Ah, the dryad. A fantasy classic. But if we’ve learned anything in this series, it’s that those aren’t immediately prone to a win. In fact, most creatures like that are sitting near the bottom of the list. Let’s see if this one fares any better.
Travelers wandering the forest might catch brief glimpses of these creatures. A warm laugh hanging in the air. A form darting through the trees. Some might misinterpret them as a threat. Others might pursue them out of pure curiosity, delving deeper into the forest.
Sometimes, powerful fey will bind lesser spirits to the trees, transforming them into dryads. This is often done to punish the fey for falling in love with a mortal, should that love be forbidden. However, simply binding them to the tree doesn’t take their freedom away. A dryad is free to wander the world and will remain young and beautiful in doing so, just so long as the tree is healthy. Should it be harmed, so too is the dryad.
Dryads act as the guardians of their woodland domains, shyly watching those who pass through them from the trees with the aid of other woodland creatures (unicorns, treants, and satyrs, along with some druids). Should they be allured by the beauty of a traveler, they might draw closer to try and charm them.
There is a ton you can do with that! You could create a whole little forest culture for the players to explore out of this lore! And better yet, it offers complete freedom on the player’s part! Do they leave the dryad in peace? Fall for their seductive charms and have to find a way to escape? Aide her against more hostile intruders? The sky is the god damn limit here!
Design wise… meh? It’s alright.
She certainly looks like a forest spirit, what with the golden color scheme and the leaf dress. So it at least gets points for getting the point across. But in terms of originality? It kinda leaves a bit to be desired.
Well, at least she’ll make a good fight. Hopefully.
Not that you would fight her; she’s not really meant to be an evil monster for the party to slay. But whether they provoke her or fight alongside her, she’s prepared.
Defense wise, she’s kind of pathetic. Without barkskin, her AC is pitifully low, and even with it, her HP is just as bad. Sure, she’s resistant to magic! But chopping down this tree spirit really wouldn’t be that hard.
None of her spells are much of a threat, either. Sure, she could restrain you with entangle, shore up her defenses with barkskin, and heal herself a bit with goodberry. But all the other ones are more useful for before a fight than during one. For god’s sake, two of her abilities are talking to plants/animals and moving through trees!
But hey! She can charm you! And then proceed to hit you with a club! So… that’s good, I guess?
Lore wise, this is a very strong entry. However, her design and stats leave much to be desired. All in all, she’s just kind of… meh.
With all that in mind, let’s put the Dryad on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Dragon Turtle
- Green Dragons
- Red Dragons
- Blue Dragons
- Black Dragons
- White Dragons
- Silver Dragons
- Couatl
- Behir
- Aboleth
- Bronze Dragons
- Brass Dragons
- Copper Dragons
- Gold Dragons
- Chuul
- Chimera
- Death Knight
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Ankheg
- Shadow Demon
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Cambion
- Animated Armor
- Banshee
- Basilisk
- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Pit Fiend
- Erinyes
- Chain Devil
- Bearded Devil
- Barbed Devil
- Spined Devil
- Ice Devil
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Shadow Dragon
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quasit
- Dryad <———————-
- Planetar
- Imp
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Bullywug
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Solar
- Deva
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
Jonah's Daily Rants 