Mold thrives in places with moisture and feeds upon soil, plants, and decaying matter. It looks like a furry growth and has different colorations. Each type of mold has its abilities, dangers, and remedies. They do not attack but react to stimuli that occur to their growths. There are thousands of mold varieties in the world. Most of them are harmless.
Mold growths spread by releasing spores. The spores move through water, circulate through the air, or cling to animals to be transplanted. When they reach the correct environment, they begin new growth.
Mold resists damage from melee weapons, sustaining only one-quarter damage per attack. It is impervious to missile weapons. Magical spells have full effect on a mold unless stated otherwise.
Fire is an effective method for destroying mold, as it inflicts +2 damage per damage die rolled; however, burning mold produces smoke containing mold toxins. Any creature within a 20-foot radius of a burning mold suffers 1d6 actual damage per turn of exposure.
The plant ID skill can identify any mold as harmful or harmless. A successful skill roll can determine the exact type of mold present in an area.
Some mold grows in small patches, while others extend for hundreds or thousands of feet. It can grow on floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, and other porous surfaces. Some insects feed on mold, reducing its spread.
Mold, Black
Hit Points 15 +1d6
DV1 / DV2 0 / 0
Attack Value Nil
# Attacks Nil
Weapon Type Nil
Damage Nil
Saving Throws 10+
Speed Walk (0)
Black mold is a fungus that grows in small patches of five to eight square feet and mixes with ordinary molds, toadstools, and mushrooms. This fungus behaves like ordinary molds except when wizards use magical spells nearby.
Black mold feeds on magical energies. Although it does not inflict damage, it does drain spell points from wizards using magic in its vicinity. A black mold can drain spell points from victims within 50 feet. At 50 feet, a mold drains 1d4 spell points. This increases by 1d4 for every 10 feet closer the victim gets. So, at a distance of only 10 feet, the black mold would drain 5d4 spell points. For most wizards, spell points are only drained when a spell is cast. Enchanters maintaining spells through maintenance points suffer draining each turn until the spells are negated, or the caster escapes the monster’s range. Spell points are drained from every spell caster in the area each turn.
Mold, Brown
Hit Points 1 per square foot
DV1 / DV2 0 / 0
Attack Value Nil
# Attacks Nil
Weapon Type Nil
Damage Nil
Saving Throws 10+
Speed Walk (0)
Brown mold appears to be an ordinary patch of mold with light brown to dark brown coloration. A patch of brown mold covers an area of one to twenty square feet.
Brown mold does not attack but releases spores when it is disturbed. These spores have a 1% chance (per square foot) of afflicting humanoids with a non-fatal disease (75%) or a fatal disease (25%). Victims are entitled to a saving throw vs. disease to avoid the affliction.
This mold thrives in underground locations. There have been reports of patches of brown mold that were more than one thousand square feet in size, but such rumors are unsubstantiated.
Mold, Yellow
Hit Points 1 per square foot
DV1 / DV2 0 / 0
Attack Value Nil
# Attacks Nil
Weapon Type Nil
Damage Nil
Saving Throws 10+
Speed Walk (0)
Yellow mold is a fungus that grows in patches from one to 60 square feet in size. A patch of yellow mold can have an assortment of colors, mushroom stalks, and other growths. The yellow mold remains docile until a wounded creature passes over it.
Any creature with 25 or fewer hit points that walks across a patch of yellow mold must make a saving throw vs. poison. If the saving throw fails, the poison causes the victim to suffer acute narcolepsy and hemophilia. Within seconds, the victim falls into a comatose sleep for 1d2 hours. If that creature is wounded (not of full health), the victim suffers 1 hit point per minute from blood loss. The hemophilia condition remains active until the victim is removed from the yellow mold or cured through magic spells or alchemic poultices.
Yellow mold consumes the bodies of the creatures it kills. It takes only a few days to digest small corpses, like rats, and up to several weeks to consume a humanoid victim.
This mold generally grows in areas where animals frequent, sometimes near watering holes or underground streams. It is possible to find treasure left behind by previous victims within growths of yellow mold.