Review template

[Thistle]

I just kinda had this idea and threw it together. Views welcome.

Thorn Guardian

Jesen lay sleeping in his bedroll, next to the campfire. It had been a long hike to the mountain meadow and there was still a days travel to the cave entrance, according to the map. He was awoken by a sharp pain on his cheek, only to find hisself entangled in roots and weeds.
Kneeling next to him was a woman with what looked like spines piercing her skin. Jesen could feel the blood on his face.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded.
She pointed to the circle of stones with the embers of his fire. "There was a clover patch there. And you burned it." She turned back and ran a finger along his other cheek. "I am the one to make you pay the price."

Thorn Guardians are viscious protectors of nature and beauty. Break a thread of spider silk from a web and they will attack. Tread on a flower and they will mercilessly slaughter you and your companions. Cut down a tree for fire wood and they will ravage you,those you love and the village you're from. And then scatter the gore for fertilizer.

Thorn Guardian is an aquired template that can be added to any animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin.

Size and Type Size remains the same. Type changes to fey. Do not recalculate Hit Die, base attack, saves, or skills.

Speed Speed remains the same

Armor Class Natural Armor increases by +2. This stacks with any natural armor the base creature has.

Attack A thorn guardian has thorns growing out of their bodies. They are considered to be wearing armor spikes when grappling. They also gain a slam attack. Damage depends on size (1d2 Tiny, 1d3 Small, 1d4 Medium, 1d6 Large, 1d8 Huge, 2d6 Gargantuam, 3d6 Colossal). Along with normal damage the thorns are treated as wounding. Creatures reduced to 0 Con become Thorn Guardians in one day.

Spell-Like Abilities Entangle 3/day, Goodberry 1/day, Spike Growth 1/day, Plant Growth 1/week
Caster level is equal to HD

Special Qualities
Trackless Step
Woodland Stride
DR 10/cold iron
Speak with plants
Rose bush dependent (where the thorn guardian raises a rose bush grows. They must remain within 300 yards or become ill and die in 1d4 days. At the end of the last day they become diabled. They then have an hour to get back inside the radius or die.)
Roots (As a move action that provokes an AoO, a thorn guardian can gain stability and tremorsense 30ft. A thorn guardian must be touching the ground and cannot move more than 5ft per round while this ability is active. It is another move action that doesn't proke an AoO to retract the roots.)

Abilities Str +4, Con +2, Wis +4, Cha +2 (Int is raised to at least 3)

Alignment Always Evil

Level Adjustment +3

[Gyrfalcon]

It sounds like their slam attack is supposed to drain constitution, by your statement that 'Creatures reduced to 0 Con become Thorn Guardians in 1 day'. You need to state this however.

Given that 0 Con means you die, I suggest not Thorn Guardians but some type of plant-based zombie.

You need to spell out how they are dependent on the rose bush and how the rose bush comes about.

I'd say that putting down roots should be a move action that does not provoke AoO, just as retracting the roots does not.

Otherwise, I'd actually suggest giving them a Con penalty, due to the damage inflicted as thorns sprout from them.

[Jack Mann]

He said their slam attack is wounding. Wounding does con damage.

0 Con normally means you die. However, this is a special attack, essentially, which means that the normal rules don't necessarily apply.

I wouldn't say that the thorns should give them a con penalty. After all, they're not really piercing their skin so much as they're growing out of their skin.

I like the idea of these evil fey. They remind me of Vorpal's spirit of the virgin lands.

[Thistle]

As stated the thorns are wounding.

The template is aquired by "dieing" for one day.

For the bush, they need to be within 300 yds. If they leave they have 1d4 days to get back to the bush radius or die. At the end of the last day they die. I suppose I'll give them an hour to get back, since you bring it up.
The bush just sprouts from the ground below them when the become guardians. They would then probably cast plant growth on it.

I pictured putting down and pulling out roots as like sheathing and drawing a weapon. I might change it if more people agree.


I'll have to look up that spirit of the virgin land

[Scorpina]

This is very cool, and seems pretty balanced to me as well.

*plots to steal it*

[Thistle]

Yeah, someone likes my work!

Took a look at the spirit. :o That things a beast. A little more extreme than a guardian as well. It doesn't seem fond of any non-plant creature. (It would try to change the thorn guardian into a pile of vegetables and that probably wouldn't go over well.)
I thought of the guardian to be more of an extreme evil dryad. That's why I gave them a longer time away from their bush, to take out loggers themselves. And the ability to "recruit" some to the cause.
Plus any creature with spikes is pretty cool. ;)