Flytrap Leshy

Family: Leshy

Small plant (leshy), neutral

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 39 (6d6+18)
Speed 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	15 (+2)	16 (+3)	10 (+0)	15 (+2)	15 (+2)

Skills Perception +4, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances fire, lightning, thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Druidic, Sylvan
Challenge 1 (200 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Amalgam (Recharges After a Short or Long Rest). A flytrap leshy can use its action to combine with another flytrap leshy, to a maximum of 25 leshys. The amalgam has hitpoints equal to the original plus one Hit Die (1d6+3) for each additional leshy. The amalgam has a number of bite attacks equal to the number of bites of all component leshys combined, but only two flytrap hands attacks. At 9, 12, 18, and 30 Hit Dice, it gains one size category and each of its natural weapons does an additional die of damage. If the amalgam drops below 0 Hit Points, it dissolves, and the remaining damage is divided among the component leshys.
• Flytrap Speech. Flytrap leshys can communicate with flytraps, asking them about events within the past day, gaining information about creatures that have passed, weather, and other circumstances, within a radius of 30 feet.
• Pass Without Trace. In areas of natural vegetation, a leshy can’t be tracked except by magical means. The leshy leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage.
• Verdant Burst. When slain, a leshy explodes in a burst of fertile energies. All plant creatures within 30 feet of the slain leshy regain 6 (1d8+2) Hit Points, and flytraps quickly infest the area. If the terrain can support the growth of flytraps, the undergrowth is dense enough to make the region into difficult terrain for 24 hours, after which the plant life diminishes to a normal level; otherwise, the plant life has no significant effect on movement and withers and dies within an hour.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The leshy makes one bite attack and two flytrap hand attacks. In amalgam form it makes one bite attack for each combined leshy and two flytrap hand attacks.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, plus 2 (1d4) acid damage.
• Flytrap Hand. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, plus 2 (1d4) acid damage.
• Spittle (Recharge 4-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 10 ft/30 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (2d4) acid damage, and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is poisoned until the beginning of the leshy‘s next turn.

ABOUT

Originally grown as servants for more powerful fey and intelligent plant life such as elder treants, leshys are sentient plants who look after their unintelligent brethren and serve as nature’s verdant watchers. Several breeds of leshy exist, each being kindred to a broad group of plants or fungi.

Among the best known are superstitious gourd leshys, wise seaweed leshys, strange fungus leshys, and wary leafleshys, though others are rumored to exist, such as the surly cactus leshy, the sinister flytrap leshy, the garrulous snapdragon leshy, and the enigmatic lotus leshy. Leshys begin their existence as sentient though bodiless spirits of nature of the sort contacted by spells such as commune with nature.

These spirits normally have no way to directly manipulate the physical world, but a skilled spellcaster (typically a druid) can grow a special plant body for one of these spirits, giving the spirit a home to animate.

Once accepted into a body, a leshy’s spirit remains within unless the body is destroyed. Leshys do not fear death as many other creatures do, knowing that should they fall, their spirits merely return to the natural world and can be called to inhabit a new leshy body at some point in the future. As a leshy’s body dies, the magic animating it unravels in a burst of life energy that infuses its surrounding and quickens the growth of any plants in the vicinity. Some leshys even voluntarily discorporate to save the lives of ailing plants, knowing that their sacrifice may mean the continuation of countless otherwise helpless flora.

Regardless of how a leshy dies, leaving the body traumatizes the spirit, and the leshy retains only faint memories of past corporeal existences. Leshy spirits need not return to the same form if bound again to a body. During the course of its existence a single spirit can inhabit any number of different types of leshys. A leshy without a body has no power to affect or contact the material world.

The rites and special materials required to create a leshy’s physical form vary between individual leshys. Once the creator assembles the necessary materials, a leshy must typically be grown in an area of natural power, such as a treant’s grove, a druidic circle, or a site of pristine natural wonder. A newly born leshy is a free-willed, neutral being, under no obligation to serve its creator.

As a group, leshys share certain common attributes. They resemble plants but with vaguely humanoid appearances and are always Small. While leshys of the same species share the same general shape, leshys have all the diversity of the plant world in appearance. For example, one fungus leshy may have a classic red, white-dotted mushroom cap, while another might have the spongier and darker contours of a morel, while a third might have the coloration of a pale gray cave mushroom.

Growing a Leshy

The process of growing a leshy has some similarities to making a construct. Typically, the creator of a leshy must be a powerful druid, but anyone capable of making the required Knowledge checks and casting the required spells may attempt the process.

Growing a leshy body takes 2 weeks per Hit Die, during which the nascent form must be well fertilized, watered as needed, and kept safe from harm. During this period of growth, certain rare nutrients and fertilizer must be used to prime the leshy’s transformation from a normal plant into a sentient one—the cost of these components varies according to the leshy but is never less than 1,000 gp. The cultivator must make a successful Nature check; the required DC varies according to the leshy. If the check fails, the plant withers and dies and the cultivator must begin anew.

If, on the other hand, the skill check is successful, the cultivator must then step in and perform a 24-hour ritual within a day of the leshy’s cultivation. During this ritual, the cultivator must cast a number of spells (see each individual leshy for a list). At the ritual’s climax, there’s a flat 50% chance that the attempt to create a leshy succeeds—if this final check fails, no appropriate spirit is close enough to answer the call. The plant body rots and the creator must begin anew with fresh materials if he wishes to try again. At the GM’s discretion, this final chance for success might increase to 75% or even 100% for particularly magical areas where leshy spirits are much more common than normal. Discovering such a rare and magical site should be the focus of its own adventure. If the ritual is successful, the leshy awakens fully formed and able to serve as a minion. A freshly created leshy is under no particular compulsion to obey its creator, but most regard their makers as friends and allies.

Plant creatures are particularly adept at growing leshys, gaining advantage on their Nature checks to create them and reducing the time required to grow the leshy by 50% and the cost by 25%. A plant creature is always successful in luring a spirit into the body, and need not make the final percentile roll for success. At the GM’s option, leshys with more Hit Dice than normal can be created. Each additional Hit Die adds 2,000 gp to the cost of creating the leshy, increases the DC of the Nature check by 2, and requires an additional 2 weeks of growth.

Attempts to create leshys larger than Small always fail—the strange spiritual energies that animate these creatures are only capable of doing so to a body no larger than that of a human child.

Cantankerous flytrap leshys represent the harsh and seemingly cruel aspects of the natural cycle that are ultimately needed for the greater well-being of all creatures. When necessary to protect their homes, flytrap leshys start controlled fires, relying on their fire resistance to wade through the flames. Unlike most of their kind, flytrap leshys eat flesh and are not picky about the kind of meat that they consume. They particularly savor insects, and one of the few ways to placate a flytrap leshy is to offer it a rare or unusual insect to consume. A typical flytrap leshy is 2 feet tall and weighs 20 pounds.

Ready to Fight. Most leshys are peaceful creatures that focus their efforts on tending the natural region around them. While flytrap leshys do not leave their homes to pick fights, they relish the opportunity to attack intruders. These carnivorous plants tend to attack before asking questions.

While they rarely work together with other creatures, the aggressive creatures eagerly collaborate with others of their kind. They fight best in teams, and coordinate with each other so seamlessly that a group of flytrap leshys is nearly indistinguishable from a single creature—an illusion that the similarity between a flytrap leshy’s head and hands only compounds. While a typical flytrap leshy has one head and two hands, more powerful flytrap leshys exist with greater numbers of heads and hands.

Growing a Flytrap Leshy. A flytrap leshy is usually grown in swampy or marshy terrain. A flytrap leshy will only emerge if it is given a small pile of freshly killed insects to eat. Creating it requires 3,000 gp of materials, a DC 14 Nature check, and casting call woodland beings, plant growth, and thorn whip.