Homebrew Shroomfolk Species Details

“Frankly I despise them. They’re nothing more than decomposers sucking out the magic from those around them.”

— An elven wizard later eaten by a giant Shroomfolk

Shroomfolk are fungus-shaped creatures at home in an enchanted forest. They have a spongey body varying from milky white to dark brown. At smaller sizes, Shroomfolk may have basic little arms with small thumbs and stubby digits. They would also have almost no legs at this point, just having basic feet. However, with larger Shroomfolk, the body becomes more defined up until they reach a point where they grow so large that their bodies become that of a large orc's. If they go even further beyond, it eventually gets to a point where the body becomes unnaturally muscular and the moderate intelligence the Shroomfolk had turns to sudden madness at the craving for more magic. Note that if a Shroomfolk has its magic drained in some way, they shrink down and regress mentally.

History

After retiring from adventuring, Gemma Lifebloom, a revolutionary dwarf druid, found solace in extending her near limitless magic into the flora she grew around her, creating the first magical forests and subsequently the Shroomfolk. Gemma did not directly give fungi a stretch of her magical power, but rather they inherited it. As decomposers, fungi survive off of decomposing plants and animals, ingesting their nutrients, and in this case, even their magic. This infusion of magic into mushrooms empowers them to develop very basic limbs and facial features, granting them the ability to properly move from one place in the forest to another. This is when a mushroom first becomes Shroomfolk. All they want in this stage of their “aging” is to further ingest magic. After ingesting even more magic, the Shroomfolk grow in size to roughly 2 feet tall, gain a consciousness capable of learning at a similar rate to a young adult, and develop toes and thumbs. This is also when Shroomfolk develop an internal structure capable of eating regular food. Note that most Shroomfolk explore outside of the forest around this time and usually never return. However, it’s not unheard of for a Shroomfolk to continue growing past this stage, often becoming giant fungal monstrosities with an endless hunger to consume all around them, particularly things infused with magic.

Society

Shroomfolk play a very strange role in a magical forest. Being mushrooms who suddenly have legs, they have the benefit of being able to choose where to root themselves and even have a proper digestive system for eating directly. They can either sit still and decompose things as they come or they can play the role as essentially magic vultures. More specifically, they hunt in packs and search for something dead or something magical. A couple of Shroomfolk could pick apart an entire deer in a few minutes, but they really love the taste of magic. Usually via proximity to magical weapons or wondrous items, they can grow even bigger and stronger. Some Shroomfolk can even cast spells, expelling the magic stored in them like wringing out a sponge. This is highly rare, however, as Shroomfolk usually would rather not spend away their life force to cast firebolt.

Shroomfolk Names

Shroomfolk actually have thousands of genders, with almost no defining features between each. This makes gender-based names practically impossible. Instead, they often name themselves or their adventuring crew based on the naming systems of other races or based on some kind of defining feature of the particular Shroomfolk.

Other Race Names: Bhag The Tiny, Murmyr, Adran, First

Defining Feature Names: Chipcap, Squish, Thickcap, Daff

Racial Feats

As a Shroomfolk, you gain certain options for growth unavailable to other races. When reaching a level in a class that gives you an Ability Score Improvement, upon DM discretion, you can instead take one of the following feats:

Bouncy

You learn to use your race’s sponginess to your advantage, gaining the following benefits.

• Gain +1 to Dexterity to a maximum of 20.
• Your long jump increases up to 25 feet and your high jump increases up to 15 feet with or without a running start.
• When a creature makes a standing or running high or long jump while within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to allow them to bounce off of your head, adding an additional 10 feet to their jump distance until the end of their turn.

Fungal Friend

A small mushroom of the same subrace type as you begins to grow out of your body (Usually the lower body or the top of your cap). After an hour, this mushroom sucks enough magic out of your body to grow little nubby arms and legs, have a little face, and gains the intellect of a small animal such as a rat or bunny. It then separates from you and acts as a companion. Your mushroom companion acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, any mushroom companions you have take their turns immediately after yours. While one of your companions is within 10 feet of you, you can fully understand its intent telepathically. When a companion drops to 0 hit points, it shrivels and dies. If any companion dies, you can grow a number of them back equal to the number of times you took this feat minus the number of companions still alive after focusing on it over the course of a short or long rest. You can take this feat multiple times, in which you’ll be able to have multiple companions at once

Shroomfolk Traits

As a Shroomfolk, you gain certain options for growth unavailable to other races. When reaching a level in a class which gives you an Ability Score Improvement, upon DM discretion, you can instead take one of the following feats:

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity and Constitution score each increase by 1.

Age

Shroomfolk will wilt away after around a year without absorbing magic from another being but with enough magic could potentially grow and live forever.

Alighnment

Most adventurous Shroomfolk are Lawful Neutral, preferring to follow the rules of nature first and foremost, while other Shroomfolk are Chaotic Evil, preferring to fulfill their need to consume all magic over anything else.

Size

Shroomfolk who become adventurers are generally at least 2 feet tall and around 20 pounds. Your size is Small. However, a shroomfolk who consumes magic and never dispenses it over a long period of time could grow to the size of an orc or larger. At DM discretion you can replace your size with Medium and change your base walking speed to 30 feet.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Spore Launch

You can use your action to shoot a blast of fungal spores out of your body in a 5 by 40-foot line toward a creature in range. This is very painful to do. When using this ability, you immediately take 1d4 necrotic damage. Have your target roll a Constitution check against your Spore Launch DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. If they fail, they take 2d6 damage of a type determined by your subrace, and a small mushroom grows on their body near the point of impact. If they succeed, they take 1d6 damage and a mushroom doesn’t grow on them. You can use this trait once, regaining use after you finish a short or long rest.

Languages

Shroomfolk don’t have a specific language, but can fully understand the intent of any other Shroomfolk within 10 feet of themselves. You can also read, write, and speak Common.