Dryant
- Details
- Category: Races
- Published on Monday, 31 October 2011 22:49
- Written by Aaron Hollingsworth
The offspring of a Dryad who has mystically bonded to a Treant.
Many dryads long for travel and resent being bonded to inanimate trees. Some simply long to be able to roam their forests with more freedom. And others have been known to fall into an unusual-yet-natural form of love with the Tree Shepherds of the forest: Treants. The curious results of such unions are dryants, tree-ish humaniods with a touch of fey in their sap like blood. Unlike their mothers, they are not restrained by a mystic bond to nature. And unlike their Treant fathers, they lack the patience to simply stand around, doing nothing on months on end. Although some dryants are content with staying in the borders of the wild, others venture forth to discover other destinies.
Physical Description: Favoring their mothers in form, most dryants have the semblance of tall humans or half elves. Their skin ranges in color from ruddy brown to dull grey and their hair matches the shade of their father’s leaves. Both males and females have smooth ideal bodies with rough bits of bark around their elbows, shoulders, knees, the backs of their hands, and the tops of their feet. Some dryants have spiky juts of bark instead of hair. Their eyes range from dark green to deep brown.
Society: Dryant society is loose knit at best. Instead of forming their own culture, they try to meld with all the races and beings that are friendly toward nature. They see little need for forming complex governments or establishing hierarchies. They typically inherit ponderous and/or whimsical attitudes from their parents. Male often see themselves as guardians of the woodlands, while females prefer to cultivate its many wonders. Dryants can breed true.
Relations: Dryants are intrigued by humanoids of all kinds and seek to learn all they can about them. This is done out of fear as much as it is fascination. They know that humans take from the forest more than anyone, and yet they use the raw materials to build great things. They respect the stoic attitudes of elves, even if they do not comprehend the reasons for it. They enjoy the humor of gnomes, even if they do not always get their jokes. They are fond of Halflings for their politeness and cunning. But for some odd reason, they look at half elves and half orcs with confusion, perhaps because these fellow half breeds vary so in disposition.
Alignment and Religion: Dryants favor neutrality, good, chaos, and every combination of the three. Only the most emotionally unstable find their way toward evil. Few lack the structure for law, but those who do make excellent judges and leaders of forest denizens. Nearly all dryants carry some level of respect for the gods of nature.
Adventures: For every one dryant that is content to remain in the calm splendor of nature, there are two who leave their home forests in search of the great unknown. They tend to stay within the climates in which they were born. Although they long to learn about new cultures and peoples, they rarely settle down in the “civilized world”. Most males tend to be rangers or barbarians, while females usually prefer the druidic path. Dryant clerics are not unheard of. But dryants bards tend to gain a bigger following.
Male Names: Oakeen, Birchen, Cederyk, Taproot, Ashe.
Female Names: Willowmeena, Sakuren, Brightleaf, Brancah.
Dryant Racial Traits
+2 to one ability score: Dryant characters receive a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Dryants are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Dryants have a base speed of 30 ft.
Low-light Vision: Dryants see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
One with the Forest: Dryants receive skill focus: survival as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Wood Magic: Dryants add a +1 to the DC of any saving throws involving wood or plant spells that they cast. Dryants with a wisdom of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day – no direction, guidance, stabilize, and speak with plants. The caster level for these effects is equal to the Dryants level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spells level + the dryants wisdom modifier.
Strengthen Wood: A dryant can increase a wooden object’s hardness by 1 as long as they are holding it. A dryant can only do this with one object at a time.
Leaf Sense: Dryants receive a +2 racial bonus to saves vs plant-like effects and a +2 dodge bonus to AC against creatures of the plant type.
Dual Type: Because dryants are composed of two nearly incompatable types of creature (fey and plant), they are treated as humanoids for purposes of type traits. Their blood is treated as both fey and plant for effects related to type.
Wood Working: Dryants receive a +2 racial bonus to the craft: wood skill.
Weapon Familiarity: Dryants ar proficient with clubs, quarter staffs, great clubs, and light and heavy shields as long as they are made wood.
Languages: Dryants begin play speaking Common, Sylvan, and Treant. Dryants with high intelligence scores can choice from the following: Elf, Orc, Gnome, Goblin, Giant, and Draconic.
Additional Ratings  |
|
| Balance: | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 3.91 (11 Votes) |
| Utility: | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.18 (11 Votes) |
| Clarity: | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.75 (12 Votes) |