Editing Myconid (section)

==Origins & Beginnings==
[[File:Myconid A4 cover.jpg|right|300px]]
[[File: Myconid 1e.jpg|right|200px]]
Myconids made their debut in [[A1-2-3-4: Scourge of the Slavelords|A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords]]. In the foreword to the 2013 reprint collection A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords, author Lawrence Schick writes: "By far my favorite part of the module was creating the myconids and their amusing and alien society. D&D needed mushroom men, and I was proud to provide them. Erol Otus supplied the original concepts. 'What I want,' I told him, 'is the dancing mushrooms from Walt Disney's Fantasia, only sinister.' Being Erol, he knew exactly what I meant, and boy, did he deliver."

Indeed, the front cover of A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords shows some fairly threatening myconids, especially the trio in the background. Given that the fungus men are generally a peaceful race, it is perhaps an unusual way to introduce them, but it is also true that most of the violence on the cover is being done ''to'' the myconids, rather than by them. Perhaps appropriately for fungi capable of causing violent hallucinations, their debut illustration is in vivid colours.

There is a lot of information on myconids packed into In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, not only in their monster entry at the back, but also spanning three pages of the adventure itself. When the adventurers first reach the fungus colony, the creatures they initially encounter are not the myconids themselves, but creatures animated by the myconid king. These monstrosities are a rotting, slime-covered kobold with toadstools growing from its eye sockets; two giant worker ants with drooping antennae and sluggish movements; a fire beetle with no glow and equally sluggish motions; and a human corpse whose flesh has mostly been replaced by a bulbous purple fungus.

Past these animated guardians is the fungus forest where the myconids dwell. All of the myconids' chambers are quite damp, and between the many stalactites stand giant mushrooms and toadstools which occasionally rustle and sway as if touched by an invisible wind. Some of the larger glowing fungi are ambulant, and move slowly around while making grumbling sounds. The myconid village is lit by blue phosphorescent ceiling-mold. Myconid houses are huge, hollow puffball-shaped fungi scattered between other giant mushrooms. The residents enter their homes through self-sealing oval ooze-membranes.

Myconids have bloated, spongy flesh, and vary in colour from purple to grey. Contact with myconids is dangerous, since their skin oozes a substance which does 1-4 poison damage on contact. The only body parts free of the ooze are their stubby hands, each of which has two fingers, plus two opposing thumbs. The description of the fungus farm in the adventure seems to imply that the tiniest myconids begin life attached to the ground, only becoming mobile when they reach a minimum size.

A myconid's abilities vary depending on its Hit Dice. Each myconid community has a single 6 HD king, and the rest vary from 1 to 5 HD. The smallest myconids are two feet tall, and they gain two feet for each additional HD, so that their king towers a full twelve feet tall. The damage they do when clubbing opponents also gradually increases, with 1d4 damage done per HD. There is an even spread of myconid sizes in each community, with the exception of the king, who is always uniquely the largest member of the community. A colony is broken down into a number of "circles" each with (usually) twenty members. A colony might have as many as ten circles, but the group in A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords has only three circles, for sixty myconids in total.

Myconids emit a variety of spores, gaining new types as they grow. All of them begin with the ability to release distress spores, which quickly alert all myconids within 120' of danger. At 2 HD, a myconid gains the ability to emit reproducer spores when new myconids need to be grown. A dying myconid also emits these spores automatically. Myconids cannot speak, so only when they reach 3 HD (and six feet in size) can they communicate with other creatures using their rapport spores. The target of these spores must fail a save against poison (possibly voluntarily) after which he or she can communicate telepathically with that myconid for ten minutes per HD of the myconid.

At eight feet tall, a 4 HD myconid already overshadows most adventurers, but it also has useful pacifier spores. Like the rapport spores, a myconid can only direct the pacifier spores at one target. If the target fails a save vs. poison, it becomes totally passive for as many rounds as the myconid has Hit Dice, unable to react even if attacked.

The fungus folk have a three part daily cycle. For one third of each day, the fungus folk rest (their equivalent of sleeping). For the next third, they farm crops and take care of other work. For the final third, they participate in a collective telepathically-connected hallucination which serves as entertainment, worship and social interaction combined. This activity is known as a meld, and is facilitated by both rapport and hallucinator spores. Once they are in a meld, only distress spores will cause myconids to end it prematurely, for they consider the meld to be the reason for their existence.

The hallucinator spores are produced only by the largest (5 HD, ten feet tall) myconids, and they can also be used as a weapon. Any non-myconid target failing a poison save will either cower whimpering (50%), stare into nothingness (25%), flee shrieking (15%), or attack the closest creature (10%). Myconids can release each of their spore types a number of times per day equal to their Hit Dice.

Towering over all others of his kind is the myconid king. At 6 HD and twelve feet tall, the king is a large, yet solitary figure. Unlike all of the other myconids, he does not participate in the melding process. Instead, the king plans myconid work schedules, deals with affairs external to the colony (such as visitors) and brews potions. The king tries to ensure that the other members of his colony do not have to commit violence, as doing so causes them to experience unpleasant hallucinations during their melds. The other myconids view the king's separation from the circle with horror, but if he dies, the largest remaining myconid will always dutifully accept the dreaded role.

One way the king can protect the colony is by animating guardians. Only the king produces animator spores, and these can be used to infect and animate a recently-deceased corpse. A purple fungus covers an infected body, takes over the internal systems, and animates it. The corpse rises 1-4 days after infection, and it stays active for 2-5 weeks before decaying too much to continue functioning. While it is active, the corpse can be given simple orders using rapport spores. Although it resembles a zombie, and has a similar lack of self-preservation, an animated creature is not undead, and cannot be turned. Animated creatures are slow, and always go last in a round.

The myconids in A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords are hospitable enough, and provided that visitors are not rude or demanding, they will be allowed meet with the king. The king is interested in news from the labyrinth outside the myconids' home, and willing to provide assistance to the adventurers in return for them completing a side quest involving a giant crayfish. If things do not go well during the visit, the myconids will quickly raise the alarm using their distress spores. If the party attempts to flee, the myconids will likely permit them to do so, but if displeased, the king may have them incapacitated by pacifier and hallucinator spores, stripped of all their belongings, and dumped back outside the colony.

Myconids live exclusively underground, have a deathly fear of sunlight, and never venture outside. They are a peaceful race, but do have conflicts with humanoid races over resources. Unfortunately, humanoids and fungoids tend to view each other as disgusting threats. The correct pronunciation of myconid is "MY-ko-nid", according to Dragon #93.

The adventure A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords was reprinted in the edited compilation A1-4: Scourge of the Slavelords, but without the myconid monster entry, since that had in turn been reprinted in the Monster Manual II along with a new black and white illustration. The more recent hardcover compilation A0-A4: Against the Slave Lords included the full text of the original adventure. It also contains an appendix filled with fan-submitted art from the Slave Lords series.

The AD&D hardcover Dungeoneer's Survival Guide is packed with mentions of myconids. They are identified as one of five distinct underground cultures that date back to ancient times, and along with jermlaine, the myconids are the most pervasive of the five, spreading into most of the deeper underground regions. In the section detailing the lands of Deepearth, the myconids dwell in the fungus forest area (obviously). This particular colony is focussed on irrigation, as their forests lack a natural water supply.

GDQ1-7: Queen of the Spiders has a short encounter with a myconid outpost in its "Futher Adventures in the Depths" section. These myconids farm slimes and fungi in a large, open vault also inhabited by formians. The fungus folk and the centaur-ants engage in a form of chemical warfare with each other using slimes, puddings, oozes, and molds. Given that there are 200 myconids and 130 formians resident in the area, this conflict has the potential to erupt into a large scale battle at any time.

Incidentally, those "dancing mushrooms from Fantasia" that inspired the whole thing? They got a more direct translation into the D&D [[multiverse]] as the [[Campestri]], who didn't catch on so well.