Sunday 24 June 2012

Fungal Murderhobos of the Wilds

Hey you! Do you want to play a vicious bastard murderhobo who is also a giant toadstool? Sure, it might be a bit too weird for traditional tastes or insufficiently haut weird for others, but some people want to play a giant toadstool with an incomprehensible agenda, right? Beats playing another bloody elf, amirite?

Myconid Class/Race
Requirements: WIS 9
Prime Req.: Wis, Con
HD: d6
Attacks as: Cleric
Save as: Cleric
Weapons: any 1-handed weapon (melee or thrown missile)
Armour: leather, chain, shield

(or use the Mutant Class from the Mutants & Mazes chapter if you have access to Goblinoid Games damn fine Mutant Future retro-clone)

Oh come on, you know these guys. Big meaty ambulatory shrooms with humanoid limbs and eyespots; pacifist underworld hippies who just want to tend their fungus groves and groove on the communal telepathy spores.

Mycon adventurers are rare in the extreme. No one know why they arise, what their long-term aims are, or exactly what a giant fighting truffle wants with sacks of swag. Its theorised that they're an evolutionary (or possibly a psycho-cultural) response by the Myconid communal intelligences to the threat posed by surface-dweller incursion into the mythic underworld. But who knows what mushrooms think.

Whatever the cause, one of them has left the cave-commune and gone on a looting spree with a bunch of upworlders.

General Guff
Mycons stand about 5' tall and weigh 140lbs on average.
They 'speak' (well, communicate in a weird fungusy way) Mycon and hoot a pidgin Common through their creepy sphinctery mouth holes.
Mycons absorb nutrients through mycelial mass extruded from their footpads when at rest.
They don't sleep, but instead go into extended blissed-out trance/fugue states for 3-12 hours a day (random 3d4 per night). Sleep spells work on Mycons, and push them into this fugue state early.
Their flesh is delicious.

Racial Abilities
Myconids enjoy the following natural advantages:
  • Move silently 2in6 (+1 at levels 4,6,8)
  • Nightvision - see 60' in conditions of non-total darkness (as MF)
  • Chemosynthetic diet - a varient form of Photosynthetic diet, involves the Myconid standing in a pool of biomass while they rest. Can derive sustenance from almost any old crap.
  • Tireless - do not suffer from forced march/lack of rest penalties.
Weaknesses
Coming as they do from a world you may not understand, Myconids suffer a couple of minor hassles:
  • Weak Eyespots ("Funglyboy no like sunlight!") - suffers -2 to hit and all checks in bright light (as Albinism drawback, see MF).
  • Fussy About the Thermostat ("Funglyboy no like hot/cold!") - suffer +2 damage/die from extreme heat or cold (as Thermal Sensitivity drawback, see MF).
  • Alienation ("Funglyboy no like lonely.") - if unable to meld with other Myconids over an extended period suffers fungus equivalent of depression (treat as if cursed, as the spell)

Although unable to cast spells Myconids do gain innate fungus-themed abilities as they advance in level.

Lvl XP       Abilities
1    0          -
2    2,500   Poison spores(1)
3    5K        Fungal rapport(2)
4    10K      -
5    20K      Hallucinatory spores(3)
6    40K      Fungal alchemy(4)
7    80K      Create fungal zombies(5)
8    160K    -
9    320K+  Sporelord of the Mycelial Underlands

footnotes
(1) as Poison Spores power (MF) - 1d6 damage in 10' radius 1/day. Increases to 2d6 dmg, 2/day at 5th level and to 3d6 dmg, 3/day at 9th.
(2) as Neural Telepathy power (MF) or tongues spell (LL), 1/day.
(3) as Mental Phantasm power (MF) or confusion spell (LLAEC), 1/day.
(4) may brew any potion it has previously ingested at zero cost, 1/wk. Yes, this includes poison.
(5) as animate dead spell, 1/day.

Unless otherwise noted rate of ability use increases +1/day per 2 levels after first gaining access to it.

Sporelord of the Mycelial Underlands (name level)
At 9th level a Myconid may establish a colony of their own sporelings in a warm, moist sheltered location cleared of hostile presences. If sufficient biomass is available the Myconid will take root and sporulate, generating 1d6x10 1HD myconid followers practically overnight. The colony will grow in a slow, inexorable, passive-aggressive manner so long as sufficient biomass is available.

Pic Source: Planescape Myconid Sorcerer by sebbythefreak

7 comments:

  1. Awesome. Not only do we need more PC races, but I love mushroom people. They should be everywhere.

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  2. If only to confound your categorizations, let me say that I love this.

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  3. This post is full of WIN. So creative and inspirational. Although, "creepy sphinctery mouth holes" should be listed under racial benefits ;)

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  4. The Rubberduck: Then that's Objective Achieved. :)

    @Anathemata: Everywhere? Give them time...

    @James M: In this instance I'm quite happy to be wrong.

    @Norm H: Can't claim any originality here, just a bit of mudlarking and polishing existing goodness.

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  5. I am too traditional for this! :D

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    Replies
    1. Says the known Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom reviewer. :p

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