monster

Zuggtmoy

CR 23

Large Fiend (demon), Chaotic Evil

Reveal Stat Block

Armor Class

18 (natural armor)

Hit Points

304 (32d10 + 128)

Speed

30 ft.

str

dex

con

int

wis

cha

Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day).If Zuggtmoy fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance.Zuggtmoy has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons.Zuggtmoy's weapon attacks are magical.

Actions

Multiattack.Zuggtmoy makes three pseudopod attacks.

Pseudopod.mw 13 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. ({@damage 2d8 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 9 (2d8) poison damage.

Infestation Spores (3/Day).Zuggtmoy releases spores that burst out in a cloud that fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on her, and it lingers for 1 minute. Any flesh-and-blood creature in the cloud when it appears, or that enters it later, must make a 19 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the creature can't be infected by these spores for 24 hours. On a failed save, the creature is infected with a disease called the spores of Zuggtmoy and also gains a random form of madness (determined by rolling on the Madness of Zuggtmoy table) that lasts until the creature is cured of the disease or dies. While infected in this way, the creature can't be reinfected, and it must repeat the saving throw at the end of every 24 hours, ending the infection on a success. On a failure, the infected creature's body is slowly taken over by fungal growth, and after three such failed saves, the creature dies and is reanimated as a spore servant if it's a type of creature that can be (see the 'Myconids' entry in the Monster Manual).

Mind Control Spores 5.Zuggtmoy releases spores that burst out in a cloud that fills a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on her, and it lingers for 1 minute. Humanoids and beasts in the cloud when it appears, or that enter it later, must make a 19 Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the creature can't be infected by these spores for 24 hours. On a failed save, the creature is infected with a disease called the influence of Zuggtmoy for 24 hours. While infected in this way, the creature is charmed by her and can't be reinfected by these spores.

Legendary Actions.The creature can take 3 legendary actions...

Attack.Zuggtmoy makes one pseudopod attack.

Exert Will.One creature charmed by Zuggtmoy that she can see must use its reaction to move up to its speed as she directs or to make a weapon attack against a target that she designates.

Reactions.Reactions the creature can take:

Protective Thrall.When Zuggtmoy is hit by an attack, one creature within 5 feet of Zuggtmoy that is charmed by her must use its reaction to be hit by the attack instead.

Zuggtmoy

The Demon Queen of Fungi, Lady of Rot and Decay, Zuggtmoy is an alien creature whose only desire is to infect the living with spores, transforming them into her mindless servants and, eventually, into decomposing hosts for the mushrooms, molds, and other fungi that she spawns.

Utterly inhuman, Zuggtmoy can mold her fungoid form into an approximation of a humanoid shape, including the skeletal-thin figure depicted in grimoires and ancient art, draped and veiled in mycelia and lichen. Indeed, much of her appearance and manner, and that of her servants, is a soulless mockery of mortal life and its many facets.

Zuggtmoy's cultists often follow her unwittingly. Most are fungi—infected to some degree, whether through inhaling her mind-controlling spores or being transformed to the point where flesh and fungus become one. Such cultists are fungal extensions of the Demon Queen's will.

Their devotion might begin with the seemingly harmless promises offered by exotic spores and mushrooms, but quickly consumes them, body and soul.

Zuggtmoy's Lair

Zuggtmoy's principal lair is her palace on Shedaklah. It consists of two dozen mushrooms of pale yellow and rancid brown. These massive fungi are some of the largest in existence. They are surrounded by a field of acidic puffballs and poisonous vapors. The mushrooms themselves are all interconnected by bridges of shelf-fungi, and countless chambers have been hollowed out from within their rubbery, fibrous stalks.