Creature Feature (5e): Stomo Mole

Stomo moles are often seen as disgusting by surface dwellers; eating dirt and bugs on one end and excreting a gross gel from the other. Underdwellers understand the moles’ value though (although at least drow still tend to look at them as necessary pests). Stomo moles are minor magical beasts and a key to many ecosystems; their excretions turning otherwise unfertile terrain into ready (if gross) spots for fungi to grow. As anyone who lives underground knows, fungi tend to be the base life nearly everything else relies on. 

Stomo Mole

Tiny magical beast, unaligned

Armor Class 12 (natural armor)
Hit Points 4 (1d6 + 1)
Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
5 (-3) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 3 (-4) 10 (+0) 4 (-3)

Damage Resistances acid, poison
Condition Immunities blinded
Skills Survival +2
Senses Tremorsense 30 ft. passive Perception 10
Challenge 0 (10 XP)

Special Traits

  • Smelly. Stomo moles are notoriously smelly. Any Perception check made using smell within 30 ft. of a stomo mole is made with disadvantage. 

Actions

  • Digging Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.

Tactics

Stomo moles are cowardly; they will quickly burrow away if they detect major tremors. They have very little in the way of fighting capabilities.

Ecology

Stomo moles often play a vital role in cave and Underdark ecology. Their magical bodies are quite good at gathering nutrition from dirt, insects, and even stone. They can taste and smell the air (and some say they can even detect through sound their favored minerals, perhaps based on density), using their claws to break down anything too large before slowly eating their strange meals. They require less food than many creatures but about twice as much water as a normal mammal of their size, usually making their dens near a pool of underground water. Their biology is hardy and reinforced with magic; while not totally immune to poison or toxins, they can drink water normally unsuitable to most creatures without issue (such as salt water).

Stomo mole excrement, which they are constantly excreting (and is the primary reason for their notoriously powerful odor), is quite supportive of life; insects and fungi often support themselves off of it. While some might scrunch their noses at this process, it is extremely useful in supporting life. A Stomo mole takes nutrients normally locked away, be they from the dirt, hard rock, or mineral deposits, and brings them into tunnel and cave systems in a form usable to a wider variety of life. In turn, the insects and fungi that support themselves from the leavings are in turn usable by more life. Thus a food chain can begin to be supported. 

A Rumor

Hundreds of Stomo moles have been surfacing in the small town of Tomlin. They are utterly ruining it with their leavings and their many holes; one farmer has even had his horse break its leg. The town smells utterly vile and trade has come almost to a standstill. While the moles are being hunted by the townsfolk, it is said there is a reward for anyone who will dive into the local caves and see why on earth the creatures are leaving their homes. 



About Quin Callahan

Quin Callahan is a freelance writer and college level English and economics tutor of over four years experience. He has written for a variety of gaming, technology, and economics publications. His favorite animal might be the squid but he is rarely certain.

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