Far from the main market square, perhaps in a quiet alley or in the shadow of a seedy tavern, you might stumble upon Gloom’s Shrooms. For those “in the know”, this unassuming market stall is a treasure trove of rare items sourced from the vast network of tunnels and caverns that extend for miles below the surface.
The dreary market stall in front of you looks completely normal. Bedrolls, backpacks, lanterns, chalk, and other unremarkable adventuring gear hangs on hooks from the ceiling and clutters the display table. Behind the counter sits a gray-skinned subterranean gnome, outfitted in a patchy, worn suit and bowtie. He eyes you as you approach, stowing the small knife he was using to clean under his fingernails. “Fine weather we’re having today,” he croaks.
The shopkeeper, Mr. Gloom, makes the same weather-related comment to all who approach his shop, regardless of how fine the weather actually is. The phrase is, in fact, the first half of a password. Those who are aware of Mr. Gloom’s full suite of services answer in one of two ways:
· “Tomorrow looks gloomy, bring your umbrella” meaning the client is interested in buying items.
· “Tomorrow looks gloomy, wear your boots” meaning the client is interested in smuggling something, or someone, in or out of the city.
If the characters know the password, Mr. Gloom invites them down into his real shop:
Mr. Gloom lets out a confirming huff, and gestures for the characters to follow him. He glances around to make sure you are alone, before turning and pulling a raggedy rug to the side, revealing a trap door built into the floor of the stall. Without a word, Mr. Gloom begins to descend the ladder into the darkness below.
The temperature drops noticeably as you descend the ladder. Reaching the bottom, you find yourselves in a rough stone cavern. In the center of the floor is a large, clear pool. From the back of the cave, you can hear the faint sound of running water.
Surrounding the pool, separated by small wooden fences, is a huge assortment of mushrooms of seemingly every color; reds, blues, purples, golds. Some are even transparent. Some glow with light. Others vibrate with energy. None of them look like recognizable breeds of mushrooms found above-ground.
Mr. Gloom is a gray-skinned, short, subterranean gnome. His charcoal suit has seen better days, and in its current state is marred by stains, patches, and ragged edges. His bowtie is similarly warn– what was once a jolly shade of yellow has faded to a more sallow pallor.
While not unfriendly, Mr. Gloom is direct. He is a man of few words who does not appreciate flowery language or unnecessary niceties. Despite his blunt demeanor, Mr. Gloom has a reputation of being fair and honest with his clientele. He does not make promises that he cannot keep and tries to keep price negotiations to a professional minimum. He is only willing to haggle back and forth once or twice before he sets a final price and refuses to budge.
Before establishing himself on the surface, Mr. Gloom and his nomadic family made a living as merchants and traders in the tunnels and caverns below. Often, Mr. Gloom contracts his family and friends who still live beneath the surface to aid him in obtaining items and moving goods. Mr. Gloom has multiple storefronts across several different towns and cities, all connected by the sprawling network of underground caves.
Patrons seek out Gloom’s Shrooms to acquire magical items sourced from the underground caves, or to purchase Mr. Gloom’s discreet services.
*Adventuring Gear
While not his primary commodity, Mr. Gloom does sell the adventuring gear that he displays as a cover-up. Characters can purchase basic adventuring gear here, with the exception of items that cost more than 15 gp (see “Adventuring Gear” in the PHB).
To reduce the number of passersby browsing his mundane wares, Mr. Gloom sells adventuring gear at double the usual price.
Where the business got its name! Mr. Gloom’s most highly demanded products are his magic mushrooms. He carefully cultivates them himself underneath his shop, in a cavernous growing room. All his mushrooms can only be grown underground and cannot be found on the surface.
| Item | Rarity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Elemental Shroom | Uncommon | 50 gp. |
| Luum Shroom | Uncommon | 20 gp. |
| Purifying Shroom | Uncommon | 20 gp. |
| Misty Visions Shroom | Rare | 100 gp. |
| Zoom Shroom | Rare | 70 gp. |
| Wide-Eyed Shroom | Very Rare | 200 gp. |
| Twin Mind Shroom | Varies | 50/100/200 gp. |
*The sale of magical items is normal in most 5e settings, so why does Mr. Gloom hide his wares from the public?
Some of his mushrooms, like the Luum Shroom, are harmless. Others, like the Elemental Shroom, could outright kill a commoner. Discretion allows Mr. Gloom to grow potentially deadly and mind-addling mushrooms in his basement without any kind of permit or license. Regardless of what reasoning you choose; Mr. Gloom values his privacy.
| Item | Rarity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Crawler Mucus collected from a giant centipede | - | 200 gp. |
| Purple Worm Poison collected from the stinger of a purple worm | - | 2,000 gp. |
| Oil of Slipperiness created by boiling down a gelatinous cube | Uncommon | 500 gp. |
| Ring of Warmth crafted from the hide of a fiery salamander | Uncommon | 800 gp. |
| Wand of Web made from a giant spider's remains | Uncommon | 1,000 gp. |
| Cloak of Displacement fashioned from the hide of a cloaker | Rare | 4,000 gp. |
| Wand of Lightning Bolts crafted from the lightning glands of a behir | Rare | 5,000 gp. |
Those looking to move goods discreetly will find Mr. Gloom’s services to be professional and of few questions. As previously noted, Mr. Gloom has shops in multiple cities, all connected by underground passageways. This allows him to move items, information, or sometimes even people in and out of the city.
Some are looking to avoid import or export taxes levied by the city. Some are looking to move illicit goods without being stopped and searched at the gate. Still others are looking for a way to escape a past wrongdoing and start a fresh life somewhere new.
Regardless of their reasons, Mr. Gloom only requires information that is strictly necessary for the job and does not outwardly pass judgment. For his assistance in transporting dangerous goods or living cargo, however, Mr. Gloom does charge a higher sum, and may require clients to cover the cost of hiring outside help.
The characters may encounter Mr. Gloom in different ways. If they stumble upon his shop stall, they are unlikely to know the password to access his real underground store.
If this is the case, Mr. Gloom may bring them into the fold to help with a job of his, as he deduces that the characters are the capable type. He may also seek the characters out after hearing that they are in town or send a contact of his to set up a business meeting.
Creatures in the Basement
Mr. Gloom knows how to handle himself in the city, but he is far from a warrior. As such, he is not equipped to deal with whatever creature has taken up residence in his mushroom growing cave himself.
If he has not met the characters yet, he sends a contact to ask the characters help in the matter after hearing word of them entering town from his network of eyes and ears. If he meets the characters for the first time at his stall, he immediately recognizes that they may be able to help each other. Mr. Gloom is, above all else, a businessman.
In this instance, Mr. Gloom assures the characters that he has “much more to offer than this dingy gear on display,” but that he may require a little help “clearing out the shop” first.
“I think you’ll be interested in what else I have to offer down below. Things I don’t sell to just any schmuck walking down the street. Things that would likely come in handy in your line of work,” he grins
*Encounter Difficulty
The creature, or creatures, who have moved into Mr. Gloom’s basement can be any subterranean monster. At lower levels, the characters may need to deal with an infestation of giant centipedes or giant spiders.
To challenge a higher-level party of characters, they may be dealing with something more deadly, like an otyugh or even a nesting behir.
Transport Gig
Mr. Gloom is putting together a team to undertake an important smuggling job and has decided that hiring extra protection would be a wise investment. A fresh group of able-bodied adventurers would make for the perfect security detail for the job:
Sealed Chest. Mr. Gloom has agreed to move a sealed chest out of the city for a paranoid noble. Above all else, the noble has made one thing explicitly clear. No matter what happens, DO NOT OPEN THE CHEST.
The Fugitive. Mr. Gloom has taken on the rare job of smuggling a person out of the city. He makes a point of not asking questions, but are the characters willing to help this person flee without knowing what they are running from?
Creature Feature. A monster broker has sold a rare couatl to a collector in another city, who wishes to bring the creature into the city quietly. Will the characters assist in trafficking an intelligent creature? Or will they make an enemy of Mr. Gloom by interfering…
Elemental Shrooms
Wondrous Item, uncommon
Elemental Shrooms come in several varieties:
Power rumbles within this dark blue mushroom. When you consume a Boom Shroom, you suffer 1d4 thunder damage but gain resistance to thunder damage for 24 hours.
A sizzling puddle of acid pools around this dark purple mushroom. When you consume a Corrosive Shroom, you suffer 1d4 acid damage but gain resistance to acid damage for 24 hours.
A thin sheen of ice covers this freezing mushroom. When you consume a Frost Shroom, you suffer 1d4 cold damage but gain resistance to cold damage for 24 hours.
Scalding lava drips from the cap of this fiery mushroom. When you consume a Magma Shroom, you suffer 1d4 fire damage but gain resistance to fire damage for 24 hours.
Electricity dances along this yellow mushroom. When you consume a Spark Shroom, you suffer 1d4 lightning damage but gain resistance to lightning damage for 24 hours.
Venom drips from this sickly green mushroom. When you consume a Toxic Shroom, you suffer 1d4 poison damage but gain resistance to poison damage for 24 hours.
Luum Shroom
Wondrous Item, uncommon
This translucent mushroom dances with internal lights. You can use an action to shake the Luum Shroom, intensifying the light inside. Once activated in this way, the Luum Shroom sheds bright golden light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet for one hour.
Eating the Luum Shroom instead causes the light to emit from your open mouth for 1d4 hours.
Misty Visions Shroom
Wondrous Item, rare
Delicate mist swirls beneath the lavender cap of this mushroom. When you eat this magical mushroom, you immediately fall into a trance. While in this trance, there is a 30 percent chance that you see a glimpse of the future, and a 70 percent chance that you have an upsetting hallucination.
If the character experiences a vision of the future, the player may ask the GM a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within 7 days. The character then experiences a vision of the future concerning this goal, event, or activity by way of response.
If the character experiences a hallucination, the vivid waking nightmare drives the character to be afflicted with a random form of long-term madness (see “Madness” in chapter 8 of the DMG). This madness only lasts for 1d6 hours.
Purifying Shroom
Wondrous Item, uncommon
These small, silky azure mushrooms grow in clumps around lakes and ponds. When ground up and sprinkled into food or water, the mushroom dissolves and purifies the consumable, rendering it free of poison and disease.
Twin Mind Shroom
Wondrous Item, varies
Two indigo mushroom caps grow from a single stalk. When two creatures both eat one of the mushroom caps within one minute of each other, they develop a telepathic connection as if linked by a telepathy spell. The duration and range of the creatures' shared telepathy varies based on the rarity, or age, of the mushroom:
Two creatures can communicate telepathically for up to 10 minutes within 120 feet of each other.
Two creatures can communicate telepathically for up to one hour within one mile of each other.
Two creatures can communicate telepathically for up to 24 hours, so long as they remain on the same plane of existence.
Wide-Eyed Shroom
Wondrous Item, very rare
This magical mushroom's color shifts between a silvery gray and a golden amber when viewed from different angles. When you eat this mushroom, your pupils dilate to a near-impossible size. For 1d4 hours you see the world around you as it truly is, as if under the effects of a True Seeing spell.
Viewing the world through this lens can be a jarring experience, especially for first timers. For every hour that a character remains under the effects of the Wide-Eyed Shroom, they must make a DC 10 Wisdom Saving throw. At the end of the duration, a character who failed any of their saving throws is afflicted by a short-term madness (see “Madness” in chapter 8 of the DMG).
Zoom Shroom
Wondrous Item, rare
This thin yellow and black mushroom trembles with energy. When you eat a Zoom Shroom, your body begins to vibrate and the world around you appears to slow. Your speed is doubled, you gain advantage on Dexterity saving throws, and any creature that makes an opportunity attack against you has disadvantage on the attack roll for the next 1 minute.