And The Flowers Turn Towards You... (PEACH)

[Fax Celestis]

Survaria Flower
Size/Type: Tiny Plant
Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (10 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: Immobile
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack: +1
Attack: Beam +5 ranged (1d8+2)
Full Attack: Beam +5 ranged (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 1 ft./1 ft.
Special Attacks: Beam
Special Qualities: Tremorsense 120 ft., Immune (Fire), Plant Immunities, Light Sensitivity
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 6, Dex 16, Con 12, Int -, Wis -, Cha -
Feats: Weapon Focus (Beam)
Environment: Nervena Plains (Island of Naudia Diva, subplane of the Beastlands)
Organization: Patch (4-8), Garden (5-30), or field (20-100)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 2-6 HD (Tiny); 7-15 HD (Small)
Level Adjustment: —

A field of bright flowers lies before you. The blossoms appear to be made of metal and shimmer in the sun. You can see a rabbit wander near the flowers, and suddenly each flower turns in unison, bending its petals to focus their reflected light into a vicious beam. They focus on the rabbit, and it ignites. Only when the rabbit is still do the flowers return to their basking.

Survaria flowers are a step in evolution up from simple plants. They protect themselves using intense beams of focused light to burn anything that moves within their territory.

Seeing as their attacks burn, most other plants tend to die in the surrounding areas around Survaria flowers, which provides new territory for the Survaria flowers to sow their seeds. Most farmers see Survaria flowers as a major threat to their crops and will do everything within their power to destroy them on sight.

Survaria flowers survive off of sunlight alone, closing their petals and becoming dormant during the night.

Combat
Being mindless, Survaria flowers do not enter "combat" per se. Instead, they react to anything they sense with their tremorsense by focusing beams of light at them.

Beam (Ex)
The beam of a Survaria flower deals 1d8+2 points of fire damage. This is a ranged touch attack, and is considered a ray with a range of 240 feet.

Light Sensitivity (Su)
Casting any light spell onto a Survaria flower (or a group of Survaria flowers) will cause it's beam to deal an additional point of fire damage per caster level of the spell for the normal duration of the spell.

Casting any darkness spell onto a Survaria flower (or a group of Survaria flowers) will cause it to close up and become dormant for the duration of the spell.

Fire Immuntity (Su)
Since their entire physical nature derives from heat, Survaria flowers are immune to fire.

Plant Immunities
Like all plants, Survaria flowers are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), as well as poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning. They are also not subject to critical hits.

[Peregrine]

I like these... I really like these. ;D That's a huge range on their ray and tremorsense, though. Do they really count their 'territory' to be that large?

[Fax Celestis]

I like these... I really like these. ;D That's a huge range on their ray and tremorsense, though. Do they really count their 'territory' to be that large?

Yes, though I suppose they'd get less accurate the further out they go. Maybe I'll change the ray range increment to 60', to a maximum of 240'.

[Mike_Lemmer]

Besides, if the main point of the rays is to kill other plants, how do they detect them with tremorsense?

[Fax Celestis]

Besides, if the main point of the rays is to kill other plants, how do they detect them with tremorsense?

It's not. It's to kill predators.

The plants just happen to get in the way. Since the flowers don't actually have vision, just tremorsense, they fire in straight lines towards whatever's nearest on the ground.

And if another plant's in the way...well, you end up with crispy plant, and potentially a forest fire (which the flowers will survive, being immune to fire and all).

[Peregrine]

Rays don't have range increments, just hard limits. If the idea is that it's light, not magic, so it shouldn't just fizzle out (and certainly not at short range), then you could just give the tremorsense a shorter range. (Then you're more likely to have them 'accidentally' shoot things way out of tremorsense range -- starting forest fires and the like.)

[Fax Celestis]

Howzabout that?

[Seffbasilisk]

How about something where they all delay to act together? 'Cause that way you're hit with all the beams at once.

[Fax Celestis]

How about something where they all delay to act together? 'Cause that way you're hit with all the beams at once.

That'd require them to be intelligent or have a hive mind, of which they have neither.

They'd burn each other to bits if they weren't immune to their own rays.

[UnrealTiger]

I think the extra d8 damage per caster level of spells that use the [Light] descriptor is a bit to much m'self. Perhaps toning that extra damage down so that it only gives like +1 damage per caster level to a maximum of whatever would be more appropriate, the the +d8 (which is quite large)

[SpiderBrigade]

This monster gives me a massive case of deja vu. The sheer creepiness it evokes is extremely familiar, but at the same time I think I'd remember something like that. And I just can't place it. Were these inspired by anything?

I mean, other than the Daisyworld hypothesis. I don't think Lovelock was imagining killer flower-beams.

[Fax Celestis]

This monster gives me a massive case of deja vu. The sheer creepiness it evokes is extremely familiar, but at the same time I think I'd remember something like that. And I just can't place it. Were these inspired by anything?

I mean, other than the Daisyworld hypothesis. I don't think Lovelock was imagining killer flower-beams.

Ringworld, I think. I say "think" because when I got the idea for these I got deja vu too.

As for the light spells? Yeah, good call.

[Seffbasilisk]

That'd require them to be intelligent or have a hive mind, of which they have neither.

They'd burn each other to bits if they weren't immune to their own rays.

So they can't tell if the ones around them are firing?

Why not some bonus of sorts if one nearby fires?

[Fax Celestis]

So they can't tell if the ones around them are firing?

Why not some bonus of sorts if one nearby fires?

Hm. I have an idea of what you're saying, but I don't know how to implement it.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

This reminds me alot of 'Sentenced to Prism' by Alan Dean Foster. Basically the life on that world was mostly silicon based, and all life gathered the sun to spark their inner electrical workings. Some of the plants could keep spare power about and would throw off the energy to discourage grazers.

[Fax Celestis]

This reminds me alot of 'Sentenced to Prism' by Alan Dean Foster. Basically the life on that world was mostly silicon based, and all life gathered the sun to spark their inner electrical workings. Some of the plants could keep spare power about and would throw off the energy to discourage grazers.

Haven't read it, unfortunately.

I like springing weird things on my players. Especially areas of moral ambiguity like this: they're going to kill a bunch of people and take over a whole region of farmland, but they're just little plants protecting themselves and they don't have brains.

What to do?

[Piotr_Zak]

I have a strong hunch that this idea is from Larry Niven, but from World of Ptavvs, not Ringworld.

It seems like it must be some Niven, since three of us thought of it. . . wait! I'm right. Here.

The Tnuctipun invented most of the technologies from that era, including Stage Trees (whose structure incorporates a rocket engine), Sunflowers (flowers with integral parabolic mirrors that can focus sunlight to deadly effect), and stasis fields (a time dilation device). . . . The true nature of some of their inventions became clear. . . Sunflowers turned against their masters and burned Thrint homes to the ground. Other Tnuctip inventions were designed to shape Thrint society to weaken it. Sunflowers encouraged a trend for the slavers to live in isolated manors, surrounded by slaves.

[Fax Celestis]

I have a strong hunch that this idea is from Larry Niven, but from World of Ptavvs, not Ringworld.

It seems like it must be some Niven, since three of us thought of it. . . wait! I'm right. Here.

I still say Ringworld, if anyhting, considering that's the only Niven I've read.

[NullAshton]

Fax, you're collaborating to make a world where everything can kill you, aren't you. Next we have to worry about air. Or maybe dirt.

[Fax Celestis]

Fax, you're collaborating to make a world where everything can kill you, aren't you. Next we have to worry about air. Or maybe dirt.

You don't have to worry about the dirt. You have to worry about what's under the dirt.

[NullAshton]

Crud... I hated the level with things like that on this one game...

Are cities still safe?

[SpiderBrigade]

I still say Ringworld, if anyhting, considering that's the only Niven I've read.

I did some digging...it is Ringworld. In that, they're called "Slaver Sunflowers" and have taken over a good-sized continent, if I remember correctly.

[Fax Celestis]

I did some digging...it is Ringworld. In that, they're called "Slaver Sunflowers" and have taken over a good-sized continent, if I remember correctly.

Well, anyway, Niven apparently liked them, and my subconscious liked them enough to dredge them up and make a D&D monster out of them while giving me a case of deja vu.

[Piotr_Zak]

Yeah, whenever I hear Tnuctipun I just think World of Ptavvs, but since I don't remember Ringworld real well, I don't disbelieve you.

[Fax Celestis]

Crud... I hated the level with things like that on this one game...

Are cities still safe?

...what cities?