Shambler

Shambler Creature6

N Large Plant

Senses Perception +12; darkvision

Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan (can’t speak any language)

Skills Athletics +16, Stealth +12 (+18 in forests or swamps)

Str +6, Dex +1, Con +5, Int -2, Wis +2, Cha -1

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AC 22; Fort +17, Ref +11, Will +14

HP 120; Immunities electricity; Resistances fire 5

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Speed 20 feet, swim 20 feet

Melee [one-action] vine +17 (reach 10 feet), Damage 2d8+8 bludgeoning plus Grab

About

Shamblers are cunning carnivorous plants that resemble heaps of wet, rotting vegetation. Even when standing erect on their stumpy legs, shamblers don’t have much in the way of identifiable anatomy; they are tangles of parasitic vines that lash out at prey with their longest creepers, entwined together to deliver powerful blows. Sometimes called ” shambling mounds,,” these ambush predators have a particular fondness for flesh, and are most well known for their ability to hunker down and hide in plain sight. A shambler can draw nutrients from plant matter or soil, but won’t do so if it suspects meat might soon wander near, and indeed may lie in wait for days in anticipation of such a meal.

Shamblers are usually solitary creatures. Fierce thunderstorms are among the few events that bring numerous shamblers together. During such gatherings, the plants gather around strange but seemingly sacred earthen mounds in remote jungles and swamps and cavort and caper excitedly, stretching their tendrils toward the sky to hope for-or perhaps to summon-intense Lightning strikes.

Not only are these strange plants unharmed by even the most powerful electrical strikes, but they seem to become supernaturally empowered by such bursts of raw energy. Shamblers consider being struck by Lightning a sign of divine favor, and those shamblers frequently blasted by bolts of electricity become respected (and powerful) elders among their kind. Shambler elders are few and far between and may possess a wide array of abilities; some can cast primal spells, others can empathically call upon the aid of other shamblers in the area, and still others wield awesome powers over electricity.

Other types of shamblers exist, including those composed not of plant matter but fungal growth. These creatures, known as ” spore mounds,,” discharge clouds of toxic spores from their bodies when struck in combat. In semiarid deserts, shambler-like plants called tanglethorns dwell amid sagebrush and rock formations; they resemble bunches of tumbleweeds and cacti and inflict deep, bloody lacerations with their attacks.