Homebrew Awakened Bonsai Species Details
“Oh Maple?” Josh asked. "Yea, I made it as a goof one day when I was bored."
“Why?” Gerrion asked.
“Cuz it was funny. You have to see how it skitters around like its got any idea how to work all this wizardry stuff out. Hilarious.”
—Josh Baked, The Tower of Celestial Wizardry
The first awakened Bonsai tree was a goof, by a very bored wizard. While the first bonsai was ensnared to its creator for the first 30 days, the subsequent years were those of patient and meticulous plotting.
Living Steel and Stone
Bonsais are a blend of natural drive and dedicated cultivation. Tree limbs are infused with magical movement, a conscious mind that has no home in their body but rather their entire being. Their appearance is different from the variety of trees and sentience they are born from.
Although they were manufactured, Bonsais are living humanoids. Resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill all provide the same benefits to Bsonsai that they do to other humanoids.
Warforged Personality
The bonsais were created for aesthetic joy and boredom.
The typical bonsai struggles with nihilism. Many embrace a self-aggrandizing air of superiority — such as seeking to control others, creating new undiscovered magics, or exploring a frontier. However, there are Bonsais who delight in exploring their feelings, their freedom, and their relationships with others.
The typical bonsai has a sexless body shape. Some ignore the concept of gender entirely, while others adopt a gender identity.
The more a bonsai develops its individuality, the more likely it is to modify its body.
Quirks
Bonsai often display an odd personality trait or two, given how new they are to the world. The Bonsai Quirks table contains example quirks.
Warforged Quirks
| d8 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You analyze — out loud — the weirdness of every creature you meet. |
| 2 | You often misread emotional cues. |
| 3 | You are eerily quiet for prolonged periods of time as you absorb sunlight, even mid-conversation. |
| 4 | You try to apply patience to every situation, suggesting for seasons to resolve the situation. |
| 5 | You don’t know how to filter your feelings and are prone to dramatic emotional outbursts. |
| 6 | You don’t understand clothing and cannot help but imagine changing is as painful as removing your own bark. |
| 7 | You are obsessed with your appearance and always trim and reposition yourself. |
| 8 | The Sky is the only thing that makes sense to you, and you always feel wrong when you cannot see the sky. |
Bonsai Names
Most Bonsai were assigned plant names based on their original plant matter.
Awakened Bonsai Traits
Your Bonsai character has the following traits. A few of the traits give you a choice; consider how your choice reflects the purpose for which your character was built.Ability Score Increase
Your Constitution score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age
A typical bonsai is between 50 and 200 years old. The maximum bonsai tree lifespan is estimated at 200 years; so far, awakened bonsai trees have shown no signs of deterioration due to age, but lack of care. You are immune to magical aging effects.
Alignment
Most warforged take comfort in order and discipline, tending toward law and neutrality. But some have absorbed the morality, or lack thereof, of the beings with which they served.
Size
Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:
Size modifier = 1d10
Height = 9 inches + your size modifier in inches
Weight in pounds = 0.5 + (0.1 × your size modifier)
Speed
Your base walking speed is 20 feet.
Nature's Resilience
You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits:
- You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
- You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
- You are immune to disease.
- You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Ingrained Rest
When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
Nature's Protection
Your body has natural defensive resistance, which can be enhanced with armor:
- You gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class.
- You can don only armor with which you have proficiency. To don armor other than a shield, you must incorporate it into your body over the course of 1 hour, during which you remain in contact with the armor. To doff armor, you must spend 1 hour removing it. You can rest while donning or doffing armor in this way.
- All armor must be specifically designed for you, as such, it costs twice the usual rate.
Specialized Purpose
You gain one skill proficiency and one tool proficiency of your choice.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
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