Homebrew Ent Species Details

When walking through the forest, have you ever had the feeling that the trees might be watching you? Or maybe you heard something walking through the dark and assumed it must be a very large animal. These occurrences can be attributed to the ents.

Through the ages, the ents have mostly sat peacefully in their chosen habitat. They are more than happy to spend their days soaking up the sun or helping out a smaller animal that may be stuck or lost. Though some have sat peacefully almost to the point of indolence, the ents protect their chosen area with a fiery vigour. They have been known to sweep away a wayward traveller or lumberjack who strayed into the area around them and abused the animals or plants around them. The druids, however, will sometimes regard them as guardians or forest gods.

Ents vary widely in personal traits (height, heft, colouring, even the number of digits), having come to resemble somewhat the specific types of trees that they shepherded. Ents share some of the strengths and weaknesses of trees. Their skin is extraordinarily tough, and very much like wood; they can erode stone extremely rapidly, in the manner of tree roots, but they are vulnerable to fire. Ents are an extremely patient and cautious race, with a sense of time more suited to trees than to short-lived mortals.

 The Sleeping Tree Awakens

A tree destined to become an ent meditates through a long cycle of seasons, living normally for decades or centuries before realizing its potential. Trees that awaken do so only under special circumstances and in places steeped with nature’s magic. Other ents and powerful druids can sense when a tree has the spark of potential, and they protect such trees in secret groves as they draw near the moment of their awakening. During the long process of awakening, a tree acquires face-like features in its bark, a division of the lower trunk into legs, and long branches bending downward to serve as its arms. When it is ready, the ent pulls its legs free from the clutching earth and joins its fellows in protecting its woodland home.

Legendary Guardians

After an ent awakens, it continues to grow exactly as it did when it was a tree. Ents created from the mightiest trees can reach great sizes while developing an innate magical power over plants and animals. Such ents can animate plants, using them to ensnare and trap intruders. They can call wild creatures to aid them or carry messages across great distances.

Society

Ents are usually a solitary race but have been known to congregate in specific areas to take advantage of a particularly sunny or nutrient-rich area.

Ent Traits

Though their appearance may vary significantly, ents tend to share the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution and Wisdom scores both increase by 1

Age

Ents age slower and live longer than normal trees, with a maximum age not having been determined by even the elves. The only true way to know how old one is is to split it open and count the rings in its body. An adventuring ent will be at least 50, the time before this required for the ent to fully awaken.

Alignment

Ents tend toward neutral good, though this may differ depending on their experiences and environment, an evil ent, however, is unheard of.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Druidic and Sylvan

Size

Ents stand between 7 and 12 feet tall. Their massive bodies weigh between 500 and 1200 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Plant

Your creature type is plant, rather than humanoid.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Natural Armour

You have thick bark for skin, and an unusual shape, which prevents you from wearing any armour, however, your bark grants you an AC of 10 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. Your thick bark also confers resistance to bludgeoning damage. You still gain the normal benefit from using shields as long as you are proficient.

Woodland Sight

When in a woodland, you are attuned to the nature within, granting you blindsight, which allows you to perceive your surroundings without relying on sight, within 60 feet.

A Plant's Life

You do not need to eat or drink, but instead, photosynthesise during the day; going multiple days without access to natural light, however, causes you to suffer a level of exhaustion in the same way as other races when they go without food.

During a long rest, you do not sleep but spend 8 hours rooted into the ground in an inactive, motionless state to gather nutrients and water from the soil. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.

As with all other plants, you are vulnerable to fire damage.

Speech of Beast and Leaf

Ents can communicate with beasts and plants as if they shared a language.

Nature's Own

As part of nature yourself you gain proficiency in the nature skill, and your connection to the spirits of nature grants you the druidcraft cantrip.

As you grow, you unlock further natural power; starting at 7th level, you are now able to cast awaken on a plant once per dawn.