A new take on an old concept – Myconids in Eiridia

Last week I wrote about traditional fantasy races in Eiridia. This week, I’m going to talk about one of them in particular. Myconids in original Dungeons & Dragons, and most fantasy settings since then, are basically talking mushrooms. They are a stable race that lives, for the most part, underground.

Eiridian Myconids are nothing like this.

Myconids in the Eiridia setting do not appear naturally. They are created deep underground by spirits of darkness, and over time migrate to the surface. They are humanoid, with mushrooms growing out of their “skin.” Despite their origins in the depths of the world, they are very social people. Above all else, they love new experiences and new sensations. For this reason, Eiridian myconids make excellent adventurers.

Myconids can’t reproduce, but they also can never die of old age. For this reason, old myconid bards have some amazing stories to tell. Summerfort is home to one such well-traveled mushroom minstrel, Bargalon the Long-Winded. Though he is semi-retired from adventuring, he spends a great deal of time talking to adventurers passing through the city, telling them of his own adventures or gathering tales to spread to others.

While myconids are technically asexual, the spirits that create them fashion them after races living on the surface. As such, most myconids look either male or female. There are some, however, that are completely androgynous.

The Ingenium Second Edition rulebook contains a number of Talents for myconid characters that grant them some of the less common racial abilities. For example, one such Talent reflects the character’s nature as a “Feeder” – a myconid that uses magic-enhanced mushrooms plucked from her own body to heal others. It also hints at an ancient myconid colony that might predate the Dragons themselves.

The myconids are one of my favorite reimaginings of traditional fantasy races in Ingenium. I hope everyone enjoys playing them as much as I enjoy writing them!