Frightful Fridays! Flensing Treant

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of Frightful Fridays! For once, the monster is actually out on a Friday (albeit a week late). I spent last weekend selecting my favorite monsters for this year's Here Be Monster's contest, and I'm looking forward to the reveal. We had a great selection of monsters to choose from.

This week's monster has been rooting around in my brain (sorry!) for a while, and I finally decided on the abilities to make this a fearsome monster. I occasionally return to the theme of nature turning on civilization (but not in a "The Happening" way), and a killer plant with an axe to grind against those who ravage nature is perfect for that theme.

I hope you like the flensing treant, and I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with the creepiest monster I've ever worked on. Thanks for reading!

This decidedly unhappy tree can be found here

Angry red “eyes” glow from this twisted tree’s trunk, which also bleeds a black sap; its leaves rustle without wind, and its roots twitch.

Flensing Treant      CR 14

XP 38,400

NE Huge plant

Init –2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +32

DEFENSE

AC 30, touch 6, flat-footed 30 (–2 Dex, +24 natural, –2 size)

hp 210 (20d8+120)

Fort +18, Ref +4, Will +11

Defensive Abilities poison sap; DR 15/cold iron and slashing; Immune plant traits

Weaknesses vulnerable to fire

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee 2 slams +22 (3d6+8/19-20 plus tearing bark), 4 tentacles +17 (1d6+4 plus grab)

Ranged 2 leaves +15 (2d6+8 plus bleed)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (20 ft. with tentacles)

Special Attacks bleed (1d6), constrict (1d6+8), flensing leaves, trample (3d6+12, DC 28)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +24)

   At will—entangle (DC 15)

   1/day—plant growth, wall of thorns

STATISTICS

Str 27, Dex 6, Con 23, Int 16, Wis 21, Cha 18

Base Atk +15; CMB +25 (+27 bull rush and sunder, +29 grapple); CMD 33 (35 vs. bull rush and sunder, can't be tripped)

Feats Alertness, Awesome Blow, Critical Focus, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (slam), Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Sundering Strike^APG, Weapon Focus (slam), Weapon Focus (tentacle)

Skills Intimidate +24, Knowledge (nature) +22, Perception +32, Sense Motive +29, Stealth –3 (+17 Stealth in forests), Survival +22

Languages Common, Sylvan, Treant; treespeech

SQ animate trees, double damage against objects, of the forest

ECOLOGY

Environment any forest

Organization solitary or pair

Treasure double

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Animate Trees (Sp) A flensing treant can animate any trees within 360 feet at will, controlling up to four trees at a time. It takes 1 full round for a tree to uproot itself, after which it moves at a speed of 10 feet and fights as a flensing treant (although it has only one slam attack and lacks the treant's special abilities), gaining the flensing treant's vulnerability to fire. If the treant that animated it terminates the animation, moves out of range, or is incapacitated, the tree immediately takes root wherever it is and returns to its normal state.

Double Damage against Objects (Ex) A flensing treant or animated tree that makes a full attack against an object or structure deals double damage.

Flensing Leaves (Ex) Once every 1d4 rounds, a flensing treant can release of cloud of razor-sharp leaves that deal 4d6 points of slashing damage to creatures in a 30-foot radius (DC 26 Reflex half). A creature failing its Reflex save also takes 2d6 points of bleed damage.

A flensing treant’s thrown leaves have a 60-foot range increment, and the treant gains a +4 racial bonus on its attack rolls with the leaves.

Of the Forest (Su) When in a forest, a flensing treant cannot be caught flat-footed, and it always knows the location of invisible creatures. It still suffers the miss chance against creatures with concealment.

Poison Sap (Ex) If a creature adjacent to a flensing treant damages it with a slashing weapon, the treant sprays the creature with poisonous sap. Additionally, when the treant is caught in the area of an effect that deals fire damage, it aerosolizes its poison, affecting all creatures in a 30-foot radius.

Flensing treant poison—contact; save Fort DC 26; frequency 1/round for 8 rounds; effect 2d4 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Tearing Bark (Ex) If a flensing treant confirms a critical hit with its slam attack, it inflicts 1d4 points of Strength bleed.

Treespeech (Su) A flensing treant has the ability to converse with plants as if subject to a continual speak with plants spell, and most plants greet it with an attitude of friendly or helpful.

In darker groves bordering on unseelie fey realms or in forests ravaged by civilization, flensing treants sprout and thrive. Whether the treants made a deal with dark fey for their terrifying powers or they came into them through their own righteous anger, these creatures have the same suite of abilities. Their roots take on a life of their own, allowing them to grasp opponents and squeeze the life out of them. Their leaves harden and take on a razor edge, allowing them to fertilize their forests with the blood of their foes. Their black sap fills enemy pores and hardens, minimizing the chance for escape.

Flensing treants usually lurk in their forest homes, providing a false sense of security for those living near a forest claimed by the treants. When prey eventually refuses to come to them, they raise a coterie of trees and bring the fight to civilization they so hate. On rare occasions, when vengeance births a flensing treant, it reverts to a normal treant when its desire for revenge has been sated.