Hazards of Golarion

From PathfinderWiki
This page does not include diseases, poisons, or traps. See Diseases of Golarion, Poisons of Golarion, and Trap.
Blightburn, a naturally hazardous radioactive material.

A number of hazardous substances of various types exist on Golarion, especially in the Darklands.1

Brown mold

Brown mold fungus draws heat from everything in a five-foot radius, and noticeably lowers the temperature in a 30-foot radius. If it comes into contact with a strong source of heat such as fire, the brown mold instantly doubles in size. It is vulnerable to extreme cold temperatures.2

Brown mold spores are used to create a pale blue poison known as frostspore, which injures its target with intense cold.3

Cytillesh

Cytillesh is also known as brain mold. It gives off a bright blue glow equivalent to torchlight and is prized by deros, who appreciate its benefits and are not fazed by its severe detriments. Thus it can often be found growing on the walls and ceilings of dero communities.

Prolonged exposure to cytillesh can slow ageing by half. Deros also believe it provides mental enhancement and is responsible for creating the exceptional deros they refer to savants. It also causes stillbirths, birth defects and insanity, which deros view as minor drawbacks.4

Deros also use cytillesh extract as a poison.5

Ghost mold

Ghost mold is found in areas of strong necromantic activity. It is a faintly glowing black dust and hard to spot even for those who have encountered it before.

It reacts if living creatures approach within five feet, throwing out a cloud of spores in a 10-foot radius. These spores attack both the mind—potentially causing fearsome hallucinations of death—and the body, draining away life energy.

The body of a creature completely drained of life energy becomes a new patch of ghost mold. The victim's soul might briefly remain to haunt the area as a ghost, until it too is destroyed by the ghost mold's feeding.6

Green slime

Green slime is a highly acidic type of semi-intelligent mold that can destroy flesh and other organic materials on contact. It clings to walls, floor, and ceilings, and can detect movement to drop onto prey below. It can also affect wood and metal, but not stone. A creature covered in green slime is quickly dissolved unless the slime is scraped off, frozen, burnt, or destroyed by sunlight.2

Radiation

Radiation is the emission of natural, magical, or technological energies at levels that can harm living creatures, and is common in parts of the Darklands and the technological ruins of Numeria.78

Russet mold

The dangerous fungus known as russet mold releases a cloud of spores whenever a creature approaches within five feet. The spores take root in the lungs of unfortunate victims, and in severe cases the creature dies. A day after being killed by russet mold, one or more fully grown vegepygmies emerge from the corpse, with the exact number dependent on the size of the slain creature.

Russet mold is vulnerable to acid and alcohol, and is dormant in sunlight.9

Shrieker

A shrieker is a human-sized purple mushroom. Any light or movement within 10 feet causes it to utter a piercing shriek. This drowns out any other noise and often attracts predators.2[citation needed]

Splintermold

Splintermold is a Darklands fungus that makes stalactites more prone to fall on creatures that pass beneath.10

Yellow mold

If yellow mold is disturbed, it launches a cloud of poisonous spores in a 10-foot radius. This can prove debilitating or even fatal to those caught within the cloud. Yellow mold is dormant in sunlight and can be destroyed by fire.2

References

  1. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. “Exploring the Darklands” in Into the Darklands, 9. Paizo Inc., 2008
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jason Bulmahn, et al. “Gamemastering” in Core Rulebook, 416. Paizo Inc., 2009
  3. James Jacobs. “The Shattered Star” in Shards of Sin, 64. Paizo Inc., 2012
  4. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. “Exploring the Darklands” in Into the Darklands, 12–13. Paizo Inc., 2008
  5. James Jacobs, et al. Derro” in Classic Horrors Revisited, 8. Paizo Inc., 2010
  6. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. “Exploring the Darklands” in Into the Darklands, 13. Paizo Inc., 2008
  7. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. “Exploring the Darklands” in Into the Darklands, 14. Paizo Inc., 2008
  8. James Jacobs & Russ Taylor. “Technological Hazards and Artifacts” in Technology Guide, 55–56. Paizo Inc., 2014
  9. Jason Bulmahn, et al. “Monsters A to Z” in Bestiary, 273. Paizo Inc., 2009
  10. Neil Spicer, et al. Sanctum of the Serpent God, inside front cover. Paizo Inc., 2011