Shroom with a View

Another week means more wandering monsters of the most menacing kind! Building off our last hamster hijinx entry, let’s take another unique approach to disrupting your game group’s precious Z’s.

Crazy, oddball plants are one of the cornerstones of traveling through an unknown wilderness, so we thought introducing a mushroom-pod-like plant would be especially fun. However, let’s come up with some twists to keep it interesting.

We need the right 3D-printed DnD monster plant, though! For that, we turn to Printable Scenery and their silly-good line of swamps, wild roots, and plants! This no-brainer download set includes a detailed paint guide and DnD 5e monster stats! Eventually, we’ll showcase every STL here (14 in all) because the sculpts are so unique and perfect RPG scatter terrain.

Printable Scenery has dubbed this particular RPG STL a ‘Stone Sprig.” Resident painter Kimmy Utah did an amazing job laying down some color here! She loved all these sculpts so much that she even asked us to print her a set, too! There’s just something about purple on plants that we can’t get enough of, as that color just pops with the greens and browns.

So, let’s set the scene here. The group has picked a posh spot, or so they think, to make camp, and naturally, the party didn’t investigate the surrounding plants with much scrutiny. Plants can be a moody bunch and quite calculated in how to rid their home turf of unwanted guests.

What could our podded mushroom plant do to protect its rightful spot?

• Emit a gaseous cloud.
• Hatch some fungi minions.
• Reach over with vicious vines.
• Release a hail of spiked barbs.
• Self-destruct as a last resort.

We like to pool together a bunch of options to jumpstart our creativity and then pick the trait that speaks to us. 🙂

DM Ben likes the idea of the plant discharging some sort of chemical into the air. But what will that chemical actually do? Once again, let’s lay out a couple of ideas to choose from:

• Charm the player(s) on watch.
• Pass on a disease.
• Save against poison.
• Transmit a rash.
• Emit an alluring scent for other predators.
• Cause false, violent hallucinations.

And just because we’re using one idea from our two bulleted lists doesn’t mean we can’t save them for a future wandering monster plant re-roll, right?!

The DM might start off this Wilderness Trek Wandering Monster encounter by reading the following:

“Your rather uneventful watch continues throughout the evening, and suddenly, you hear some odd rustling just off the vegetation edge line of the camp. The movement is strong enough that you suspect someone or something might be hiding within this tall, purple-podded plant!”

Place the plant on the gameboard as close to their camp as possible. The DM can request several checks here: Perception, Nature, and/or Survival. Play these checks up to draw the character(s) closer to the odd, nearby rustling. We’re describing this odd plant-shaking movement to really pique their curiosity.

It’s a tough call to determine whether the group will ultimately keep its distance or muster the courage to get closer. Sometimes, players can be such chickens.

Describe the out-of-place plant just like our paint job: “You see twisted tree plant holding these vibrant purple pods. The mysterious plant is trembling in place, and the vibrations rapidly increase before suddenly…boom! Numerous pods pop off and thrust up into the air. Poof! It looks like a fireworks display gone wrong on the launch pad!”

So, feeling cornered, our cranky plant suddenly emits a gaseous cloud that covers a 30-foot radius. Anyone within the hazardous haze must make a Constitution Saving Throw, DC 17, or take 2d6+2 poison damage and be charmed for 1 minute. While charmed, our plotting plant directs each affected character to attack their cohorts.

The Stone Sprig has self-destructed so there’s no need for the players to try and kill it. However, the pod shells are insanely hard; Faeries love to use them for armor, so the explosion will also rain down an additional 2d8+1 of shrapnel damage (DC 15 Athletics to save for half).

Now, it’s up to the party to figure out how to survive for the next 10 rounds as charmed vs uncharmed go head to head!

Until next time!