Amphibious: The Tardihog can breathe air, water and can even survive in the vacuum of space without air.
Innate Spellcasting. The Tardihog's fungal symbiote allows it to cast spell-like abilities through the spores it produces. The Tardihog's innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13). The Tardihog can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: Dancing Lights, Druidcraft, Goodberry, Guidance, Resistance
1/day each: Charm Person, Cure Wounds, Faerie fire, Infestation, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, Shillelagh.
Precognitive Milk: The Fungus that grows on the back of a Tardihog secretes a kind of milk, laced with hallucinogenic spores which can be consumed to give a creature a brief glimpse into possible future events or universal truths. Once per day, a creature may attempt to convince the Tardihog to produce this milk with a successful DC 15 Animal Handling check. If the Tardihog considers someone a friend, they have an advantage on this check. Consuming the milk casts the Augury spell for the person drinking it.
The Tardihog can produce enough of this milk for a single casting of Augury per day, and milking the Tardihog takes 10 minutes. Once a Tardihog has been milked in this way, it cannot use this feature again until it finishes a long rest.
If the Tardihog considers itself in danger, if it is being coerced to produce milk by someone it does not like, or if it is being threatened by someone to produce milk; the milk will spoil. If someone consumes spoiled Tardihog milk, they must pass a DC 15 Consitution saving throw, or become poisoned for 24 hours, as they are plagued by horrifying psychedelic illusions.
Regeneration: The Tardihog regains 10 Hit Points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and isn't in sunlight. If the Tardihog takes radiant or fire damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the Tardihog's next turn.
Sun Sickness: While in sunlight, the Tardihog's fungal abilities diminish and whither away. If the Tardihog takes radiant damage or is in direct sunlight, it can no longer use its innate spellcasting.
Bubble Blast.Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) thunder damage. If this attack is made underwater, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take an additional 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage.
Stasis Defense. The Tardihog withdraws into a psionic cocoon, gaining a +4 bonus to AC until it emerges. It can emerge from its shell as a bonus action on its turn. While defending itself in this way, the Tardihog cannot move, cast spells or attack, although it can still communicate telepathically. For as long as the Tardihog remains in its cocoon, it requires no food, water or air to survive.
Precognitive Survivability: When an attacker hits the Tardihog with an attack, it can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.
Description
Fungal Symbiosis: Tardihogs superficially resemble Tardigrades, but are actually enormous and complex ecosystems in themselves. From birth, Tardihogs are host to magical fungi which grow as the main body of the organism does. The Tardihogs consider these fungi a part of themselves and relish in passing on their mycelial allies to their future generations.
The Fungi that sprout from their backs produce a number of beneficial properties and are believed to be the origin of their psionic, telekinetic and otherwise, magical abilities.
Myconid Cattle: Psilocyboid Tardihogs, often called "Shroom Piglets" are generally benign dwellers of the Underdark which produce a variety of fungal spores almost constantly. These spores have a wide range of beneficial properties, which has made them ideal companions and beasts of burden to the Myconid population. Myconids farm Tardihogs not only for their healing, precognitive and protective spores but also for companionship, as Shroom Piglets are incredibly naive and friendly beasts.
Powerful Claws: Shroom Piglets generally tend to avoid combat, being shy and fearful creatures despite their considerable size and potent magical abilities, but if backed into a corner or if their friends are in danger, a Tardihog will usually engage an enemy using their enormous, chitin covered claws!
A Shroom Piglet has two claws, one smaller claw which it uses mostly as a grasping instrument, and its far larger claw which it uses as both a close combat and a ranged weapon. The Shroom Piglet is capable of clasping its claw with such force that it can send a shockwave of pressurised air over vast distances to assault a foe from range. This adaptation is more potent when submerged underwater than on land, as the collapsing shockwave boils water instantly, causing additional suffering for those who make the mistake of attacking a Tardihog or its friends in the deep oceans.
Uncanny Survivability: Shroom Piglets are incredibly survivable creatures; living almost limitlessly long lives, and returning unscathed from nearly any environment, even the vacuum of space! The only environment which seems to cause a Tardihog any significant difficulty is the surface world when bathed in sunlight.
While the host organism of the Tardihog can survive in sunlight, their fungal symbiote cannot, which often causes Tardihogs to spend their entire lifetimes underground for fear of hurting their fungal friends.
In order to protect themselves and their fungal companions from harm, a Tardihog can envelop itself in a powerful psionic cocoon. While in this cocoon, it cannot move or interact with anything, it must simply wait out whatever threat it faces. This is not a poor or cowardly strategy, however, as, while in this cocoon, a Shroom Piglet hybernates, requiring no food, water or oxygen until it frees itself. This has caused many people to assume that these creatures are among the most durable beings in the world!
Arcane Forge: The Psilocyboid Tardihog was created as a part of a community art stream on the Arcane Forge youtube channel! Look for the arcane forge on Youtube to join in on our next monster creation project!
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Posted Apr 27, 2021Check out the video below to watch how this creature was created!