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Shrieker 5e: Stats, the Shriek and Getting Past One
A shrieker is a CR 0 Medium Plant, a mushroom with AC 5, 13 hit points and no attacks at all. Its only feature is the Shriek reaction: when a creature or bright light comes within 30 feet, it lets out a scream audible 300 feet away. A shrieker never hurts anyone. It tells everything nearby that the party has arrived. The 2024 rules rename it the Shrieker Fungus, give it a 5-foot speed, set its XP to 0, and make the shriek last a full minute unless someone kills it.
Senses blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6
Languages —
Challenge 0 (XP 10; PB +2)
Traits
False Appearance.While the shrieker remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary fungus.
Reactions
Shriek.When bright light or a creature is within 30 feet of the shrieker, it emits a shriek audible within 300 feet of it. The shrieker continues to shriek until the disturbance moves out of range and for 1d4 of the shrieker's turns afterward
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
The 2014 shrieker has a speed of 0 feet and False Appearance, so it looks like any other fungus until it screams. Its Shriek continues until the disturbance moves out of range, then for 1d4 more of the shrieker's turns.
The Shrieker Fungus in the 2024 Rules
Shrieker Fungus
Medium Plant, Unaligned
Armor Class 5
Initiative −5 (5)
Hit Points 13 (3d8)
Speed 5 ft.
STR
1 (−5)save −5
DEX
1 (−5)save −5
CON
10 (+0)save +0
INT
1 (−5)save −5
WIS
3 (−4)save −4
CHA
1 (−5)save −5
Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened
Senses Blindsight 30 ft.; Passive Perception 6
Languages None
Challenge 0 (XP 0; PB +2)
Reactions
Shriek.Trigger: A creature or a source of Bright Light moves within 30 feet of the shrieker. Response: The shrieker emits a shriek audible within 300 feet of itself for 1 minute or until the shrieker dies.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
2014 Shrieker
2024 Shrieker Fungus
AC / HP
5 / 13
Same
Speed
0 ft.
5 ft.
XP
10
0
Trigger
Bright light or a creature is within 30 ft.
A creature or source of Bright Light moves within 30 ft.
Duration
Until the disturbance leaves, plus 1d4 turns
1 minute, or until the shrieker dies
False Appearance
Yes
Removed
Condition immunities
Blinded, deafened, frightened
Adds charmed
The duration change is the important one. A 2014 shrieker goes quiet shortly after the party moves on. A 2024 shrieker keeps screaming for 10 rounds no matter what, so killing it is the only way to cut the alarm short.
How Shriekers Fight (They Don't)
A shrieker has no actions. Its contribution to a fight is everything that answers the scream. Run it as an alarm with three settings:
•Who hears it. 300 feet covers most of a cave complex or several floors of a dungeon. Decide in advance what lives within that radius and how fast it arrives.
•What it reveals. The shriek says "something is at the mushroom patch," not who or how many. Smart residents send a scout. Hungry ones come at once.
•What it costs the party. Stealth, surprise, and time. A 2024 shrieker screaming for a minute is a minute in which every creature in range can find the noise.
Blindsight beats stealth. The shrieker perceives everything within 30 feet by blindsight, and its trigger is a creature coming within range, not being seen. Invisibility, darkness and a perfect Stealth roll don't keep it quiet.
Running a Shrieker Encounter
Under the 2024 rules a shrieker is worth 0 XP, so it costs nothing from your encounter budget. Under the 2014 rules it's 10 XP. Our encounter calculator uses the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide numbers, where it barely moves the total.
Budget the creatures it calls instead. Two good layouts:
•Shrieker as early warning. Put it at the entrance to a lair, 100 to 200 feet from the residents. A party that handles it quietly gets to fight on its own terms. A party that doesn't faces the residents arriving a round or two later, ready.
•Shrieker plus violet fungi. The violet fungi hold a narrow passage while the shriek pulls in a grick or a roper from deeper in. The party has to choose between pushing through tendrils and retreating into whatever is coming.
How Players Beat Shriekers
•Kill it from beyond 30 feet. A creature at 35 feet doesn't trigger it. With AC 5 and 13 hit points, two longbow hits (1d8 + 3 each) or two to three Fire Bolts finish it without it ever reacting.
•Watch the light. A torch casts bright light 20 feet. If the torchbearer comes within 50 feet, the bright light reaches within 30 feet of the shrieker and sets it off. Dim light doesn't trigger it. Characters with darkvision should scout ahead with the lights covered.
•Silence. The Silence spell (2nd level, 120-foot range) stops any sound from being created in or passing through a 20-foot-radius sphere. Center it on the shrieker and it screams with nobody hearing.
•In 2024, kill it fast once it starts. The shriek ends when the shrieker dies, so focusing it down in the first round cuts off up to nine more rounds of noise.
Shrieker Encounter Ideas
The doorbell. A gnoll pack has transplanted a shrieker to the mouth of their den on purpose. It's the first sign the party is dealing with something that plans.
The lost miner. A miner's daughter has been missing for a day. The party hears a distant shriek ahead, then another, then another, each closer to something. They're following her trail by the alarms she's setting off.
The quiet mushrooms. A druid tends a garden of shriekers around her hut. They've been silent for three nights, which they never are. Someone has been killing them from range with a crossbow every evening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CR is a shrieker?
CR 0. In the 2014 rules it's worth 10 XP. In the 2024 rules the Shrieker Fungus is worth 0 XP. Both have AC 5 and 13 hit points.
What triggers a shrieker?
In 2014, bright light or any creature within 30 feet. In 2024, a creature or a source of bright light moving within 30 feet. Either way, the shriek can be heard 300 feet away.
How long does a shrieker scream?
A 2014 shrieker screams until the disturbance moves out of range, then for 1d4 more of its turns. A 2024 Shrieker Fungus screams for 1 minute or until it dies.
Can you sneak past a shrieker?
Not by being stealthy within 30 feet: it has blindsight and is triggered by a creature's presence. Stay outside 30 feet, keep bright light out of that range, or cast Silence on it.
Does a shrieker attack?
No. It has no attacks. Its partner, the violet fungus, is the one that fights, with a 10-foot necrotic touch.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.