Homebrew Balanced 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.

Balanced Dryad Traits

Dryads have the following traits as a result of their fey heritage.

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age

Dryads have life spans just as long as the eldest trees, living to be hundreds or even thousands of years old.

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 base walking speed is 30 feet.

Fey

Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Darkvision

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.

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 and other magical effects.

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.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Sylvan.