Despite the rather grotesque appearance, this is not actually an animal, but instead a strange form of predatory alien fungus.

The fungus starts out as a bulbous growth, found in wherever there are copious amounts of decaying matter – typically lots of rotting leaves or other vegetable matter, although it can also be found where there are corpses.  The hand grows slowly over a period of a few days, the ‘fingers’ elongating and eventually turning a deep red in color until they finally split apart. The typical fungal growth has between three to seven ‘digits’ (2d3+1), and they grow to a length of ten feet. The main body of the creature can grow up to five feet in length and can weigh several hundred pounds for a well fed, fully grown specimen.

This fungus hunts by producing a powerful pheromone, which smells like meat to anything with an olfactory sense.  It counts on the pheromone to attract prey to its location. When potential prey arrives, the fungus will strike out with the tentacle-like claws. Even though the creature is not too large, it does have a fairly impressive reach, allowing it to strike at targets that would normally believe they were safe from attack. The creature uses this attack to injure a target, and begin the breakdown. Even a single round of this attack will provide the creature with the nutrients it requires to survive.

This enzyme has no effect against non-organic material, but cloth made of natural fibers, armor made of leather or other natural materials will automatically suffer sundering damage when it comes into contact, meaning it could very well be destroyed if exposure is long enough. 

The fungus can use this attack each round. Once prey has been reduced to goo, the creature will dip its digits into the mess and suck up the nutrients released. After this happens, it will then release spoors into the air. Many will hit the remains and take root, growing, while others will float on the air until they land in a suitable location to take seed and grow into a new fungal plant.

Starfinder Creature Index

Chris Van Deelen is the creator and contributor to over half of the Wisdom from the Wastelands series, contributor to the Swords of Kos: Hekaton anthology, and the recently released 'Swords of Kos: The Rite'. He also wrote Creatures of the Tropical Wastelands, and 100 Oddities found in a Car. As prolific as he is, Chris Van Deelen continues to write and produce material which will be in publication soon. Not only is he a prolific content creator, he also has a wide selection of fiction and stories! If you like his work, please follow his personal author page on Facebook and on Twitter to keep up with his latest news and game content.