Homebrew Awakened Shrub Species Details

An awakened shrub is an ordinary shrub given sentience and mobility by the awaken spell or similar magic. These creatures can move and talk, but they cannot reproduce nor can they have awakened children, since they are the product of magic.

Sentient Plants

Awakened Shrubs may look like normal plants at first, but the longer you look at them, the more you realise they in fact are not normal. They might hold the appearance of leafless, gnarled wood or they could look like a plentiful bush, full of life and fruits. Their "limbs" are in fact roots and branches that intertwine to form hands and feet, and they could have any number of those limbs. Their leaves might be big and green, or they could have pine needles, they might even be fruit bearer bushes. One thing is for sure, they definitely look like plants.

Nomadic Observers

Many awakened shrubs  feel like they belong nowhere and go through much of their life as observers while taking in the actions of others. Their simple minds analyze every behavior of other races as well as the forces of nature, habits of animals, and the like. These observations teach awakened bushes about the world they live in. When awakened shrubs interact with others, they use behaviors and phrases they learned by watching others. Awakened shrubs abandoned by their creator and raised by wolves act like wolves. An awakened bush raised in a dockside tavern cusses like a sailor, and an awakened bush raised in a noble household has manners better than any royalty.

Awakened shrubs tend to be on the move, not just because they’re unwelcome or plant-like, but also because they feel a need to observe more of the world. The more they observe, they more they understand. Traveling helps an awakened bush move beyond mimicking behavior and coming into their own. This wanderlust makes adventuring a perfect life for awakened shrubs.

Awakened Shrub Names

Awakened shrubs almost always have plant names as a name. Adult shrubs without a creator sometimes adopt a name themselves, to better reflect their heritage.

Awakened shrub names: Lily, Wood, Greenleaf, Sequoia, Camomille, Tuber, Yam, Branch, Moss, Eucalyptus, Grass, Weeds, Lettuce, Lemon, Berry, Bark, Cotton.

Awakened Shrub Traits

Awakened Shrubs hold certain racial traits because of their heritage as non-sentient plants

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Awakened shrubs grow and mature faster than humans, reaching maturity at age 3, at which point their aging slows. They can live for 70 years, but age might vary depending on the plant species.

Size

Awakened shrubs stand between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh between 20 to 60 pounds. Your size is small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 ft.

Weakness to Fire

You have a weakness to fire.

Piercing Resistance

You are resistant to piercing damage.

False Appearance

While the shrub remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal shrub.

Languages

You can read, speak and write Common and read and speak one language of your choice.