Yellow Musk Creeper

Yellow Musk Creeper Creature2

N Medium Mindless Plant

Senses Perception +4; tremorsense (imprecise) 30 feet

Skills Stealth +6

Str +3, Dex +2, Con +4, Int -5, Wis +0, Cha -1

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AC 18; Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +4

HP 34; Immunities mental; Weaknesses fire 5

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Speed 5 feet

Melee [one-action] tendril +9 (reach 10 feet), Damage 1d10+3 piercing

Bore into Brain [three-actions] (manipulate, mental) The creeper bores dozens of tendrils into the brain of a Small, Medium, or Large humanoid creature that’s unconscious, willing, or fascinated by Spray Pollen, and within reach of the creeper’s tendrils. The creature must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save or become stupefied 1 (stupefied 2 on a critical failure). Subsequent failed saves against Bore into Brain increase the stupefied value. If the creature reaches stupefied 5, it is turned into a yellow musk thrall (see below). Boring into a creature’s brain doesn’t end fascination caused by Spray Pollen.

Spray Pollen [two-actions] (mental, poison) The yellow musk creeper blasts yellow pollen in either a 30-foot line or a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the emanation must attempt a DC 20 Will save. Once a creature succeeds at any save against Spray Pollen, it becomes temporarily immune for 24 hours.

Success The creature is unaffected.

Failure The creature is fascinated. For as long as it is fascinated, it must spend each of its actions to move closer to the yellow musk creeper as expediently as possible, while avoiding obvious dangers. If the creature is adjacent to the yellow musk creeper, it stays still and doesn’t act.

Critical Failure As failure, but the condition doesn’t end automatically. The creature can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns. On a success, the fascinated condition and other effects end.

About

Made up of thick, green vines with numerous yellow flowers, the yellow musk creeper grows at places where the ground is enriched with spilled blood and corpses, like battlefields and graveyards. An ideal environment for the yellow musk creeper isn’t inhabited, but draws occasional humanoid visitors the plant can transform into thralls. The yellow musk creeper enraptures creatures with its bright yellow pollen to bring them close. It then physically alters their brains with its tendrils, implanting a seed in each to turn the creatures into mindless thralls. The yellow musk creeper might try to take over a sleeping creature, but it lacks the faculties to sneak up on anyone, and is likely to wake victims before it can drag itself close enough.

The plant’s pollen can spread far on the wind but quickly becomes too diffuse to cause harm. Wilderness scouts learn to sniff out the distinctive musky scent of the pollen, which stays potent even in harmless quantities. A sprouting creeper is also easy to detect, since it grows from the rotting, messy corpse of a thrall creature.

Ancient or specially cultivated musk creepers can grow to great size. Their pollen often changes color as they grow, and pollen of different colors can alter the creeper’s thralls in different ways. Some creepers even become intelligent after they’re awakened by primal magic. These few exert far more control over their thralls.

The pollen of a yellow musk creeper can be carefully harvested with a successful DC 20 Crafting check to make an alchemical item.