Encounter: Infected Mushrooms

I had a completely different idea for what to post today, but I couldn't pass up this image. It was just too perfect for The Black Forest. The image is from an album cover for Infected Mushrooms, but it was made into a wallpaper by Reddit user binjinpurj. 

Name: Infected Mushrooms

Environment: Magical Forests

Type: Plant

Description:

The mushrooms vary in size from smaller than your finger to the size of a small house. They all have pulsing fibers and a wooden texture. They also have large, dead eyes and a gaping mouth in a permanent image of rage and bloodlust.

Characteristics:

• Stationary
• Aggressive
• Melee
• Reach
• Spores
• Aura of Fear

Tactics:

• Lie in wait for an ambush
• Use spores to disable enemies
• Fibers are tentacles that can grasp

Info:

The Infected Mushrooms are stationary trap-creatures. They sit still waiting for prey to come near, and then attack with spores. Once the enemy is disabled, they are grabbed by the mushroom's tendrils and eaten. If the prey manages to avoid being disabled, the mushrooms still continue to attack. They are inherently evil and driven to violence. 

The mushrooms are very patient, but sometimes have a hard time hiding. Their giant and terrifying face gives them away very readily. In dark places, they can sometimes go unnoticed until it is too late. They tend to grow in large groups, so any combat would involve several different spores and attacks. They do wait until their prey is too far into their group before attacking, unless they are detected. 

The goal here is to have avoidable but deadly encounters. The mushrooms are easy to sneak around, as their faces are only on one side. They are also stationary, though their tendrils can have impressive reach. Stealth and awareness would be rewarded, as they could be avoided entirely after one or two chance confrontations. They would also be present at larger fights, namely the final boss. The idea I have is that the mushrooms would make up the ring of the arena, and would attack anyone who strayed too far from the fight. That would introduce an element of restriction and danger, as well as having different areas affected by the different spores.