Mycelioids
Fungal Folk
Distant relatives of Myconids, Mycelioids are parasitic mushrooms who infect adventurers in order to gain a humanoid body. Despite their parasitic nature, Mycelioids are not inherently evil and actually are a rather quiet race who prefer to keep to themselves and only interfere if they need a new host or decide that they must interfere to stop or cause a significant event to come to pass in the future. Mycelioid minds and control over their hosts decay over the years and once they age past 300 they began to grow exponentially and become immobile as they unintentionally root themselves in the ground and slowly delve further and further into delusions and madness. Many Mycelioid communities will have dedicated gardens where they keep and care for those past the age of 300, now dubbed Elders. Looking after these elders is considered a great honor in Mycelioid society and those who have been tasked with doing so are considered to be local heroes and are treated with great respect.
Bane to Adventurers
Mycelioids start out as sentient mushrooms without humanoid bodies. Lying in wait deep in mushroom forests, they pulse darkness rather than light in an attempt to lure curious adventurers near. If an adventurer comes close enough, the mushroom puffs spores out and infects adventurers. The original mushroom stays rooted in place where it was while the spores work their way through the victims body into the brain and swiftly take control of the body. The original mushroom then uses the spores to control the body like a drone and unintentionally mutate the body into a horrifying combination of corpse and fungus over time. The original mushroom retains all memories of what the host does while under its control, with the exception of class abilities, as the act of doing them can be remembered but the method on how to do them always remains too fuzzy to be useful after the host is destroyed. The mushroom can only stop controlling a host when the body is destroyed and can only control one host at a time Mycelioids can only infect humanoids. When the host is destroyed, the original mushroom retains the memories of the host and can spread its spores to adventurers again restarting the cycle. Especially clever Mycelioids carefully carry their original mushroom with them so that they can infect a new host sooner, but they must be careful. If the original mushroom is destroyed the Mycelioid dies instantly.
Mycelioid Names
Mycelioids do not typically take names within their society, instead they are proud to boast that they simply "know" each other and have no need for names. If a Mycelioid does travel outside their society or come into contact with an outsider they wish to commune with, they simply use the same name their current host had.
Mycelioid Traits
Unlike their diverse Myconid cousins, Mycelioids all share somewhat similar physical features and traits.
Ability Score Increase. You gain your hosts ability score increase. For example, if your current host is a high elf, your Dexterity increases by 2 and your Intelligence increases by 1. Meanwhile, if your host is a half orc, your Strength score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Your kind reach maturity in their early 20s and are technically immortal, though as they age past their second century their minds begin to deteriorate and your fungal body grows uncontrollably. Members of your kind older than 300 years are typically mad and monstrously mutated beyond any
semblance of sanity or cohesion.
Alignment. Your kind has a long-term view of the world around them, preferring to allow events to progress naturally. Your kind interferes only when they believe it will have extremely long-term consequences and as such have neutral tendencies.
Size. Your people typically grow and expand within their host until they are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your kind move slowly, but in a particularly horrifying or threatening way. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You have a +2bonus on Charisma (Intimidation) checks on turns that you have utilized your movement speed.
Earth Attuned. Your kind are naturally attuned to the rock and soil and can sense subtle shifts in the earth. You have tremorsense in a 60-foot range, this ability only functions on natural earthen substrates such as rock, sand, or soil and does not function on worked stone or any artificial surfaces.
Pacifying Spores. As an action, you can eject spores at one creature you can see within 15 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Constitution modifier, on a failed save they become stunned for 1 minute or until the next time it takes damage. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Once you use this trait in this way, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Hallucinogenic. Your fungal body is naturally hallucinogenic to other creatures. You can produce 1 gp worth of this hallucinogenic by spending 10 minutes harvesting unessential pieces of your body. If you do, you cannot do so again for the next 24 hours. Whenever a creature hits you with a bite attack or other natural attack that uses their mouth, they must make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + plus your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save they become confused by hallucinations until the end of their next turn and must roll a d10 on the following table and follow its results:
- 1: The creature uses all its movement to move in a random direction. To determine the direction, roll a d8 and assign a direction to each die face. The creature doesn't take an action this turn.
- 2-6: The creature doesn't move or take actions this turn.
- 7-8: The creature uses its action to make a melee attack against a randomly determined creature within its reach. If there is no creature witin its reach, the creature does nothing this turn.
- 9-10: The creature can act and move normally.
Inborn Weakness. Your mutation and continuous degradation of your hosts body makes you more vulnerable to assaults that wouldn't phase more robust creatures. Your hit point maximum decreases by 1 (to a minimum of 1), and it increases by 1 less every time you gain a level (minimum of 0).
Xenophobic Speech. Your kind ahs only recently begun to interact with other peoples. Their numerous languages are strange and unfamiliar to you. You know how to speak, read, and write Mycelioid. You can speak, read, and write Common but with great difficulty. You make all checks relating to speaking, reading, writing, or understanding languages besides Mycelioid at disadvantage.
Hideous Appearance. Your kind possess blatant and unnerving features that are difficult to hide. You have a +5 bonus to Charisma (Intimidation) checks and you make all Intelligence and Charisma (Deception) checks made to disguise or hide your true nature at disadvantage.
Fungal Body. You have the plant creature type.