Homebrew Dryad Species Details
I strode through a forest tall,
As above the stars did glow,
By maple trees and bird call,
With my blade and hunting bow,I spied the creature's bramble lair,
Beneath the cawing crow,
There I caught the maiden fair,
Crooning upon willow,And I knew her for a thief,
For her hair was autumn flame,
Her dress sewn of golden leaf,
And my heart was hers to claim,
Dryads are fey creatures who appear as beautiful nymph-like humanoids partially transformed into a plant. They might have leaves for hair, skin covered in flowers, or appendages made out of wood.
All dryads are bound to a tree which they call their home. This connection is the source of the dryads' power and their greatest vulnerability, for they are deeply harmed by the destruction of their trees.
As an adventurer, your dryad character is not necessarily bound to a single tree like most of your kin. You may bond yourself to trees you find in your travels, or perhaps carry around a part of it with you at all times. Any wooded locale you come across may potentially be a home to you, whether it's a sylvan woodland or a park within a city.
Shy But Curious
When a fey spirit is bound to a tree by a powerful fey, it is forever transformed into a dryad. Whispers speak of this as a punishment, if a fey spirit has fallen in forbidden love with a mortal, but every dryad has their own, secret story. The elegant dryads resemble the most dazzling, female elves. Their golden skin is the color of sunlight, with the texture of smooth bark. Their shapely forms are draped in flowing dresses, made of woven leaves or flower petals, as is their cascading hair.
Their warm laughter and captivating song echoes through the woodland realms, rich and enticing, yet rare and elusive. Despite their alluring appearance, they are shy creatures, leading few mortals to ever glimpse one — except for the druids, with whom they share the duty of forest guardianship. Those who do see one do so mostly from afar, stealing a mere glance from the corner of their eye of a lithe beauty flitting between the trees. A lucky, handsome mortal may be fortunate enough to be approached by one, for a dryad is a curious creature, at the peril of the dryad bewitching them with a fey spell.
Woodland Protectors
Dryads are typically neither evil, nor good. They do not harm without cause, and generally prefer to lure their foes away with their mystic, fey magic rather than confront them directly, but neither will they help someone in trouble if it's natural phenomenon harming them. They are the protectors of the natural world, and that world has a dark side. The wolf must eat, the storm must blow. The dryad, for all its grace and endless serenity, understands the savage truth of nature.
They are guardians of forests, and often work alongside satyr, druids and other forest folk. Good and neutral fey are often fond of dryads, with the mischievous pixies finding much in common with them. It is said among the fey folk that a ring of red toadstools marks the place where dryads and pixies come to dance and frolic beneath a full moon, and that any mortal who should stumble upon them will be granted a great boon.
A dryad is bound to a tree, but can roam the area surrounding it. Certain dryad are free to roam as far as their heart desires, but know in the depths of those hearts that the tree is their home, intrinsically linked. If a tree suffers, the dryad suffers. If the tree dies, the dryad goes mad. Only a difficult ritual conducted by a powerful fey, or archdruid, can save the wilting dryad and bind it to a new tree, healing it in the process.
Occasionally these dryads leave their forests, if only temporarily, and with heavy hearts. This is mostly to find some external threat to their woodland home, or else repay a debt to someone who once aided them.
Dryad Names
Dryad names originate from the Sylvan language, and closely resemble Elf Female names. They are usually soft and ethereal sounding. Most dryads only possess one name, although if pressed may refer to their last name as that of the forest they come from.
Dryad Names: Aloria, Casaraine, Ethissia, Lathesae, Nadasei, Satharia, Theralin, Yalasee
Dryad Traits
As a dryad, you have the following racial traits.Age
Dryads are not born, but spring into being fully grown when a tree becomes ripe for them. They mature and age in pace with their tree, living for thousands of years.
Size
Dryads range from just under 6 to over 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Creature Type
Your creature type is fey.
Darkvision
You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Speed
Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Speak With Beasts and Plants
You can communicate with beasts and plants as if you shared a language, and have proficiency with Charisma (Persuasion) ability checks made to influence them.
Bonded Tree
Each Dryad is bound to a single tree, usually a massive and ancient one at the heart of a dense forest. Over the course of a long rest, you can perform a ritual inside a tree to make it your bonded tree.
If you complete a short or long rest within your bonded tree, you do not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe for the next 24 hours. While inside your bonded tree you may complete a long rest in 4 hours. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal. Any poisons or diseases which affect your tree affect you as well.
For each day you do not take a short or long rest within your bonded tree, you gain one level of exhaustion.
Acorn of Far Travel: As a 24 hour ritual, a Dryad can cast this spell on a nut, fruit, or seed from her bonded tree. So long as you keep this item on your person, whenever you sleep you are considered to be inside your bonded tree. This allows you to travel long distances without taking exhaustion, but you still must rest within your bonded tree to gain its additional benefits.
Your tree can communicate empathically with you through this item. Trees rarely have much to say, but it can alert you if it is in danger. While you have this item on your person, as an action you can close your eyes and allow your senses to return to your bonded tree. As long as you keep your eyes closed and concentrate, you can see and hear anything that your tree can.
In an emergency, you can consume this item as an action to be immediately teleported back to your bonded tree, appearing inside its trunk.
Treebound Stride
Once per turn, you can use 10 feet of movement to step into and out of any living tree large enough to fit you in its trunk. You may stay there indefinitely or can appear inside another tree that can fit you up to 60 feet away. While within a tree, you have advantage on Stealth ability checks, appearing as a humanoid pattern on the bark.
Any damage dealt to a tree while you are inside it is also dealt to you. If the tree is cut down, killed, or otherwise destroyed while you are inside it, you are forcibly expelled from it and take 2d10 force damage. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus before taking a long rest.
Barkskin
Your skin is covered in a thin layer of bark. While you are not wearing armor, you have an Unarmored AC equal to 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You may gain the additional benefits of wielding a shield.
Dryad Magic
You know the druidcraft cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast charm person and at 5th level you can cast pass without trace with this trait. Once you cast either of these spells with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have.
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells (choose the ability when you select this race).
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