I’m going to write this in the same format I use for my Monster Manual Let’s Reads, even though it’s not really a “monster”.

The Lore

These plump mushrooms are a about a foot tall when fully grown, and have purple caps. They’re very distantly related to shriekers, but their abilities are much more specialized.

When someone disturbs a recap, the mushroom scans the person’s memories and loudly summarizes the most important events of the last week or so of their lives.

“Most important” here is defined by what’s foremost in the target’s minds. Yes, they do have a tendency to spill closely held secrets that are big sources of anxiety or regret for the victim. Some believe recaps they were originally developed by an underground civilization with a strong tradition in psionics to act as interrogation tools. Nowadays you can find them in the wild inside caves and other damp and dark places, like many dungeons.

At least one investigator on the surface is known to carry a potted recap around in a specially built cage, using it for its original purpose when questioning suspects.

Even if the victim manages to resist the mind reading attempt, the recap will still speak a bunch of unconnected nonsense words for a minute or so. Those who are mainly concerned about noise should refrain from touching them at all.

The Numbers

Recaps aren’t “monsters” in a literal sense. Despite their radio-announcer voices, they’re nonsapient and immobile. A good whack with any weapon will destroy your typical recap. In GURPS, it has SM -5, DR 0, and 1 HP.

Wild Recap Cluster

In the wild, recaps grow in clusters and work like traps. Clusters are usually on the ground, but might also grow on walls or ceilings. If one mushroom in the cluster is disturbed by a touch at least strong enough to jostle it, the whole cluster “activates” and performs its narration as one big speaker. Actual damage also counts, of course - if a damaging attack leaves at least one recap standing, it will activate on the next turn.

A recap cluster takes up 1 hex and has the following stats.

Detect: Clusters are usually big enough to be plainly visible. Roll Naturalist at -2 to identify the mushrooms as recaps.

Disarm: No. Attacks that deal at least 6 damage to the whole hex at once will completely destroy all the recaps before they can activate. Anything less will trigger them.

Avoid: DX at -5 or Light Walk. The Silence spell will render the cluster harmless for as long as it lasts.

Save: Quick Contest of Will against skill 16 to avoid having your mind read. Magic Resistance helps.

Effect: About a minute of loud noises. If the target won the contest of Will, this will be a string of nonsense words. If they lost, the recap will summarize the previous week of their lives as if it was the last episode of a radio serial, potentially airing some dirty laundry.

Shots: Constant.

Rearm: No.

Steal: Roll against Naturalist to harvest one large, healthy recap specimen per hex. This weights 1 lb. and is worth $1000 if delivered intact to the right people back in town.

Recap Inquisitor

This consists of a large, healthy recap specimen planted on good soil in a clay pot, surrounded by small but sturdy iron cage with large gaps between the bars. It’s used by the “right people” back in town or by unscrupulous villains in interrogations. They just need to ask (or force) the subject to poke the mushroom.

The subject must win a quick contest of Will against a skill of 16 to prevent the ‘shroom from narrating all their dirty laundry from the past seven days. It will speak a string of nonsense words if the subject resists, and experienced handlers will know what that means. The cage offers DR 7 against swinging attacks and other impacts (such as dropping the device), but the large gaps mean it doesn’t protect against thrusting ones.

Recap Inquisitors cost $2000 and weight 10 lbs. Monthly maintenance requires $100 in supplies and success in a Naturalist roll to keep the ‘shroom alive.

Additional Notes

I put in the same resistance mechanics for the two entries but I think they’re mostly relevant for an interrogation scenario. When you step onto a recap patch in the wild it’s probably funnier if they just succeed and narrate your last week. It might even be fun to have the PC’s player do the narration if they’re so inclined.

I say this because in my experience PCs rarely have something to hide from each other, so there wouldn’t be really any dirty laundry that they didn’t want aired. Of course, if you your group is a party of sneaky gits who do keep important secrets from each other, then you should probably keep the resistance test in place.