Monster Class - Treant

This animated tree’s bark is knotted into vaguely humanoid features, with branches for arms and roots for legs.

Treants are guardians of the forest and speakers for the trees. As long-lived as the forests themselves, and seeing themselves as parents and shepherds rather than gardeners, treants are slow and methodical in most things but terrifying when forced to fight in defense of their flock. A treant’s leaves are deep green in the spring and summer. In the fall and winter the leaves change to yellow, orange, or red, but they rarely fall out. A treant’s legs fit together when closed to look like the trunk of a tree, and a motionless treant is nearly indistinguishable from a tree.

A treant begins as a sapling that stands around 3 feet tall, but can top out at 30 feet tall, with a “trunk” about 2 feet in diameter. It can weigh about 4,500 pounds.

Alignment: Treants are usually neutral good. They typically go out of way to care for the forests and the creatures that make their homes there. The are a force of nature, and care little for laws and rules of civilised nations; however they do understand that nature itself possesses an order, and that beings must find their place within it.

#### Treant Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence: Treants are tremendously strong and often very quick-witted.

Small: Treant are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks

Plant: Treants are plants, gaining the following traits as a result:

Treants are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning.

Treants breathe and eat, but do not sleep.

Normal Speed: Treants have a base speed of 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision (Ex): A treant can see twice as far as a human in conditions of dim light.

Bark (Ex): A treant has thick bark, granting it a +2 natural armor bonus to its AC.

Natural Camouflage (Ex): Treants gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while in forests or woodland areas

Vulnerability to Fire (Ex): Treants take half again as much damage (+50%) from fire, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed or if the save is a success or failure.

• Languages: Treants begin play speaking Common and Treant. Treants with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Draconic, Elven, Dwarven, Giant, Gnome, Halfling, and Sylvan.

Hit Die: d8.

Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

#### CLASS SKILLS

The treant’s class skills are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Survival (Wis).

Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

#### CLASS FEATURES

All the following are class features of the treant monster class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A treant is proficient with all natural and simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield.

Ability Score Increases: As a treant gains levels, its ability scores increase or decrease as noted on Table: Treant. These increases stack and are gained as if through level advancement.

Slam (Ex): At 1st level, a treant gains 2 slam attacks. These are primary attacks that deal 1d4 points of damage plus the treant’s Strength modifier. When the treant grows to Large size at 4th level, the damage die of these slams increases to 1d6. At 8th level, the damage die of its slams increases to 1d8, and when the treant grows to Huge size at 12th level, it increases to 2d6.

Natural Armor (Ex): A treant’s wooden body is constantly growing and strengthening. At 2nd level and every two levels thereafter, a treant’s natural armor bonus to its AC increases by +2 (to a maximum of +14 at 12th level).

Table: Treant

Base Attack Fort Reflex Will Level Bonus Save save Save

Rock Throwing (Ex): Starting at at 2nd level, a treant becomes an accomplished rock thrower, gaining proficiency in and a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown rocks. It can hurl rocks up to two categories smaller than its size; for example, a Large treant can hurl Small rocks. A “rock” is any large, bulky, and relatively regularly shaped object made of any material with a hardness of at least 5. The treant can hurl a rock up to five range increments. Damage from a thrown rock is equal to the treant’s base slam damage plus 1–1/2 its Strength bonus.

At 2nd level, the treant’s thrown rocks have a range increment of 40 feet. This increases to 70 feet at 4th level, 100 feet at 6th level, 130 feet at 8th level, 160 feet at 10th level, and 180 feet at 12th level.

Tree Speech (Ex): At 3rd level, a treant gains the ability to converse with plants as if under the effect of a constant speak with plants spell. Most plants greet them with an attitude of friendly or helpful.

Large Size: At 8th level, a treant grows to Large size. Its ability scores do not change, although it gains the normal benefits and penalties for being a Large creature. The treant’s space and reach both increase to 10 feet and it gains a –1 size modifier to attacks and armor class, a +1 special size modifier to its CMB and CMD, a –2 penalty to Fly checks, and a –4 penalty to Stealth checks, as normal. Its slam attacks now deal 1d6 points of damage.

Damage Reduction (Ex): At 5th level, a treant gains damage reduction 5/slashing. At 10th level, this damage reduction increases to 10/slashing.

In addition, the treant’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Trample (Ex): At 6th level, a treant moves at its own pace, trampling anything in its path as it sees fit. As a full-round action, a treant can attempt to overrun any creature that is at least one size category smaller than itself. This works just like the overrun combat maneuver, but the treant does not need to make a check; it merely has to move over opponents in its path. Targets of a trample take an amount of damage equal to the trampling treant’s base slam damage plus 1–1/2 its Strength bonus.

Targets of a trample can make an attack of opportunity, although they take a –4 penalty on their attack rolls. Alternatively, they can forgo the attack of opportunity and attempt to avoid the treant, taking half damage if they succeed at a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 the treant’s Hit Dice + the treant’s Strength modifier). A trampling treant can only deal trampling damage to each target once per round, no matter how many times its movement takes it over a creature.

Natural Camouflage (Ex): At 7th level, a treant’s racial bonus on Stealth checks in forests or woodland areas increases to +8. At 10th level, it increases to +16.

Double Damage Against Objects (Ex): Starting at 7th level, whenever a treant that makes a full attack against an object or structure, it deals double damage.

Huge Size: At 12th level, a treant grows to Huge size. Its ability scores do not change, although it gains the normal benefits and penalties for being a Huge creature. The treant space and reach both increase to 15 feet and it gains a –2 size modifier to attacks and armor class, a +2 special size modifier to its CMB and CMD, a –4 penalty to Fly checks, and a –8 penalty to Stealth checks, as normal. Its slam attacks now deal 2d6 points of damage.

These bonuses and penalties replace those gained when the treant grew to Large size.

Animate Trees (Sp): At 12th level, a treant gains the ability to call the forest to its aid. As a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the treant can animate up to two trees within 180 feet of it. It takes 1 full round for a tree to uproot itself, after which it moves at a speed of 10 feet and fights as a treant (although it has only one slam attack and lacks the treant’s animation and rock throwing abilities), gaining the treant’s vulnerability to fire.