Mu Spore

A Mu Spore is one of those kinds of monsters that every fantasy RPG has to have—an apocalypse engine. The odd thing about this one, though, is that it isn't (by default, feel free to spice that up!) a creation of the evil gods, an entity prophesized to end the world, nor a malignant alien. Indeed, the mu spore is just a big, flying, hyper-intelligent mushroom. It isn't even evil, as the book puts it at CN, although I wouldn't exactly bet on it being particularly cooperative.

Its genius-level intellect and its absurd (50 ft by 50 ft—that's ten grid spaces each way for all you grid players out there) size mean it will often be revered as a deity by cultures whose homelands it uses as a feeding ground.

But the one thing that gets me going as a GM reading it is that it is a spore. What are spores, exactly? In layman's terms, they're mushroom seeds. Think about what could be born of a genius mushroom the size of a cathedral that ends civilizations before (or for) breakfast. Then make that your next big baddie.

- Nemanja

Hook 1 (Max) - Shroomhaven

Recently, the Firn Peaks became a no-go zone, as multiple big groups of people vanished there without a trace. A few came back, but different than before, acting as if their hometowns were completely alien to them.

There are some people, however, who feel a deep, almost primal urge to go into the mountains. A strange, otherworldly voice compels them to seek out a vast cavern hidden beneath the peaks. And so they all leave in the dark of the night, only to return a couple of weeks later.

Oddly enough, every single one of them was an enthusiast of mushroom hunting.

They all act differently, too. Somewhat apathetic, but at the same time taking in their surroundings very carefully. Everyone assumes they've taken part in some enlightening experience. Technically, you could say that.

For they are now emissaries of an alien intellect that has been taking refuge within the Firn Peaks, set on revenge for generations of its brethren being used as cuisine on its distant homeworld. Every person that came back from its new domain is a ticking timebomb, a fungus slowly replacing their nervous system, waiting to explode in a spore cloud infecting even more victims. Soon, it will begin.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Verdant Valor

The Knights of the Final Green have a solemn duty. These intergalactic verdant vagrants travel the cosmos in search of apocalyptic fungal growths. While the plant nature of these leshy knights protects them from the mu spores, the enormous vacuous spores will still consume these minuscule warriors. The number of planets the Final Green has found that contain floral brethren is disappointingly small, and their numbers are dwindling after millennia of hunting down their prolific, constantly propagating foe. Unfortunately, they've found the biggest infestation yet, and the chances of being wiped out entirely is nagging at the back of every knight's mind.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - The Bloated God

Fifty years ago, what appeared to be a meteor landed in Blazavayka lake.

Five years later, what would later become known as The Bloated God rose to the surface, begging for food.

Ever since that fateful day, the deity has risen to the surface every five to ten years and the people of the surrounding villages have been bringing it sacrifices—mostly in the form of cattle and poultry to feed it. The godling, for its part, makes it largely worth it. It tells the villagers of how the seasons will change, the locations of hidden sources of water and fertile land, and warns them of passing bands of bandits and deserters. Something changed this year, though. The alchemist's son is rumoured to have fed another human—a young lass that rejected his advances—to the god and apparently awoke something within it.

The deity now speaks of dark magicks, tides of blood rising to sweep up the mammalian empires, and the Holy City of Leng. Now, the villagers find themselves unable to stop listening to its mad ravings.