Fantasy Monster: Dryadcula

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Dryadcula

A lithe figure, sensual despite her proportions being just slightly off, with a mane of yellow, orange, and red leaves instead of hair. Her skin is chalky white with patches of brown, like a sickly birch. Her arms end in gnarled, branch-like talons.

CR 8; XP 4,800
CE Medium Undead

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +15

Defense
AC 21, touch 18, flat-footed 16 (+3 deflection, +5 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 95 (10d8+50); fast healing 5
Fort +8; Ref +10; Will +11

Defensive Qualities channel resistance +4, leaf swarm; DR 5/magic and cold iron; Immune undead traits

Weakness hollow tree

Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +12 (1d4+2 plus blood thorns)

Special Attacks blood thorns (entangled, 3d6 bleed, DC 27 to escape)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th, concentration +15)

Constant—speak with plants (dead plants only)

At Will—blight (4th, DC 19), warp wood (DC 17)

3/day—tree stride (dead trees only)

Statistics
Str 14, Dex 20, Con —, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 21
Base Atk +7; CMB +9; CMD 27

Feats Acrobatic Step, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble Moves, Weapon Finesse

Skills Acrobatics +15, Climb +10, Escape Artist +15, Knowledge (nature) +11, Perception +15, Stealth +18

Ecology
Environment forest
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure standard (pieces of ironwood harvested from the remnants of dryadcula's hollow tree)

Special Abilities

Blood Thorns (Su) Creatures struck by a dryadcula's claws are immediately entangled by thorny vines, suffering 3d6 points of bleed damage each round, until they free themselves (or are freed) with a successful grapple or Escape Artist check against dryadcula's CMD.  The vines will anchor the target in place, if the target was in area of light or heavy vegetation or adjacent to a tree when struck. Attempting to free the victim is a standard action. Effects that kill, control, or shape plants (e.g. blight, control plants, warp wood or wood shape) allow the target to be freed immediately. Note that magical healing or bandaging stops the bleeding for a moment, but as long as the creature remains entangled in blood thorns, the embedded thorns reapply bleeding on the following turn anyway.

Hollow Tree Each dryadcula is bound to a single dead tree, hollow inside, often dry rotted and covered in fungi. If the hollow tree is ever destroyed, the dryadcula is destroyed as well. The hollow tree has hardness 10 and 150 hit points, the same saving throws as dryadcula, and recovers lost hit points equal to bleed damage inflicted by dryadcula's blood thorns.

Leaf Swarm (Su) A dryadcula can turn into a cloud of leaves, acting as a swarm of Fine creatures while doing so, with AC of 23, flight speed of 30 ft. (perfect) and Fly bonus of +17. While in that state, dryadcula is immune to weapon damage but becomes vulnerable to area attacks and can't attack or use her spell-like abilities. When a dryadcula is reduced to 0 hit points, she transforms into a leaf swarm and tries to return to her hollow tree, where she rests until she fully recovers over the next 24 hours. If she fails to reach her hollow tree in a single hour, or is caught in sunlight, she is destroyed.

Dryadculas are a cruel, twisted remnants of dryads turned into vampiric monstrosities—the earliest recorded specimens were the first victims of newly vampirized baron Voohrsk who unleashed his newfound powers against the unruly and rebellious fey of his lands that opposed his vision.

Dryadculas roam the areas surrounding their hollow trees, hunting prey for blood they need to sustain their hollow trees, which are slowly but eternally rotting, while trying to keep the location of their trees secret, for their very existence is dependent on them. They are particularly hostile toward those who would clear the forest (especially lumberhacks), for obvious reasons, but they also strike at those who would clear woods of darkness, corruption and undead. It seems as if their mere presence acts as an attractor for darker things and evil forces to converge on the areas they inhabit.

Fantasy NPC: Baron Voohrsk, The Shadow Of A Vampire

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Baron Voohrsk, The Shadow Of A Vampire

A shadow silhouette creeps across the wall.

CR 11; 12,800 XP

LE Medium Undead (incorporeal)

Init +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense (whole castle); Perception +14

Defense
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 10 (+6 deflection, +8 Dex, +1 dodge)

hp 126 (12d8+72); fast healing 5
Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +12

Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, shadow body; Immune undead

Weakness sunlight

Offense
Speed 40 ft.

Melee 2 shadow touches +17 incorporeal touch (6d6 plus 2d6 bleed)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks haunt dreams

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th, concentration +18)

At will—telekinesis (single target at a time)

Statistics
Str —, Dex 26, Con —, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 23

Base Atk +9; CMB +17; CMD 37
Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will

Skills Diplomacy +18, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (local) +15, Knowledge (nature) +15, Perception +14, Stealth +23

Language Common, Duc, Infernal, Sylvan

Haunt Dreams (Su) Baron Voohrsk can sense anyone sleeping within his castle, and can touch their dreams, sapping their vitality. He can focus on single creature at a time, dealing 1 point of Strength damage per hour of sleep. Creatures that are trained in lucid dreaming or are otherwise in control of their dreams can recognize what is happening (though they can't exactly identify the source of effect beyond it being channeled through the castle itself) and wake up after the first hour. Other creatures can make a Wisdom check after each hour (DC 15) to wake up and realize they feel weaker. Creatures that suffer total Strength damage equal to their Strength score die and become vampire spawn under baron's control. Protection from evil, death ward, thaumaturgic circle, and anything that would prevent nightmare or possession protects from the effect, as does resting within consecrated, hallowed, or an extradimensional space, such as rope trick or magnificent mansion.

Shadow Body (Su) Baron Voohrsk is a shadow. For all effects and purposes he can be treated as an incorporeal being, but unlike truly incorporeal beings he can't move through objects or fly. Instead, he slithers along any surfaces convenient to him, often weirdly distorted, ignoring difficult terrain, and can move around obstacles or slip through the smallest openings, lacking substance that he would need to squeeze through. When reduced to 0 hit points he dissolves into the walls of his castle and reforms after the next sunset somewhere in the crypts beneath. He can't leave the boundary of the castle, but he has little wish to do so anyway.

Sunlight Weakness Baron Voohrsk can be permanently destroyed by exposure to sunlight—losing a third of his hit points per full round, and being finally destroyed after the fourth round. It will be hard to achieve, though, because his insubstantial form is almost impossible to pin down or immobilize giving him plenty of opportunity to retreat from sunlight. Magical sunlight effects injury and hamper him as if he was a vampire.

Baron Voohrsk is a shadow of what he was. Literally. He was a strict and heartless man, obsessed with discipline and obedience in life, and became a real monster after (his first) death. His second death deprived him of most means of achieving his goals but did little to change his shriveled cold heart.

Even in life, he was obsessed by imposing his ideas of order and civilization on the wild lands he was granted as a fief—and as both the land itself and its denizens resisted him, he resorted to more cruel and ruthless methods. The slowness of the progress only made him dream of methods of extending his reign as he vowed that he will not rest until he sees the wild vale reshaped according to his will.

He made a deal with a dark fey mistress—the contender to the dryad queen that was a focal point of the opposition to his efforts, learning many secrets and gaining command over many of her servants in the process, but as the time passed, he recognized that his consort was merely playing war, enjoying the struggle itself instead of wanting to actually help him achieve his overarching goal. He killed her, tearing her heart out, and burned her body in their throne room. With her dying whisper she turned him into a vampire—though even he wasn't sure if it was to be a punishment, or reward for his action.

That transformation gave him all the time he though he would need to subjugate the land and its people. And he had a plenty of time, and now wielded more personal power than ever—allowing him to spread his (then still metaphorical) shadow even further from his castle. He ruled for over a century, but the tales of his cruelty and the signs of dark presence involved slowly cut the inflow of the settlers, and led many of his subjects to flee for brighter lands, perish from the many threats, or go native. Even as his reach extended to its farthest, his support dwindled until a group of murderous thugs (a party of adventurers, aligned with the druids and fey that formed the core of the opposition to the baron) reached him in the heart of his castle and put him down for good. His shadow remained behind, still bound by his vow, lingering in castle, now only inhabited by his monstrous minions—undead, evil fey, and more abominable things that came later.

Fantasy Monster: Lumberhack

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Lumberhack

A pallid, wretched thing with mad eyes, dead flesh, missing jaw, and hatchets stitched where his hands should be.

CR 3; XP 800
NE Medium Undead

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +1

Defense
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 33 (6d8+6); fast healing 3
Fort +3; Ref +4; Will +6

Defensive Qualities channel resistance +2, undying; DR 5/magic or silver; Immune undead traits

Offense
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.

Melee 2 hatchet-arms +6 (1d6+2, ×3)

Special Attacks pounce, wood-bane

Statistics
Str 14, Dex 14, Con —, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 17

Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Nimble Moves

Skills Climb +10, Perception +1, Profession (lumberjack) +7

Ecology
Environment forest, ruins
Organization solitary, pack (2–12)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Undying (Su) A lumberhack reduced to 0 hit points drops incapacitated but isn't destroyed unless it is burned, decapitated, or exposed to direct sunlight. It remains inert until fully healed by its fast healing ability. If an incapacitated lumberhack is carefully pierced through and stuck to the ground with a long piece of wood or metal, it remains pinned and can't remove it on its own.

Wood-Bane (Su) A lumberhack attacks gain +2 enhancement bonus and inflict 2d6 points of extra damage against plants, plant creatures, wooden objects, and constructs made of wood and similar plant materials. They also count as cold iron.

More than zombies, but not quite ghouls, wights, or vampire spawn, lumberhacks are semi-feral undead lumberjacks.

Originally, they were mundane lumberjacks that came to serve a vampire baron who lorded over a thoroughly forested vale, enticed by the pay he promised to those who would work his lands. When he sent them to clear the heart of the forest, they fell to the charms and phantasms invoked by the fey of the land, and were sent back, without fulfilling their orders three time, with each time the wrath of their master growing. Finally, he trapped those who returned in the crypts of his castle, starving and tormenting them, slowly turning the last few of them into animalistic monstrosities whose only instinct was lashing against the forest and its denizens.

Lumberhacks roam the forests, alone or in small groups, trying to chop particularly old or beautiful living trees, those that move on their own, or those that are splashed with blood. They also lash at anyone and anything that interferes with their duties.

Fantasy Monster: Last Rays Of The Deep Sun

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Last Rays Of The Deep Sun

A bright white radiant shard crowns this pillar of brass. The whole construction is covered with glyphs and pictograms, and walks on four spidery legs.

CR 6; XP 2,400
N Large Construct

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3

Aura deep sun (300 ft./600 ft.)

Defense
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 Dex, +5 natural, –1 size)
hp 74 (8d10+30)
Fort +2; Ref +7; Will +5

Defensive Qualities all-around vision, half damage from light effects, hardness 10; Immune construct traits

Offense
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

Melee 2 claws +12 (2d4+5)

Ranged focused light +12 ray (6d6, 19–20/×3 plus blindness for 1d4 rounds)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Statistics
Str 20, Dex 20, Con —, Int —, Wis 17, Cha 1
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 29 (33 vs. trip)

Feats Improved Critical (ray)^B, Point-Blank Shot^B, Weapon Focus (ray)^B

Skills Climb +12, Perception +3, Stealth +0

SQ climbing claws

Ecology
Environment underground, urban
Organization solitary, pair, or alley (3–10)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Climbing Claws (Ex) Last rays of the deep sun have claws strong enough to attach it to walls at any angle, including hanging upside down from the ceiling, as long as the ceiling itself is strong enough to support the construct's considerable (even if parts of the pillar and its legs are hollow) weight. It seems that hanging from the ceiling of huge caverns, or sticking horizontally from the walls was one of the intended uses of these devices.

Deep Sun Aura (Su) Last rays of the deep sun emanates intense radiance, providing bright illumination within 300 feet, and increasing illumination level within another 300 feet by one step. This light is capable of fully sustaining vegetation deep underground, though sunbathing in it doesn't seem to give an actual tan to humans.

Focused Light (Su) Last rays of the deep sun can focus its light into a powerful ray with 300 feet range that sears creatures and objects struck dealing 6d6 points of damage. On a confirmed critical hit it deals triple damage and causes blindness for 1d4 rounds.

Last rays of the deep sun were made long ago by an ancient empire that lived deep underground to provide them with sunlight they were missing. If the glyphs that can be found on the recovered frames were deciphered correctly, they had their own divine Deep Sun, providing them with light and warmth they needed to sustain their civilization. When it apparently died, or maybe was extinguished in a cataclysm (or was that war? sabotage? assassination? the glyphs are unclear and the accompanying pictograms seem very allegoric, some suggest that the Deep Sun was a deity, a person, or a machine, or all of those and more), they salvaged its embers, embedding them into pylons of enchanted brass and turned into walking lanterns.

The original creators might be long gone, but last rays of the deep sun stayed behind, initially following long forgotten paths underneath the earth—winding tunnels, vast caverns, alleys of the magnificent chambers, and underground gardens. As the times passed, tunnels collapsed, stone walls shifted, the paths scrambled. Without ancient priest-technicians supervising the last rays, these light-bringing constructs veered from their prescribed paths and spread across the deep lands underneath the roots of mountains.

Last rays of the deep sun are of great interest to students of both ancient lore and the arts of construct crafting. The former desire to learn more of the lost civilization that made them, the later want to understand their construction and replicate their creation process. And there are always those who simply want to find the ancient cities and scavenge their riches for themselves. Following one of the roaming last rays in hope that its path is intact enough for it to finally return home is one of the possibilities for successful achievement of one or more of those goals.

And then, there is the mystery behind the color of the light emanated by those devices. Is there are reason why a few of them have different hue than the blueish-white common among the others?

Fantasy Monster: Bonsai Treant

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Bonsai Treant

A little anthropomorphic tree, all vibrant green and brown, with a little bow tied at the top.

CR 1; XP 400
N Tiny Plant

Init +0; Senses low-light vision, sense water 60 ft.; Perception +8

Defense
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+1 natural, +2 size)
hp 15 (2d8+6)
Fort +6; Ref +1; Will +4

Immune plant traits

Offense
Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft.

Melee 2 slam +3 (1d3)

Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd, concentration +2)

1/day—goodberry (grown on its own branches)

Statistics
Str 10, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB –1; CMD 9

Feats Run

Skills Climb +8, Perception +8, Stealth +13

Language understands Sylvan

SQ plant feel

Ecology
Environment forests
Organization solitary, pair, or nursery (5–20)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Plant Feel (Su) A bonsai treant unconsciously connects with nearby vegetation that form a coherently and meaningfully continuous patch—such as a field, a grove, or even a thickly grown forest, and its own mood and behavior reflects the mood and state of the place, as felt by the plants.

Sense Water (Ex) A bonsai treant can sense presence of water within 60 feet. By concentrating for a round it can discern between fresh, brackish, and salt water, and determine general direction toward the largest source of water nearby.

Bonsai treants are grown from cuttings taken from actual treants, and then carefully tended to by a skilled gardener until they naturally awaken to their inherent child-like sapience.

Individual bonsai treants have varied personalities, but they are all sensitive to the state of local vegetation, both physical and spiritual, often sensing the mood of a place before it can be estimated by actual observations. They are more lively in places of life and fertility and morose where life is diminished or corrupted. They get confused or scared where life and death mix.

Small flocks of bonsai treants might tend to places of natural power, magical groves, and otherworldly glades.

Growing a bonsai treant familiar for oneself requires a cutting of a treant taken with the entity's permission, Improved Familiar feat, and 5 ranks of Profession (gardening), though an unconfirmed story mentions a wizard finding a long forgotten nursery of wild treant saplings.