Mindrot Thrall

Medium plant, neutral

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 82 (11d8 + 33)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	14 (+2)	17 (+3)	11 (+0)	14 (+2)	6 (-2)

Saving Throws Con +5
Damage Immunities acid, poison
Damage Resistances bludgeoning and piercing from nonmagical weapons
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned
Senses tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages understands Common but cannot speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Special Traits

• Fungal Aura. A creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of a mindrot thrall must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become infected with mindrot spores.

Actions

• Multiattack. The mindrot thrall makes two claw attacks.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage.
• Acid Breath (Recharge 4-6). The thrall exhales a blast of acidic spores from its rotten lungs in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area takes 36 (8d8) acid damage, or half damage with a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. If the saving throw fails, the creature is also infected with mindrot spores.
• Mindrot Spores. Infection occurs when mindrot spores are inhaled or swallowed. Infected creatures must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw at the end of every long rest; nothing happens if the saving throw succeeds, but if it fails, the creature takes 9 (2d8) acid damage and its hit point maximum is reduced by the same amount. The infection ends when the character makes successful saving throws after two consecutive long rests, or receives the benefits of a lesser restoration spell or comparable magic. A creature slain by this disease becomes a mindrot thrall after 24 hours unless the corpse is destroyed.

About

A heavily cloaked figure reeks of decay and spreads a floating cloud of spores with every step.

Fungal Rot. Mindrot fungus is an intelligent hive-mind parasite that consumes creatures from the inside out. When inhaled, mindrot spores enter the brain through the bloodstream. As the fungus grows, it dissolves the host’s body and slowly replaces the creature’s flesh with its own. The fungus’s first target is the motor function of the brain. It takes control of the creature’s movement while the victim is still alive and fully conscious-but no longer controls his or her own body! Indeed, sensory awareness may be the last function that the fungus attacks. Eventually, even the victim’s skin and muscle are replaced with fungal fibers. At that point, the affected creature no longer looks like its former self. Such a newly-born mindrot thrall conceals its alarming appearance under heavy robes or cloaks so it can travel without causing alarm.

Spore Blisters. A thrall’s skin is taut and waxy. Blisters form just beneath the surface, and when they grow as large as a child’s fist they burst, releasing a spray of spores. It seeks to infect as many new victims as possible during the few weeks that it survives in humanoid form. At the end of that time, the thrall shrivels to a dried, vaguely humanoid husk. Even a dead mindrot thrall, however, is still dangerous because its half-formed spore blisters can remain infectious for months. Disturbing the husk can burst these blisters and trigger a Mindrot Spores attack.

Dimensional Horrors. Wizards hypothesize the fungus was brought to the mortal world by a shambling horror crossing through a dimensional portal. The remoteness of that wasteland is likely why the mindrot fungus hasn’t destroyed whole cities, though someday it may find a more fertile breeding ground.