D&D's Shambling Mound Face to No-Face Change

 Maybe it happened in 5th edition (wait it was 3e), but definitely in some/many earlier versions the Shambling Mound (Shambler) was based loosely on the Man-Thing/Swamp-Thing comic monsters. I prefer the ones with faces (eyes), like Lukyon from the 1983 cartoon. 

October 1983 cartoon, Prison Without Walls. Check his size after Lukyon grew from energy(lightning is the rule?) attacks (lightning vs. energy bow, was it sort of a lightning-energy-bow back then?). 

Note Lukyon's face, with the elephantine trunk of a nose. The Basic Game, see below, also had the trunk. 

Nice write up here: https://torenatkinson.com/2024/03/02/adapting-prison-without-walls-dd-cartoon-episode-to-a-dd-tabletop-adventure/

Interesting if true (I bet it's true, can't find source). 

Around 1986. One of the adventure modules for the Basic D&D boxed set (also says Expert, so??), AC2 Comat Shield and Mini-adventure. Shambler over on the right. Note the insectoid eyes... I can dig it, though it looks smallish due to the artistic proportions/angles.  

ALSO Jeff Easley's early art of a troll, an owlbear, and a shambling mound.

Great article, but I'm just talking about the look of the face: https://explorednd.com/gameplay/shambling-mound-5e-guide/

OUR COMPAIGN need to use this link has great official DnD art, "cut out png" style:

https://www.pngwing.com/en/free-png-xmzzj

2024/2025 Monster Manual 5.5e's has a more Lovecraftian look, I'm good with that too. 

4e did this one, recycled in 5e's MM. Looks good, but I miss the eyes. 

Version?? Not MM 4e though. Has eyes again. Cool. 

3e / 3.5e got rid of the face, via https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shambling_mound

1e Shambling Mound. Full face aka Eyes and the trunk nose. 

And 2e Monstrous Manual had a great description, if not as cool a picture, thanks to:  https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Shambling_Mound

2e's MM Shambling Mound. 

2e MM says:

Shambling mounds, or “shamblers”, appear as heaps of rotting vegetation. They are actually an intelligent form of vegetable life, roughly humanoid shaped, with a height of six to nine feet and a girth of about six feet at their base (legs to waist) and two feet at their summit (the “head”).

Combat

Shambling mounds are fearless attackers and are perhaps the most deadly form of plant life known. Their huge armlike appendages inflict 2-16 points of crushing damage each time they hit, and an unlucky victim hit by both arms in the same round is entangled in the slimy vines and rotting vegetable matter of the creature. Entangled creatures suffocate in slime in 2d4 rounds unless the shambler is killed or the victim breaks free (on a successful bend bars/lift gates roll).

The shambler's powerful attacks are supported by a combination of defenses that make shambling mounds invulnerable to most normal attacks. The vast amounts of thick vegetation covering the important inner body protect the shambling mound very well, thus its AC of 0. All edged and pointed weapons that strike the shambling mound successfully cause only one-half damage since the blows are greatly weakened as they pass through layer upon layer of cellulose fibers and slime. Since shamblers can collapse themselves at will, crushing weapons inflict no damage at all upon them.

Fire-based attacks are ineffective against the wet and slimy shambling mounds, and cold-based attacks cause only one-half (if saving throw is failed) or no damage (if saving throw succeeds) to the creature, due to their essentially vegetable nature. Lightning actually causes a shambling mound to grow in size if used against it (add one foot in height, 1 Hit Die, and appropriate hit points for each lightning-based attack it is subjected to).

Spells that normally affect plants are effective against shambling mounds. Spells such as plant control and charm plant have proven the most successful so far.

Shambling mounds often lie in shallow bogs waiting for hapless creatures to walk on top of them. The usually surprised beings (-3 penalty to their surprise rolls) are struck and smothered often before they can even call for help.

Shambling mounds are almost totally silent and invisible in their natural surroundings (-3 penalty to opponents' surprise rolls). They are not above creeping slowly into the camps of unsuspecting travelers at night. They are excellent swimmers as well.

Habitat/Society

Shambling mounds are only found in regions of dense rainfall and vegetation. Dismal swamps, marshes, and rain forests are their favorite climes, but some wet subterranean places also serve as shambler lairs. They are solitary beasts, only rarely living in the same area as other shamblers – usually only in areas where the food source is constant (e.g., near famous ruins or abandoned gold mines, etc.).

Ecology

The shambling mound is an animate clump of vegetation with a small brain-like control center located deep within the “chest” cavity. Decapitating a shambling mound, therefore, does not harm it in the least. Since a shambling mound's “limbs” are merely aggregated clumps of vine and moss, the removal of one or more of them does not hamper the creature either. Remaining vines along the torso will join to form a new limb by the next round. Only when enough of the shambling mound has been hacked away will the creature die.

Note that a wounded shambling mound need only retreat to a dense clump of wet foliage to heal. It will rise again in 12 hours, fully healed. It is likely to be very angry as well.

Since shamblers gain power from electrical attacks, it is suspected that there may exist some shamblers that are vastly larger than the common ones seen thus far. Since will-o-wisps and shamblers often inhabit the same desolate regions of the world, it is possible that shambling mounds of 20 Hit Dice or more lie in the deepest, darkest swamps and jungles.