Shrieker
Medium Plant · · CR 0
- Plant
- Medium
- Tier 1
Ranges across underground; Shrieker lists at CR 0 as a medium plant (unaligned). Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 0
- Type
- Plant
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Underground
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014)
Ecology
Shriekers are ambulatory fungi of the Underdark and deep cave ecosystems. They look like ordinary man-sized purple-and-grey fungi until disturbed. Their 'shriek' is a defense mechanism: when bright light or movement enters their 30-foot detection radius, they emit a piercing fungal scream audible for 300 feet. They feed on rotting organic matter and root-network sharing with other fungi. They cluster near violet fungi, gricks, and other Underdark fauna.
Behaviour
Mindless, plant-level reactivity. Shriekers do not 'think' — they react. Their alarm benefits the larger fungal ecosystem by attracting predators to nearby threats. In ecological terms, they are **the alarm clocks of the Underdark food web**.
Origin
Drow cultivate shriekers as living alarms in border tunnels of Menzoberranzan and Ched Nasad. **Myconid colonies** in the deeper Underdark form symbiotic networks with shrieker patches, using them as community-wide warning systems. Pre-Spellplague sage **Klarvash the Mycologist** wrote the definitive Treatise on Sentient Fungi from his abandoned tower in the Underdark below Daggerford.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Shrieker
- What is the challenge rating of Shrieker?
- Shrieker is rated CR 0. The rating fits a tier-1 party (levels 1-4).
- What type of creature is Shrieker?
- By creature type, Shrieker is a plant, medium size.
- Where does Shrieker live?
- Habitats for Shrieker: Underground.