speed and makes one attack.
Orcshroom Chieftain
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Medium Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
The growth has stopped pretending to be an orc. Gray shelf-fungus stands out from the shoulders and back in overlapping tiers, and the head sits low between them. The chieftain is the oldest walking thing in the tribe, and the only one the colony speaks through directly.
AC
16
Initiative
+2 (12)
HP
152 (16d8+80)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
20
+5
+8
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
14
+2
+2
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
20
+5
+8
CHA
10
+0
+0
Immunities
Poison; Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Stunned
Skills
Athletics +8, Intimidation +5
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages
Common, Orc, Undercommon
CR
7 (XP 2,900; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The chieftain is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the chieftain has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the chieftain makes a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the chieftain can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Burst Spores decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Reckless. At the start of its turn, the chieftain can gain Advantage on all melee attack rolls it makes during that turn. Attack rolls against it have Advantage until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The chieftain makes two Greataxe attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Burst Spores.
Greataxe. Melee Attack Roll: +8, reach 5 ft. Hit: 18 (2d12 + 5) Slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Fist. Melee Attack Roll: +8, reach 5 ft. Hit: 9 (1d8 + 5) Bludgeoning damage plus 7 (3d4) Poison damage.
Burst Spores (1/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 16, each creature in a 20-foot Cone. Failure: 21 (6d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Grasping Hyphae. Strength Saving Throw: DC 16, one creature the chieftain can see within 20 feet that is standing on soil, timber, or fungal growth. Failure: The target has the Restrained condition until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Low Blow. Trigger: A creature within 5 feet of the chieftain misses it with an attack roll. Response: The chieftain makes one Fist attack against that creature.
Orcshroom Bulwark
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Large Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
The growth wins eventually, and a bulwark is what winning looks like. The shelf-fungus has closed over shoulders and back in one fused mass, the arms have thickened past holding a weapon, and the head has sunk into the chest. A bulwark cannot run and does not need to; tribes stand them in doorways and leave them there for years.
AC
18
Initiative
−1 (9)
HP
168 (16d10+80)
Speed
20 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
22
+6
+9
INT
8
−1
−1
DEX
8
−1
−1
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
20
+5
+8
CHA
8
−1
−1
Immunities
Poison; Frightened, Poisoned, Prone
Senses
Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages
Orc
CR
8 (XP 3,900; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The bulwark is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the bulwark has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 15 feet of the bulwark makes a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the bulwark can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Sporeburst decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Living Wall. The bulwark’s space is Difficult Terrain for other creatures, and allied members of the tribe within 5 feet of it have Half Cover.
Siege Growth. The bulwark deals double damage to objects and structures.
Actions
Multiattack. The bulwark makes two Slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Attack Roll: +9, reach 10 ft. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Sporeburst (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 16, each creature in a 20-foot Cone. Failure: 21 (6d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 2 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Failure or Success: A target that has 3 or more Spore Load also has the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn.
Reactions
Brace. Trigger: An allied member of the tribe within 5 feet of the bulwark is hit by an attack roll. Response: The bulwark becomes the target of that attack instead, using the same roll to determine whether it hits.
Rootfather
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Huge Plant (Orc), Chaotic Evil
The reason there is a tribe rather than sixty separate infections. He has not moved in decades; the legs went to root long ago, and what shows above ground is a mass of pale shelving four times the size of the orc it grew from. His head is still an orc's, buried to the jaw, and he can still use it — slowly, and at evident cost. Most of what he says, he says through somebody else's mouth.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the rootfather fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Mycelial Chorus. The rootfather is the center of his colony. He knows the direction and condition of every member of it within 5 miles and can speak through any of them.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of the rootfather makes a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the rootfather can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of his Sporing and Sowing decreases by 5, and he takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of his turns.
Rooted. The rootfather can’t be moved against his will.
Heart of the Colony. Each allied member of the tribe within 1 mile of the rootfather has Advantage on saving throws. If the rootfather dies, every member of the tribe within 1 mile has Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws for the next 24 hours.
Regrowth. The rootfather regains 15 Hit Points at the start of each of his turns. This trait doesn’t function if he took Fire or Radiant damage since the end of him last turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The rootfather makes three Hypha Lash attacks. He can replace one attack with a use of Sowing.
Hypha Lash. Melee Attack Roll: +9, reach 30 ft. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage, and the target has the Grappled condition (escape DC 17) if it is Large or smaller.
Sowing (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 19, each creature in a 30-foot-radius Sphere centered on the rootfather. Failure: 27 (6d8) Poison damage, and the target gains 2 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load.
Bonus Actions
Call the Tribe. One allied member of the tribe the rootfather is aware of within 1 mile moves up to its Speed toward him, and if it ends that movement within 60 feet of him it makes one attack.
The rotgill line
The rotgill line holds flooded and standing-water ground, and its disease is the one
the brood is infamous for:
Rotgill Fleece
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Medium Plant, Unaligned
A shag of pale filament growing anywhere damp enough to keep it: the underside of a jetty, a flooded cellar, the wet parts of a body that has been in the water a while. It does not move. It occupies a place people have to pass, and breathes out when they do.
Mycelial Chorus. The fleece is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the fleece makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the fleece can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Gill-Burst decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Sessile. The fleece can be cut away from what it grows on. Doing so takes 1 minute, a bladed tool, and a DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.
Success: The fleece comes away whole and can be carried, replanted, or rendered down.
Failure: Enough is left behind to regrow. The severed portion has half its Hit Point maximum, and what remains on the substrate becomes a new Rotgill Fleece after 1d4 days.
Failure or Success: Cutting opens the gills. Each creature within 10 feet of the fleece immediately makes its Sporing saving throw.
False Appearance. While the fleece remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from ordinary growth.
Actions
Multiattack. The fleece makes one Frond attack and uses Gill-Burst.
Frond. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 10 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) Bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
Gill-Burst. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the fleece can see within 30 feet. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area is Lightly Obscured and remains contaminated until the end of the fleece’s next turn. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there repeats the saving throw.
Rotgill Bell
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Large Plant, Unaligned
The rotgill fruiting body: a pale hood taller than a man on a thick stalk, its gills stretched tight enough to sound when they release. The note is low, carries far underground, and is how a colony fills territory it has never seen.
AC
14
Initiative
−1 (9)
HP
105 (14d10+28)
Speed
10 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
16
+3
+3
INT
4
−3
−3
DEX
8
−1
−1
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
14
+2
+2
CHA
6
−2
−2
Immunities
Poison; Blinded, Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
CR
3 (XP 700; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The bell is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the bell makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the bell can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Toll decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Struck. Whenever the bell takes Thunder damage, it regains one expended use of Toll. It can regain no more than one use this way per round.
Actions
Multiattack. The bell makes two Frond attacks.
Frond. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 10 ft. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) Bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
Toll (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 13, each creature in a 15-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the bell can see within 60 feet. Failure: 14 (4d6) Poison damage, the target gains 1 Spore Load, and it has the Deafened condition until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated until the end of the bell’s next turn. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there repeats the saving throw.
Drowned Chorus
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Medium Plant, Neutral Evil
Whoever this was drowned standing up, over days, and never stopped talking. The lungs have gone over to pale shelving that pushes out through the chest and up the throat, and the voice comes from there now. It has every voice the colony has taken, and it uses them in the order that works.
AC
15
Initiative
+1 (11)
HP
136 (16d8+64)
Speed
30 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
18
+4
+4
INT
10
+0
+0
DEX
12
+1
+1
WIS
14
+2
+5
CON
18
+4
+7
CHA
16
+3
+3
Immunities
Poison; Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Skills
Deception +6, Persuasion +6
Senses
Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages
Common and every language it knew before
CR
6 (XP 2,300; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The chorus is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the chorus has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the chorus makes a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the chorus can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Drowning Song decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Many Voices. The chorus can speak in the voice of any creature the colony has consumed, and it has Advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks made to impersonate one of them.
Still Sounds Like Them. The first time on a turn that a creature which knew the chorus before its death sees or hears it, that creature makes a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it has Disadvantage on attack rolls against the chorus until the end of that turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The chorus makes two Grasp attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Drowning Song.
Grasp. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Drowning Song (1/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 15, each creature in a 20-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the chorus can see within 60 feet. Failure: 21 (6d6) Poison damage, the target gains 2 Spore Load, and it can’t speak or cast spells with a Verbal component until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated until the end of the chorus’s next turn. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there repeats the saving throw.
Miasm
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Huge Plant, Neutral Evil
Bad air with something in the middle of it: a loose column of hanging gill-curtain twenty feet tall, wet through, trailing filament that never quite reaches the floor. It has no front. Where it has stood for any length of time, the walls sweat and nothing else lives.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the miasm fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Mycelial Chorus. The miasm is the center of its colony. It knows the direction and condition of every member of that colony within 5 miles and can speak through any of them.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of the miasm makes a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the miasm can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Bloomfall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Amorphous. The miasm can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without spending extra movement.
Choking Presence. A creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of the miasm and has 3 or more Spore Load has Disadvantage on attack rolls until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The miasm makes three Suffocating Coil attacks.
Suffocating Coil. Melee Attack Roll: +8, reach 10 ft. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it has the Grappled condition (escape DC 16), and it can’t breathe while Grappled this way.
Bloomfall (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 18, each creature in a 30-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the miasm can see within 60 feet. Failure: 31 (7d8) Poison damage, and the target gains 3 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated for 1 minute. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there repeats the saving throw.
Legendary Actions (3/round)
Immediately after another creature’s turn, this creature can expend a use to take one of the following actions. It regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Drift. The miasm moves up to half its Fly Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. The miasm can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Exhale. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 18, one creature within 30 feet. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. The miasm can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Constrict. One creature Grappled by the miasm takes 10 (3d6) Bludgeoning damage. The miasm can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
The ashcap line
The ashcap line holds burned ground, and it is quiet until something touches it:
Ashcap Crust
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Medium Plant, Unaligned
A gray-white rind across the underside of burned ground, thin as a fingernail and as hard. It grows in the cavities a fire leaves and is seen only after somebody has put a foot through the layer above it.
Mycelial Chorus. The crust is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing (Disturbed). The crust becomes disturbed when a creature enters a space within 5 feet of it or when it takes damage, and it stays disturbed until the end of its next turn. While the crust is disturbed, a creature that ends its turn within 15 feet of it makes a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the crust can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Ashfall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
False Appearance. While the crust remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from burned ground.
Actions
Ashfall. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 15-foot Emanation originating from the crust. Failure: 10 (3d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area is Lightly Obscured and remains contaminated until the end of the crust’s next turn.
Ashcap Censer
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Large Plant, Unaligned
The ashcap fruiting body, hung rather than standing: a gray pod the size of a barrel, grown from a wall or beam on a stalk long enough to swing. It swings — slowly, without wind, to a rhythm that has nothing to do with anything nearby. What comes out when it opens is warm.
AC
14
Initiative
−1 (9)
HP
123 (13d10+52)
Speed
10 ft., Climb 20 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
16
+3
+3
INT
4
−3
−3
DEX
8
−1
−1
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
18
+4
+4
CHA
6
−2
−2
Resistances
Fire
Immunities
Poison; Blinded, Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
CR
4 (XP 1,100; PB +2)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The censer is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing (Disturbed). The censer becomes disturbed when a creature enters a space within 5 feet of it or when it takes damage, and it stays disturbed until the end of its next turn. While the censer is disturbed, a creature that ends its turn within 15 feet of it makes a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the censer can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Censing decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Settling Ash. When the censer drops to 0 Hit Points, what it was holding comes down. Each creature within 20 feet of it makes its Sporing saving throw.
Actions
Multiattack. The censer makes two Chain attacks.
Chain. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 10 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 3) Bludgeoning damage plus 5 (2d4) Poison damage.
Censing (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14, each creature in a 20-foot Emanation originating from the censer. Failure: 14 (4d6) Poison damage, the target gains 1 Spore Load, and it has the Blinded condition until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated until the end of the censer’s next turn.
Cinderwalk
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Medium Plant, Neutral Evil
What Calcination leaves standing. The body is intact and weighs almost nothing, gray through to the bone, with no water left anywhere in it — no voice, no tears, nothing to bleed. It moves like somebody with an errand and makes no sound at all.
Mycelial Chorus. The cinderwalk is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the cinderwalk has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing (Disturbed). The cinderwalk becomes disturbed when a creature enters a space within 5 feet of it or when it takes damage, and it stays disturbed until the end of its next turn. While the cinderwalk is disturbed, a creature that ends its turn within 15 feet of it makes a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the cinderwalk can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Bloom of Ash decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Voiceless. The cinderwalk makes no sound and weighs almost nothing. It has Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and other creatures have Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to hear it.
Dry Rot. A creature that takes damage from the cinderwalk can’t regain Hit Points until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The cinderwalk makes three Grasp attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Bloom of Ash.
Grasp. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) Bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Bloom of Ash (1/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 15, each creature in a 20-foot Emanation originating from the cinderwalk. Failure: 21 (6d6) Poison damage, the target gains 1 Spore Load, and it has the Blinded condition until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated until the end of the cinderwalk’s next turn.
Burnt Acre
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Gargantuan Plant, Neutral Evil
Up to an acre of burn scar that is a single body: the ash, the fallen timbers, the standing chimneys, the ground for a foot down. Most have been in place long enough to be marked on maps as terrain. Fire does not threaten a burnt acre. Fire is how it reproduces.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the burnt acre fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Mycelial Chorus. The burnt acre is the center of its colony. It knows the direction and condition of every member of that colony within 5 miles and can speak through any of them.
Sporing (Disturbed). The burnt acre becomes disturbed when a creature enters a space within 5 feet of it or when it takes damage, and it stays disturbed until the end of its next turn. While the burnt acre is disturbed, a creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of it makes a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the burnt acre can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Pall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Fire-Sown. Whenever the burnt acre is subjected to Fire damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of Hit Points equal to half the Fire damage dealt.
Ground Itself. The burnt acre’s space is Difficult Terrain for creatures that aren’t Sporophores, and other creatures can move through it.
Actions
Multiattack. The burnt acre makes three Sifting Limb attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Pall.
Pall (2/Day). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 19, each creature in a 40-foot Emanation originating from the burnt acre. Failure: 36 (8d8) Poison damage, and the target gains 3 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Failure or Success: The area remains contaminated for 1 minute.
Legendary Actions (3/round)
Immediately after another creature’s turn, this creature can expend a use to take one of the following actions. It regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Spread. The burnt acre moves up to its Speed. Every space it leaves remains contaminated until the end of its next turn, and a creature that enters one or ends its turn in one makes the burnt acre’s Sporing saving throw. The burnt acre can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Sift. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 19, one creature within 30 feet. Failure: 10 (3d6) Poison damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. The burnt acre can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Settle. Strength Saving Throw: DC 19, one creature within 20 feet. Failure: The target has the Restrained condition until the end of its next turn as the ground takes hold of it. The burnt acre can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
The reredos line
The reredos line wants buildings. It cannot be taken by the other three, and its
disease is the one people volunteer for:
Reredos Rind
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Medium Plant, Unaligned
A gray-brown skin across worked stone, following the mortar lines like frost on a window. It grows in cellars and undercrofts and the shaded faces of standing walls, and it passes for water damage until somebody puts a hand on it.
Mycelial Chorus. The rind is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the rind makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the rind can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Spall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
False Appearance. While the rind remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a stain on the stone.
Actions
Multiattack. The rind makes two Grip attacks.
Grip. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 10 ft. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) Bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
Reactions
Spall. Trigger: The rind takes damage from a creature within 10 feet of it. Response: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, the triggering creature. Failure: 5 (2d4) Piercing damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only.
Reredos Corbel
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Large Plant, Unaligned
The reredos fruiting body, shaped like the bracket it is named for: hard gray shelving thrust from a wall at head height, wide enough to stand on and strong enough to hold a roof. Old ones are load-bearing in fact as well as appearance, and masons have built around them without asking what they were.
AC
16
Initiative
−1 (9)
HP
105 (14d10+28)
Speed
10 ft., Climb 20 ft.
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
Ability
Score
Mod
Save
STR
18
+4
+4
INT
4
−3
−3
DEX
8
−1
−1
WIS
12
+1
+1
CON
16
+3
+3
CHA
6
−2
−2
Resistances
Piercing, Slashing
Immunities
Poison; Blinded, Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
CR
5 (XP 1,800; PB +3)
Traits
Mycelial Chorus. The corbel is part of a colony. It knows the direction of every other member of its colony within 1 mile, and the colony can direct it wordlessly.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the corbel makes a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the corbel can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Spall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Load-Bearing. When the corbel drops to 0 Hit Points, whatever it was holding up comes down. Each creature within 10 feet of it makes a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) Bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one, and the area within 10 feet becomes Difficult Terrain.
Actions
Multiattack. The corbel makes two Bracket attacks.
Bracket. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 10 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Bludgeoning damage plus 5 (2d4) Poison damage.
Reactions
Spall. Trigger: The corbel takes damage from a creature within 10 feet of it. Response: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14, the triggering creature. Failure: 9 (2d8) Piercing damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only.
Buttress
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Large Plant, Neutral Evil
What Ankylosis leaves standing: a person set solid, arms fused down and out into two thick braces, head sunk between them, the whole figure leaning as if holding something up. It walks, slowly, and the marks it leaves in a flagstone floor are a settling pier's.
Mycelial Chorus. The buttress is part of a colony. It knows the direction of, and can communicate wordlessly with, every other member of its colony within 1 mile. While at least one other member of its colony is within 60 feet, the buttress has Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the buttress makes a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the buttress can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Spall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
Immovable. The buttress can’t be moved against its will.
Shoring. Allied Sporophore creatures within 5 feet of the buttress have Half Cover.
Actions
Multiattack. The buttress makes two Pillar Arm attacks.
Spall. Trigger: The buttress takes damage from a creature within 10 feet of it. Response: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 16, the triggering creature. Failure: 14 (4d6) Piercing damage, and the target gains 2 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load.
Nave
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Gargantuan Plant, Neutral Evil
A whole building — a chapter house, a granary, a drowned chapel — grown through until fabric and fungus cannot be told apart. The doors work. The stairs hold. The windows still let light in, which is the one thing about it that is not deliberate.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the nave fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Mycelial Chorus. The nave is the center of its colony. It knows the direction and condition of every member of that colony within 5 miles and can speak through any of them.
Sporing. A creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of the nave makes a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. Failure: The creature gains 1 Spore Load. Success: No effect, and the creature is immune to Sporing until the start of its next turn.
Sun-Withered. While in sunlight, the nave can’t regain Hit Points, the Difficulty Class of its Sporing and Spall decreases by 5, and it takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage at the end of each of its turns.
The Building Itself. The nave’s space is the interior of the structure. Creatures inside it are within reach of its attacks regardless of where they stand, are in contact with the nave for the purposes of Sporing and Spall, and doors, shutters, and stairs within it are part of the nave rather than objects it controls.
Immovable. The nave can’t be moved against its will.
Actions
Multiattack. The nave makes three Masonry attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Settle.
Masonry. Melee Attack Roll: +12, reach 15 ft. Hit: 26 (4d8 + 8) Bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) Poison damage.
Settle (2/Day). The whole structure drops half an inch at once. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 19, each creature in a 40-foot Emanation originating from the nave. Failure: 36 (8d8) Bludgeoning damage, and the target has the Prone condition. Success: Half damage only. Failure or Success: The area becomes Difficult Terrain from fallen masonry until the end of the nave’s next turn.
Reactions
Spall. Trigger: The nave takes damage from a creature within 30 feet of it. Response: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 19, the triggering creature. Failure: 21 (6d6) Piercing damage, and the target gains 2 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only, and the target gains 1 Spore Load.
Legendary Actions (3/round)
Immediately after another creature’s turn, this creature can expend a use to take one of the following actions. It regains all expended uses at the start of each of its turns.
Close. A door, shutter, or hatch within the nave shuts and sets. It cannot be opened without a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check or 30 damage. The nave can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Shift. A 20-foot square of floor, wall, or stair within the nave rises, drops, or cants. The area becomes Difficult Terrain, and each creature in it makes a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw, falling Prone on a failure. The nave can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn.
Shed. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 19, one creature within 30 feet. Failure: 10 (3d6) Piercing damage, and the target gains 1 Spore Load. Success: Half damage only. The nave can’t take this action again until the start of its next turn. Settle is the only area effect in the line and it is not a spore effect. It contaminates nobody. The Sporing radius is the other thing worth reading carefully. Every other reredos sheds at 5 feet, and the nave sheds at 30, which looks like the line breaking its own rule. It is not. The Building Itself makes the interior of the structure the nave’s body, so a creature standing anywhere inside it is touching the nave — the radius is larger because the creature is bigger, not because the rule changed. The same reasoning is why Shed reaches 30 feet: it is contact contamination, delivered by a wall the target is already inside.