Hermit Help for a Necrobotanist

[Scathain]

Hey y'all, background question for you. After reading a few threads on here and Reddit about atypical druids, I saw talk about a "Necrobotanist" and (since I freaking love all things necromancy) thought I'd try my hand at creating one. In the end I decided on nature cleric instead of druid (because, you know, actual necromancy). When looking at backgrounds, Hermit seemed the perfect fit for this build, as the character's shtick would be obscure arcana.

Question is: what do you think his discovery be? My DM is on the rule of cool side of things, so I want to have a list of ideas to present him. My only request is that the discovery be related to the aforementioned necrobotany.
An example of this would be (as per the 101 Hermit discoveries) understanding Shambling Mound scent based language.
As always, any input is appreciated. Thanks!

[Axorfett12]

Perhaps he found the secret to creating or controlling the awakening spores created by Myconid Sovereigns. Perhaps the discovery is mutation of the cordyceps fungus to affect humanoids. Maybe created an elixir that can restore that dead to life, but requires hard to find ingredients.

[CursedRhubarb]

If his botany involved grapes the discovery could be a wine with a magical twist he calls "Raisin the Dead".

[Segev]

He's developed a variety of wheat which needs no water, and can continue re-bearing fruit when harvested despite being brown and dry. It is, in fact, undead, but it can still be ground into flower and produce bread. Even insects and other phages that feed upon it don't ruin the harvest, as it just keeps regrowing.

Perhaps that's not the discovery that sent him back to civilization, though. Maybe he shared it, and it is growing in popularity for its hardy durability as a food crop. Possibly, in that case, what sends him back to civilization is realization that the insects and vermin - the ones which feed upon his wheat without destroying it - are actually now undead...

[Scathain]

If his botany involved grapes the discovery could be a wine with a magical twist he calls "Raisin the Dead".

+1 style points to you good sir. I'm sure he'll get a laugh out of that.

These recommendations are great! Keep em coming!

[Axorfett12]

Some cheese with that wine is to use the nature clerics channel divinity to control a myconid sovereign for extra undead.

On a discovery note, what if he discovered how to animate vines, have them crawl inside a corpse, and move the body. Not quite undead, but a plant controlling a body. He calls them "creepers"

Edit: The channel divinity only lasts for a short while. Useful in combat against one. Maybe use your necro botany experience to research how to create your own awakening spores.

[Specter]

If his botany involved grapes the discovery could be a wine with a magical twist he calls "Raisin the Dead".

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

[Seekergeek]

While slightly off topic, perhaps your cleric is in need of an appropriate deity?

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Uluu_Thalongh

I am currently playing a warlock with Uluu as a home brewed patron, believing himself to be a druid. It's been fun so far, and if nothing else could give you some ideas for reflavouring things.

[Scathain]

While slightly off topic, perhaps your cleric is in need of an appropriate deity?

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Uluu_Thalongh

I am currently playing a warlock with Uluu as a home brewed patron, believing himself to be a druid. It's been fun so far, and if nothing else could give you some ideas for reflavouring things.

I was actually going to follow up asking with some reflavoring help! I'll have to look into this deity, it looks hella interesting.
But yeah, if anyone has any ideas for spell or class ability reflavoring please feel free to chime in. The necrobotanist will be a half-drow (for fungal affinity) nature cleric of [to be decided].

Edit: Still haven't decided on a name either.

[Regitnui]

The rediscovery of the yellow musk creeper. The ability to raise undead plants. The discovery that wine made from reanimated grapes can satisfy vampires like blood.

[INDYSTAR188]

Hey y'all, background question for you. After reading a few threads on here and Reddit about atypical druids, I saw talk about a "Necrobotanist" and (since I freaking love all things necromancy) thought I'd try my hand at creating one. In the end I decided on nature cleric instead of druid (because, you know, actual necromancy). When looking at backgrounds, Hermit seemed the perfect fit for this build, as the character's shtick would be obscure arcana.

Question is: what do you think his discovery be? My DM is on the rule of cool side of things, so I want to have a list of ideas to present him. My only request is that the discovery be related to the aforementioned necrobotany.
An example of this would be (as per the 101 Hermit discoveries) understanding Shambling Mound scent based language.
As always, any input is appreciated. Thanks!

A new blight spell that kills/animates a large area of plants in a given area? Maybe you could re-fluff your animate spells/channel divinities to be necro-commanding this blighted-necro-plant army.

[Kurt Kurageous]

I think you miss an opportunity if your discovery does not in some way involve the corpse flower.

Discovers the flower and gets to name it.

Discovers how to make it bloom at a much higher frequency.

Discovers a variety that attracts low CR undead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum

[Seekergeek]

I was actually going to follow up asking with some reflavoring help! I'll have to look into this deity, it looks hella interesting.
But yeah, if anyone has any ideas for spell or class ability reflavoring please feel free to chime in. The necrobotanist will be a half-drow (for fungal affinity) nature cleric of [to be decided].

Edit: Still haven't decided on a name either.

Well my version of the Patron gives a version of animate dead as the 6th level ability, revlavoured to fit the whole husk bit from the wiki entry. He drains-em, and creeper vines animate the body for an hour. Tree Stride seems like an easy spell to revlavour to fit Uluu's movement, too.

[Segev]

I think you miss an opportunity if your discovery does not in some way involve the corpse flower.

Discovers the flower and gets to name it.

Discovers how to make it bloom at a much higher frequency.

Discovers a variety that attracts low CR undead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum

That seems like a great plant to build a horror story around! Good find!

[Axorfett12]

Perhaps you can incorporate the Corpse Flower into your undead? Plant a Titan Arum seed inside each corpse and foster the growth using magic. Talk it over with your DM. How can you use your natural magics to enhance your undead? Perhaps you can increase the speed of your zombies by incorporating animated vines inside of them. Cover them in plants that poison on contact, such as manchaneel sap. (Really, any part of the manchaneel tree. Those things are crazy toxic). Take a note from the 3.5 Swarm-Shifter, and invite swarms of insects and vermin to nest inside of your undead. Turn your undead into walking beehives. I pity the enemy who takes a swing at a beehive.

I am growing to love the idea of a necrobotanist. There is so much potential for fun things.

Perhaps your Discovery feature allows you to communicate with undead via hormones or rapport spores, similar to myconids.

Another thing I have been mulling over is how to reconcile the idea of undead with the philosophy of nature. Most nature gods and druidic circles revile the undead as abominations. With this line of thought, perhaps your discovery could be a fundamental truth about the creation of undead that reveals them to be a part of the natural world. For example, that Vampires were nature's response to humans rising to the top of the food chain, and not monstrosities created by unholy pacts. Animation of a zombie or skeleton doesn't halt the process of decay. The earth still reaps the benefits of the corpse, your magic just spreads the fertilizer around a little, and keeps you safe as a bonus. If anything, spells like Gentle Repose and Raise Dead are unnatural. Those spells deprive the earth of that which it has claimed. You could travel around, preaching this truth you have unearthed. As a DM, I can see the fun story moments to be had there.

[Coidzor]

Neat! I like this idea.

I've toyed with the idea of plant-undead hybrids or plants that live off of negative energy. That might be of interest.

Love the image of vines intertwining with bones and running in and around them.

[Santra]

While he was working his magic with some carrots he discovered the barest hint of magic on the tap root that he didn't place. Once he saw it he started testing every crop from the local market he could. Pretty much every crop he tests is subtly laced with a magic that is self propagating in the plants themselves. After a bit of testing he determines that 90% of the local crops are "tainted" with this magic. It is passed on into seeds and cuttings as well.

The magic is such that if the appropriate trigger is detected the plant itself will immediately wither and die. This insidious bit of magic could lead to one of the most prolific famines imaginable.

And you know the magical trigger for this calamity.

[Scathain]

Perhaps you can incorporate the Corpse Flower into your undead? Plant a Titan Arum seed inside each corpse and foster the growth using magic. Talk it over with your DM. How can you use your natural magics to enhance your undead? Perhaps you can increase the speed of your zombies by incorporating animated vines inside of them. Cover them in plants that poison on contact, such as manchaneel sap. (Really, any part of the manchaneel tree. Those things are crazy toxic). Take a note from the 3.5 Swarm-Shifter, and invite swarms of insects and vermin to nest inside of your undead. Turn your undead into walking beehives. I pity the enemy who takes a swing at a beehive.

I am growing to love the idea of a necrobotanist. There is so much potential for fun things.

Perhaps your Discovery feature allows you to communicate with undead via hormones or rapport spores, similar to myconids.

Another thing I have been mulling over is how to reconcile the idea of undead with the philosophy of nature. Most nature gods and druidic circles revile the undead as abominations. With this line of thought, perhaps your discovery could be a fundamental truth about the creation of undead that reveals them to be a part of the natural world. For example, that Vampires were nature's response to humans rising to the top of the food chain, and not monstrosities created by unholy pacts. Animation of a zombie or skeleton doesn't halt the process of decay. The earth still reaps the benefits of the corpse, your magic just spreads the fertilizer around a little, and keeps you safe as a bonus. If anything, spells like Gentle Repose and Raise Dead are unnatural. Those spells deprive the earth of that which it has claimed. You could travel around, preaching this truth you have unearthed. As a DM, I can see the fun story moments to be had there.

First of all, about loving the idea of necrobotany, IKR?? I've always loved the classic necromancer vibe, and I've played it in everything from Skyrim, RP boards, to DND. But here I am presented with a brand new way to experiment with necromancy.

As far as necromancy in nature, I have the same issue rectifying it, which is why the deity choice is so important. The way I see it I have a few options:
1) I pick someone evil as balls. In an earlier post, I was informed of Uluu Thalongh. Now that's a pretty good fit for a necro/evil druid, but it's quite beastial and I'd need to know more about what tenets, as a cleric of it, I'd be seeking to uphold in its worship. There's always bad ol' Zuggtmoy, Queen of the Fungi. She's a perfect fit as well, but seems a tad too typical of a choice. For both of the above, a removed reverence of these could be the solution I'm looking for, as I just seek to explore their idiosyncrasies in relation to necrobotany. (This also depends on whether the DM wants or even allows my necrobotanist to be pure evil, and not just taboo)
2) I pick a neutral deity and go with the whole "revelation that undead can be natural as well" mentality you described. I really like this one, as it really gives me a chance to go for the more academic reverence I was talking about. Example deities would be Psilofyr, or even Wee Jas with a stretch.
3) I say screw it and go with the whole "worship a cause not a deity" idea I loved so much in 3.5, or even refluff myself as a 3.5 Archivist, studying and being dedicated to the divine, but only through academics. This is kind of a copout, but it would give me free range to revere necrobotany in exclusion.

Thoughts?

[Axorfett12]

All three of those options sound workable to me. I'll give my thoughts on each one.

Perhaps the easiest is option one. Using a plant based elder evil as your deity gives you the feel you are looking for with minimal work. I find that the path of least resistance is often the boring path. Your other problem is that your dm may not allow you to be evil and worshipping an elder evil is evil. This doesn't take the option off the table though. Just requires some creative fluff. Perhaps Uluu is just a means to an end? A way to achieve the power and control overy nature and undeath you need to advance your goals, without actually furthering it's goals. That might bite you in the butt though.

Your second option I have already given my thoughts on, but I'll suggest something else. A solution i stumbled upon while preparing for a campaign of mine might work for you. Ask your dm if you could have discovered a way to create non undead undead. What I mean by that is zombies with the plant type instead of undead type. No changes to abilities, just plants inhabiting a corpse and making it move rather than negative energy. The spells you have to create them remain the same, but create plant zombies instead of undead zombies. In this way, your "undead" are natural, and not considered abomination by other philosophies.

Alternatively, your third option of worshipping a neutral deity should suffice as well. Gods such as Urgolan (halfling god of the earth and death) or the aforementioned Wee Jas should provide sufficient justification.

Edit: I'm stupid. Third option was cause not deity. That's what I get for not quoting. Worshipping a cause is a simple and easy way to accomplish your flavor. It gives you a devotion to your work that you can focus on and draw power from. No deities to distract you either. Bonus!