Frightful Fridays! A-Z! reaches the letter "T" today and features its first plant creature. Patrick found this illustration, and I picked up on the seeming anger of this tree amid some unknown devastation. This surviving tree holds the spirits of the inhabitants of its destroyed home, and those spirits drive the treevenant to inflict punishment on those responsible. I originally had this monster's alignment set to Chaotic Evil, but I decided to keep one Neutral component to keep it somewhat connected to its natural origins. Today's extra derives directly from the treevenant's most impressive attack.
I hope you enjoy this first (but certainly not last) plant monster for Frightful Fridays! and I'll be back for Wednesday's "U" monster. Thanks for reading!
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| Artist: Arthur Szygulski |
This tree stands alone in a clearing; it rustles with apparently razor-sharp leaves not in accordance with the wind.
Treevenant CR 12
XP 19,200
CN Large Plant
Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +30
Defense
AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 21 (+7 Dex, -1 size, +12 natural)
hp 161 (17d8+85); fast healing 2
Fort +15, Ref +12, Will +11
DR 10/slashing; Immune electricity, fire, plant traits
Offense
Speed 50 ft.
Melee 2 slams +17 (3d8+5 plus bleed)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks bleed (1d4), leaf shard spray
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th; concentration +23)
At Will—quickened entangle (DC 17), speak with plants
3/day—nature's exile (DC 19), warp wood (DC 18)
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 25, Con 21, Int 18, Wis 22, Cha 23
Base Atk +12; CMB +18 (+20 bull rush, +20 trip); CMD 35 (37 vs. bull rush, 37 vs. trip)
Feats Alertness, Combat Expertise, Dazzling Display (Slam), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Trip, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (entangle), Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Intimidate +28, Knowledge (nature) +21, Perception +30, Sense Motive +27, Stealth +23, Survival +23
Languages Common, Elven, Gnome, Sylvan, Treant
Ecology
Environment any forest
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Bleed (Ex) Not only does a treevenant cause an opponent to bleed when it strikes its foe with its slam or leaf shard spray, but it also inflicts bleed to creatures that grapple it or strike it with an unarmed attack or natural weapons. By succeeding at a DC 23 Reflex save, grappling creatures or those who hit with an applicable attack avoid this bleed effect.
Leaf Shard Spray (Ex) Once every 1d4 rounds, a treevenant can fire a 30-foot cone of leaves that deals 6d6 slashing damage and inflicts 1d6 bleed. A DC 23 Reflex saving throw halves the damage and negates the bleed. The save DC is Constitution-based.
After a forest withstands an assault against it, whether intentional or incidental, the spirits of dead trees possess a single tree to enact vengeance on those creatures who wreaked destruction on them. This agent of retribution, a treevenant, changes drastically from its original species, gaining tougher bark, incredibly quick movement, surprising intelligence and, perhaps most importantly, a means to inflict great harm on its opponents. A treevenant stands between 10 and 15 feet tall and weighs between 600 and 1000 pounds.
Depending on the situation, a treevenant will remain in its home, destroying and driving off unwelcome invaders, or it will follow despoilers back to their homes to return the favor. In the latter case, not only will a treevenant directly assault its opponents, but it will mark their foes as enemies of nature and will convince vital food-bearing plants to stop producing for those so marked.
There are no known natural treevenants; all specimens spontaneously generate from trees that have taken damage, but survived, during large-scale, humanoid-led destruction. A treevenant lives long enough to exact its revenge or meet its destruction. If a treevenant perishes before completing its task, the spirits driving that creature usually find another tree to animate and start its mission anew. If the spirits have gained satisfaction from their vengeance, they depart, and the tree returns to normal, standing as a reminder for those who would consider trifling with nature again.
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Treevenant Leaves
Rarely, a treevenant will gift a set of its razor-sharp leaves to a sympathetic character, who can then fashion them into potent weapons or armor.
When fashioning a weapon from treevenant leaves, the Craft (weapons) DC is 15 to create a single masterwork bladed weapon from a leaf and 20 to create a masterwork bladed fan from a set of 10 leaves. The character crafting the weapon must also succeed at a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) check to ensure the weapon is reusable; if she fails this check, the weapon will fall apart after one use. Both weapons require Exotic Weapon Proficiency to use effectively and deal damage equivalent to a dagger and fighting fan, respectively. In addition, the single-blade leaf inflicts 1d4 bleed, while the bladed fan inflicts 1d6 bleed. A weapon crafted from treevenant leaves costs 4 times the masterwork version.
For treevenant leaf armor, the Craft (armor) is 20, and the crafter must succeed at a DC 20 Knowledge (nature) check to avoid the armor falling apart when it absorbs its first hit. An armorer can craft masterwork leather armor for a Large or smaller character, or masterwork hide or scale armor for a Medium or smaller character, from treevenant leaves. The lightweight leaves reduce the armor’s overall weight by 5 pounds, reduce the armor check penalty by 1 (minimum 0) and reduce the arcane spell failure chance by 5% (minimum 5%). The armor’s hit points and hardness remain unchanged. Additionally, if the armor’s wearer grapples an opponent, is grappled by an opponent, or is struck by an opponent’s unarmed strike or natural weapon, the armor inflicts 1d6 bleed. Treevenant leaf armor costs twice the masterwork version.
Druids can use treevenant leaf weapons without requiring the Exotic Weapon Proficiency and can wear treevenant leaf armor without penalty.
