Spore Week: Playable Myconids

Welcome to Spore Week!

(There's no special occasion, I just realized I had a couple of fungus-themed posts on the horizon, so why not make a whole thing of it.)

First up: Myconids.

Join the power of the meld.

Most myconids are furtive, peaceful, and spend most of their time in hallucinogenic rapport they call "the meld."  They consider this to be the reason for their existence.

But occasionally, some myconids go native and seek to explore the world physically rather than metaphorically.  (Scholars postulate that these myconids grew on the corpses of humanoids, and so absorbed humanoid hormones and memories as part of their growth cycle.  But sometimes they just happen without rhyme or reason.)

As such, we present playable myconids for Basic, Advanced, and fifth edition fantasy adventure game variants.

Myconids (Basic Race-as-Class)

Prime Requisite (if your game uses it): Wisdom
HD: d6
Thac0/to-hit: As cleric
Saves: As dwarf
Armor and Weapons: Myconids are typically pacifists and are neither proficient in armor nor weapons, although they can use shields.  However, they can attack with their fists and they become tougher as they age, as described below.
XP: As magic-user; myconids only progress to the ninth level of experience, as described below.

Myconids appear to be toadstool-like humanoids, with spongy flesh in colors from purple to grey.  Adventurous myconids are usually around 6' tall and weigh about 120 pounds.

Myconids usually live underground, and so have the ability to see in the dark with infravision up to 60 feet.  Myconids' hardy constitutions are reflected in their saving throws.  A myconid will speak the common tongue, its own alignment language, and can communicate with other myconids through the use of spores.

The typically dry conditions of the surface force myconids to imbibe double the amount of water per day as other humanoids.  This requirement is waived in cool underground places (like the typical dungeon or cavern) and possibly in places with plenty of humidity and lots of cover (like a rainforest).

Starting at third level, myconids can release spores at foes once per day.  It gains the following options as it levels up:

• At third level, the myconid may choose to release pacifier spores.  This targets one creature within 40 feet.  If the creature fails its saving throw vs. poison, it becomes totally passive, unable to do anything, although it is still aware of its surroundings.  This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the myconid's level.
• At fifth level, the myconid may choose to release hallucinator spores.  This targets one creature within 40 feet.  If the creature fails its saving throw vs. poison, it is affected as the target of a confusion spell.  This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the myconid's level.
• At seventh level, the myconid may choose to release animator spores.  This targets one dead creature.  Over the course of 1d4 days, the creature is raised as a zombie.  (Use the standard zombie statistics from your game of choice.)  It is not undead and cannot be turned.  It follows the myconid's simple instructions (delivered by myconid spores), and lasts 1d4+1 weeks before decaying and becoming useless.  A myconid can typically only control one such zombie at a time.

Myconids do not use weapons or armor, but become increasingly tough over time.  Their hides become tougher and better able to resist damage, and they have a natural slam attack that becomes more powerful the strong the myconid becomes.  Player character myconids naturally develop according to the following chart:

MYCONID SPECIAL ABILITIES
Class Level	AC Bonus	Unarmed Attack Damage
1	0	1d4
2	-1	1d4
3	-1	2d4
4	-2	2d4
5	-2	3d4
6	-3	3d4
7	-3	4d4
8	-4	5d4
9	-4	6d4

Reaching 9th Level: When a myconid reaches 9th level, it has the option of sporulating and creating a circle of myconids.  2d6 HD 1 myconids will arrive to follow the elder myconid.  Myconids do not progress beyond the ninth level of ability, and typically retire to become myconid sovereigns.

Myconids (Advanced Edition Race)

Requirements: WIS 9
Ability Modifiers: WIS +1, CHA -1
Ability Min/Max: STR 3/18, DEX 3/18, CON 6/18, INT 3/16, WIS 8/19, CHA 3/14

Myconids appear to be toadstool-like humanoids, with spongy flesh in colors from purple to grey.  Adventurous myconids are usually around 6' tall and weigh about 120 pounds.

Myconids usually live underground, and so have the ability to see in the dark with infravision up to 60 feet.  Myconids' hardy constitutions grant them a +4 to saving throws against poison.  A myconid will speak the common tongue, its own alignment language, and can communicate with other myconids through the use of spores.

The typically dry conditions of the surface force myconids to imbibe double the amount of water per day as other humanoids.  This requirement is waived in cool underground places (like the typical dungeon or cavern) and possibly in places with plenty of humidity and lots of cover (like a rainforest).

Starting at third level, myconids can release spores at foes once per day.  It gains the following options as it levels up:

• At third level, the myconid may choose to release pacifier spores.  This targets one creature within 40 feet.  If the creature fails its saving throw vs. poison, it becomes totally passive, unable to do anything, although it is still aware of its surroundings.  This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the myconid's level.
• At fifth level, the myconid may choose to release hallucinator spores.  This targets one creature within 40 feet.  If the creature fails its saving throw vs. poison, it is affected as the target of a confusion spell.  This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the myconid's level.
• At seventh level, the myconid may choose to release animator spores.  This targets one dead creature.  Over the course of 1d4 days, the creature is raised as a zombie.  (Use the standard zombie statistics from your game of choice.)  It is not undead and cannot be turned.  It follows the myconid's simple instructions (delivered by myconid spores), and lasts 1d4+1 weeks before decaying and becoming useless.  A myconid can typically only control one such zombie at a time.

Myconids may select from the following classes, with the indicated level limits:

MYCONID CLASSES AVAILABLE
Class	Level Limit
Fighter	9
Magic-User	5
Illusionist	7
Thief	9

Myconid thieves receive the following bonuses and penalties to thief abilities:

MYCONID THIEF SKILL ADJUSTMENTS
Skill	Adjustment
Pick Locks	-5%
Pick Pockets	-5%
Move Silently	+5%
Hide in Shadows	+5%

If you're using Advanced Edition starting ages and age stages, myconids usually start at 1d4+4 years old.  They are considered adolescents from ages 2-4, adults from age 5-12, middle aged from ages 13-16, elderly from ages 17-20, and venerable from ages 21-24.

Myconids (5e Race)

As per standard 5e race design, player character myconids have somewhat different capabilities from standard Monster Manual-derived myconids.  Player character myconids are considered humanoids.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1, and your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Myconids mature quickly, typically considered adults at age 4.  They rarely live longer than thirty years, although some specimens may be truly ancient.
Alignment. The orderly, harmonious society of myconids typically gives them lawful mindsets.  They trend neutral, connected as they are with the unbiased attitude of nature.
Size. Myconids are typically around 6 feet tall and weigh around 120 pounds.  Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Superior Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.  You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fungal Essence. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or poisoned, and you have resistance against poison damage.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Sporulation. You know the message cantrip requiring no material components. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast comprehend languages when you finish a long rest, requiring no material components to do so.  Once you reach 5th level, you can cast calm emotions when you finish a long rest.  Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon.

The Obligatory Cavegirl Review

A quick aside: I'll collect these on a page or sidebar eventually, but I'm just putting it here for now.  If you're on the fence about No Rest for the Wicked in print or pdf, Emmy "Cavegirl" Allen wrote a very kind review of it that hits many of the salient points.

Read it here.

If it sounds like something you would enjoy, why not check it out?

They grow up so fast.

And to tease actual content (!), brace yourselves, because next week is Spore Week.

No Rest for the Wicked

IT'S ALIVE!

From the back cover:

The year is 1632 and the wars of religion engulf Europe.

Can you imagine it? A war so total, everywhere you have ever known and everywhere you might know is touched by it. It’s taken friends and family members. Maybe it swallowed your village whole. Perhaps it even took you, conscripted by a King or an Emperor or a Pope you have never met.

You probably can’t imagine a life devoured by war while you’re cozy and safe, rolling dice around a table with your friends, but the land remembers. History remembers. Look at the global powers in World War I and you will see the war continued after a three-century truce. Track the global population over time and you will see the divot where pike-and-shot killed those the plague did not. Bore into Arctic ice and measure the lead content and you will see the drop when there were no more men to smelt iron.

So, when you seek an inn to stay for the night, why are you so surprised to find the war has arrived ahead of you?

An adventure suitable for low level characters for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games.

For those of you unfamiliar, I wrote an adventure for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  It keeps with many of the conventions of recent LotFP adventures: it uses the house system, it's set during the Thirty Years' War, it's grim and gritty.

(If you want more information, I posted about it and included some shots of the book here.)

As the description indicates, the player characters arrive at an inn to find the war arrived ahead of them.  Will they stop this tragedy, or feed it?

I feel like it works best if the player characters don't know this inn is the adventure, but your mileage may vary.  Drop it in a hex somewhere and you're ready to go.

If you grab a copy, let me know what you think!

Sulflanur Price Guide

A month ago, I announced that my player characters were going to descend into the Veins.  And they did!

For about a session.

After roaming the Shallows for half a week, they became distracted by a potential apocalypse and some bounty hunters, and decided to go topside.

Isn't high-level D&D grand?

(Plus, I think the apocalypse everyone is worried about isn't the one they should be worried about.  It's always the one you're not expecting that gets you.)

Regardless, in the event that they never return, I figured I would post the Sulflanur Price Guide here, so that someone can use it.  It's hardly my best or most original work — the tea, opium, and poison are culled from the tables in Yoon-Suin; the cat's eye fungus and messenger wasp are from Ben L.'s Wishery setting; and the slug-man's wares are from Operation Unfathomable — but I wanted to showcase the exotic weirdness of the mythic underworld without spending a bunch of extra time brainstorming unique goods.  My players would probably dig it.

Of note: the delegation of the slime princess has unique goods available.

Sulflanur

A hidden svirfneblin (gnonmen if you're nasty) outpost near the entrance to the Veins, this acts as a trading post for the few friendly creatures who know about it.  In addition to standard goods at standard prices, the svirfneblin are currently hosting three traders from exotic lands.  They are:

Zernasthra

Behold!  Her golden orangutan mask!

Zernasthra is a merchant of dreaming Zyan, having emerged from the dream-tunnels beneath the ghoul village of Chornodom, deeper in the Veins.  She is tall, lithe, and pale, speaking with a booming voice no doubt amplified by some hidden mechanism in her ape mask.  She brings goods from Zyan Above and Zyan Below.

Nochloo

This is not a pipe.

Nochloo, slug-man merchant, comes from the distant Black Ooze River to deliver strange goods from the Unfathomable Underworld beneath Upper Mastodonia.  He largely has potions and a few casks of lichen ale.  He is served by 10 dim servitors.

Princess Phylia

Princess Phylia, long may she reign!

Phylia, Princess of Slime, comes from an unknown domain with her trade delegation.  (They're likely not all oozes, instead being various like-minded monstrous races from around the underground.)  She is currently taking a tour of the Trials of the Chained and the greater Deepearth beneath the Sorrowfell Plains, perhaps hoping to engage in some political alliance.  Her delegation has access to oozes with varied alchemical effects when introduced to standard physiologies.

The princess herself is likely not hawking her wares; take whatever your grossest monster might be, and make that the merchant.  If you're using vanilla D&D, bullywugs or troglodytes might work.

If you want stats for the Slime Princess, treat her as a noble (Monster Manual, page 348) modified by the Goo Girl race from The Graverobber's Guide to Slimes.  This modifies the noble to have Dexterity 13 (+1), Constitution 12 (+1), 11 hp, and the ability to speak Common, Gnomish, and Undercommon.  She likewise has the traits Mobile, Secrete Nectar, and Wobbly as described in the Goo Girl race.

The Exotic Wares from Distant Lands

Click that link for the stuff.  They're mostly potions (or the equivalent), although there are at least two pets hidden in there.

Astute observers will note that some of these objects are more powerful for the price point when compared to standard items in the fifth edition Dungeon Master's Guide.  You have three options for this:

1) Who cares?  They're in limited quantities, so it's not going to break your game.  (How does one "break" a game, anyway?)  These traders come from exotic lands, and they don't know what things cost.

2) Assess the potions' rarities and adjust the prices.  I'm a Game Master, not a cop.

3) Leave the prices as-is, but if the PCs happen to openly remark that prices are low, the merchants start charging more.

I personally recommend that you describe things as the merchants would (and whatever the PCs would see), rather than letting the players immediately see the price list and their effects (let them identify stuff when it's in their hands as per normal), but you do what's right for your group.

Old School vs. New School: A Visual Representation

A short blog post, but I keep thinking about it.

About two and a half weeks ago, Critical Role released a one-on-one game between Matthew Mercer and Stephen Colbert for Red Nose Day.

Watch closely: people made all sorts of comments, but the most striking thing I noticed is the clear line of demarcation between old-school and new-school play.  Mercer is all about heavy description and relying on die rolls, whereas Colbert is all about careful, tactical decision-making.  The old OSR debate about player skill vs. character skill in microcosm.

There are probably a few circumstances where Mercer ought to have let Colbert's preparations stand without a die roll, but it's still a sweet little piece of dungeon burlesque.  Check it out if you have an hour to kill.

Dispatches from the UK Games Expo: No Rest for the Wicked

Hey!  Are you going to be at UK Games Expo today or later this weekend?

Lamentations of the Flame Princess is going to be there with No Rest for the Wicked for the low, low price of £10.  (Click that link to read all currently available information about it.)  You, too, can read my angry baby just by handing over pictures of the Queen to some strange metalhead!  It's just that easy.

(Also, there's a couple of new things on the list, like Death and Fire.  You should probably buy those, too, just to be safe.  Keep them out of the hands of BADD!  I am very topical.)

Buy somethin', will ya!

Descent into the Depths of the Earth

My 5e PCs are probably going to delve into the Underdark tomorrow, so it's high time I get all that sorted.  Luckily, it gave me the opportunity to dig into Patrick Stuart's Veins of the Earth in greater detail.  (I also finally detailed the main tunnels winding underneath the Sorrowfell Plains.)

The following forms the network of caves known as "the Trials of the Chained."  (If you're playing along at home, the entrance to this network is in Hex 90.46.  Or more accurately, under it.)  Black represents the tunnels formed by Torog's torturous descent into the depths.  Blue represents the subterranean descent of the River of Tears as it winds its way through the earth.  Red represents some old mining earthworks, probably crafted by the Deep Janeen.

Assume standard six-mile hexes.

Click to enlarge.

As for the settlements on the map, they are:

Chooldubrool: Population 950.  This mad kuo-toa temple-city reveres the manufactured deity Turladebaoth, an effigy of mud and bone built along the riverbed.  They additionally serve the aboleth known only as “The Cold Eye of Crushing Aeons.”

Chornodom: Population 155.  This village of the ghouls rests in ancient tunnels, and has secret paths to both the Ghoul Market and the Plane of Dreams.

Cinlu Tlurthei: Population 17,200.  A dark elf metropolis, mentioned a few times in my notes but never detailed until now.

The Citadel of Smokeless Fire: Population 3,100.  This Deep Janeen outpost is run by The Omnipotent Dream of the Mountain's Heart, an efreeti lord.

DA VILG (or DA VILUJ): Population 165.  This village of the Cambrimen sits lazily on the banks of the river.  Their drow “slaves” have actually turned the stupid Cambrimen into their cult.  (“HEER DAH WURD!  DAH SPIDR WURD!”)  The 58 or so Cambrimen can’t figure out that their 107 dark elf “slaves” actually run this village and use it to make note of any threats coming down river so that they can warn their masters in Cinlu Tlurthei.

Redoubt of the Deep Myconids: Population 660.  This colony of 33 myconid circles plumbs the depths of the Cosmic Overmind.

Svirfneblin Trading Post: Population 1,500.  Many travelers in the Trials of the Chained miss this hidden outpost, more properly known as Sulflanur to the Svirfneblin.

Village of the Blind Antler Men: Population 135.  Here the Blind Antler Men live in quiet contemplation, withdrawn from the greater society of filthy humanoids.

I'm also kinda-sorta adapting the out-of-print adventure Hecatomb into a usable adventure for my purposes, so I made a Veins cave network for it.  If you want a big-ass cave network, the Vaults of Gnashing Teeth are also here.  The circled cave is the one that actually contains the Acropolis and the core Vault of Gnashing Teeth from Hecatomb, but of course, do whatever you want with it:

Click to enlarge.

Also, please don't record my terrible handwriting samples for sympathetic magic.