Screaming Mandrakes

A botanical column on using folklore in tabletop RPGs

Jan 20, 2023

A crucial area of myth and folklore that doesn’t always make it into role-playing games is magical plants. Brewed into potions, fashioned into amulets, smoked or eaten to reach the gods; plants have historically been a powerful source of magic.

But, to be fair, eating leaves doesn’t immediately inspire riveting gameplay. So how about we start with one of history’s most famous human-plant hybrid: the mandrake.

The Mandrake

“Of all the medicinal herbs used in the ancient and medieval world, none was regarded with as much fear or wonder as the mandrake”1.

The mandrake is a plant with mystical properties and thick, often forked, roots that resemble a human form. In reality, this is anthropomorphism, but in older drawings we often see the mandrake as a literal miniature man or woman with leaves and flowers growing from their head.

In pre-modern times, the mandrake was a herbal remedy for fertility, convulsions, melancholy, and mania. It could also be fashioned into a talisman or amulet with more mystical qualities2. These magical artefacts had the power to bring good fortune, cure sterility, discover secret treasures, ward off evil spirits, and act as a love charm. If you’re a witch, you’ll already know it’s a key ingredient in the ointment that allows you to fly, as well as many magic potions and brews.

That all sounds pretty good, so how does one go about harvesting mandrake for themselves? Well, historically, with extreme care.

When you uproot a mandrake, it emits an ear-piercing scream that kills or drives mad whoever is trying to harvest it. Not only that, but some tales say it also condemns your soul to hell. Given that neither of those is ideal, the traditional method of harvest is as follows3:

Plug your ears with wax—the ol’ Odysseus trick.
Tie one end of a rope around the plant, and the other to your hungry dog’s collar or tail (hmm).
Reveal a treat, causing your dog to suddenly sprint forward (hmmmm).
Your dog pulls the mandrake out of the ground, then dies (hmmmmmmmmmmm).

And ta-da! You have a mandrake. And, uh, one less dog.

Historical Beliefs

The mandrake as remedy stretches back to the ancient world. The Greeks burned mandrake as incense, and it was used in the Classical world as an aesthetic and sedative. Mandrake was also used to treat fertility and as an aphrodisiac, accomplishing the former in the Book of Genesis.

In medieval and early modern Europe, the mandrake became associated with witches and the devil. Because of its famous qualities, playwrights of the time often wrote about it, including Shakespeare4. In Othello, its sleep-inducing qualities are mentioned; in Macbeth, consuming it brings madness; and in Romeo and Juliet:

And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth,
That living mortals hearing them, run mad.

As you can imagine, the oddly human shape of the mandrake root contributed heavily to its lasting popularity. Along with other magical plants, it became wrapped up in what is called the ‘Doctrine of Signatures’5. Put simply, if a plant resembles a body part, it must be able to be used to treat ailments of the body part it resembles. From our 21st-century vantage we know that definitely isn’t how plants work, but it’s an interesting concept to keep in mind if you run a game set in a medieval fantasy world.

“Mandragora Mas.” & “Mandragora Foemina.” (c.1569)

Real-Life Mandrake

So, what is mandrake actually?

Well, what we call a mandrake is actually the root of plants from the genus Mandragora, itself a part of the nightshade family. Simply put, it’s incredibly poisonous. Consuming the leaves or roots of all species of Mandragora can indeed reduce pain and induce unconsciousness, but it also causes hallucinations and delirium. Less glamorously, other side effects include asphyxiation, seizures, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

So pulling a mandrake out of the ground may not actually kill you, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend sticking one in your mouth.

*Mandragora Autumnalis* from Riserva della Zingaro, Sicily

Using Mandrakes in Your Game

So, now you know the story, how can you use it in your game?

Healing Talisman

As dangerous as they are to harvest, the magical properties of the mandrake are hard to overlook. A sick and dying patron NPC—or a fatally poisoned PC—could turn the search for a mandrake into a quest in its own right. Perhaps mandrakes only grow in a dangerous locale, like the garden of an evil giant or dragon. Once the PCs find the mandrake too, they’ll still need to figure how to harvest one without damning their own souls in the process.

Alternatively, you can spice up a regular magic item that provides some sort of resistance or healing benefit by describing it as a small root shaped like a tiny screaming human!

Fatal Gardening

Some rather unsavoury medieval tales have the mandrake created by the fallen blood (or semen) of a hanged man6. Perhaps the party comes across an evil wizard’s garden, rows of men hanging from nooses while the magical plant grows beneath them. When it’s time, the wizard uses necromancy to have the hanged corpse dig up its own mandrake. This causes the zombie to die once again, though the necromancer cares little for whether this means its soul has been damned.

Seems like something a hero might want to intervene in.

The Mandrake Familiar

From German folklore we have the concept of the alarun (or alarune), which is essentially a mandrake homunculus7. Carved from a mandrake root, its purpose is to assist magicians and witches in magical rituals, in addition to bringing good luck—assuming a witchfinder doesn't catch you with it.

An alarun can’t be neglected, however—it needs to be wrapped in a white robe, bathed every Friday, and kept in box, lest it scream for attention. According to legend, an alarun must also be sold at a higher price than it was bought for—trying to get rid of it any other way has it magically reappear in its owner’s room.

If regular familiars, or strange Scandinavian ones, aren’t your speed, perhaps you’ll like one of a more botanical nature?

Mandrake Familiar Statistics (Old-School)

Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 1* (4 hp)
Attacks: 1 x bite (1d3 + poison) or scream
THAC0: 19 [0]
Move: 60’ (20’)
Save As: Magic-User 6
Morale: 9
▶ Poison: Victim must save versus spells or fall asleep for 2d3 rounds.
▶ Scream: All creatures within 60’ must save versus paralysis or be distracted (–2 penalty to attack rolls) for 2d3 rounds. The mandrake can scream at most once every 3 rounds.
▶ Good Luck: Once per day, a mandrake within 30’ of its owner can allow them to reroll a single die.
▶ Follower: If there is ever more than 200’ between the mandrake and its owner, it will disappear, reappearing in its owner’s presence the next time they settle down to rest (e.g. return home, make camp, find lodging, etc.).
▶ Upon Death: The owner suffers 2d3 damage. In 2d12 hours, they spend 1 turn painfully vomiting up a new body for the mandrake.
Mandrake familiars, or alarun, are primarily created to assist magic-users in small tasks and magical rituals.
To produce one, a mage will need to uncover the secret process first—a ritual that requires both harvesting a mandrake oneself and a sacrifice of the mage’s blood (enough to reduce their max hp). At the Referee’s discretion, having a mandrake familiar can lower the time and/or cost of magical research.

And that’s it for screaming mandrakes!

Thanks for reading; Mythoi will be back again in February for another fantastical piece of folklore to use in your role-playing games!

Penny for your thoughts: Have you ever had a plot in your game revolve around a magical plant?

~ A.C. Luke

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Keezer, William S. 1963. “Botanical Sources of Early Medicines". Bios 34.4: 185-191.

Carter, Anthony John. 2003. “Myths and Mandrakes.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 96.3: 144-7.