Homebrew Dryad Species Details

Travelers entering a forest might catch a glimpse of a feminine form flitting through the trees. Warm laughter hangs on the air, drawing those who hear it deeper into the emerald shadows. Dryads act as guardians of their woodland residence. 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 their devotion to the woods they call home.

 

You are accustomed to being in charge. Like nymphs, you are accomplished at using your beauty and power to sway mortals to your will. However, as a dryad, you have grown tired of using your powers for frivolous games, and are motivated now by a desire to protect and reshape your world. Although others might disregard your desires or dismiss them out of hand, you are used to being heeded. As such, those who ignore your wisdom or your advice also rouse your wrath. You are a fey creature wise and wild, a granddaughter of the skies and the seasons, and your concerns are more important than the trivial whims of mortals.

 

You are a stranger in the world. You never expected the world beyond your forest home to be so vast and wide. Everywhere you look, mortals have built up civilizations of wood and stone as monumental works of architecture. The ways of the other races are foreign to you, and often seem backward. As a result, the first lesson you learn is that you have so much more to learn. Though your fey nature leads you to be impetuous, you know you must compromise if you are to accomplish your goals. If you are to succeed, you will need to adjust to the strange customs and peoples of this place, enlisting their aid to your cause and goals.

Dryad Traits

As a dryad, you have the following racial traits.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

Tree Stride

Once on your turn, you can use 20 feet of your movement to step magically into one living tree within your reach and emerge from a second living tree within 50 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be large or bigger.

Fey Charm

When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Speech of Beast and Leaf

You have the ability to communicate in a limited manner with Beasts, Plants, and vegetation. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return. You have advantage on all Charisma checks to influence them.

Creature Type

You are a Fey.

Size

You are Medium.

You stand between 5 and 6 feet tall, and weigh between 120 and 180 pounds. 

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Dryad Magic

You know the druidcraft cantrip.

Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the entangle spell with this trait. Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the barkskin spell with this trait. Once you cast entangle or barkskin with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast either of those spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait.