The Twelve Fungi of Critmas

On the twelfth day of Critmas, my players got from me, twelve agaric elders,
eleven fungal specters,
ten blooms a-bursting,
nine puffballs choking,
eight mosses shambling,
seven yeasts a-creeping,
six morels budding,
five glowing shrooms!
four lichen knights,
three molding sprites,
two seedling sprouts,
and a Myconid with spores all around.

Quick Description

On this final day of Critmas, I want to show how a picture can spark endless possibilities. However, don’t let the image limit your creativity! For this grand finale, my players got from me an Adult Green Dragon reskinned as an Agaric Elder. (Also, this image is top notch)

I went with the Green Dragon because its poison resistances and immunities align perfectly with the Myconid theme, requiring minimal changes. Though you could use any dragon if you wanted a different Agaric Elder, maybe there are different clans or subspecies like dragons. The cloak functions as wings, granting flight and allowing for the legendary Wing Attack action. The void-like form of this creature is especially creepy, especially if you keep it as a medium-sized being with Frightful Presence intact. The poison breath could come out of the staff. Detect could be the glowing blue spores floating around the area ‘helping’ the Agaric Elder look for things (the Perception check this action allows).

Reskin Details

• Original Creature: Adult Green Dragon CR 15
• Changes: A few adjustments enhance the Myconid flavor while keeping the core of the creature intact.
• Change the creature type from Dragon to Plant.
• The Bite action could become a staff attack dealing bludgeoning damage, or you could keep it as a bite and imagine the staff itself having a face that bites.
• The Tail attack could be reimagined as either a traditional tail or a whip-like fungal pseudopod, perhaps even the bottom half of the staff whipping out.
• When I consider options beyond I see two variants of this creature one requires more work, yet I think would create a more terrifying monster. The other is a bit simpler.
  • Variant 1 (Simpler): Leave the creature as Huge, with its current abilities intact. The staff becomes a biting creature tied to the Elder’s HP.
  • Variant 2 (More Complex): Reduce the creature size from Huge to Medium.
    • Because you are shrinking the size of the creature you want to add a couple traits to it to make sure it can’t be pushed, so add Condition Immunity Prone and Can’t be moved by a creature more than one size smaller than it.
    • You also need to account for the loss of reach the weapons now have.
    • Add 10 feet to each attack’s reach and to all spell or effect ranges. As a huge creature it had a fairly large attack radius, as a smaller creature that radius shrinks. (Claw is reach 15 ft.; Poison Breath now has a 70-foot cone)

DM Tips

• I love the idea of different Elders ruling the Myconid realm.
• Maybe they are at odds with each other, or perhaps they meet as a council of like 7 to decide the path or trade fro the Myconid people.
• Perhaps this Elder commands the fungal army, protecting the Myconid realm with its terrifying presence.
• Maybe this is some Myconid deity come down to protect, rule, defend, or even threaten.

Reskinning this creature made me realize you could go far-out with creature like a Lich or an Archmage. Once you understand that reskinning doesn’t require rebuilding an entire monster (though that can be fun), you can use this technique to keep players guessing while maintaining your game’s theme.

That’s it for this year’s 12 Days of Critmas! Thankfully, their characters leveled up, so I don’t have to find new players. What are you reskinning and how? Let me know!

I hope you had a very Merry Critmas and 2025 is a good year for you. May your dice roll well and your imagination soar!