Miniature Monday! Shamble On

We’re humming this week’s installment of Miniature Monday to that catchy “Wild Thing” tune by The Troggs. Let’s take a closer look!

Today we’re featuring menacing The Shambler from the Depths of the Savage Atoll series by Ec3D Designs. This walking weed is a classic monster that meshes perfectly with any murky, swamp-style environment!

You can tell just by looking at our viney villain that it is a force to be reckoned with due to its freakish long “arms” and threatening attack posture. And you can just feel this compost collection staring you down as you step foot on its swampy turf.

A lot of veteran D&D players in particular have a rather soft spot for the Shambling Mound creature because, after all, it’s among the first bad guys to appear in the first edition Monster Manual back in 1977. A tip of the cap for Spes Magna Games, who wrote a nostalgic blog post on their “favorite elemental/plant” – we enjoyed the read. 🙂

The Shambler was first described as a heap of rotting vegetation, although in reality, it’s (sorta) an intelligent form of rotting vegetable life that suffocates prey. EC3D Designs helped bring this 3D Print to life by adding some creepy crawly bugs and mushroom sprouts to its flowing body.

The modern 5E version of this all-consuming devourer from D&D Beyond is a true thumper filled with a fierce multi-attack and engulf feat (that you reallllllly don’t want to fail your grapple save on). Another cool aspect is the lightning damage effects and how this bad-ass ball of decaying leaves, vines, and roots, actually absorbs that type of hit. As DM Ben always says, “Know your damage types, people!”

Lastly, if you’re looking for a fun monster house rule here – the DM could have a few of those little bodily mushroom sprouts spring off its base during combat! The Shambler is typically the type of enemy a lower-level party is going to encounter in solo form. Thus, DM Ben likes to introduce additional elements to the fight so that the enemy battle will extend more than 1 or 2 rounds and end up being a memorable event.

Those mushrooms can be a sort of low-level Violet Fungus or Death Cap stat block with minor hit points but enough heft and quantity to tie up a few of the party’s swords in the early stages of battle.