Beardmoss
thorn-staff spore-caller of the fungal warband
Beardmoss — The Encounter
thorn-staff spore-caller of the fungal warband · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Beardmoss
The Beardmoss is the warband's spore-caller, an old layered colony grown into a single striding shape, its thorn staff more conduit than weapon. It does not break lines; it shapes the field, lancing poison from afar and bursting clouds of choking growth where the enemy clusters. Its drifting haze sickens those who close, and its silent call lets the heavier caps surge a step at the right moment. Grove-lore names it the moss-elder, the one whose breath the colony moves to. It is support and control, never a brawler, and a foe who ignores it while the bruisers press will soon find the whole field turned sour. Cut it down early or fight half-blind in its fog.
Run Beardmoss in Sixty Seconds
- Open with Spore Lance then poison a priority target from range.
- Save the Burst then drop Burst of Growth on the tightest cluster.
- Call the pack then Spore-Caller nudges a bruiser into the right spot.
- Stay screened then Choking Cloud taxes anyone who reaches you.
Beardmoss
Large plant, neutral
CR 3 · 700 XP · GUIDELINESpore-Caller. The Beardmoss can sense any fungus and Shroomkin within 60 feet. Once per turn when it casts a spore effect, an allied Shroomkin within 30 feet may use its reaction to move up to 10 feet.
Choking Cloud. The Beardmoss is surrounded by drifting spores. A creature that starts its turn within 5 feet must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution save or have disadvantage on its next attack roll.
Actions
Multiattack. The Beardmoss makes one Thorn Staff attack and uses Spore Lance.
Thorn Staff. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10+2) piercing damage.
Spore Lance. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6+2) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution save or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Burst of Growth (Recharge 5-6). Choking spores erupt in a 15-foot radius centered on a point within 60 feet. Each creature there must make a DC 13 Constitution save, taking 10 (3d6) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failure, or half as much and not poisoned on a success.
A tall, many-capped colony-being draped in moss, leaning on a long thorny staff and breathing a haze of spores that herds and sickens whatever the warband faces.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Stand behind the line and open with Spore Lance, saving Burst of Growth for the tightest enemy cluster. Use Spore-Caller to nudge a bruiser into position and let Choking Cloud punish anyone who closes.
Control the field from the rear of the pack: Burst of Growth on clusters, Spore Lance on priority targets, and reaction-nudges to keep the warband moving as one. Stay screened by the heavy caps.
Fight as the warband's controller. Blanket the field in choking spores, lance the dangerous foes, and orchestrate the colony's advance. It is fragile alone, so keep the bruisers between it and the enemy.
Put Beardmoss on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Beardmoss?
Beardmoss is CR 3 (700 XP) at native Tier 1, slightly above rank-and-file as a controller. Use AC 15 / ~120 HP for Tier 2 or AC 17 / ~190 HP for Tier 3; the traits stay the same and only the numbers scale.
How does Beardmoss fight alongside the rest of the Shroomkin?
It controls. The Beardmoss shapes the field with poison clouds and lances from the rear while nudging the warband's bruisers into position. Ignore it and the whole field turns sour.
Is Beardmoss a solo threat?
No. It is a fragile support caster with no legendary actions. It must fight screened by the colony, never alone.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
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