Myconid, Deathcap

Deathcap flesh ranges from white to pale gray to a warm yellow-orange. Their heads resemble fungal caps, often either red with white spots, red at the center with a brown edge, or a bluish-purple tone. Although deathcaps have vicious-looking fanged mouths, they use them only to ingest earth or mineral nutrients.

Medium plant, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 90 (12d8 + 36)
Speed 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	10 (+0)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)	11 (+0)	9 (-1)

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Special Traits

• Distress Spores. When a deathcap myconid takes damage, all other myconids within 240 feet of it sense its pain.
• Sun Sickness. While in sunlight, the myconid has disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. The myconid dies if it spends more than 1 hour in direct sunlight.

Actions

• Multiattack. The myconid uses either its Deathcap Spores or its Slumber Spores, then makes a fist attack.
• Fist. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (4d4 + 1) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (4d4) poison damage.
• Deathcap Spores (3/day). The myconid ejects spores at one creature it can see within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 3 rounds. While poisoned this way, the target also takes 10 (4d4) poison damage at the start of each of its turns. The target repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Slumber Spores (3/day). The myconid ejects spores at one creature it can see within 5 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or fall prone and unconscious for 1 minute.

About

Mushroom Farmers. These sentient mushroom folk tend the white forests of fungi in the underworld and are allies of the darakhul. Despite their ominous name, deathcap myconids are chiefly farmers. They cultivate dozens of species of mushrooms anywhere they have water, dung, and a bit of earth or slime in the underworld deeps. For this reason, other races rarely attack them. The ghouls do not eat them, and they cannot be made into darakhul.

Toxic Spores. Although deathcaps are mostly peaceful, their spores are toxic and sleep-inducing. They make excellent allies in combat because their abilities tend to punish attackers, but they aren’t especially lethal on their own. They use their poison and slumber spores to full effect against living creatures; they typically flee from constructs and undead. They count on their allies (carrion beetles, darakhul, purple worms, dark creepers, or even various devils) to fend off the most powerful foes.

Clones. Deathcap myconids live in communal groups of related clones. They reproduce asexually, and an elder and its offspring can be nearly identical in all but age. These clone groups are called deathcap rings.

Myconids build no huts or towns, but their groups are defined by their crops and general appearance. Indeed, many sages claim that the deathcaps are merely the fruiting, mobile bodies of the forests they tend, and that this is why they fight so ferociously to defend their forests of giant fungi.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Beasts. Copyright 2016, Open Design; Authors Chris Harris, Dan Dillon, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, and Wolfgang Baur.

Myceloid CR 4

XP 1,200
NE Medium plant
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+6 natural)
hp 37 (5d8+15)
Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +4
DR 5/slashing; Immune plant traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10, sonic 10
Weaknesses vulnerable to electricity

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +6 (1d6+3 plus disease)
Special Attacks spore cloud
Spell-Like Ability (CL 6th; concentration +6)

1/day—spore domination (DC 14)

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 11, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 16
Feats Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Perception +6, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +9, Survival +5; Racial Modifiers +4 Sense Motive, +4 Survival
Languages Undercommon; telepathy 60 ft. (myceloids and purple pox sufferers only)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Disease (Su)

Purple Pox: inhaled or injury; save Fort DC 15; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d2 Wis and 1d2 Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves.

A creature that dies of the purple pox becomes bloated over the course of 24 hours, after which its body bursts open, releasing a fully grown myceloid. Additionally, as long as a creature takes at least 7 points of Wisdom damage from the purple pox, it must make a DC 15 Will save each day to avoid becoming affected by a lesser geas (no HD limit) that compels the sickly character to seek out the nearest myceloid colony in order to offer itself up for spore domination. The save DCs are Constitution-based.

Spore Cloud (Ex)

Once per day as a standard action, a myceloid can expel a 10-foot-radius burst of spores centered on itself. This cloud persists for 1d3 rounds. Any creature caught in this cloud or that moves through it is exposed to the myceloid’s purple pox disease—a creature need save only once against any one spore cloud, however, before becoming permanently immune to that particular spore cloud’s effects. The spore cloud does not hamper vision.

Spore Domination (Sp)

This spell-like ability functions as charm monster, but functions only against creatures currently infected with purple pox.

ECOLOGY

Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, band (3-24), or colony (25-250)
Treasure standard

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Jesse Benner, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, Michael Kenway, Rob McCreary, Patrick Renie, Chris Sims, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.