Buy me a coffeeDryad
Female tree spirits, Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general.
The nymphs of ash trees were called the Meliai. The ash-tree sisters tended the infant Zeus in Rhea‘s Cretan cave. Rhea gave birth to the Meliai after being made fertile by the blood of castrated Ouranos.
Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For these reasons, dryads and the Greek gods punished any mortals who harmed trees without first propitiating the tree-nymphs.
Exquisitely beautiful tree sprites found deep in secluded woodlands. They sometimes aid adventurers and can prove useful as a source of information. A dryad’s has delicate features and her flesh is like bark or fine wood, and her hair is like a canopy of leaves that changes color with the seasons.
Although they are generally solitary, up to seven dryads have been encountered in one place on rare occasions.
Dryad
This strange, beautiful woman has flesh that seems made of wood and vibrant hair that resembles leaves and blossoms.
Medium fey, neutral
Armor Class 11 (16 with barkskin)
Hit Points 22 (5d8)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 (+0) | 12 (+1) | 11 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 18 (+4) |
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +5
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Elvish, Sylvan
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Special Traits
- Innate Spellcasting: The dryad’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14). The dryad can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: druidcraft
- 3/day each: entangle, goodberry
- 1/day each: barkskin, pass without trace, shillelagh
- Magic Resistance: The dryad has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
- Speak with Beasts and Plants: The dryad can communicate with beasts and plants as if they shared a language.
- Tree Stride: Once on her turn, the dryad can use 10 feet of her movement to step magically into one living tree within her reach and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be Large or bigger.
Actions
- Club: Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit (+6 to hit with shillelagh), reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage, or 8 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage with shillelagh.
- Fey Charm: The dryad targets one humanoid or beast that she can see within 30 feet of her. If the target can see the dryad, it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed. The charmed creature regards the dryad as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the dryad’s control, it takes the dryad’s requests or actions in the most favorable way it can. Each time the dryad or its allies do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until the dryad dies, is on a different plane of existence from the target, or ends the effect as a bonus action. If a target’s saving throw is successful, the target is immune to the dryad’s Fey Charm for the next 24 hours. The dryad can have no more than one humanoid and up to three beasts charmed at a time.
Dryad Queen
Family: Dryad
Large fey, neutral
Armor Class 14 (18 with barkskin)
Hit Points 65 (10d10+ 10)
Speed 40 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 12 (+1) | 15 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 22 (+6) |
Skills Perception +7, Stealth +6
Senses passive Perception 17
Languages Sylvan, Elvish
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Special Traits
- Innate Spellcasting. The dryad queen’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +9 to hit with spell attacks). The dryad queen can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components.
- At will: druidcraft, goodberry
- 3/day: entangle, shillelagh, thorn whip
- 1/day: barkskin, dispel magic, pass without trace, plant growth, spike growth
- Magic Resistance. The dryad queen has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
- Tree Stride. Once on each of its turns, the dryad queen can use 10 feet of its movement to step magically into one living tree within 5 feet of it and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of it that it can see, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be Large or bigger.
- Speak with Beasts and Plants. The dryad queen can communicate with plants and beasts as if they shared a language.
Actions
- Multiattack. The dryad queen makes two attacks with her club.
- Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit (+9 to hit with shillelagh), reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
- Fey Charm. The dryad queen targets one humanoid or beast she can see within 30 ft. of her. If the target can see the dryad queen, it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed. The charmed creature regards the dryad queen as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the dryad queen’s control, it takes the dryad queen’s requests or actions in the most favorable way it can. Each time the dryad queen or its allies do something harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours, or until the dryad queen dies, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or ends the effect as a bonus action. If a target’s saving throw is successful, the target is immune to the dryad queen’s Fey Charm for the next 24 hours. The dryad queen can have no more than one humanoid and up to three beasts charmed at the same time.
About
The dryad queen is the leader of all the dryads. She is a wild fey and not a member of either of the fey courts. This creature was bound to her tree by the Queen of Darkness. Both were at court long ago and the evil queen grew jealous. However, this dryad has decided to make the best of the situation.
Leader of the Dryads. Other dryads look up to their queen as they know what she has been through. Their leader has fallen further than any of them, yet she holds her head high.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Monsters of Feyland A Collection Of Monsters For 5th Edition © 2018 Cawood Publishing, Author Andrew Cawood
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Monsters of Feyland A Collection Of Monsters For 5th Edition © 2018 Cawood Publishing, Author Andrew Cawood
Dryad
| Dryad | |
| Size/Type | Medium fey |
| Hit Dice | 4d6 (14 hp) |
| Initiative | +4 |
| Speed | 30 ft. (6 squares) |
| Armor Class | 17 (+4 Dexterity, +3 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 13 |
| Base Attack/Grapple | +2/+2 |
| Attack | Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19-20) or masterwork longbow +7 ranged (1d8/×3) |
| Full Attack | Dagger +6 melee (1d4/19-20) or masterwork longbow +7 ranged (1d8/×3) |
| Space/Reach | 5 ft./5ft. |
| Special Attacks | Spell-like abilities |
| Special Qualities | Damage reduction 5/cold iron, tree dependent, wild empathy |
| Saves | Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +6 |
| Abilities | Strength 10, Dexterity 19, Constitution 11, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15, Charisma 18 |
| Skills | Escape Artist +11, Handle Animal +11, Hide +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Listen +9, Move Silently +11, Ride +6, Spot +9, Survival +9, Rope Use+4 (+6 with bindings) |
| Feats | GreatFortitude, Weapon Finesse |
| Environment | Temperate forests |
| Organization | Solitary or grove (4-7) |
| Challenge Rating | 3 |
| Treasure | Standard |
| Alignment | Usually chaotic good |
| Advancement | By character class |
| Level Adjustment | – |
Combat
Shy, intelligent, and resolute, dryads are as elusive as they are alluringthey avoid physical combat and are rarely seen unless they wish to be. If threatened, or in need of an ally, a dryad uses Charm Person or suggestion, attempting to gain control of the attacker(s) who could help the most against the rest. Any attack on her tree, however, provokes the dryad into a frenzied defense.
Spell-Like Abilities
- At will- entangle (DC 13), speak with plants, tree shape;
- 3/day- charm person (DC 13), deep slumber (DC 15), tree stride;
- 1/day-suggestion (DC 15). Caster level 6th.
- The save DCs are Wisdom-based.
Tree Dependent (Su) Each dryad is mystically bound to a single, enormous oak tree and must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Any who do become ill and die within 4d6 hours. A dryad’s oak does not radiate magic.
Wild Empathy (Ex) This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the dryad has a +6 racial bonus on the check.