Sing to the Trees, and Whisper the Secrets of the Ancient Wood [3.5, Creature]

[unosarta]

Everflowerer and Barksinger

An Everflowerer protecting his Barksinger.


The Everflowerer and the Barksinger are a strange combination of plant and fey. The Barksinger is a Dryad whose tree that she is bound to is also a Treant. The Everflowerer is the Treant of a Dryad. They are heavily protective of each other, and tend to dote, especially the Everflowerer upon the Barksinger. Because of how their strange magic’s have intertwined and intersected, strange things have happened to each to especially differentiate them from a normal Dryad and Treant.

The Barksinger sings to the Everflowerer, comforts him, provides him with something akin to a child, which he would never otherwise be able to have. She heals him when he is hurting, and gives him encouragement in whatever he does.

He protects her, as a father, as a brother. He gives her strength, strength to give, strength to feel. He fights for her, because he loves her. She fights for him, because she loves him. He flowers for her, gives her things she likes, helps her. She loves him, stays with him, and comforts him.

It is less a relationship in the traditional sense, and more of a pure devotion.

The Barksinger’s voice is so beautiful and lovely that most any creature that hears her song will fall in love with her. She loves all those around her, but cannot touch any of it, her hands cold and shriveled, killing and withering all she touches. This has left her sorrowful and despairing, which in turn makes most Everflowerer’s distressed by their child’s sadness. Thusly, an Everflowerer has large flowers and petal’s blooming all over it, in order to make it brighter and happier for the Barksinger. The only thing the Barksinger can touch and not wither is the Everflowerer, which strengthens their relationship even more.

Everflowerers can go into a rage when they see their Barksinger hurt. They attack the person that hurt her, and then some. An Everflowerer can also cause trees to rise up, and fight against any aggressor, and they fight with extreme loyalty. An Everflowerer has an almost supernatural ability to walk through undergrowth and magical and unnatural thorns, briars, brambles and overgrown areas without taking any harm.

Both the Barksinger and the Everflowerer have an almost magical and supernatural connection to each other, hearing thoughts, feelings and emotions. An Everflowerer is about thirty feet tall, and his “trunk” is about three feet wide. The species of tree that the Everflowerer is varies widely, from ash, to maple, to willow, to oak, but the most common is a Black Ash or a Maple, sometimes an elm or a willow, very, very rarely a pine, unless the Barksinger and the Everflowerer live in colder climes. Everflowerers speak only sylvan, and can communicate mentally with their Barksinger, whereas Barksingers can speak common and sylvan.

Barksinger

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Barksinger
Medium Fey
HD 6d6+3 (24)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: +8
AC 20; touch 14; flat-footed 16 (10+4[Dex]+6[Nat])
BAB +3; Grp +3
Attack Slam +7 (1d6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Spell-like abilities, Wildsong, Withered Touch
Special Qualities Damage Reduction 7/Cold Iron, Treant Dependency, Wild Empathy
Saves Fort +2 Ref +9 Will +8
Abilities Str 10, Dex 19, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 20
Skills Handle Animal +14, Hide +13, Knowledge (Nature) +11, Listen +11, Use Rope +13, Move Silently +13, Survival +11, Ride +13
Feats Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse, Toughness
Environment Temperate Forests
Organization Duo (1 Barksinger, 1 Everflowerer)
Challenge Rating 7
Treasure Standard
Alignment usually true neutral
Advancement by character class

Combat

The Barksinger tends to fight from the background, singing and using her spell-like abilities, while her Everflowerer fights in the front lines. If necessary, she may run in, and use her Withered Touch to heal him. If she is attacked at the back lines, her Everflowerer will go into a rage, and attack anyone who hurt her, and she will defend herself with her Withered Touch, or with her Spell-like abilities.

Spell-like abilities (Sp): At-will — Entangle (DC 14), Speak with Plants, Tree Shape; 3/day — Charm Person (DC 14), Deep Slumber (DC 16), Tree Stride; 1/day — Suggestion (DC 16). Caster level 8th. The save DCs are Wisdom based.

Treant Dependency (Su): Every Barksinger is mystically bound to a Treant, and must never stray more than 100 yards from it. Any who do so become ill and die within 4d6 hours. In addition, the Treant (Known as an Everflowerer), and the Barksinger have a constant mindlink effect between each other, but it still functions in an Antimagic Field. If her Everflowerer dies, the Barksinger dies. If they are adjacent to each other, then both gain a bonus to Armor Class equal to their respective Wisdom modifiers.

Wildsong (Su): The Barksinger may sing a song that grants a +2 bonus to attack, damage and skill check rolls to other fey and plants within 30 feet. This bonus is doubled for her Everflowerer. She may use this ability no more than twice per encounter, and must concentrate as a move action in order to keep the effect going. Any damage breaks the song.

Withered Touch (Su): Because of the Barksinger’s strange and magical lineage, her magics have mixed, and intertwined, having some strange magical effects. One of those is her Withering Touch. Anything the Barksinger touches, besides her Everflowerer, withers and dies. She is able to make a touch attack, and deal 1d6 damage cold damage, plus her charisma modifier. The Barksinger’s Withered Touch heals her Everflowerer for an equal amount of damage.

Wild Empathy (Ex): This power works exactly like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the Barksinger gains a +8 racial bonus to the check.

Everflowerer

Spoiler

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Everflowerer
Huge Plant
HD 10d8+50 (99)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +3
AC 22; touch 7; flat-footed 22 (10-2[Size]-1[Dex]+15[Nat])
BAB +7/+2; Grp +25
Attack Slam +15 (3d6+10)
Full-Attack 2 Slams +15/+15 (3d6+10)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks Defensive Rage, Barksinger Connection, Animate Trees, Trample 3d6+15
Special Qualities Damage Reduction 10/slashing, Low-light Vision, Plant Traits, Vulnerability to Fire, Everflowering
Saves Fort +12 Ref +4 Will +6
Abilities Str 30, Dex 8, Con 21, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 12
Skills Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (Nature) +5, Survival +10 (+12 aboveground), Sense Motive +16, Hide -1*
Feats Lightning Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (Slam), Power Attack
Environment Temperate Forests
Organization Duo (1 Everflowerer, 1 Barksinger)
Challenge Rating 9
Treasure Standard
Alignment Always true neutral
Advancement 11-18 HD (Huge), 19-23 HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment +7

Combat

The Everflowerer fights on the front lines, ready to protect his Barksinger. If there is a larger group of enemies, or really any group of enemies at all, he will use his Animate Trees ability to provide some back up. His trample ability is a powerful effect, one that he uses at any opportunity. If an Everflowerer’s Barksinger is ever hurt, for any reason, the Everflowerer goes into a rage, attacking the one who hurt her.

Defensive Rage (Ex): When an Everflowerer’s Barksinger is attacked or hurt in any way, he may fly into a rage. He gains a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and Constitution, gains a bonus to attack and damage against the person that attacked his Barksinger by +2, and takes a -2 penalty to all reflex saves and armor class, and whenever adjacent to his Barksinger during the duration, he grants her a bonus to her Armor Class equal to his wisdom modifier. The rage lasts a number of rounds equal to 3+his new Constitution modifier (10 rounds). The increase in Constitution increases the Everflowerer’s hit points by 20, but these hit points go away at the end of his rage. After his rage, he is fatigued for 2d4 rounds, and then is able to rage again, but it still only activates if his Barksinger is struck.

Barksinger Connection (Su): The Everflowerer and his Barksinger are mystically bound, and if one goes more than 100 yards away, than they both fall sickened, and they die within 4d6 hours, unless they are reunited. The Everflowerer and his Barksinger have a constant mindlink effect, which functions even in an Antimagic Field. If an Everflowerer’s Barksinger dies, he dies as well. If they are adjacent to each other, then both gain a bonus to Armor Class equal to their respective Wisdom modifiers.

Animate Trees (Su): An Everflowerer can animate trees within 180 feet at will, controlling up to two trees at a time. It takes 1 full round for a normal tree to uproot itself. Thereafter it moves at a speed of 10 feet and fights as a treant in all respects. Animated trees lose their ability to move if the Everflowerer that animated them is incapacitated or moves out of range. The ability is otherwise similar to liveoak (caster level 12th). Animated trees have the same vulnerability to fire that an Everflowerer has.

Trample (Ex): Reflex DC 25 half. The DC is strength based.

Plant Traits: Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning, Not subject to critical hits, Proficient with its natural weapons only, Proficient with no armor. Plants breathe and eat, but do not sleep.

Everflowering (Su): An Everflowerer may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking any damage or other impairment. This undergrowth could be magical or not, it still wouldn’t affect the Everflowerer.

Skills: The Everflowerer gains a +10 bonus to hide when in a wooded area, +16 if the trees are flowering.

[DracoDei]

Nice concept, but it would sit better with me if the barksinger were explicitly doing more/showing more care for the everflowerer... at it is, this sounds like a lop-sided relationship, almost to the point of emotional abuse.

[unosarta]

Nice concept, but it would sit better with me if the barksinger were explicitly doing more/showing more care for the everflowerer... at it is, this sounds like a lop-sided relationship, almost to the point of emotional abuse.

How so? She sings to him, comforts him, provides him with something akin to a child, which he would never otherwise be able to have. She heals him when he is hurting, and gives him encouragement in whatever he does.

He protects her, as a father, as a brother. He gives her strength, strength to give, strength to feel. He fights for her, because he loves her. She fights for him, because she loves him. He flowers for her, gives her things she likes, helps her. She loves him, stays with him, and comforts him.

It is less a relationship in the traditional sense, and more of a pure devotion.

I am personally more worried about the CR. If the Everflowerer awakens several trees, and then she uses her buffing abilities on all of them, while healing him, it could be deadly.

[un_known]

Unosarta.

I have a really big favour to ask you.

Can you make races for these? OR will you let me make races based on these? As they just solved a massive problem I had with a Campaign idea I was working on.

I wanted a really teamwork partner based game with 4 players that was Fey/Nature and this has made my day.

-un_known

P.S. I love it!

[Zaydos]

I'd be worried about the low hp combined with fire vulnerability. 70 damage from fire and the everflowerer is dead in one hit. Thankfully this is higher than even a maximized fireball, but with 7th level spells and the prevalence of Orb of Fire (dealing 13d6 at this level or on average 45.5 damage; or 67.75 damage to the everflowerer) it'll be lucky to last 2 rounds; he might last 2 rounds if they go after the barksinger first and his rage activates (also mistake in the text has it say he gets an enhancement bonus to Rage). His attack bonus is dreadfully low without Rage + Barksinger (+17 when norm for CR 13 according to the CR assessment text in MM is +21). His AC is also pretty pitiful (and has another mistake where his flat-footed AC is 3 higher than his normal AC). Finally he dies if they deal 34 damage to the Barksinger, no difficult task for Lv 11+ characters that should be facing a CR 13.

tl;dr: everflowerer is probably over CR'd.

[unosarta]

Unosarta.

I have a really big favour to ask you.

Can you make races for these? OR will you let me make races based on these? As they just solved a massive problem I had with a Campaign idea I was working on.

I wanted a really teamwork partner based game with 4 players that was Fey/Nature and this has made my day.

-un_known

P.S. I love it!

Hum. Probably something like LA +1, without almost any of the special abilities.

Probably non-matured.

Everflowerer

• +4 Constitution, +4 Strength, -2 Charisma.
• Large size.
• +3 Natural Armor bonus.
• Barksinger Connection: As the Everflowerer ability.
• 20 ft. base land speed.
• +5 bonus to hide checks when in a wooded area.
• Automatic Languages: Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Common, Elven.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
• LA: +1

Barksigner

• +4 Charisma, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength.
• Medium size.
• +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Bluff checks. This bonus becomes a +4 bonus when used against Fey and Plant creatures.
• Treant Dependency: As the Barksinger Ability.
• 30 ft. base land speed.
• Spell-like abilities: 3/day— Entangle, Speak with Plants, Tree Shape;1/day— Charm Person, Deep Slumber, Tree Stride. DCs are Wisdom based.
• +2 bonus to Knowledge (Nature) checks.
• Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Elven.
• Favored Class: Druid.
• LA: +1

I'd be worried about the low hp combined with fire vulnerability. 70 damage from fire and the everflowerer is dead in one hit. Thankfully this is higher than even a maximized fireball, but with 7th level spells and the prevalence of Orb of Fire (dealing 13d6 at this level or on average 45.5 damage; or 67.75 damage to the everflowerer) it'll be lucky to last 2 rounds; he might last 2 rounds if they go after the barksinger first and his rage activates (also mistake in the text has it say he gets an enhancement bonus to Rage). His attack bonus is dreadfully low without Rage + Barksinger (+17 when norm for CR 13 according to the CR assessment text in MM is +21). His AC is also pretty pitiful (and has another mistake where his flat-footed AC is 3 higher than his normal AC). Finally he dies if they deal 34 damage to the Barksinger, no difficult task for Lv 11+ characters that should be facing a CR 13.

tl;dr: everflowerer is probably over CR'd.

OK, so he is probably CR 9 or 10? I will fix the mistakes, thanks.

[The Tygre]

Simply awesome. This is the kind of homebrew I love to see.

[unosarta]

Simply awesome. This is the kind of homebrew I love to see.

Thank you!

[DracoDei]

How so? She sings to him, comforts him, provides him with something akin to a child, which he would never otherwise be able to have. She heals him when he is hurting, and gives him encouragement in whatever he does.

All very well and good, but the fluff didn't really seem to communicate that clearly... maybe I was having a bad day for reading comprehension, but maybe not. Thus you ought to double check that what was in your head really made it fully into your words.

...they just solved a massive problem I had with a Campaign idea I was working on.

I wanted a really teamwork partner based game with 4 players that was Fey/Nature and this has made my day.

Make sure to post here, or PM to him as much detail as you can on how it went...

[unosarta]

All very well and good, but the fluff didn't really seem to communicate that clearly... maybe I was having a bad day for reading comprehension, but maybe not. Thus you ought to double check that what was in your head really made it fully into your words.

Well, I can imagine it didn't. I wrote this a while ago, and only found it recently. I will go add it in.

Make sure to post here, or PM to him as much detail as you can on how it went...

Yes please!

[un_known]

Still workign some stuff out for the idea; and will probably make you characters into a 2 or 3 level class. That the Players will Auto have at start. Will split up your Race into 2 levels and sprinkle the various SLA and SU's so that you get the full creature across.

Will get back to you! (I might actually PM you when I make it to find out if you want to be part of it...)

[unosarta]

Still workign some stuff out for the idea; and will probably make you characters into a 2 or 3 level class. That the Players will Auto have at start. Will split up your Race into 2 levels and sprinkle the various SLA and SU's so that you get the full creature across.

Will get back to you! (I might actually PM you when I make it to find out if you want to be part of it...)

That wouldn't be a bad idea. And playing as a Barksinger Bard/Sublime Chord (buffing spells, nothing ridiculous), or a Barksinger Cleric would be really fun.

[un_known]

Yeah I'm thinking that they'd get all the Abilities and stuff of the monster and race at the begining then the Barksinger can choose from either Bard or Cleric. Certain Prestige classes will also be allowed (Ex: the homebrewed Sylvan Herald)

And the Everflower would be melee classes.

[unosarta]

Yeah I'm thinking that they'd get all the Abilities and stuff of the monster and race at the begining then the Barksinger can choose from either Bard or Cleric. Certain Prestige classes will also be allowed (Ex: the homebrewed Sylvan Herald)

And the Everflower would be melee classes.

Sounds good.

[ShriekingDrake]

This is wonderful.

Unless, I missed it, I think I'd make an Everflowerer immune to his Bartksinger's withering touch.

Very nicely done.

[Ajadea]

A Barksinger's Withering Touch heals her Everflowerer.

[unosarta]

This is wonderful.

Unless, I missed it, I think I'd make an Everflowerer immune to his Bartksinger's withering touch.

Very nicely done.

Thank you!

Actually, it heals him. It is part of the strange and twisted magics that caused it to be.

[Edit]: Ninja'd!

[Debihuman]

It seems that the Barksinger should have a normal Slam attack as Withering Touch is really a special attack. Also, she is missing a feat. She should have 3 feats.

Creatures don't get iterative attacks based on BAB on their Natural attacks. A slam is based on how many appendages a creature has.

Debby

[unosarta]

It seems that the Barksinger should have a normal Slam attack as Withering Touch is really a special attack. Also, she is missing a feat. She should have 3 feats.

Debby

Well, technically Dryads have a dagger, but that didn't really seem in the spirit of the Barksinger. I will change it. Also, any ideas for good feats for her? I am kind of out of ideas.

[Debihuman]

I see what happened. You gave her 3 extra hit points (should be from the Toughness feat). Normally she'd have only 21 hit points but she has 24. Just give her Toughness and the hit points will be right.

Edit: Creatures don't get iterative attacks based on BAB for their Natural attacks, they get them based on how many appendages they have.

Eversong should have 3 Slams at 15 [7+10-2](BAB + Str + Size Modifier) Note that the size modifier for its grapple should be +8 so grapple is wrong. It should be +25 not +17. Eversong is also missing a feat; it should have 4.

Debby

[unosarta]

I see what happened. You gave her 3 extra hit points (should be from the Toughness feat). Normally she'd have only 21 hit points but she has 24. Just give her Toughness and the hit points will be right.

Debby

OK. What about for the Everflowerer? I noticed that he was also missing a feat.

[flabort]

This is a beautiful, symbiotic relationship. I wish real people were (more) like this.

Were did you get that art? did you make it yourself, or...

[unosarta]

This is a beautiful, symbiotic relationship. I wish real people were (more) like this.

*Sigh* me too.

Were did you get that art? did you make it yourself, or...

Here. One of my favorite art sites. And no, I cannot draw at all. It is rather unfortunate.

[Debihuman]

See my edit above for other stat block corrections. There are great feats available. Standard Treants have the following feats--Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Power Attack so one of those would be appropriate.

Debby

[unosarta]

Edit: Creatures don't get iterative attacks based on BAB for their Natural attacks, they get them based on how many appendages they have.

OK.

Everflowerer should have 3 Slams at 15 [7+10-2](BAB + Str + Size Modifier) Note that the size modifier for its grapple should be +8 so grapple is wrong. It should be +25 not +17. Everflowerer is also missing a feat; it should have 4.

Debby

HURGH, I always forget size modifier. I will change it. And yeah, I already mentioned the feat problem with the Everflowerer. I guess power attack could work.

[flabort]

Wow. That is an awesome site. lots of great art for potential homebrew. Thanks for linking that.

[unosarta]

Wow. That is an awesome site. lots of great art for potential homebrew. Thanks for linking that.

Yeah, it is one of my favorites.