Magic Plants 3.X

[CaladanMoonblad]

I am estate planning in my wife's campaign, and I come to the Courtyard... and cannot find any actual magical plants for my Eldritch Knight to put in his courtyard. I thought I might find something in Races of the Wild, because you know, elves and halflings are supposed to be uber-gardeners or something...

and I have found zilch. I've done Google searches and only really found monstrous carnivorous plants.

Are there any magic trees, or bushes, or anything in the printed adventures or sourcebooks that come to mind for you?

[Mnemnosyne]

I can think of a single example, and it's not 3.5. The Alchemy Plant from one of the 2nd Edition Spelljammer monstrous compendiums. Although even that is technically a plant creature, as it is semi intelligent. It's not hostile or dangerous, however.

[realbombchu]

Tree of life, from Dark Sun, but I don't think there are 3.5 rules for them. There were rules for using plants as animal companions in an old issue of Dragon, but I can't remember which one. There were some magic plants mentioned in another article too, from the elemental planes, and one of the articles at the back of Dungeon dealt with fungus. Sorry, I'll try to find the issue numbers for you, I know this doesn't help much as it is.

The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting had some plants native to Toril. Not really magical, but some had kind of alchemical effects, and at least they're fictional, I guess.

What about plant creatures? They're kind of magical. There's a plant mentioned in Stormwrack that produces air for a while when you're underwater. Doesn't Races of the Wild mention an Elven fruit tree of some kind?

I guess before I wrote all this, I should've asked you what you need the plants to do.

[Darrin]

Try Magic of Faerun p. 181. Darkberries, Felsul Flowers, Mule Pollen, Red Helmthorn Berries, and Weirwood trees might work.

Complete Mage also has some optional material components that may come from various horticultural sources: Angel Down and Golden Desert Honey.

There are also several drugs that are harvested from various plants. Try Book of Vile Darkness pp. 42-44, Lords of Darkness pp. 183-185, or Sharn: City of Towers pp. 160-161. Examples: Mordayn, Mushroom Powder, Redflower Leaves, Vodare, Kammarth (magical), Oruighen, Panacolo (magical), Sezarad Root, Tekkil, Ziran, Dreamlily.

You might have better luck with psionic plants, actually. For example: Canath Tree (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030725a) on the Demiplane of Ectoplasm.

[dysprosium]

There was a Dragon Magazine that had a article about plants and herbalism near the end of the printed run.

I want to say mid 330s to early 340s.

My Google-Fu is failing me right now and I'm away from my mags.

[Harlot]

How about 'Topiary Guardians' from MMIII?

They are basically plant constructs and just perfect for a large estate
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280799/138/TOPIARY-GUARDIAN

[Telonius]

There's a section in "Surroundings, Weather & Environment" about Slimes, Molds and Fungi (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/dungeons.htm#slimesMoldsAndFungi).

Would a Darkwood (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialMaterials.htm#darkwood) or Soarwood (Eberron) tree be something like what you're looking for?

Otherwise, I'd kind of echo realbombchu - what exactly do you want the plants to do? Are we talking, create magical effects? Be really pretty? Guard the garden? Sing to the bees?

[CaladanMoonblad]

I can think of a single example, and it's not 3.5. The Alchemy Plant from one of the 2nd Edition Spelljammer monstrous compendiums. Although even that is technically a plant creature, as it is semi intelligent. It's not hostile or dangerous, however.

Hm... We're running a generic DnD group-homebrew world for our context. Spelljammer is a little to sci-fi to fit in, but thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I never collected many 2nd edition sourcebooks.


Tree of life, from Dark Sun, but I don't think there are 3.5 rules for them. There were rules for using plants as animal companions in an old issue of Dragon, but I can't remember which one. There were some magic plants mentioned in another article too, from the elemental planes, and one of the articles at the back of Dungeon dealt with fungus. Sorry, I'll try to find the issue numbers for you, I know this doesn't help much as it is.

The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting had some plants native to Toril. Not really magical, but some had kind of alchemical effects, and at least they're fictional, I guess.

What about plant creatures? They're kind of magical. There's a plant mentioned in Stormwrack that produces air for a while when you're underwater. Doesn't Races of the Wild mention an Elven fruit tree of some kind?

I guess before I wrote all this, I should've asked you what you need the plants to do.

Hm- it looks interesting, and artifact-like from this description (http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/dark-sun-the-tyrant-of-tyr/wikis/trees-of-life)at obsidian portal. I wouldn't even ask my wife to pick this item up as I wouldn't allow a player to just buy or steal one.

Yeah, I have Magic of Faerun, and my Eldritch Knight had plans for some of those plants for the alchemy lab. I was just hoping for something magical that would be in an elf lord's garden. : / There's quite a lot of plants in say, MERPS from ICE, but that's Tolkien and world specific.

I have very limited access to Dragon or Dungeon issues. Most of my issues were from 2nd edition days, prior to 3rd edition (monetary issues at that point in my life).


Try Magic of Faerun p. 181. Darkberries, Felsul Flowers, Mule Pollen, Red Helmthorn Berries, and Weirwood trees might work.

Complete Mage also has some optional material components that may come from various horticultural sources: Angel Down and Golden Desert Honey.

There are also several drugs that are harvested from various plants. Try Book of Vile Darkness pp. 42-44, Lords of Darkness pp. 183-185, or Sharn: City of Towers pp. 160-161. Examples: Mordayn, Mushroom Powder, Redflower Leaves, Vodare, Kammarth (magical), Oruighen, Panacolo (magical), Sezarad Root, Tekkil, Ziran, Dreamlily.

You might have better luck with psionic plants, actually. For example: Canath Tree (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030725a) on the Demiplane of Ectoplasm.

Thanks for these suggestions- the page numbers are really helpful. At least now I have some choices.


There was a Dragon Magazine that had a article about plants and herbalism near the end of the printed run.

I want to say mid 330s to early 340s.

My Google-Fu is failing me right now and I'm away from my mags.

Yeah, my Google-Fu is weak on this subject too.


How about 'Topiary Guardians' from MMIII?

They are basically plant constructs and just perfect for a large estate
http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280799/138/TOPIARY-GUARDIAN

Unfortunately my knight doesn't have Craft Construct just yet. The estate is the result of my PC's semi-retirement while I run the campaign (he started a magic item store in our version of Imperial Rome). My character will get out of retirement when my wife decides she wants to GM again, so I want to have everything ready with what my character did in the 2 years of game time he hasn't been actively adventuring.

[realbombchu]

Bummer that you don't have the mags. They might be the easiest source for this kind of thing. I found the plant companion in Dragon #357. It has Demogorgon on the cover, in case I typed the wrong number. It's an alternative to an animal companion, and a druid can customize it as he or she levels up.

The article is in Class Acts, and includes the base stats for the creature. Not sure how it looks, because the picture is kind of non-descript, but I think it makes sense that an elf would have some of these around.

Other than that, I would encourage you to use what you have to create new magical plants. Most players (I hope) love new things anyway, as long as they are balanced and add to the setting.

[Ruethgar]

Quintessential Druid from Mongoose publishing has some options for making potion gardens and wand trees if you don't mind third party. I like topiary guardians, animate objects and awaken as far as official options for plant beings.