Homebrew Dzo (REVAR) Species Details

The Dzo are a sapient race of monumental Plant beings known for their tranquil nature, herd-bound life, and sacred metaphysical pods. They are colossal quadrupeds whose bodies are roughly made of living wood and covered in vegetation. Moss, vines, leaves, flowers, bark, roots, and glowing sap grow naturally across their enormous frames.

A Dzo is not a beast, not a treant, not an elephant, and not a giant. A Dzo is a walking ecosystem: ancient, aware, peaceful, and terrifyingly difficult to move once rooted in purpose.

Most Dzo stand around 10 feet tall. They possess two long trunks, massive wooden limbs, spreading roots, and bodies that resemble living cliffs covered in plant life. Dzo naturally travel in herds and are known to spread roots into the land around them, leaving places greener, calmer, and more balanced than they found them.

The Dzo believe the world should equally serve all life. No single species, kingdom, predator, forest, civilization, ruler, or god should claim creation for itself alone. Their highest law is balance: peace between species, harmony between land and people, and unity between creatures who fear one another because they do not understand one another. Most Dzo come from their ancestral lands in the forested mountain ranges of The Wilderness.

Their greatest gift is the metaphysical pod, a glowing magical growth capable of physically transforming willing creatures into other imagined species. In ancient times, Dzo used these pods to foster unity and restore peace between divided creatures. But after one pod was misused by an outcast Treewolf who became the destructive Firewolf, many Dzo were killed, and the surviving herds vanished. Since then, Dzo have treated their pods as sacred, dangerous, and never to be given lightly.

Dzo (REVAR) Traits

Here are your special traits:

Creature Type

You are a living wooden being covered in vegetation, animated by ancient natural magic and spiritual awareness.

Size

Your body occupies a 5-foot-by-5-foot space. Most Dzo are around 10 feet tall, with massive quadrupedal bodies formed from living timber, bark, roots, vines, moss, flowers, and other vegetation.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet. Dzo are tranquil and rarely rush.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Dzo live for eternity unless destroyed by violence, corruption, fire, rot, disease, divine judgment, or unnatural decay.

A Dzo reaches maturity around 400 years old. Before then, a Dzo may already be physically massive, but Dzo society does not consider them truly mature until they understand restraint, peace, balance, and the sacred responsibility of carrying transformation magic.

Ancient Plant Body

You do not need to eat in the normal way. If you spend at least 4 hours in sunlight, moonlight, fertile soil, fresh rain, or natural running water during a day, you gain enough nourishment to sustain yourself.

You still require moisture unless the DM rules that your environment provides enough natural hydration.

Colossal Quadruped

Your body is built like a monumental four-legged living grove. You have two long trunks, massive wooden limbs, spreading roots, bark-covered muscle, and vegetation across your body.

You have Advantage on ability checks and saving throws against being moved against your will or to avoid the Prone condition.

Living Fortress

Your wooden body is naturally armored. Your Armor Class is 14 + Constitution.

However, you can not wear armour.

Starting at character level 5, you can change your size to Large as a Bonus Action if you’re in a big enough space. This transformation lasts for 10 minutes or until you end it (no action required). For that duration, you have Advantage on Strength checks. Once you use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, you regain all uses of this feature when you finish a Long Rest.

Root Sense

You have Tremorsense out to a range of 5ft. As a Bonus Action, you gain Tremorsense with a range of 60 feet for 10 minutes. Once per Long Rest.

Voice of Equal Things

Mastering the subtle expression of fauna and flora grants you an edge in dealing with the threats of the wilderness. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Beasts and Plant creatures, understanding if a creature is hungry, for example. This gives you no specific ability to control such creatures, and you can’t understand or learn detailed information from them.

Step of Balance

You may bend space around a willing creature, moving them safely from one place to another.

As an action, choose one willing creature you can see. You teleport that creature to an unoccupied space you can see within 30 feet of its current location.

The destination must be able to safely hold the creature. You cannot teleport a creature into the air, inside an object, into a wall, into a space too small for it, or into immediate environmental death.

You may use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Metaphysical Pod

As an action, you create one metaphysical pod.

A willing creature may touch or consume the pod while you are also willing. You may also use the pod on yourself.

When the pod is used, the affected creature physically transforms into any creature it can imagine for 10 minutes.

This transformation changes only the creature’s physical appearance and bodily form. The creature keeps all of its normal statistics, including:

Hit points
Armor Class
Ability scores
Saving throws
Skill proficiencies
Senses
Speed
Attacks
Spellcasting
Class features
Racial traits
Feats
Equipment rules

The transformation does not grant new abilities, attacks, movement types, senses, resistances, immunities, vulnerabilities, size benefits, natural weapons, legendary actions, lair actions, spellcasting, or special traits from the imagined creature.

The creature’s equipment can only be used if its new form is physically capable of using it. A form without hands cannot wield a sword, hold a shield, use tools, or manipulate objects normally.

The transformation ends early if the affected creature chooses to end it, falls unconscious, dies, or if the Dzo who created the pod dismisses it as an action.

Dzo (REVAR)