Shambling Mound

In damp and overgrown corners of untamed forests and murky swamps, the Shambling Mound looms as a menacing and enigmatic creature. With its massive, hulking form, plant-like composition, and relentless hunger for life energy, the Shambling Mound embodies primal nature, voracity, and the eerie merging of vegetation and sentience.

The Shambling Mound is a creature that appears to be composed of decaying vegetation and tangled roots. Its body is a mass of vines, moss, and leaves, held together by an otherworldly energy. It has no discernible face or sensory organs, relying on its ability to sense vibrations and movement in its surroundings.

These creatures are often found in environments abundant with plant life, such as marshes and dense forests. They possess a mysterious sentience, driven by an insatiable hunger for life force. The Shambling Mound roams the wilderness, absorbing and devouring the energy of living creatures and decaying organic matter to sustain itself.

The Shambling Mound’s touch is deadly, as its body secretes a corrosive enzyme that dissolves flesh and organic matter upon contact. It engulfs its prey, using its massive form and incredible strength to crush and suffocate victims before extracting their life essence. Legends speak of rare Shambling Mounds that have absorbed the souls of powerful creatures, granting them enhanced abilities and an even more insatiable hunger.

These creatures are highly resilient to most forms of damage, owing to their plant-like composition. They possess a natural immunity to electricity and fire, and their mass can regenerate over time if not completely destroyed. They are at home in swampy or waterlogged areas, where their damp and decomposing surroundings aid their survival.

Encountering a Shambling Mound is to face a creature of primordial hunger and unstoppable persistence. Its presence exudes an aura of decay and the eerie merging of life and death. Engaging with a Shambling Mound requires both strategic thinking and resilience, as its corrosive touch, immense strength, and regenerative abilities make it a formidable opponent.

Shambling Mounds bring a touch of primal nature and the eerie allure of sentient plant life to the tapestry of the world. They serve as reminders of the wild and untamed aspects of the natural world, as well as the inherent dangers that can arise from the merging of life and decay. Whether encountered as guardians of forbidden groves, embodiments of corrupted nature, or as ravenous forces of the wilderness, Shambling Mounds add a sense of eerie wilderness, relentless hunger, and the ever-present cycle of life and death to the realms of adventure and exploration.

Special Abilities

Lightning Absorption

Whenever the shambling mound is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt.

Actions

• Multiattack: The shambling mound makes two slam attacks. If both attacks hit a Medium or smaller target, the target is grappled (escape DC 14), and the shambling mound uses its Engulf on it.
• Slam: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
• Engulf: The shambling mound engulfs a Medium or smaller creature grappled by it. The engulfed target is blinded, restrained, and unable to breathe, and it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw at the start of each of the mound’s turns or take 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If the mound moves, the engulfed target moves with it. The mound can have only one creature engulfed at a time.

Proficiencies

• Skill: Stealth +2