Dryad, Darkwood (3.5e Creature)
Darkwood Dryads are militant versions of their more demure cousins. Their sole purpose is to nurture the darkwood trees, and defend them against those who would profit by their value.
.JPG)
| Darkwood Dryad | |
|---|---|
| Size/Type: | Medium Fey |
| Hit Dice: | 4d6+2d10 (25 hp) |
| Initiative: | +4 |
| Speed: | 30 ft. (6 squares) |
| Armor Class: | 19 (+4 Dex, +3 natural, +2 armor), touch 14, flat-footed 15 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +4/+4 |
| Attack: | Handaxe +8 melee (1d6/x3) or Darkwood masterwork longbow +9 ranged (1d8/x3) |
| Full Attack: | Handaxe +8 melee (1d6/x3) or Darkwood masterwork longbow +9 ranged (1d8/x3) |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Spell-like abilities |
| Special Qualities: | Damage reduction 5/cold iron, tree (forest) dependent, wild empathy |
| Saves: | Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +6 |
| Abilities: | Str 10, Dex 19, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 18 |
| Skills: | Craft (armorsmith, bowyer) +4, Escape Artist +11, Handle Animal +13, Hide +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Listen +9, Move Silently +11, Ride +8, Spot +9, Survival +9, Use Rope +4 (+6 with bindings) |
| Feats: | Great Fortitude, Forest Shot, Point Blank Shot, Manyshot, Weapon Finesse |
| Environment: | Temperate forests |
| Organization: | Response Team (10-20), Company (100-400), Army Wing (1,000-4,000) |
| Challenge Rating: | 5 |
| Treasure: | Standard |
| Alignment: | Usually chaotic good |
| Advancement: | By character class |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
Darkwood Dryads have two fighter levels. They wear darkwood scale shirt. This sup-par wooden armor provides protection akin to leather armor (210 gp value). Darkwood Dryads refuse to use leather. Their preferred weapon is the handaxe, which helps them to dismember the bodies of their fallen foes. Turn about is fair play.
Combat
Forest Shot (Ex): Darkwood Dryads ignore concealment and cover penalties due to vegetation.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will—entangle (DC 13), speak with plants, tree shape; 3/day— charm person (DC 13), deep slumber (DC 15), tree stride; 1/day—suggestion (DC 15). Caster level 6th. The save DCs are Wisdom-based.
Tree Dependent (Su): Each darkwood dryad is mystically bound to her darkwood tree and must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Any who do become ill and die within 4d6 hours.
Wild Empathy (Ex): This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the dryad has a +6 racial bonus on the check.
Endhaven Setting
In the Endhaven setting, the Darkwood Dryads guard and defend the Darkwood Forest.
In Endhaven, darkwood dryads are tied to the entire Darkwood Forest rather than a single tree.
Forest Dependent (Su): Each darkwood dryad is mystically bound to the Darkwood Forest and must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Any who do become ill and die within 4d6 hours.
Massed Combat
When working as a massed force, darkwood dryads shape the darkwood trees into defenses, giving themselves cover or concealment while suffering no penalties on their attacks. Some members use entangle to slow the advancement of opponents. The dryads usually have forest animals allies in reserve ready to kill any opposing units that break through their entanglements or any cavalry that flanks them. Their damage reduction makes them very difficult to defeat using ranged tactics. Few armies are equipped with cold iron.
Breaking defending units of darkwood dryads is a considerable challenge for most armies.
The Darkwood Defenders can field darkwood dryad units of 10,000 within a day.
See Also
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Creatures → CR 5