Mush Marcher

Large plant, neutral

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 85 (10d10 + 30)
Speed 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	7 (–2)	14 (+2)	3 (–4)

Skills Perception +4
Damage Vulnerabilities thunder
Condition Immunities blinded
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 14
Languages understands Common, plus one language known by its grower, but can’t speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Keen Hearing. The mush marcher has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.
• Partial Echolocation. The mush marcher’s blindsight is reduced to 10 feet while deafened.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The mush marcher makes two Spore-Laced Claw attacks or one Mycelial Harpoon attack and one Spore-Laced Claw attack.
• Mycelial Harpoon. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 15/30 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage, and the harpoon sticks in the target if it is a Medium or smaller creature. While the harpoon is stuck, the target takes 7 (2d6) piercing damage at the start of each of its turns, the mush marcher can’t make Mycelial Harpoon attacks against other targets, and the target and mush marcher can’t move further than 30 feet away from each other. A creature, including the target, can take its action to detach the harpoon by succeeding on a DC 13 Strength check. Alternatively, the mycelial thread connecting the mush marcher to the harpoon can be attacked and destroyed (AC 12; hp 10; vulnerability to thunder damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage), dislodging the harpoon into an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target and preventing the mush marcher from using Recall Harpoon.
• Spore-Laced Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) poison damage.
• Slowing Spores (Recharge 5–6). The mush marcher releases spores from its cap. Each creature within 20 feet of the mush marcher must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 18 (4d8) poison damage and is poisoned. On a success, a creature takes half the damage and isn’t poisoned. While poisoned in this way, a creature’s speed is halved. A poisoned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

BONUS ACTIONS

• Recall Harpoon. The mush marcher pulls on the mycelial threads connecting it to its harpoon, returning the harpoon to its empty hand. If the harpoon is stuck in a creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 15 feet toward the mush marcher.

ABOUT

A hulking red and white mushroom stomps forward. As it patrols, the gills beneath its cap taste the air for any sign of movement. When a ritual is performed on a patch of moondrop agaricus on the night of a full moon, the fruiting bodies of these rare mushrooms begin a slow transformation. By the next full moon, between one and three of these mushrooms sprout to a great size, uprooting themselves with three thick legs and patrolling the nearby area, awaiting orders.

Loyal Minions. Mush marchers are friendly and loyal to their grower, following their orders almost instinctively. If its grower is especially neglectful or cruel, a mush marcher abandons them, setting out to find a new purpose in life, becoming hostile to its grower only as a last resort. While obscure, the ritual to create mush marchers overlaps many disciplines, and druids, alchemists, and wizards might stumble across the ritual needed to create them. Thus, mush marchers can be found in druidic groves, wizard towers, priestly caverns, or hidden laboratories in cities and villages.