Buy me a coffeeThe Witch Tree: A Sinister Sentinel of the Forest
“Beware the Witch Tree: The Beautiful Willow That Feasts on Flesh and Bewitches Your Soul!”
At first glance, the Witch Tree is an eerily beautiful willow, its long, delicate fronds swaying like a woman’s hair in the wind. Upon closer inspection, its humanoid features become disturbingly clear: gnarled branches form arms, with twig-like fingers extending menacingly. The tree’s “hair” is a cascade of fine willow fronds, masking a shadowy visage with dark, bark-like skin resembling petrified flesh. Its lower trunk tapers into twisted, root-like legs, half-buried in the forest floor, giving it the semblance of a living, breathing entity melded with the earth.
Behavior:
Its an ambush predator and master manipulator. By remaining perfectly still, it blends seamlessly with its surroundings, indistinguishable from ordinary willows. Patient and cunning, it employs charm and hexes to lure unsuspecting prey into its grasp. Though capable of brutal physical violence with its tendrils, it prefers to manipulate and feed without a struggle.
Habitat:
Found in temperate forests, Witch Trees thrive near secluded glades, streams, or groves where they can dominate an area. Their favored environments are often eerie and quiet, devoid of animal life, as creatures instinctively avoid their ominous presence. Groves of Witch Trees are especially dangerous, as their combined powers can devastate entire communities.
Modus Operandi:
A Witch Tree lies in wait until a potential victim ventures within range. Using its spell-like abilities, it casts charm person or dominate person to lure prey closer. Once the victim is entranced, the tree ensnares them with its tendrils, crushing and immobilizing them while it drains their life. If confronted by groups, it seeks to divide and disorient using its magic before resorting to its immense strength. Groves of Witch Trees often work in tandem, coordinating attacks to eliminate threats and maximize their harvest.
Motivation:
The Witch Tree’s hunger drives its every action, as it craves living flesh—especially that of gnomes and orcs. However, its motivations extend beyond mere sustenance; it seems to relish the fear and despair of its victims, suggesting a malicious intelligence. The origins of this cruelty are unknown, though some sages speculate that it stems from the dark magic that birthed the creature, leaving it cursed to perpetuate suffering.
Witch Tree 5e
Witch Tree Pathfinder
Witch Tree
Huge Plant, Chaotic Evil
Armor Class: 18 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points: 230 (20d12 + 100)
Speed: 20 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 (+7) | 10 (+0) | 20 (+5) | 15 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 20 (+5) |
Saving Throws: Strength +11, Constitution +9, Wisdom +8, Charisma +9
Skills: Perception +8, Deception +9, Insight +8, Persuasion +9
Damage Resistances: Fire, Lightning; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Poisoned, Prone
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), Passive Perception 18
Languages: Common, Sylvan, Abyssal
Challenge: 14 (11,500 XP)
Traits
False Appearance. While motionless, the Witch Tree is indistinguishable from a massive willow tree.
Rooted Form. The Witch Tree is immune to being knocked prone. While rooted, its movement speed is reduced to 0, but its reach increases by 10 feet. It can uproot itself as a bonus action and re-root itself as an action.
Charming Aura. At the start of each of its turns, creatures of its choice within 30 feet that can see it must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed for 1 minute. While charmed, a creature views the Witch Tree as a trusted protector and won’t attack it. A charmed creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turns, ending the effect on a success. Once a creature successfully saves, it is immune to the Witch Tree’s Charming Aura for 24 hours.
Grasping Ground. The ground within 20 feet of the Witch Tree is difficult terrain for other creatures. Creatures that start their turn in this area must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or have their speed reduced to 0 until the start of their next turn.
Innate Spellcasting. The Witch Tree’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). It requires no material components to cast its spells.
- At will: Entangle, Thaumaturgy
- 3/day each: Charm Person, Hold Person
- 2/day each: Dominate Person, Blight
- 1/day each: Wall of Thorns, Control Weather
Actions
Multiattack. It makes three attacks: one with Vine Lash and two with Grasping Roots.
Vine Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target.
Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be pulled 10 feet closer to the Witch Tree.
Grasping Roots. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target.
Hit: 15 (2d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 17). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained.
Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target grappled by the Witch Tree.
Hit: 25 (4d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage, and the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of its next turn.
Legendary Actions
The Witch Tree can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature’s turn.
- Entangling Vines. Vines erupt in a 20-foot radius centered on a point the Witch Tree can see within 60 feet. Each creature in the area must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until the end of the Witch Tree’s next turn.
- Sap Life. The Witch Tree drains life from a restrained or charmed creature within 30 feet. The creature must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success. The Witch Tree regains hit points equal to the damage dealt.
- Writhing Roots (Costs 2 Actions). The Witch Tree slams its roots into the ground, causing a tremor in a 30-foot radius. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage and fall prone.
Tactics
The Witch Tree is a cunning and strategic combatant, leveraging its environment and abilities to ensnare and control its foes.
- Ambush Predator: It uses its False Appearance to blend into the forest, often luring prey close with its Charming Aura or the promise of shelter.
- Battlefield Control: It uses Wall of Thorns and Entangling Vines to shape the battlefield, trapping enemies in tight spaces while keeping them within range of its powerful melee attacks.
- Divide and Conquer: The Witch Tree charms or dominates weaker-willed opponents, forcing them to fight their allies, while grappling stronger foes to neutralize them.
- Sustain and Recover: The Witch Tree uses Sap Life to heal itself, prioritizing restrained or charmed targets to maximize its survivability.
A witch tree combines the features of a tall, beautiful woman and a willow tree looking somewhat like a female willow treant. Her hair and fingers form the fronds of the willow, her arms and parts of her hair, the branches. From a distance, the witch tree is almost indistinguishable from a normal willow tree. Its skin is thick and dark, resembling the bark of a tree. Its legs join together to form the roots.
Witch trees gain nutrients from the soil where they take root, but have a particular fondness for living flesh, particularly that of Gnomes and orcs. As such, groves of these creatures can be found lairing near such settlements.
The origin of the witch tree is clouded; on one side, sages argue that the witch tree is a magical creation created by an insane spellcaster to do his personal bidding. On the other side, sages argue that the witch tree resulted from miscast magic or is the result of “magical leakage” perhaps created when a spellcaster attempting to create a magical wand or staff or other such item failed in his endeavors and cast aside the item, thereby allowing what magic it held to “leak” out into the surrounding soil. Regardless of the origin, the creature has multiplied significantly in numbers and shows no signs of becoming extinct anytime soon.
Some adventurers tell tales of a witch tree grove that lured the entire population of a small village to its death through magical charms and hexes. Such stories are not without merit, and most intrepid adventurers warn others of their kind when a witch tree grove has been discovered. When a discovery is made, hunters, druids, and warriors move against the witch tree in an effort to remove the threat before villagers and livestock begin disappearing.
| Witch Tree CR 11 |
| XP 12,800 CE Huge plant Init +3; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +19 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 21, touch 7, flat-footed 21 (-1 Dexterity, +14 natural, -2 size) hp 115 (11d8+66) Fort +13, Ref +4, Will +6 DR 10/magic; Immune plant traits; Resist electricity 10, fire 10; SR 22 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 20 ft. Melee 4 tendrils +16 (2d6+9 plus grab) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks constrict (2d6+9) Spell-like Abilities (CL 16th): 5/day–charm person (DC 18) 2/day–dominate person (DC 19) |
| TACTICS |
| A witch tree sits unmoving until a potential target moves within range. It first attacks using its spell-like abilities, attempting to charm or control its would-be assailants. Those that resist are attacked physically by the witch tree. A grabbed opponent is held until it escapes or dies or until the witch tree is killed. |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 28, Dexterity 9, Constitution 23, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 13, Charisma 18 Base Atk +8; CMB +19; CMD 28 Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (tendril) Skills Bluff +11, Diplomacy +11, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Perception +19, Sense Motive +3, Spellcraft +10 Languages Abyssal, Common, Goblin, Sylvan |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment temperate forests Organization solitary, grove (2-5) Treasure standard |
Section 15: Copyright Notice – Tome of Horrors Complete
Witch Tree from the Tome of Horrors Complete, Copyright 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author Scott Greene.