Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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Shambling mounds are one of D&D’s most enduring plant monsters, being present in every edition since at least BECMI. Here, they are only on the Monster Manual, but they got an update in Dungeon 196.

The Lore

Animated piles of vegetable matter who roam the world’s swamps and marshes, shambling mounds are carnivores that draw prey into themselves using their ropelike tendrils. Then they feed by boring countless tiny roots into their trapped victim’s body.

These creatures are nonsapient, but clever enough to pose as piles of mulch until suitable prey wanders by. They’re not primarily ambush predators, though - particularly hungry shambling mounds will go on the hunt.

Shambling mounds are not only immune to electricity, but actually healed by lightning. I imagine this was a pretty big deal in editions past for those levels where Lightning Bolt was one of the wizard’s premier attack options. It’s a bit less of a problem now, except maybe for the party’s storm sorcerer. This also suggests the creatures like places where lightning storms are common, such as monsoon-blasted mangroves right next to those temples guarded by nagas. Sages speculate that the monsters are actually created when lightning hits a mass of plant matter in such places, though they don’t know what other factors might be involved in the process.

Some shambling mound varieties have a further affinity to lightning and are able to store it in their bodies for use in combat.

The Numbers

Shambling mounds are Large Natural Animates with the Plant keyword. They have Darkvision and Swamp Walk, some level of Regeneration, and are immune to lightning damage. They also have a Lightning Affinity trait that heals them for 10 HP whenever they’re hit by a lightning attack.

Aside from a damage update, the stat blocks from Dungeon are identical to the ones in the MM. We get two shambler stat blocks:

Shambling Mound

The classic model is a Level 9 Brute with 120 HP and the standard traits described above. Its land speed is a plodding 4, but due to Swamp Walk it won’t be hindered by difficult terrain in its native environment. They have Regeneration 5.

It attacks with its tendrils, and can make an Enveloping Double Attack at will. This allows it to make two basic attacks, and if both hit the same Medium or smaller target, it makes a further attack against their Fortitude.

A hit on that one pulls the target into the shambling mound! While in there, the victim is restrained and no other creature has line of sight or effect to it. At the start of the mound’s turns, those tiny boring roots drain the victim’s blood, dealing 10 damage and restoring 10 HP to the mound. Up to two such victims can be caught in this way. All of this is (save ends).

A shambler with 2 victims inside heals 25 HP per turn! And since no one has line of effect to the victim, those cleric powers that allow free saves don’t work on them - they have to roll a natural save to escape, or have access to those save powers themselves. The Restrained condition would still allow them to attack at a penalty, but that same “no line of effect” clause means they can’t attack the shambler.

Stormrage Shambler

This is the one with batteries included. Stormrage Shamblers are Level 11 Elite Controllers with 238 HP and the standard traits listed above. Their land speed is a brisk 8, still with Swamp Walk. They have Regeneration 10.

These shamblers project a Lightning Aura 2 that deal lighning damage to those enemies caught inside.

Like the basic model, they also fight with their tendrils and can make Double Attacks, but don’t have the enveloping mechanics. Instead, the tendril attacks deal extra lightning damage when they’re bloodied. They can also fire a Lightning Blast once per encounter (Close Blast 3 vs. Reflex), which obviously do a bunch of lightning damage, half on a miss.

They still have Lighning Affinity, with the added note that they can’t use it to heal themselves.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

There’s one sample encounter: Level 9, 1 shambling mound, 3 assorted vine horrors, and 2 dryads. In Soviet Nerath, salad eats you.

I like shambling mounds! Don’t think I ever used one, but I should really remedy that. The standard model is a bit more dangerous than its level implies, since there are few ways to grant extra saves to an enveloped victim and the extra healing they provide can make the fight last longer.