Homebrew Greenseer Lineage Species Details
“What is known of nature? Things many and few. Many people rest in the woods, knowing the mountain pines shiver in storms, but few know their windy whispers. Many know that a dandelion smiles as the sun looks down from overhead, but few know the vanity of beautiful weeds. I know because I hear their words.” —from the tattered journal of Fionn, a greenseer
Nature tries to keep an equilibrium between what was, what is, and what could be. To achieve this balance, it influences others to speak on its behalf. The greenseers are that voice—beings infused with plant-life who find themselves unwittingly awakened to the balance of the natural world. One can become a greenseer through various ways, including a dryad’s kiss, folk healing tonics, or a druid’s vengeful magic designed to teach a lesson to those who would decimate forests in the name of profit. No matter how they come to be, greenseers are able to hear nature reaching out to them, capable of recognizing the emotions of plants they touch. They are able to feel the joy of a sunflower preening its petals in summer and the agony of a grassy hill as it burns beneath flame. Whatever they set out to do, a greenseer seeks harmony and to reduce the suffering of the natural world.
Plant Affinity The defining characteristic of the greenseers is their strong connection to plants. By touching their skin to a root, trunk, leaf, or any other part of a living plant, they become immediately aware of that plant’s feelings and emotions. Although they can use their abilities on any plant, the greenseer has an affinity for one particular type which determines a unique aspect of their appearance. A plant affinity is the strongest tie a greenseer has with the natural world. A greenseer focused on enjoying the splendor of wildflowers might possess an affinity for mountain irises, with several purple blooms always on their shoulders. A more melancholic greenseer may have an affinity for willows, giving their hair a ropey, drooping appearance. A greenseer rooted to ideals of community might develop bark-like skin, with designs similar to aspen trees that tend to grow in close-knit clusters.
Use the Plant Affinities table to determine your greenseer’s affinity or develop one of your own with your DM’s input. Plant Affinities d6 Plant Affinity
1 Berries, vegetables, or similar
2 Flowers or a particular type of flower
3 Fungi or moss
4 Plants sacred to fey or druids, such as mistletoe or yew
5 Trees or a specific kind of tree
6 Vines or creepers
Greenseer Origins Many greenseers originate from unexpected quirks of the Feywild’s magic. In other cases, a god may have transformed your original form into something more “natural” or perhaps a fey creature cursed you for spoiling the spring where it plays. The Greenseers Origins table provides suggestions for how your character became a Greenseer.
Greenseer Origins d8 Origin
1 You wronged a creature of the forest who cursed you to feel its pain.
2 A fey found you dying in the forest. In saving you, they also transformed you.
3 Wandering the Feywild, you fell asleep in a field of flowers. When you awoke, your body had become part of the land.
4 You were sacrificed in a solstice ritual, but instead of dying, your body knit itself back together with vines and roots.
5 Your organs have been replaced with living plants, altering your physiology in unexpected ways.
6 Your body hosts the spirit of an earth elemental that covers you with tiny green spores.
7 Your prayers to the gods for a plentiful crop were heard and granted—the crop just happened to be you.
8 Perhaps mistaking it for something else, you drank a questionably green and expired “Growth” potion that had unintended side-effects.
Greenseer Lineage Traits
You have the following racial traits.Ability Score Increases
When determining your ability scores, you increase one of those scores by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or you increase three different scores by 1. You follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
Your class’s “Quick Build” section offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You’re free to follow those suggestions or to ignore them. Whichever scores you decide to increase, none of the scores can be raised above 20.
If you are replacing your race with a lineage, replace any Ability Score Increase you previously had with these.
Languages
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of widespread languages to choose from. The DM is free to add or remove languages from that list for a particular campaign.
If you are replacing your race with a lineage, you retain any languages you had and gain no new languages.
Creature Type
Your previous creature type, if any, is replaced with plant when you gain the Greenseer lineage.
Ancestral Legacy
Ancestral Legacy. If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it. If you don’t keep any of those elements or you choose this lineage at character creation, you gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
Blossom
Blossom. A greenseer’s body grows blossoms capable of causing various effects. You can grow a number of blossoms equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. You can create a blossom (requiring no action on your part), which produces any of the following options when used:
Aromatic Blossom.
As an action, you blow the soothing scent of this blossom toward a creature, attempting to lull it to sleep. Choose a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. If the creature has 20 or fewer hit points, it falls unconscious for 1 minute. Undead, creatures with more than 20 hit points, and creatures immune to magical charm aren’t affected by this effect.
Nourishing Blossom.
As an action, a creature can eat or press this blossom against its skin to regain a number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. If the creature is not a greenseer, the blossom also provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day.
Vined Blossom.
As an action, you silently command the petals of this blossom to fly to a point on the ground, causing vines to surge forth from that location to act as [Tooltip Not Found]. Choose a point on the ground within 60 ft. that you can see. All enemies within 10-foot square of this point must succeed on a Strength saving throw with DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + wisdom modifier or become restrained by the vines. A creature restrained by the vines can use its action to make a Strength check against this same DC. On a success, it frees itself. The vines require your concentration to maintain. The vines last for 1 minute or until your concentration ends (as if you were concentrating on a spell).
Warped Blossom.
As an action, you crush this blossom in your fist and whisper to an inanimate object consisting of mostly wood or other plant material within 30 ft., convincing it to change shape, create a hole, or another alteration. You can make a single alteration, consisting of no more than a 5 ft. cube worth of the object’s plant material. For example, this blossom’s effect allows you to warp a chair, making it break when someone sits down; to repair a large hole in an oak door; or to transform a wooden shield, making it unusable.
Nature’s Armory
You know the thornskin cantrip. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell (choose when you gain this lineage).
Plant Nature
Your plant nature offers the following benefits:
• You have resistance to poison and radiant damage.
•If you spend at least 1 hour under bright, natural sunlight or 4 hours under moonlight in a day, you don’t need to eat.
• You don’t need to sleep. Instead, you meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious for 4 hours a day. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep
Verdant Empath
Verdant Empath. When your skin makes direct contact with living plants (such as touching a flower or leaf), you are able to telepathically understand and communicate simple ideas with it.