Thursday, July 5, 2012

Mushroom Men

The Mushroom men or Myconoids are strange humanoids that emerged on Earth in the ages after Man.  Treated with mistrust by dwarves for their pranksterism and purveyance of psychedelic drugs, they'e friends of the satyrs (and some elves) for those same reasons.

These fungal sapients appear as tiny humanoids (6 inches to around 1 foot in height) wearing wide-brimmed hats--actually their “caps.” Leaders among them tend to have red caps while most others have powder blue.  Leaders may also have fleshy tendrils that give the appearance of a beard.

Mushroom men emerge from their underground collectives to explore the surface, trade with other races, or perform odd rituals under the full moon. Myconids are living chemical factories. They generate powdery toxins which they can blow into the faces animal species to cause hallucinations and confusion on a failed saving throw. They can generate other sorts of mind-affecting spores (such as sleep, amnesia, or hypnotism), which the red caps among them may release into the area once per day.

Owing to their fungal biology, Mushroom Men are hard to kill, despite their small size. They get a +2 to all nonmagic saving throws (except fire related), are immune to poisons unless specifically designed for them, and are 25% magic resistant.

MUSHROOM MEN: #App. 2-12; Move 60’; AC 4 HD 1 Atks: 1 (various special like toxin effects)

14 comments:

Chris C. said...

This is super clever. I have an irresistible urge to plant these fellows in my own campaign somewhere.

Tallgeese said...

I'll second that! I was just thinking, "if I ever run DCC, I need to include these folks." What do you think their alignment and deities are? I am thinking about a fungal god with fibers going every whichway. Which woudn't be a half-bad name, either. Whichway.

Stefan Poag said...

Hey --- where did you find that image? I remember that comic from DECADES ago about the headhunters... was it in Heavy Metal? Do you know who the artist is? Thanks

Trey said...

@Stephan - It's from Epic Illustrated #1 and the artist is Arthur Suydam.

Trey said...

@Bill - Thanks! Let me know if you use 'em.

@John - Hmmmm...I would say Chaotic, maybe--though beyond that I don't know. Beyond the psychedelic aspects, mushrooms are saprophytes that feed off things breaking down. As to their deities--I could see it going a lot of different ways. Maybe they have a pantheon or maybe their worship the collective spirit of their minds joined in their mycelium communes--or some combination of both.

The Happy Whisk said...

I had fun reading this post. Thanks.

Gothridge Manor said...

This is all fine and good, but how do they taste with a steak and onions?

Trey said...

@Whisk - Thanks.

@Tim - Mind-altering.

christian said...

Ain't no party like a myconid and satyr party cause a myconid and satyr party don't stop.

Jesse said...

Red caps and beards on the leaders? How Smurf-esque. Nicely done.

Jayson said...

Heads
Heads
HEADS

P.S. Man Myconids are boss.

The Angry Lurker said...

Drug dealers and kept in the dark!

Trey said...

@Jesse - Thanks. Yes, the Smurfs worked themselves in there. Little bastards.

@Jayson - Heads, indeed. :)

@Lurker - Deals in the dark.

richard said...

Ok, next campaign is nothing but mushroom men, octoroks and tharks.