Toxic Briars. At the start of each of its turns, the briarguard deals 3 (1d6) piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) poison damage to any creature grappling it.
Multiattack. The briarguard makes two Halberd attacks.
Halberd. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage plus 5 (1d10) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Briar's Grasp (1/Day). Briars sprout from the ground in a 10-foot square centered on a point that the briarguard can see within 60 feet of itself. The briars last for 1 minute, until the briarguard dies, or until the briarguard dismisses them as an action. The ground within the area becomes difficult terrain, and each creature that moves at least 5 feet through the briars on its turn must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 3 (1d6) slashing damage. When the briars appear, each creature within the area takes 3 (1d6) piercing damage, and must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be restrained by the briars until the effect ends.
A restrained creature can use its action to repeat the saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes an additional 3 (1d6) piercing damage. On a successful save, it is no longer restrained.
Description
Walking masses of thorny vines that take on a vaguely humanoid shape, briarguards pilot suits of armor as if they were wearing them. Toxic briars coil around a briarguard's weapon, poisoning creatures hit with it.
Briarguards are typically used by evil druids as guardians and minions, commanding them with the use of the Druidic language.
Briarguard Seeds
Like other plants, briarguards are grown from tiny seeds. A seed planted in soil grows into an inanimate briar bush over the course of 3d12 + 6 days, and can be harvested for more seeds once it matures. A creature that attempts to harvest one of these bushes must make a Wisdom (Survival) check. On a check of 1–9, the creature fails and takes 1 point of piercing damage. On a check of 10 or greater, the creature finds 1d4 briarguard seeds. Once the seeds are harvested from a bush, that bush can't be harvested for more seeds until 2d6 days have passed.
A seed can instead be planted in the corpse of a Medium or Small humanoid that died no more than 1 day ago. When this is done, the seed rapidly grows into another briarguard over the course of 1d4 days, destroying the corpse in the process. The corpse's soulless animating spirit is trapped within the briarguard, allowing the plant to walk around in the corpse's armor. The statblock above represents a briarguard inhabiting a suit of plate armor and wielding a halberd, but a briarguard can inhabit any type of armor and use any type of melee weapon.
Any creature that attempts to eat a briarguard seed must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. However, the seeds are considered a delicacy by those immune to poison.
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