| “ | And as the vegetation trembled with the [druid's] magical calling, there formed a green, rotting mix of life and death that shambled overtop of [their enemies], killing them all. | ” |
— Staff of the Woodlands, excerpt[3] | ||
This shambling mound is a true neutral earth elemental.[n2] The giant humanoid[n1] can be summoned by druids with the Staff of the Woodlands in Shadows of Amn and in The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay. It will autonomously aid the summoner in combat and can even be controlled in the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.
- Main article: Shambling mounds
Summoning[]
- Can be summoned – up to twenty times, respectively six, until recharging is necessary – with the Staff of the Woodlands, available in Chapter 7 of Shadows of Amn and at Tier 4 in The Black Pits II
Gameplay[]
- The shambling mound summoned with the Staff of the Woodlands will stay for 100 sec, roughly 16.5 rounds, if not banished or killed.
- It moves faster than the party, with a factor of 10 opposed to 9.[1]
- It attacks once per round at a melee range of 1 ft and a speed of 0 with a THAC0 of 10, while dealing 4d8+7 crushing damage, strength modifiers included. This attack counts as being made by a magical weapon with an enchantment of 3; thus, it can hurt creatures that are immune to normal weapons and to those with an enchantment of only 2 or below.[4]
- The shambler can only be hurt by magical weapons with an enchantment of at least +2.[2]
- Apart from this, the summoned mound has no particular resistances or immunities. Its effective armor class is 2, while having 64 hit points. Saving throws resemble that of a fighter by the same level, namely 8, with the one vs. breath being slightly better: 10, 12, 11, 11, 13.
- The creature's morale is fairly high, 16, while breaking very late and being restored within half a round.
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Shadows of Amn (2013)
Content from the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition campaign Shadows of AmnThe Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay (2013)
Content from the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition campaign The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay This shambling mound benefits from an improved AI in the Enhanced Edition.- Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Shadows of Amn (2013)
Content from the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition campaign Shadows of AmnThe Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay (2013)
Content from the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition campaign The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay In the Enhanced Edition, it is also able to detect illusions.[2] - Baldur's Gate II:
Shadows of Amn (2000)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. Due to a bug, or rather a disregard of rules, this summoning would yield 3,000 points of experience in the original Shadows of Amn.
Notes[]
- According to the Monstrous Manual, a sourcebook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the ruleset which the Baldur's Gate series is based on, shambling mounds are plants. However, this creature type was only introduced to the games by a later update for the Enhanced Editions, and previously existing creature files were not adjusted.
- The race "shambling mound" also was introduced in an Enhanced Editions' update only; previously existing creature files were not adjusted and remain being classified as elementals from the earth plane.
- Baldur's Gate:
Enhanced Edition (2012)
This icon indicates content from the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition campaign.Baldur's Gate:
Siege of Dragonspear (2016)
This icon indicates content from the Siege of Dragonspear campaign of the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. This creature's file exists in the code of the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, along with the related effect file,MOUND.eff, but remains unsummoned in the game and its expansion. The item used for its attack,B4-32M3.itm, is only present with Siege of Dragonspear installed on top. The summoning still would even yield experience (see below).
Bugs[]
- Baldur's Gate II:
Shadows of Amn (2000)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. In the original Shadows of Amn, this shambling mound would yield 3,000 points of experience – while summonings shouldn't give any; this is fixed in the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.
External links[]
- Shambling mound on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
7302.ini - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3
IMMUNE2.itm - ↑ Staff of the Woodlands: "Known only as the "Wild Man of the Wood," the man that carried this staff was a legendary figure near Trademeet until the day he died and returned to the soil. Those who saw him remember his dark, bark-like skin, a feature that would fade if the staff were set aside. He would harass irresponsible loggers and poachers, and old-timers tell of mercenaries chasing him with a dozen hunting dogs or more. The animals seemed ready to rip the poor druid to pieces, but he quickly turned them on their former masters. Rushing forward in hopes of ending his influence, the men-at-arms saw the final power of the staff, and as the vegetation trembled with the "Wild Man's" magical calling, there formed a green, rotting mix of life and death that shambled overtop of the terrified soldiers, killing them all."
- ↑
B4-32M3.itm