Dryad

Dryad

Species	faerie
No. Appearing	1–6
Behaviour	empath
Range	woodland
Size	5 ft. tall
Weight	115 lbs.
Intelligence	14
Armour Class	9
Hit Dice	2
Action Points	6
Max. Stride	8
THAC0	20
Hp/Die	d6
Attack Forms	1: dagger
Damage	1–4 (dagger)
Special Attacks	anti-magic detection, charm, dimension door, magic resistance

Dryads have been mythologised and known for thousands of years, especially in Hellenic Greece. According to myth, dryads are associated with the god Dionysius, the god of wine, ecstasy and the wild. Dryads are born from the trees themselves as nymphs or spirits, who remain closely linked ot the life and well-being of the oak trees that birthed them, and which they inhabit. If a tree is harmed or destroyed, it's believed that the corresponding dryad may suffer or even die. All dryads are female in form.

Behaviour

A dryad never strays more than 360 yards from her birth tree, which they always seek to protect from persons who enter the forest. Due to their extraordinary beauty — they have a charisma of 16 or greater — its possible for a dryad to beguile those who come within the dryad's small vicinity. Yet they are shy and non-aggressive, and wish to hurt no one.

They prefer to simply meld into their tree and let passersby think the tree is no different than hundreds of others nearby. Still, now and then a woodcutter chooses the dryad's tree to cut down — and is thereafter never heard from again.

Knowledge

Dryads are born some 30 to 40 years after the birth of the oak tree, and through their intervention will keep the tree alive for as much as a thousand years. Though a dryad spends much of her time alone, she's able to recognise when some wise creature or being is nearby, who can be approached and spoken with sagaciously. This allows the outsider to learn some of the dryad's wisdom, while she learns from theirs. Many great intellectuals throughout history, particularly those responsible for the creation of magical spells and items, have spent time in a forest speaking one-on-one with a dryad. Such persons have nothing to fear, as she has no reason to bewitch them.

Advantages

Charm. The dryad's very powerful charm ability can be used three times per day, though each charming can only be effected against one individual. The first charm can be cast while the druid is hidden inside a tree; her voice, however, can be heard in the head of the charmed person, so he or she will know what's happening at once. A saving throw is permitted, and will relieve the subject from the dwoemer ... but this won't provide immunity against the dryad attempting the charm again. Commonly, then, wise persons hastily depart, knowing they've encountered a dangerously magical being.

The dryad must reveal herself if she wishes to attempt to charm the same person a second time. She does this only in cases of great need. She will be seen emerging from a tree some 25-30 yards distant — the range of her charm — whereupon, the defending creature will again hear her voice in his head. Initiative may be rolled, but she will be +3, since she's chosen an optimal moment to come into view. This charm is stronger, so that the save is accomplished this second time with a penalty of -2. If this save is also successful, the dryad should only attempt the charm a third time if she is truly desperate. She knows that there are magical spells that exist that can identify her home tree, and will consider the possibility of this person succeeding in doing so.

A successful charm causes the recipient to seek out a place within the dryad's vicinity where there is deep, thick grass — and there go to sleep. The dryad will probe the recipient's mind and if she determines that there's no threat, she allows the sleeper to awake and go on their way, having forgotten there was a dryad at all. But if the recipient is full of malevolence and evil, then he or she will be allowed to sleep until they die where they lie, their body needful of water, within three days.

When encountering a party, it's likely she'll let them just walk by. If she charms, however, she'll always select three different persons, as this means not revealing herself. Most persons, seeing their friends suddenly falling asleep, with one or more succeeding at a save and having heard the voice, and knowing it's a magical being, will collect their companions and take flight.

Dimension door. A druid has the ability to transfer herself between any oak tree in the forest that's at least 40 years old, from one to the next, including her own home tree. The dimension door is instantaneous, but she can take no other action during the round. This is a natural ability, not a spell, but all her action points (AP) are needed. She can turn and hurl herself into a tree at will, which takes 1 AP, or run straight through a tree and out the other side.

Anti-magic detection. The dryad herself emits no magic, nor does her home tree, so it is immune to attempts to detect magic spells. Charm can be detected within her victim, but this won't reveal the location of the dryad. The dryad is in no way malevolent, and therefore cannot be found by detecting it. Likewise, she can't be found through attempts to detect life, invisibility or illusion — as she's neither of these last two, and her "life" is impossible to separate from the surrounding forest.

She can, however, be found through various forms of divination. Locate object won't succeed, but the 4th level spell divination might, and a thorough search using augury would ultimately ferret her out.

Magic resistance. A dryad's magic resistance is 50%. This means that she's immune to any spell cast by a character of less than 3rd level.

See Bestiary