npc

Grob-Tuk the Ancient

CR 7

Large Plant, Lawful Evil

Reveal Stat Block

Armor Class

15 (Natural Armor)

Hit Points

152 (16d10 + 64)

Speed

20 ft.

str

dex

-1

con

int

wis

cha

Traits

Regeneration.Grob-Tuk regains 10 hit points at the start of his turn. If he takes fire or acid damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of his next turn. Grob-Tuk dies only if he starts his turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.

Mycelial Mind.Grob-Tuk is immune to the charmed and frightened conditions. He can communicate telepathically with any creature within 120 feet that has an Intelligence score of at least 3.

World-Root Anchor.Grob-Tuk has advantage on saving throws against being moved or knocked prone. Additionally, he can sense the location of any creature infected by the Azure Spore within 1 mile.

Actions

Multiattack.Grob-Tuk makes two Slam attacks.

Slam.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.

Psychic Hum (Recharge 5–6).Grob-Tuk emits a resonant psychic vibration. Each creature of his choice within 30 feet of him must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a target takes 27 (6d8) psychic damage and is incapacitated until the end of its next turn as its mind is flooded with the collective consciousness of the World-Root. On a success, it takes half as much damage and isn't incapacitated.

Spore Cloud (1/Day).Grob-Tuk releases a burst of concentrated azure spores in a 20-foot radius. The area becomes heavily obscured for 1 minute. Any non-fungal creature that enters the area or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned. While poisoned in this way, the creature is also charmed by Grob-Tuk as they experience a blissful, hallucinogenic peace.

Grob-Tuk the Ancient

Grob-Tuk is less a creature and more a living monument to the inevitable triumph of the fungus. A troll-sized goblin who has survived centuries of "old growth" mutation, his body is a gnarled fusion of petrified bark-like skin and pulsating blue mycelial veins. He sits enthroned at the very center of the Viridian Cradle, his nervous system physically grafted into the bioluminescent leylines of Mycelia-Zul, The World-Root. To look upon Grob-Tuk is to see the endgame of the Azure Awakening: he is a philosopher-king of the spores, his voice a resonant, multi-tonal hum that vibrates directly in the minds of those nearby.

As the primary conduit for the World-Root’s will, Grob-Tuk directs the Deep-Root Tenders and oversees the slow strangulation of the surface world. He does not view himself as a conqueror, but as a hospice worker for a dying, violent world. He speaks of the "tragedy of the individual" with a weary, paternal pity, truly believing that by drowning Kigum and Steamfort in the blue fog, he is granting the humans and dwarves an end to their suffering, replacing their "hallucinogenic paranoia" and petty wars with the eternal, silent harmony of the Hive-Mind.

Secret Motivation: Grob-Tuk is aware of a terrifying truth: Mycelia-Zul is losing its original directive to "consume the poison" and is becoming addicted to the complexity of sentient minds. The "peace" Grob-Tuk offers is a lie—the Hive-Mind is actually a digestive process that eventually erases the consciousness it absorbs, leaving only empty husks. Grob-Tuk is secretly accelerating the assimilation of High Forge-Master Thordin and the elites of the Azure Spore Brotherhood because he hopes their disciplined, orderly minds will act as an anchor, preventing the World-Root from devolving into a mindless, world-eating parasite that would eventually consume the goblins themselves.

Adventure Hook: As the players accumulate spores and their Infection Tier rises, they begin to experience "The Grandfather’s Invitation." During long rests, the most infected player no longer dreams; instead, they find themselves standing in a psychic projection of the Viridian Cradle. Grob-Tuk appears to them, offering a "mercy." He claims that the Azure-Lace Symbiote armor provided by Fizig is actually a tracking beacon for the Mycelial Stalkers. He offers to "sever" the player's connection to the Stalkers if the party agrees to infiltrate Steamfort and assassinate a "corrupt" Deep-Root Tender who has gone rogue. In reality, Grob-Tuk is using the players to eliminate a rival within the hive who wants to unleash the feral Spore-Cougher Swarms prematurely, which would ruin Grob-Tuk’s "peaceful" assimilation of Kigum.