It might still be August, but tomorrow is September and for my family, that means trips to the apple orchards.
Apple Tree Man
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| Apple Tree Man © Andy Paciorek |
Large Fae
Frequency: Very Rare (Unique per orchard)
Number Appearing: 0 (1)
Alignment: Neutral (Neutral Good)
Movement: 60' (20') [6"]
Armor Class: 3 [16] (should always sum to 19)
Hit Dice: 10d8+10* (55 hp)
Attacks: 2 limbs (bash)
Damage: 1d8+1, 1d8+1
Special: Double damage from fire and cold iron, immune to charm, hold and sleep spells. Awaken trees.
Size: Large
Save: Monster 11
Morale: 11
Treasure Hoard Class: See Below
XP: 2,400
Similar to treants, the Apple Tree Man is an ancient fae that lives in orchards. They are often the oldest apple tree in the orchard. It is not completely clear if these creatures are fae that have become tree-like or a tree that has awakened. It could even be that the spirit of the apple tree man is present in the oldest tree in the orchard and he passes from orchard to orchard making him effectively immortal and unique.
The Apple Tree Man will not attack unless provoked or if his orchard is in peril.
The Epimēlides (q.v), dryads of apple trees, are considered to be his daughters and granddaughters. He can summon 2 to 8 (2d4) Epimēlides to aid him in protecting the orchards. Additionally, he can "awaken" 1-4 (1d4) normal apple trees to fight as 6HD Treants to fight.
If a party though respects the orchard, does not harm any trees, and only eats the apples they need, the Apple Tree Man will be obliged to show them the quickest path out of the orchard.
If they offer him hard apple cider, especially cider made for Apple Wassailing, then the Apple Tree Man will tell the party where they can find buried gold in the orchard. Usually 1d6x100 gp worth.
If a witch is present then the Apple Tree Man will hide their tracks and make the party undetectable by foes. A witch may also be gifted a special apple wand that will cast one 1st level spell just once. The wand can be used later for other magics if desired.
The Apple Tree Man will appear as a treant with apples growing from his hair, an old man or some combination of the two.
"The Apple Tree Man will appear as a treat with apples growing from his hair"
ReplyDeleteRunning into him is a treat for most folks, but surely that's meant to be "treant" there, right?
Love the artwork, and a GM could have some real fun with traditions around orchard wassails and the party getting involved to keep some baddy from ruining the ritual - or maybe competing villages are each trying to mess things up for their neighbors and the PCs get can choose sides or try to play both?
Could also introduce some neat puzzle-solving for the PCs by using a puzzle cup for the wassail and see if they can figure out the trick. Bonus points if you actually have one to use as a prop.
Yeah auto-correct has issues with a lot of monster names.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a Winter Solistice themed adventure to me!