Fungal Folk
Anthropomorphic fungi.
Caipin
Anthropomorphic psilocybe mushrooms.
- Alignment : Fey
- Lifespan: 200 years
- Diet: Decaying matter
- Habitat: Tropical and subtropical grasslands
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
They appear to be hominid forms with pointy pellicles as the tops of their heads. They come in many colors, but mostly white, grey, and brown. Some have spots on their caps. About half of them turn blue if they are injured. They stand about 4' tall.
All caipins have the ability to generate psilocybin and release it into the air around them in a 10' radius. Anyone who breathes it in rolls STR and AWA against at least an 8 (some caipins are more powerful). Failure on STR makes them sick; failure on AWA makes them hallucinate.
If the STR roll is a normal failure, the target is nauseated for the next hour. If the roll is a special failure, the target is nauseated to the point of vomiting immediately (effectively LNA). If the roll is an exceptional failure, the target is nauseated to the point of violent vomiting, rolling an STR roll every subsequent round until they succeed the roll, being effectively stunned. On a critical failure, it is the same as an exceptional failure, but they also experience the physical equivalent of a normal wound (-1).
If the AWA roll is a normal failure, the target has mild hallucinations (rippling waves, faint sounds, flickering, auras, distorted thinking) for an hour. On a special failure, they see very intense hallucinations for six hours, often seeming very real. On an exceptional failure, they see what the caipin dictates. On a critical failure, they lose complete touch with reality and believe anything the caipin tells them. They roll must WIL to break free, with penalties based on failure rate (-1 N, -3 S, -6 E, -9 C).
Caipins are not immune to the hallucinatory properties of their spores, but they are immune to the poison. They can control their own hallucinations, as if in a lucid dream.
Their culture was one of deep spirituality, ceremonies, and magic. They dwelled between reality and dream, often going on dream journeys and quests for special wisdom. Their spiritual leaders were the leaders of their entire community, and they would often go on collective dream quests.
Each stage of their lives was dictated by a dream quest. Their first would be at the age of 12. Then every six years, they would have another. These quests would determine their new role in the community, culminating with their ascension to spiritual leader (before retirement). The more of these quests they undertake, the greater their psilocybin spores became.
Caipins dwell mostly in Faerie and lands near it or filled with fey energy. They live in small communities where they engage in storytelling games, seek strange visions, and commune with the flow of magic in the world.
PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 6 AWA 11 WIL 11 PRS 7 STH 9
Chihat
Anthropomorphic mold.
- Alignment : Eldritch
- Lifespan: Unknown
- Diet: Omnivore (ominously)
- Habitat: Underground
- Socioeconomic Status: External
Chihats are 3' tall mold people, slimy mounds that vaguely take on hominid shapes. They have no feet, instead ending in a trail of molded ooze.
Chihats are toxic. Anyone animal or plant who touches them or stands near them and breathes in more than a few seconds will be poisoned (STR vs. power of poison). The poison will cause lung damage and nausea. Any sugary liquid they touch will be fermented; it becomes highly alcoholic, and metals are decayed under their touch.
Those who drink any fermented liquid they create will have visions of the Eldritch, of doom, or of unreal landscapes. They will be maddened.
Their slime bodies are very resistant to physical attacks.
Chihats have a hive mind.
Chihats live underground and worship ancient powers no one truly understands. They communicate silently with one another or through strange growls and gibbers. They are part of an ancient religion worshiping the cosmic powers that ensure the end of the whole universe, which they believe will bring their ascension to a higher state of being. They often witness it through the hallucinations they permanently experience.
They dwell underground, coming up only to plunder magical objects. They are not part of any class; they exist in their own culture and society, waiting for the end. They are effectively a species-wide cult.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 4 vs. Physical 19 AWA 10 WIL 10 PRS 4 STH 9
Dnobsku
Conscious mycelial networks.
- Alignment: Unaligned
- Lifespan: Unknown
- Diet: Nutrients and water
- Habitat: Underground
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Dnobsku appear to be semi-anthropomorphic mycelial beings, vast thready networks in a vaguely bipedal form, that seem to be magenta to most visual perceptions, but are actually an impossible color beyond imagining. They stand about 7’ tall but if they are upside down, horizontal, or differently aligned, their perspective does not change. Thus, some seek to be 7’ wide or 7’ long. They have many limbs.
Dnobsku can touch one another and know everything the other dnobsku knows, fusing their consciousnesses perfectly. They can separate later, containing part of the other consciousness, forming a new one entirely. They are constantly changing because of this in their subterranean communities.
If they touch a non-dnobsku fungal folk, they can still connect consciousnesses, but they do not fully merge nor do they retain anything unless the other willingly gives up some of their mind. If they touch a non-fungal person, they can merely share data and information, not emotions, experiences, magic, or sensations.
Dnobsku have an innate sense of systems and causality that allows them to see how things connect.
The culture of dnobsku is inscrutable to outsiders. They understand the systems of the universe - mundane and magical - in an innate but not explicated way. In other words, they know it instinctually and struggle to express it in a way anyone who isn’t also feeling it would understand. This makes their culture insular, but deeply connected internally. They live in harmony in their small communities and support one another, but they are often literally dug up and enslaved by imperials for their magic.
PRO 7 ATH 8 STR 9 AWA 14 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 8
Goikam
Anthropomorphic oyster mushrooms.
- Alignment : Celestial
- Lifespan: 200 years
- Diet: Decaying mattr
- Habitat: Subtropical to temperate forests
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
They have white flesh bodies with broad, gilled pellicles at the tops of their heads. They stand about 5' tall.
All goikams have one of three powers: the power to heal with their flesh, the power to nourish with their spores, or the power to communicate via dreams. All goikams have a connection to one another that allows communication regardless of dream power.
Goikams originally lived in the forests and fields, mostly working as farmers and foragers. They lived peaceful lives, helping to provide for their wide communities, constantly communicating with one another. They lived in democratic communities where they shared everything, and thus had little understanding of the violence to come when they were conquered.
In their culture, communication is a primary virtue, and they strive to always be connected. They build deep bonds with one another to the point where they can understand thought and emotion with a glance at another goikam. They live in obscure communities or in the fringes of larger societies.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 8
Myconian
Anthropomorphic fungi of all kinds.
- Alignment : Elemental
- Lifespan: 200 years
- Diet: Decaying matter
- Habitat: Anywhere
- Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
They have a wide variety of forms, as they resemble many different kind of fungus. Those who resemble mushrooms with caps always have the caps as the tops of their heads. They range in height from 2' to 8', though the larger ones are very rare.
Some form colonial minds and bodies together, forming a single multiperson organism.
In the city-states, they are mostly 4' to 5' in height and usually capped mushroom folk with light violet flesh.
Every myconian has a wide variety of powers, depending on the kind of fungus they resemble. Some powers include but are not limited to
- Control of fungi: mentally control non-sentient fungi with a touch.
- Hallucinatory spores: release spores that cause intense, uncontrolled hallucinations.
- Poisonous spores: release spores that cause major physical poison damage.
- Nourishing spores: release spores that have enough nutrients to replace three meals.
- Mind control: release spores that puts the target under the control of the myconian.
- Mycellium connection: connect to any other myconian nearby, fully sharing emotions and thoughts.
- Instant cloning: create an instant clone of oneself that is fully grown, but with no knowledge.
- Lifedraining: drain the lifeforce from a target with their acidic spray.
- Magic absorption: absorb elemental energies directed at them.
Myconians live in great colonies in secluded spaces all over the world. Though there are many different nations, most share some common features, such as their devotion to protecting nature. They worship a deity that gave them the task of preserving the world, and they take it very seriously, even those who are not religious. Their colonial minds and sometimes bodies are seen as spiritual leaders.
They dwell in small communities throughout the wilds of the region.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 8 
GrandGuignol
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