Request a Homebrew: Thread 3

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H 1217: Spriggan
Medium fey, unaligned

AC 14 (natural armor)
HP 65 (10d8 + 20)
Speed 30 ft.

Str 10 (+0)
Dex 14 (+2)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 10 (+0)
Wis 12 (+1)
Cha 17 (+3)

Saving Throws Con +5, Cha +6
Skills Nature +6, Perception +4
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses passive Perception 14
Languages Druidic, Sylvan
CR 5

Innate Spellcasting. The spriggan's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14). It can innate cast the following spells as a 5th level caster, requiring no material components.

At will: druidcraft, poison spray, speak with animals
1/day: invisibility (only lasts 3 rounds)

Spriggan Poison. When the spriggan deals damage to a creature with poison spray or its claw attack, that target must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned this way, the creature takes 1d12 poison damage at the end of each of its turns. Then it can make an additional saving throw to end this effect early.

Actions

Multiattack. The spriggan makes 2 attacks with its claws.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage.

Sap and Honey (1/Day). The spriggan calls upon primal magics to fortify it for 1 minute or until it takes fire or bludgeoning damage. Under the effect of this magic, the spriggan regains 10 HP at the end of each of its turns. (Using this ability does not end the effects of invisibility.)

Shelter of Boughs. The spriggan melds with a tree by touching it, creating an effect similar to meld into stone. Unlike meld into stone, this is not a spell, it only allows the spriggan to meld with a touched tree, it allows the spriggan to see & hear outside the tree, and it lasts indefinitely. The spriggan can use Sap and Honey while melded with a tree, but cannot use Call of the Wild or Command the Wild.

Call of the Wild (1/Day). The spriggan stretches its will out into the minds of beasts within 60 feet of it, giving it control over those beasts for 1 hour. Any beast with a particularly close bond to another creature (such as a ranger's animal companion, but probably not the horses they ride on) may make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw to resist this effect. Even if it fails, that creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against anyone it is bonded to, and may make an additional saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the effect early.

Bonus Actions

Command the Wild. The spriggan can relay instructions to any number of beasts under its command with Call of the Wild.

Reactions

Kynareth's Refuge. Unseen spirits of the air swell around one of the spriggan's arms, which it raises to protect itself. The spriggan adds 3 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it, or 3 to one Dexterity saving throw that it would fail. To do so, the spriggan must see the effect or attack and must have its limbs free. It cannot use this reaction while grappled or restrained.

Flavor & Encounters

Spriggans live in forests, usually in a favored tree or grove. Shelter of Boughs allows them to spend most of their time undetected inside trees, where they happily hang out until something unnatural draws their ire. Spriggans prefer to live in areas with abundant fauna that they can take control of when under threat.

For a party of 4 level 4 PCs, a spriggan can be a useful major boss fight. Consider trying one of these fights, in a grove about 60 feet across:

• 2x Deadly: 2 Black Bears, 2 Deer
• 2.5x Deadly: 1 Brown Bear, 2 Black Bears, 3 Deer
• 3x Deadly: 2 Brown Bears, 2 Black Bears, 4 Deer

You may consider swapping animals based on CR. For example, Brown Bears for Dire Wolves, Black Bears for Giant Goats, Deer for Foxes (RotH).

The more the players are prepared (for instance, by bringing fire and AOE), and the more optimized they are, the deadlier you can comfortably make the fight. If your players know what they're doing and this is the only fight of the day, don't be afraid to throw a 3x Deadly fight at them!

Spriggans will attack enemies that do not seem natural by default. You can avoid a spriggan's fight-on-sight instinct if you are under the effects of pass without trace, anyone in your party is wearing the boots of the crusader (not a real magic item but it mattered in Skyrim so I wanted to mention it), or you make a DC 10 persuasion check to talk the spriggan down in sylvan or druidic before the spriggan gets stabbed. That said, if you try to kill a spriggan or its home trees, or you're burning down the forest, or you look like the guy who burned down the forest yesterday, a spriggan isn't going to give you a second chance. D&D isn't a video game, after all.

If the PCs are familiar with Skyrim monsters, anyone with Nature proficiency should be aware that they can command beasts, and meld into trees, as well as the fact that melding prevents commanding. If a PC has expertise in Nature, consider just handing them the spriggan statblock. They've earned it.

Combat

Most combats follow a pattern similar to this:

Round 1: Call of the Wild + Command the Wild. Proceed to use Command the Wild each turn for the rest of the fight.
Round 2~4: Until the spriggan falls low on hit points, use poison spray or multiattack to spread poison to as many targets as possible, prioritizing anyone who doesn't look tough (robes are a giveaway).
Round 5 or when taken to ~50% HP: Use Sap and Honey.
Round 6 or when seriously wounded: Cast invisibility, hide in a favored tree, and wait for the bad guys to go away.

While spriggans are not especially intelligent, they are smart enough to know that squishy wizards & rogues are easier to take down, and that melee fighters can beat them up. As a result, a spriggan can turn a handful of unintelligent animals into a coordinated combat force. Some may protect the spriggan from melee assault while others harry low-HP, low-AC party members. A spriggan can't command animals while benefiting from Shelter of Boughs, which means bullying a spriggan until it runs away, then cleaning up the uncoordinated beasts, should be a viable combat strategy.

Spriggans are difficult to kill. Shelter of Boughs and invisibility allow them to get out of dangerous situations, while Sap and Honey allow them to regenerate while hurt. They are also intimately aware of their weakness to fire damage and will avoid fights with lots of fire unless the threat is otherwise existential. As a result, many attempts to fight off a spriggan are usually done to a stalemate. If you need to kill a spriggan, ensure that it cannot escape by physically holding it in place, or bring some anti-invisibility tools... plus an axe for tree-chopping.

Spriggan encounters tend to have a handful of trees in them. This is nice for a spriggan that tries to escape, but it's also nice for ranged attackers who want something to hide behind. This is okay. Bear in mind that the spriggan can only command its beasts, it cannot see through their eyes. A rogue behind a tree may be able to hide from a spriggan even if one of the spriggan's enthralled mooks is in line of sight.

Spoiler: Thoughts

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The combat & encounter section cover most of what I have to say here. I really like the idea of a boss fight where you have to go out harvest taproot from some sacred tree, but a spriggan guards that tree so you get into a fight. Spriggans are willing to dip out if they are in danger, which means less-violent folks can do their harvesting or whatever and move on while genocidal murderhobos will need to plan ahead. The behavioral characteristics here do make spriggans bad for random encounters because the most effective response is to walk away, but that's why these guys are meant as bosses!

Intended weaknesses, in order: (1) Fire (fire damage + burning down a favored tree), (2) Grappling, (3) Bludgeoning damage (this against Sap and Honey).