Phantom Fungus

[WizO_Dabus]

A phantom fungus appears in the Dungeon #84 adventure, "Dungeon of the Fire Opal," by Jonathan Tweet. It's by the underground stream and effectively "guards" the remains of the abbot and the key that grants easy access to the treasury.

That's the only adventure of which I'm aware that features a phantom fungus.

 

[elmuthalleth]

I never used it , and many monsters with it , but I'm trying to use more variety .

P.S. It's a honor for me to answer a question by the great Monte Cook . Your books are great .

 

[Zappo]

Never used it. But there are heaps of monsters that I've never used; I like to mostly use humanoids and outsiders.

 

[Li Shenron]

Hello Monty!

I am not the best person to ask an opinion about this monster, because I am usually very idiosyncratic versus weirdos creatures. I have never used phantom/violet/shrieker fungi, neither the mentioned ethereal filcher/marauders, gibbering/tall mouthers or similar monstruosities
The reason is that not me and neither any of my players enjoy non-evocative monsters, we like something that the players can recongize and be thrilled or scared from, such as dragons, undead, devils, demons or good-old orcs .
An invisible walking mushroom (although mechanically it's nothing bad) sounds to me possibly one of the least cool thing you may encounter, something potentially on par with vampiric double-headed snails or flying-teleporting patches of rot... Strange to explain, but other weirdos have attracted us more (tendriculous or shambling mound for example have been used more than once), in some cases I believe that a simply better illustration can change the tide in a monster's favor.

 

[Numion]

I have used it. Seemed like just perfect for this damp cavern system located under waterfalls. I had other types of fungi there too, and decided to use the Phantom Fungus to make the encounter a little more special or challenging. PCs hadn't encountered invisible creatures before, so it was a nice introduction.

 

[Piratecat]

Never used it. I'd probably be subjected to "What's wrong? Isn't he a fun guy?" puns, and I never wanted to take the risk. More importantly, I mentally lumped it in with the flumph and the tirapheg: monsters that just weren't scary enough to make the cut.

 

[erian_7]

At least in my gaming circle, the phantom fungus (along with the etheral filcher and digester) fell prey immediately to the "that's the stupidest looking/sounding monster ever" attack. The art for all three entries presents a creature that inspires laughter rather than fear or awe, and that detracts a lot from the DM's ability to effectively use the creatures.

I have, however, used a phantom fungus once. I modifed the lowest level of the Sunless Citadel module, building on the theme that the BBEG was a druid experimenting on creating sentient underground plant life. I then re-populated the whole level with plant creatures to match the theme, including an assasine vine, a yellow musk creeper (which made all the "zombie" goblin and kobold workers for the druid, violet fungi, shriekers, and a phantom fungus. The last three were a security system of sorts. When the shriekers went off, the violet fungi moved to attack whatever set them off. The phatom fungus was a roaming security guard that also responded to the shriekers, coming in a few rounds through combat (when the party thought they had the situation under control). It worked pretty well, providing a nice opening encounter for the party to prepare them for the yellow musk creeper and twig blights later on. I also gave the druid that "greenfire" FR spell that does acid damage without hurting plants (laying a big surprise on the party), but that digresses to another topic...

Back on topic, the encounter worked, but only because the party had no idea what they were facing. Once they saw the picture (after killing the thing and examining the body) the laughs started all around.

So my assessment--decent concept, bad art.


Eric

P.S. Monte, what was the artist (or designer) for the ethereal filcher thinking! Again, a cool concept for a creature, but that has to be one of the most ridiculous looking monster I've ever seen in D&D--ranks right up there with the disenchanter and flumph. I mean, it has a "prehensile foot" and I guess that big protrusion on top is its nose?

 

[Nellisir]

I used a phantom fungus the very first room of the Endless Dungeon, a trans-dimensional dungeon periodically stocked with monsters & treasure by the wizard that built it. The phantom fungus hung out in the old stables, a dark damp area with plenty of fertilizer and access to the outside for hunting (most monsters further in were more intelligent and could manipulate the dungeon layout to exit or enter).

I don't recall the exact details, but it was a pretty easy fight, and at one point I was forced to describe the fungus as "an invisible walking table".

Cheers
Nell.

 

[d20Dwarf]

I put a phantom fungus in the first adventure in my adventure path for Dire Kobold. The characters in my playtest group had a bit of trouble with them (there are two in an area), but I thought they were a really fun change of pace for low-level play.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I'm just curious, because that and the ethereal filcher may be the only two monsters (not counting animals) in the 3E Monster Manual that I've never used outside the initial 3E playtests.

I agree with you about the phantom fungus -- never used it, doubt I ever will -- but the ethereal filcher is another matter. This is a monster that I actually like . Not because I like stealing things from my PCs, but because I can see the monster working in my fantasy world. In fact, they are relatively common, compared to (say) hippogriffs or giants.

Filling out an ethereal filcher's lair is fun. First off, the ethereal filcher explains where all those missing pens and socks went, so there is a lot of junk in the lair. I mean a lot . You can sift through it to find the good stuff, though. Secondly, the filcher can get into its lair without requiring easy access, so it'll try to block the doorway with some of the heavier things its acquired. One of my filchers has used a stolen mill wheel for this purpose, for example. Finally, the odds are that the filcher isn't in its lair anyway, so the creature rewards characters who think to look in the odd corners and hard-to-reach crevices that these creatures like.

Of course, this is all extra detail the I've created to use the monster in my world, but the same really applies to any monster, doesn't it?

Final note: My campaign makes use of the Elder Gods/Far Realm type scenario. Abberations are linked to the Elder Gods, or are their spawn. The ethereal filcher gives me a "soft" abberation less in tune with its creators and more in tune with the world it lives in. The creature looks like an abberation, but it acts almost like a fey.

As far as the ethereal marauder goes, though...blech. Does nothing for me.