Blackthorn Dryad

Family: Dryad

Medium fiend, neutral evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 85 (10d8+40)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
18 (+4)	15 (+2)	18 (+4)	11 (+0)	12 (+1)	18 (+4)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +4
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +8
Damage Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t silvered Damage Immunities fire, poison Condition Immunities poisoned Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception
Languages Infernal, Sylvan, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness doesn’t impede the blackthorn’s darkvision.
• Innate Spellcasting. The blackthorn’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). 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 blackthorn has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Speak with Beasts and Plants. The blackthorn can communicate with beasts and plants as if they shared a language.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The blackthorn makes two attacks with its thorny vines.
• Thorny Vine. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 14) if the blackthorn isn’t already grappling a creature. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and takes 7 (2d6) piercing damage at the start of each of its turns.
• Animate Vines (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). Up to four vines, bushes, trees, or other living plants the blackthorn can see within 60 feet of it magically sprout razor-edged thorns and animate under the blackthorn’s control, provided that the plants aren’t being worn or carried. Each animated plant is an object with AC 20, 20 hit points, resistance to bludgeoning damage, and immunity to psychic and lightning damage. When the blackthorn uses multiattack on its turn, it can use each animated plant to make one additional thorny vine attack (for a total of up to six attacks). An animated plant can grapple one creature of its own but can’t make attacks while grappling. An animated plant reverts to its inanimate state if reduced to 0 hit points or if the blackthorn is incapacitated or dies.
• Fey Charm. The blackthorn targets one humanoid or beast that she can see within 30 feet of her. If the target can see the blackthorn, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed. The charmed creature regards the blackthorn as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the blackthorn’s control, it takes the blackthorn’s requests or actions in the most favorable way it can. Each time the blackthorn 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 blackthorn 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 blackthorn’s Fey Charm for the next 24 hours. The blackthorn can have no more than one humanoid and up to three beasts charmed at a time.

ABOUT

Blackthorns are the accursed offspring of dryads and those chain devils that corrupt mortals and fey alike with terrible bargains, generally involving cruelly tormenting chosen enemies. Always female, blackthorns have lithe, slender figures like their dryad mothers but ragged skin like blighted bark, with blackened vines of razor-sharp thorns in place of the chains of their chain devil fathers. A blackthorn’s combat statistics are similar in most ways to their chain devil parent, though twisted towards a wild natural beauty gone haggard and corrupt. Leafblighter. Blackthorns bond with a tree as a dryad does, but they are parasitic rather than symbiotic with their bonded tree, gradually withering and choking it with clinging vines over the course of 1d6 weeks. Once the host tree dies, the blackthorn is frightened of all non-plant creatures until she bonds with a new tree.

Bound by Fey Bargains. A blackthorn dryad can be summoned with conjure fey as if she were a fey of the same challenge rating.