Vaguely OSR D&D monster inspired by the “unexpected and magnificent” animal kingdom showcased in The Modern Bestiary [Joanna Bagniewska].
Pandemonium Fungus
The affliction of cozy shires and industrious towns alike, fungal pandemonium spends 17 years dormant before striking a fresh generation of human adults. Children are not commonly inflicted. Indiscriminate strains have been outcompeted by strains that left survivors. The fungal spores wake with the winds of spring and strike before the tiring heat of the summer. The onset is a sudden preoccupation of a before-unobserved phenomena. This phenomena can be nearly any behavior, practice, or indulgence although the strongest waves of infection are attenuated to a peculiarity of children or adolescents. [See the Satanic Panic]
Unknowingly and efficiently spreading the spores, frequent gatherings are held to discuss the concerning development. Even aloof individuals find themselves sucked in by the fervor. Local gatherings are not enough. There must be shouting and chanting, accompanied by a torrential expulsion of fanatical missionaries for the cause. “This cannot stand! X will destroy all we stand for! Think of the children!” The children are in turn cowed or repulsed by this turn of opinion. [Insert something innocuous/obscure like candlelicking, bookbinding, or animal cohabitation]
The lifecycle of the fungus is invisible as it runs its course for approximately 3-9 months, except in certain individuals with a susceptibility to psychotic warfare. These unfortunates are the Consumed. The fungus opts to abandon the mere external outpost for complete consumption of the host. Internal digestive and circulative processes are replaced by the fungus, turning their flesh a mottled gray with splotches of unnourished black. Rambling from town to town, they seek to rave about their concerns and grow increasingly violent in a pursuit of “knowledge”. This leads to unfortunate incidents where benign libraries are torn apart, trusted officials suffer cranial extractions, and mundane monuments of progress are vandalized.
Commonly manifests as streaks of gray or white in the hair. Killed by saltwater, fire, rigorous academic engagement, and immersion in a more solid than liquid substance such as pond-muck or gelatin. Corvians think the fungus makes an excellent snack and exchange bits of paper with the Consumed. [Paper contaminated by corvians may be a vector for spread.]
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| Name | Consumed |
| HP | 2 HD |
| AC | As Leather (minimal vitals, constantly dodging) |
| Move | Can seep up sheer surfaces. |
| Morale | 8 |
| Reaction | -2 (modify further by relation to concern) |
| Trait: Concern | Obsessive object that drives all behavior and is the result of the fungal infection. Thinks of the concern like a scourge upon society and a partition between us and them. Has distorted view of self: savior, purifier, stalked. |
| Passive: Spore Explosion | When physically hurt, ejects spores into the air causing all NEAR sapients to SAVE or develop a Concern. |
| Action: Scratch/Bite/Stab | Any available means to lash out for 1d4 + 1 necrotic. |
| Action: Crow Call | Screeches and holds out an encrusted limb for its avian ally. The crow acts on the Consumed’s turn. It will take the Harass action [giving disadvantage to a target by pecking at loose knots/cawing in ears] or the Theft action [steals a small object from a target. Either takes it to the Consumed or drops it FAR away.] |
| No. Appearing [Dungeon, Lair, Wild)] | 1, 4d6, 1 |
| Sign | Snippets of pages and chalky scrapings of fungus |
| Loot | Books, newspapers, legal documents, and past meals are stashed within various folds of skin-melted rags and pocketed fungal outcroppings. Harvested fungal material is worth 200s per pound but requires a check to avoid spore explosion. d4 pounds can be harvested from exposed bits with an EASY check. d4+1 further pounds can be extracted from internal cavities with a MEDIUM check. d4+2 further pounds can be meticulously scraped from the bone marrow and organs with a HARD check. |
special thanks to Massopora Cicadina
Scriptorium Ludi 