Hendrix

Myconid

THE SOFT SQUELCH OF THE COLONY AT WORK MET Inkcap's ears, or what myconids had that you could refer to as ears. It had been many a year since he had left, an unbound myconid without a true home. Since then he had made numerous friends, and they had joined him in his journey home, deep within the underdark. A strange sensation of anxiety washed over him as numerous nearby myconids turned to stop their actions and investigate the newcomers.

-- Me, this Homebrew

Strange terrain, filled with the organic matter and growths of a city made of fungus. Entire caves that glow with bioluminescent lichen. Myconids live in a strange but beautiful paradise of warm, damp climates just perfect for the organisms that thrive there.

Friendly Fungi

Myconids have the unusual honor of being one of the only races to freely exist in the underdark without also being the scourge of the surface world. They welcome outsiders as long as they are respectful and peaceful, and seek enlightenment with a preference to avoid violence whenever possible.

Break the Mold

Myconids come in all shapes and sizes, usually around the size of most humanoids, except for the Sovereign of a colony who is much larger and much more powerful. Their bodies vary from being to being, as diverse and unusual as their mundane fungus counterparts, an alien anatomy to any first time viewers of myconid physiology.

Spreading Spores

Myconid exist and procreate through the spreading of their spores, a practise very much controlled lest they overpopulate their areas and invite destruction via the fear of fellow underdark or through over stretching their resources. A myconids spores are how they communicate and protect themselves, and are as integral to their existence as any of their other properties.

Myconid Names

Myconids do not truly take names whilst within a colony, with unbound myconids being the exception. A myconid has a telepathic essence about them, that other myconids can recognise. Unbound myconids take names when they leave the colony, but as there is no precedence for what names they may take, it is entirely up to what they decide and perhaps what they encounter along their journey. A popular theme is being given a name by an outsider, usually in reference to a mundane fungus.

Myconid Traits

Myconids have several strange properties unique to them, a result of their unchanging forms from more primordial times.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age. Myconids age extremely slowly whilst they remain amongst their colonies. When a myconid chooses - or is forced - to leave, their lifespans begin to shorten. They will die in a few decades if they do not return regularly, and even with regular trips a Myconid will eventually die if it continues to roam.

Alignment. Myconids are a primarily good race, a strange but welcome sight for travelers in the underdark.

Size. Myconids range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall, with a tendency toward thicker stocky builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Spending the majority of their lives underground, myconids have a naturally superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.

Languages. None.

Subraces. Myconids in and of themselves are a fairly singular race, lacking any real racial divides. However, whilst most myconids spend their time underground, the majority of the myconids who roam the surface world are of a different caste. The two main types of myconids seen above ground are the explorative unbound myconids, or the rarer true myconids.

Unbound Myconid

Unbound myconids are an unusual race. Whilst they are still technically a member of their myconid colonies, an unbound myconid is born without the natural connection to it that makes the colony almost a single organism. They are still treated as family, but with an unavoidable distance, which tends to make unbound myconids very singular and closed off.

Ability Score Improvement. Unbound myconids tend to overgrow thanks to their need to rely on themselves to survive, increasing their muscle mass. Your Strength score increases by 1.

Languages. Unbound myconids prepare one another for survival in the outside world. You can speak, read and write Common, and Myconid, a language unique to unbound Myconids.

Poison Resilience. Unbound myconids mutate when they remain disconnected from their colony after birth. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Poison Spores. Once per short rest, as an action you can release a cloud of noxious spores within 10 feet of you. Creatures within range must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 poison damage and become Poisoned until the end of their next turn on a failure. Creatures take half damage on a success.

Fungal Regeneration. Unbound myconids can extend their forms in to the ground to recover at an increased rate. Whilst you are in an appropriate outdoor area, with access to dirt or something similar, you only need 4 hours to complete a long rest.

True Myconid

True myconids are a natural purity that has existed in the underdark since before humans could speak. They possess no true language, just a telepathic ability they can share with their kind and others, lending them an alien mystery.

Ability Score Improvement. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

Rapport Spores. You can extend a 10 foot radius of spores from yourself. These spores can go around corners and affect only creatures with an intelligence of 2 or higher that aren't undead, constructs, or elementals. Affected creatures can communicate telepathically with one another while they are within 30 feet of each other. The effect lasts for 1 hour. You can use this feature three times a day, returning after completing a long rest.

Pacifying Spores. You can eject spores at once creature you can see within 5 feet of you. The target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You can use this feature three times per day, returning after completing a long rest.