Homebrew Dryad Species Details

Treebound

Powerful fey will sometimes bind lesser fey spirits to trees, transforming them into dryads. This is sometimes done as a punishment when the fey spirit falls in love with a mortal and that love is forbidden.

A dryad can emerge from the tree and travel the lands around it, but the tree remains her home and roots her to the world. As long as the tree remains healthy and unharmed, the dryad stays forever youthful and alluring. If the tree is harmed, she suffers. If the tree is ever destroyed, the dryad descends into madness.

Reclusive Fey

Dryads act as guardians of their woodland demesnes. Shy and reclusive, they watch interlopers from the trees. A dryad struck by the beauty of a stranger might investigate more closely, perhaps even try to lure the individual away to be charmed.

Dryads work with other sylvan creatures to defend their forests. Unicorns, treants, and satyrs live alongside them, in addition to druids that share the dryads’ devotion to the woods they call home.

Woodland Magic

Dryads can speak with plants and animals. They can teleport from one tree to another, luring interlopers away from their groves. If pressed, a dryad can beguile humanoids with her enchantments, turning enemies into friends. They also know a handful of useful spells.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase Charisma by 2 and increase a different score by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Sylvan. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Your creature type is fey,

Dryad Traits

As a Dryad, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Size

A dryad stands at about the same height as many humans, ranging anywhere from 5 feet in height to just over 6 feet. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Innate Spellcasting

You know the druidcraft cantrip. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast entangle with this trait. Once you cast it, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the barkskin spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Magic Resistance

You have advantage on saving throws against spells.

Tree Stride

Once per day, you can use 10 feet of your movement to step magically into one living tree within your reach and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be Large or bigger. You regain the ability to do this when you finish a long rest

Speak with Beasts and Plants

You can speak with beasts and plants as if you shared a language with them.