One of these two creatures makes an appearance in my upcoming two-page adventure “Joy in a Flask”. Both, however, were created for the adventure but one had to be cut due to the page limitation.
Enjoy! I hope everyone enjoys them and if anyone has any feedback I would love to hear it!
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Armored Vine
El walked cautiously through the thick growth of the First Forest, her eyes darting in the growing gloom. In later years she would tell her apprentices that her biggest mistake was to not take care of the pile of rusting full plate that lay against a gnarled tree.
Type: Plant
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Weapon (1d6), Thorns (1d4 + Poison)
Saving Throw: 13
Special: Entangle, Poison,
Move: 12 [60’]
Alignment: Neutral
Challenge Level/XP: 6/400
Special Abilities
Entangle – During any attack the Armored Vine has a 50% chance to attempt to use up to four of it vines to entangle a target (save negates). Once entangled the target takes 1d4 damage per round for up to 4 rounds or until she frees herself. Each vine has 2 hit points. Upon a successful Entangle the Armored Vine will attempt to poison the target and if successful the target will die in 2 rounds.
Background
Armored Vine are a semi-sentient plant that uses the armor and accruements of its former prey to protect itself from predators and potential food. While not truly intelligent the Armored Vine has a strong sense of preservation and prefers its food to be of the intelligent (and hopefully armored) races. As such, the Armored Vine typically seeks out the prey with the most metal on her body.
The Armored Vine subsists off the fluids of living creatures; the blood, marrow, etc. Once its prey is dead the Armored Vine will begin to absorb these fluids over the course of 1d4 days. When its feeding is complete the Armored Vine will take the metal of the prey for its own use.
Ecology
Armored Vines prefer the warm climate and wet air of jungles and swamps. The majority of Armored Vines can be found in the southern hemisphere where they entangle and stalk large stretches of jungle or swamp. The vast majority of Armored Vines encountered are merely extensions of the whole and it is impossible (unless through a scratched earth policy) to truly kill one. Thankful, the Armor vine has little to no longer term memory.
Hangman’s Tree
“It is said that the trees gained a joy for the dead flesh of man during the dark times when dark beings hunted men for sport and left their bodies to dangle in the trees. Some of the trees have taken to hunting and hanging men for themselves now that the dark times and the dark beings are gone.”
Type: Plant
Hit Dice: 8 (Individual vines 1d6)
Armor Class: 3[16]
Attacks: Strangle (see below)
Saving Throw: 8
Special: Strangle
Move: 0/60’ (vine)
Alignment: Neutral
Challenge Level/XP: 8/800
Special Abilities
Strangle –When any mortal creature walks beneath a Hangman’s Tree the tree has a 60% chance to attempt to lower a noose-like vine around the target’s neck and jerk back quickly. This counts as a surprise roll. If the Hangman’s Tree is successful the target has two rounds before he is suffocated and dies.
Background
The Hangmans’s Tree are decedents of trees that were altered by Outsiders to make their hunting games against the mortal races of the world more fun. The Hangman’s Tree appears as any normal oak tree, except for a dark red vine that spirals up the trunk and through the branches. It is with this vine that the Tree feeds, first be strangling its target and then by devouring it much the same way a snake would its prey. Any treasure or belongings that the target had are deposited under the soil around the tree and entangled within its roots.
Ecology
The Hangman’s Tree grows best in the northern temperate climates of the world, and typically live upwards to a thousand years. They are susceptible to the same diseases and blights that a normal oak tree would be susceptible to. The Hangman’s Tree reproduces in the same way as any other tree, their “nut”, however, is poisonous to eat (save vs. death roll) and coveted by man thieves and assassin guilds throughout the world.
