Schroom (5e Race)

Schroom

“

You really cannot trust anything. Even the plants are out to get you.

”

Physical Description

By Gabe Kralik

Schrooms resemble sentient mushrooms, like myconids. They vary in appearance heavily as fungi do, and have humanoid bodies. Their forms are called grotesque by some due to their spindly legs and often wrinkled stem flesh. Most have faces just under the cap, and can grow whiskers or fake hairs from their mycelium. They dress very exotically, with objects they gather from the undergrowth in forests and other habitats. They have spread to many environments and adapted thusly.

History

According to a story, the schroom species originated in a small garden that a farmer took care of for a very long time. The farmer threw out the mushroom because he found it ugly and thought it inedible. This mushroom prayed to the gods. After 3 days but, the mushroom died, neglected. From its corpse. Those spores were inhaled by the farmer and he slowly became a mushroom. His limbs developed cysts and they covered his body. The farmer died and the fungus took over. Using the farmer's body, the mushrooms burgeoned into humanoid shapes in mimicry. They popped off the consumed corpse, and thus the schroom were born.

Society

Schroom networks are as complex as the webbed roots of a mushroom below the surface. They typically are arranged in a hexagonal area that expands as more schrooms spring up. Schrooms are asexual producers that use hydra fragmentation to reproduce. However, they require large amounts of protein to do so, and therefore many of their members are dedicated to gathering organic matter from beings of flesh, be they dead carcasses or living prisoners for their spores to feed on. Other members of their communities are infrastructure builders who maintain their expansive web. They are also capable of agricultural exploits, harvesting "fruit" from types of other fungi for food. This society is very egalitarian and there is little center of control. The schrooms seem to orient their tasks themselves via need rather than power structure, making them very efficient at what they do. To them, politics of the other societies seem superfluous.

Schroom Names

The names of schrooms are often very weird, with a tongue like that of eldritch creatures like kha'zath. They have no concept of gender or sex, as schrooms are asexual.

Names: Greemur, Lentle, Capsul, Toresh, Yemi, Hyup, Rewfed, Pettusia

Schroom Traits

Flesh eating mushroom people
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases 1.
Age. Schrooms live short lives, meant to support their community until they are completely decomposed. They live up to about 60 years of age usually.
Alignment. They are very focused on survival and little else, making them very neutral.
Size. Schrooms do not vary too much in height, usually remaining around 3 too 4 feet. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Decomposer. Schrooms are able to digest a variety of rotting, rancid items for nutrition with no side effects. You are immune to being poisoned and diseases from food and drink.
Mycelium Web. As part of a short rest, you can harvest your root fibers to create either a net or 20 feet of hempen rope.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.
Subrace. Choose one from the tree, metal, fire, aqua, and cave subrace.

Tree Schroom

Tree schrooms are very common in the forests they dwell in. In addition to meat, they also keep the environment healthy by eating decaying plants. Their bodies are wooded and usually tinged with moss and hues of brown.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2. You cannot increase an ability score over 20 with this trait as usual.
Nature Walker. Living along with nature has made you very attuned to its signs and such. You are proficient in the Nature skill.
Tree Schroom Weapon Training. You are proficient with shortbows and spears.
Plantoid. Your creature type is plant instead of humanoid. You can attempt to Hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena. However, when you take fire damage, you are frightened until the end of your next turn.
Water Sponge. You have the ability to hold a lot of water in your cells, and you can excrete it as necessary. When standing in a body of water, you can absorb up to 10 pounds of it and retain it in your body as part of an action. You can excrete it as part of a bonus action.

Metal Schroom

Metal schrooms are abnormal sorts of schrooms that grow near areas with rich minerals. They took on the properties of the earth and therefore have a hard exterior and a greyish color.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Hard Shell. While unarmored, your Armor Class is equal to 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
Metal Schroom Weapon Training. You are proficient with shortswords, longswords and handaxes.
Mineral Muncher. Because of how your digestive system works, you may choose to eat rocks, gems, or other such materials instead of normal food.
Miner. Metal schrooms have a good nose for minerals. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check related to finding minerals, you are considered proficient in the Investigation skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Fire Schroom

These schrooms are an oddity, growing primarily in areas rich with volcanic ash, and even near lava flows itself. Fire schrooms are typically reddish or orange in color, and have spores like embers.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Fire Cap. You are resistant to fire damage.
Ember Blast. As an action, you expel burning spores from your cap. Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use this ember blast, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Hardy. You are proficient in the Survival skill.

Aqua Schroom

These schrooms grow in very wet environments, like rainforests and even near coasts. They are adapted to salt and floods, developing specialized gills under their caps so they can float in water and hunt like jellyfish. Their caps tend to be whitish to blue or cyan.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Aqua Schroom Weapon Training. You are proficient with nets, spears and tridents.
Amphibious. You can breathe both air and water.
Floating Cap. Aqua schrooms have special caps that can lock out water and allow them to float. As a bonus action, you seal or unseal your cap. Sealing it makes yourself buoyant, allowing you to float safely at the surface of water, even in heavy seas. If you are submerged, you instead rise steadily to the surface at 50 feet per round, or until you strike an obstacle that blocks your upward movement. While your cap is unsealed, you have advantage on all checks to swim at the surface.

Cave Schroom

Dark and damp places are where these schrooms like to be, and where they grow best. They tend to slime on their bodies and dark colored exteriors. Due to their life in caves, they are better adapted to the dark than other schrooms.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Cave Schroom Weapon Training. You are proficient with greataxes, greatswords and longbows.
Cave Navigator. You are well versed to finding your way even when cut off from natural signs of direction. You have advantage in Wisdom (Survival) checks to navigate cave systems and similar surroundings.
Slime. You have ample amounts of slime on your body, making you a slippery fellow. You have advantage in checks to resist and escape being grappled.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 6''	+1d8	80 lb.	× (1d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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