Planar Bestiary
A mind mold wraith is a creature who was slain and reanimated by a semi-intelligent kind of fungus called mind mold. Growing in rafters, on the undersides of bridges, and, sometimes, in hollows in unknown victims' skulls, mind mold is often a hidden menace, at least until it becomes animate.
The sessile variety of mind mold—psionic mold—appears as a patch of purplish-black mold about 4 feet in diameter. In the presence of living minds, it dimly glimmers but doesn't physically move. That doesn't mean it isn't trying to feed. If not in the presence of living minds of human-level intelligence, it acts much like regular mold, reproducing by spores that are transported by wind, water, and the movement of vermin.
Psionic mold is energized by feeding off the psychic energy of living things that come close. If a creature spends only a few moments in a location infested with psionic mold, they might not even realize they were under psychic assault. However, those who spend more time in such an area soon realize something is wrong when they start suffering headaches, temporary memory loss, and eventually delirium and possibly even unconsciousness. Those so afflicted may also become unwitting hosts to the mold.
If an intelligent creature is overcome by a psionic mold infestation, their bodies are slowly consumed and replaced with a papery crust filled with a half-empty latticework of living mold. These mind mold wraiths recall something of their former lives and might even struggle to continue their normal routines. Stories describe entire households replaced by mind mold wraiths, dully stumbling about their rotting domicile, aping the actions of their once-living shells.
Psionic mold: level 2, Speed defense as level 0; health 6; immune to poison and Intellect damage; creates an immediate-area burst of spores that inflicts creatures with a disease if they fail a Might defense task. The disease inflicts 4 points of Intellect damage (ignores Armor) each hour the disease persists; a creature killed by the disease arises as a mind mold wraith an hour later.
Psionic mold grows where normal mold would, though it grows thicker in hidden places where intelligent creatures congregate.
Motive: Spread spores to new locations anywhere in the multiverse
Environment: Any low-light place mold can grow
Health: 12
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (6 points)
Armor: 3 (including Intellect damage)
Movement: Short
Combat: A mind mold wraith bludgeons foes with a fist, inflicting a moderate wound (4 points) plus 2 points of Intellect damage (ignores Armor).
Every few rounds, the wraith releases a burst of spores in an immediate area. Creatures in the area must succeed at a Might defense task or become infected with a disease. Each hour the disease persists, it inflicts 4 points of Intellect damage (ignores Armor), or just 1 point on a successful Intellect defense task. A creature killed by the disease arises as a mind mold wraith an hour later, wandering off in search of other creatures to infect. The disease can be removed by magic; otherwise, it lingers for days or weeks.
A mind mold wraith is a plant creature, not undead.
Interaction: A mind mold wraith remembers scraps of languages they once knew from their former life. Although intelligent in their own way, their instincts are primitive, and they have no interests other than survival and reproduction.
Use: Characters begin experiencing painful headaches and similar symptoms, unaware that a patch of psionic mold is growing in a dark space where they live. Strange zombies emerge from a filthy house overrun with garbage and mold.
Loot: The mold has no use for treasure, but a mind mold wraith might accidentally carry valuables they had from before their transformation.
GM Intrusion: A character has a bad reaction to the spores, requiring an additional hindered Might defense task to avoid taking another 4 points of Intellect damage.