Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North
Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North — The Encounter
Elder fungus-sage of the cold north, keeper of buried knowing · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North
In the cold pine-shadow of the far north, where snow falls onto a forest that never sleeps, the Ashitake elders speak of the Father of Knowing. They say it grew from the first thought ever buried in soil, and that every secret whispered over its roots since has become part of its slow, patient mind. It does not hunt; it remembers. Pilgrims who lay an offering of memory at its base may rise knowing things they never learned, while liars who cross its spore-veil hear their own buried shames spoken back in a voice like settling loam. Its tendrils move without haste, for it has all the time the seasons can give, and the lesser mushrooms that ring its feet are said to be its children and its archive both. To anger the Father is to make an enemy of the entire fungal weave beneath the north, for the spores carry word, and the word carries grudge. Few who break its peace are remembered kindly by the soil.
Run Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North in Sixty Seconds
- Hold the line The Father is a slow Huge wall (speed 20). It will not chase; make the party come into its 20-ft. spore cloud, where every turn ends risk poison on a DC save.
- Open with Knowing Whisper into the tightest cluster for 6d8 psychic and party-wide fear, then Tendril Lash to grapple your stickiest melee PC and hold them in the spores.
- Kill-priority Grab and grapple whoever hits hardest; use Spore Memory each round to hand that same attacker disadvantage on their first swing.
- When bloodied Verdant Resilience triggers off any 25+ hit, halving burst damage but dropping its speed to 0 -- so it leans harder on legendary Whisper of Knowing to lock down reactions and Drifting Spores to clear melee.
- Three ways to run it (1) lone fungal sage-boss in its lair using all three legendary options; (2) flanked by sporeling adds as a siege wall; (3) a non-hostile oracle that only fights if the spore-veil is broken or a lie is told over its roots.
Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North
Huge plant, lawful neutral
CR 11 · 7,200 XP · GUIDELINESpore Memory. Signature. The Father knows everything that touches its spores. When a creature it can sense starts its turn within 30 feet, the Father learns one fact the creature holds true (a name, a fear, a recent action) and may telepathically whisper it back, distracting them: that creature has disadvantage on the first attack roll it makes this turn.
Verdant Resilience. If the Father takes 25 or more damage from a single source, it sheds a layer of its mantle. Until the end of its next turn it has resistance to all damage, but its speed becomes 0.
Spore Cloud. The ground within 20 feet of the Father is lightly obscured by drifting spores. A creature that ends its turn there must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The Father makes two Tendril Lash attacks and uses Knowing Whisper if it is available.
Tendril Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16) if it is Large or smaller.
Knowing Whisper (Recharge 5-6). The Father floods the minds of all creatures of its choice within 30 feet with buried memories. Each target must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or take 27 (6d8) psychic damage and be frightened until the end of its next turn. On a success, a target takes half damage and is not frightened.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Snaring Vine. Reaction. When a creature within 15 feet moves, the Father strikes with a tendril. The creature must succeed on a DC 16 Strength saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the end of its turn.
Legendary Actions (3/Round)
Tendril Lash. The Father makes one Tendril Lash attack.
Drifting Spores (Costs 2 Actions). The Father releases a burst of spores. Each creature within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 9 (2d8) poison damage and be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Whisper of Knowing. The Father speaks one buried truth to a creature it can sense within 60 feet. That creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be unable to take reactions until the end of its next turn.
A serene fungal colossus crowned with a vast spotted cap, its body draped in layered gill-mantles and ringed by dozens of slow, questing tendrils. Smaller mushrooms cluster at its roots like attentive children.
Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEShared Knowing (signature). When an ally within 30 feet makes an attack roll or saving throw against a creature the Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North can sense, the ally may add 1d4 to the roll, as buried memory of the foe surfaces to guide them.
Actions
Tendril Slap. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Veil of Spores. When an ally within 10 feet is hit by an attack, the Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North bursts spores; the attacker must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
One of the Father's many root-children, a knee-high fungal sentinel that trundles beside a worthy seeker, murmuring half-remembered truths.
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.
Open with Spore Cloud zoning and a single Tendril Lash to grapple the closest melee fighter, then drag the party into the obscured spores. Snaring Vine punishes the first scout that tries to circle behind. Pair it with a few sproutling minions and lean on the obscurement; do not expect it to take four PCs alone at this size.
Lead with Knowing Whisper into a clustered party for the AoE fear, then Tendril Lash the frightened caster. Use Spore Memory each round to blunt the biggest attacker. Anchor it in a fungal lair with reinforcing sporelings so the action economy holds; it shines as the wall the party must dig through, not as a lone duelist.
Solo-viable: open by recharging Knowing Whisper into the cluster, then full Multiattack with grapples. Spend legendary actions on Whisper of Knowing to shut off the rogue or healer's reactions, and Drifting Spores when melee piles in. Kill-priority is whoever it grapples first; Snaring Vine plus Verdant Resilience let it stall burst turns. Fight it in its spore-lair for full effect.
Put Father of Knowing, Supreme Mushroom Guardian of North 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 Father of Knowing?
Its native build is CR 11 (Tier 3, levels 11-15) at AC 17, 207 HP, +8 to hit, save DC 16. Because it is a true solo boss with multiple legendary actions and a punishing reaction (Snaring Vine), its sheet drops one band from its size-role so a four-PC party does not simply out-act it. Scaled-down CR 6 (Tier 2) and CR 2-ish (Tier 1) lines are provided; the traits stay identical and only the numbers move.
Can Father of Knowing be a companion or ally?
The Father itself is too vast and rooted to travel, but it offers a bound Sporeling root-child as a companion (AC 13, 124 HP). It does not deal heavy damage; instead its Shared Knowing buff adds 1d4 to a nearby ally's rolls and its Veil of Spores reaction poisons attackers. Treat it as a support guardian gifted to a seeker the Father deems worthy.
Is the Father hostile by default?
No. It is a lawful-neutral keeper of buried knowledge, not a predator. It fights only when its peace is broken, a lie is spoken over its roots, or its sporeling children are harmed. A clever party can parley, offer a memory, and leave knowing more than they came with -- making it as useful a quest-giver as a boss.
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.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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