THAMNAD Idea and most flavor text by Metastachydium



"I AMA BUSH! IGNORE ME!"

Thamnads are basically shrubs, as in literally. Nice, thick thornless evergreen shrubs up to 7' tall and as wide as a Medium Plant can get with nice little oval-shaped leafs (think of something like those of a Japanese barberry). Thamnads are, however, sapient shrubs and capable of assuming a humanoid form via rearranging their tissues into such a shape (this means that the mass and composition (as far as tissue types are concerned) of a thamnad always remains unchanged). This is supposed to make them more pleasant to the humanoid eye and to help them blend in better with bipedal folks, but it doesn't really work, mostly since most humanoids find them at least somewhat creepy for obvious reasons. The human form of a thamnad tends to resemble a slender human late teenage girl (roughly 4'10 to 5'2 tall) with a smooth green skin, small, weirdly round earlobes and soft, longish almost vinelike little branches with leaves for hair (tends to here means `in more than 80% of all cases`; less than 15% of all thamnads looks more like a weird androgynous child of the same height, and less than 5% of all thamnads looks like an overgrown long branch-haired leafy-bearded gnome instead; regardless of their appearances, all thamnads are sexless). Thamnads have ears, eyes and a nose, but don't actually need them. They have cells sensitive to light, vibration and various chemicals all around their green parts (mostly in their "skin” and "hair”), so they kind of see, hear and smell with (largely) their entire body. While this gives them a 360° vision, among other things, they are deuteranopic (fun fact: actual plants actually don't tend to be sensitive to medium wavelength light) and their vision and hearing have a limited range as compared to that of other creatures. This also means that while they can blink, they have an unsettling tendency to forget that they should be doing that.

Thamnads are autotrophous and only need light, water and minerals to survive. They take up water and minerals through their roots; when in human form, their roots are located in a cavity within their torso, well-protected and invisible from the outside. Their "mouth” leads into this cavity. When in humanoid form, they will, therefore swallow all manners of weird decaying matter, including manure and pieces of rotten carcasses if available, washing these down with copious amounts of water. Those traveling with a thamnad tend to learn quite quickly to stay away from a thamnad's bottles and waterskins.
Since they need as much of their bodies to be exposed to light as possible, while they do wear clothes when in humanoid form, these tend to be none too heavy, sleeveless and knee-length at most.
Thamnads do not have reproductive organs and cannot hybridise with other species. They reproduce asexually: when thamnads wish to reproduce themselves, they switch to stationary form and extend up to four branches of their roots away from themselves under the ground. They then redirect nutrients into these roots and eventually a new stem starts to develop from these. The offsprings of a thamnad are basically clones, and they oftentimes retain some of the mother plant's memories. These offsprings remain attached to the mother plant until they grow large enough to sustain themselves and until the mother plant teaches them, among other things, how to recognize the specific patterns of vibration that constitute the languages the thamnad knows (thamnads are otherwise surprisingly quick learners and they can store quite a lot of data in their body). Once that is said and done, the mother plant severs the connection, switches to humanoid form and leaves the offsprings to their own devices (thamnads do not build societies of their own).
It takes roughly two years for a thamnad to reach full maturity (and gain the ability to rearrange themselves). They can live up to 50 years.
Thamnads are largely harmless. They are ridiculously slow (low base speed) and perfectly useless in physical combat. When feeling in danger, they will often instinctively revert to stationary form to stand out less (this should be a standard action). They are inherently magical, but most thamnads are not capable of doing much else with their magic other than rearranging themselves (i.e. switching between stationary and humanoid form) and producing speech (they lack speech organs) which sounds like relatively high-pitched, strangely loud whispering. This is also the main reason why they want to blend in with humanoids: they often seek to learn how to use stronger magic (arcane or divine) from them and they hope to acquire faithful traveling companions who can protect them from goats when they roam about the lands, which they do a lot (partly since they don't like extreme temperature and tend to migrate towards the closest pole to avoid hot summers, and flee towards the equator from colder seasons). To help with that, they tend to exhibit an exceedingly lawful behaviour when around others.

THAMNAD RACIAL TRAITS
· +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Str, -2 Cha
· Size Class: Medium.
· Plant, giving them Low-light Vision (but see below)
· Base land speed 20 ft.
· Alter Form (Su): In addition to their normal appearance, Thamnad can appear as a humanoid figure. The human form of a Thamnad tends to resemble a slender human late teenage girl (roughly 4'10 to 5'2 tall) with a smooth green skin, small, weirdly round earlobes and soft, longish almost vine-like little branches with leaves for hair (tends to here means `in more than 80% of all cases`; less than 15% of all Thamnads looks more like a weird androgynous child of the same height, and less than 5% of all Thamnads looks like an overgrown long branch-haired leafy-bearded gnome instead; regardless of their appearances, all Thamnads are sexless). This does not change their Abilities.
· Blindsight (Ex): The Thamnad have Blinsight within a 10 ft. radius.
· All-Around Vision (Ex): Thamnad have a a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks, and they cannot be flanked.
· Plant traits: As long as they can root when resting, and get plenty of sun during the day, Thamnads do not need food or water.
· I Am Merely a Shrub (Ex): As long as they stand still, the Thamnad have a +8 Racial Bonus to Disguise checks when they pretend to be a plant.
· Racial Memory (Ex): At 1st Level the Thamnad can choose any 1 skill, and that skill is now considered a Class Skill.
· Thamnad automatically speak Sylvan and Common. Bonus languages include any nearby race.
· Level Adjustment: +1
· Favored Class: Wizard

STARTING AGE
Adulthood: 2
Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer: +1d4
Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger: +1d6
Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard: +2d6

AGING EFFECTS
Middle Age: 15
Old: 23
Venerable: 50
Maximum Age: +2d10 years
If there are any aging effects that differ from norm list them here.

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
Base Height: 4'10"
Height Modifier: +2d4"
Base Weight: 120 lbs.
Weight Modifier: x2d4"

THAMNAD CHARACTERS
+1 LA hurts you in your chosen class, but your racial abilities will hopefully help with that
Adventuring Race: Thamnad go on adventures due to necessity, or because they get sucked into events while traveling. Some are also pushed by curiosity.
Character Development: Given your Racial abilities, some sort of stealth build seems obvious.
Character Names: Thamnad don't really have names. When around others who'd really rather call them something, they either pick some random noun or name commonly used by the locals, or they just tell their companions to call them anything they see fit as long as it's none too offensive.

ROLEPLAYING A THAMNAD
"Paranoid? I don't understand why you fleshy races keep calling us p-IS THAT A (beeep) GOAT?"
Personality: They are normally calm (unless herbivores are close by), somewhat distant and cautious. They are rarely amused, but they aren't easy to anger or upset either. They are not noted for their bravery, and have little in the way of social skills, but they are working hard to fit in, mostly out of rational calculation. They tend to invest little emotion into their personal relationships. They need others for protection and the like, but they are not social creatures in the strict sense. Whenever they are not on the move, they prefer being left alone, and can stand in one place just staring at the thin air around almost indefinitely without getting bored.
Behaviors: Pretending to be shrubbery. Avoiding leaf chewers. Going on long winded dissertations on the evils of goats and butterflies. Pestering the fleshy races over their irrationally common use of fire.
Language: Thamnads speak Sylvan and Common.

THAMNAD SOCIETY
The Thamnad have no real culture or society of their own, preferring to blend in with the local population of their home.
Alignment : The Thamnad strongly trend towards Neutrality, though they often adopt leanings towards the other Alignments depending on where they choose to live.
Lands : Thamnad prefer to avoid temperature extremes, so they prefer mild or temperate evergreen forests.
Settlements : Thamnads are migratory, fleeing temperature extremes. They can be found traveling a lot.
Beliefs : The Thamnad have no religion of their own, instead adopting major religions in their area of living.
Relations: While they don't always get along with humanoids (their utter lack of social skills might be the reason why), they like other plants and other plants like them back.

THAMNAD ADVENTURES
· A local human has become enamored of you. You've finally convinced him it won't work, when he up and disappears in the forest. Guess who's been assigned to head the rescue team? You just know he's gonna misread this...
· A local Orc village has been mindwiped in a horrible magic cataclysm. You have been sent to find out what happened, and rehabilitate the villagers.
· A crazed local Druid has the idea you are a Forest God, and the key to fulfilling a prophecy. You don't have the heart to tell him no, mostly because he's insane and has enough magic to swat you like a fly.


Green Heritage
Somewhere in your families past, rituals were enacted to ensure their relationship with nature was a close one.
Prerequisites: Must be a plant-like race such as the Thamnad, or belong to a bloodline that has mingled with Plants.
Benefits: You gain a +2 Racial Bonus on Saving Throws against Abilities, Spells, Powers or other effects that subject you to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning.


Green Legacy
You can cast some plant related magic.
Prerequisites: Green Heritage, Character Level 9th, any one other Feat with Green Heritage as a Prerequisite.
Benefits: You gain the following spell-like abilities 1/day: Command Plants, Poison Vines, Tree Stride. Your Caster Level equals your Character Level.


Green Power
You are better at casting spells of a certain type.
Prerequisites: Green Heritage
Benefits: Your Caster Level for Abjuration and Divination spells increases by +1.


Green Presence
Plants are more trustful of you, and calmer when you are about.
Prerequisites: Green Heritage, Character Level 6th
Benefits: You gain the following spell-like abilities 1/day: Speak With Plants, Woodlad Veil and Wood Wose. Your Caster Level equals your Character Level.


Green Shield
You share some of plant life's hardy nature.
Prerequisites: Green Heritage
Benefits: There is a (10% times the number of Feats you possess that require Green Heritage as a Prerequisite) that any time an opponent confirms a critical hit against you, it becomes a normal hit instead.