Buy me a coffeeShambling Mound
A mass of tangled vines and dripping slime rises on two trunk-like legs, reeking of rot and freshly turned earth.
Shambling mounds, also called shamblers, appear to be heaps of rotting vegetation. They are actually intelligent, carnivorous plants with a fondness for elf flesh in particular. What serve as a shambler’s brain and sensory organs are located in its upper body. Shambling mounds typically have an 8-foot girth and stand between 6 and 9 feet tall. They weigh about 3,800 pounds.
Shambling mounds are strange creatures, more akin to animate tangles of creeping parasitic vines than single rooted plants. They are omnivorous, able to draw their sustenance from nearly anything, wrapping their creepers around living trees to draw forth the sap, sending rootlets into the soil to absorb raw nutrients, or consuming flesh and bone from crushed prey.
Shamblers are frighteningly stealthy in their native environments. Blending in with the surrounding terrain, they can lie in wait for days on end without moving, waiting patiently for a potential meal. A shambler could be almost anywhere at any time, attacking without warning and not caring whether it leaves any survivors, so long as it acquires its next meal.
Shambling mounds normally lead solitary, nomadic existences in deep forests and fetid swamps, although they can also be found underground living among damp fungal thickets. Disturbing rumors persist, however, of shamblers gathering in strange congregations around great earthen mounds in the depths of marshes and jungles, often during the height of violent electrical storms. Their reasons for doing so are unknown, and many sages have wondered whether there is some obscure and alien purpose at work.
Shambling Mound
A mass of tangled vines and dripping slime rises on two trunk-like legs, reeking of rot and freshly turned earth.
Large plant, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (16d10 + 48)
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 (+4) | 8 (-1) | 16 (+3) | 5 (-3) | 10 (+0) | 5 (-3) |
Skills Stealth +2
Damage Resistances cold, fire
Damage Immunities lightning
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
- Lightning Absorption: Whenever the shambling mound is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt.
Actions
- Multiattack: The shambling mound makes two slam attacks. If both attacks hit a medium or smaller target, the target is grappled (escape DC 14), and the shambling mound uses its Engulf on it.
- Slam: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
- Engulf: The shambling mound engulfs a Medium or smaller creature grappled by it. The engulfed target is blinded, restrained, and unable to breathe, and it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of the mound’s turns or take 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If the mound moves, the engulfed target moves with it. The mound can have only one creature engulfed at a time.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Shambling Mound CR 6
XP 2,400
N Large plant
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-Light vision; Perception +11
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+10 natural, –1 size)
hp 67 (9d8+27)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +5
Defensive Abilities plant traits; Immune electricity; Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee 2 slams +11 (2d6+5 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (2d6+7)
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 10, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 9
Base Atk +6; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 22
Feats Cleave, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Perception +11, Stealth +8 (+16 in swamps or forest), Swim +13; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth (+12 in swamps or forests), +4 Perception
Languages Common, Sylvan (cannot speak)
SQ electric fortitude
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Electric Fortitude (Ex)
Shambling mounds take no damage from electricity. Instead, any electricity attack used against a shambling mound temporarily increases its Constitution score by 1d4 points. The shambling mound loses these temporary points at the rate of 1 per hour.
ECOLOGY
Environment temperate forest or marshes
Organization solitary
Treasure standard