Poppy Leshy

Family: Leshy

Small plant (leshy), neutral

Armor Class 11
Hit Points 5 (1d6+2)
Speed 20 ft., climb 10 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
6 (-2) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 5 (-3) 10 (+0) 13 (+1)

Skills Perception +2, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances lightning, thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Druidic, Sylvan
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

  • 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.
  • Flower Speech. Poppy leshys can communicate with flowers, 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.
  • 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 poppies quickly infest the area. If the terrain can support the growth of poppies, 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

  • Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
  • Spore Attack. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) psychic damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Wisdom save. On a failed save, any creature who suffers damage from a poppy leshy’s spores suffers minor memory loss for a period of 5 minutes prior to and 5 minutes after the ability damage is inflicted. Creatures who suffer from this memory loss must make a DC 11 Wisdom save to recall specific details during that period of time. A greater restoration spell completely restores a creature’s memory.
  • Change Shape. The poppy leshy can take the shape of a Small poppy plant or return to its normal form. In plant form it is not capable of any other actions but is aware of its surroundings. It is otherwise indistinguishable from ordinary plant life. Any items it carries fall to the ground when it becomes a plant.

ABOUT

Often found near dryad’s trees, in nymph’s groves, and elsewhere close to fey creatures, poppy leshys serve as guardians and friends to creatures from the fey World. They do their best to hide from humanoids and other creatures of civilization, but their distinctive perfume often gives them away unless they hide in patches of fragrant flowers. Poppy leshys care for sweetsmelling flora, often but not always poppy plants. They look like small humanoid creatures with flowers for hair and leafy or flowery growths covering their legs and feet. In truth, these leshys do not have legs, but rather use flexible roots to move along the ground or up trees.

Blossom Guards. These creatures often carry slender rapiers or daggers with them, which they keep hidden among the leaves on the lower half of their bodies. They only rely on these weapons as a last resort, knowing most creatures that attack them can overpower them. If fighting in self-defense, they rely on their innate sleep ability to subdue their opponents and escape. Some druids and fey creatures use the otherwise peaceful leshys to help neutralize intruders in their groves.

Fey Friend. Many dryads find friendships with poppy leshys mutually beneficial, as their ability to cloud memories can help the dryads divert potential threats that may have otherwise learned the location of the dryads’ trees. The creatures seem drawn to nymphs’ innate beauty and often migrate toward a nymph’s grove if left on their own. Satyrs also sometimes seek out the company of poppy leshys, albeit for slightly selfish reasons; they deliberately expose themselves to the leshys’ memoryclouding spores as a way of “enhancing” the experiences they feel during their feasts and parties. Regardless of the fey’s motivations, poppy leshys often seek out the approval of creatures from the First World, often going to great lengths to keep potential friendships intact.

Growing a Poppy Leshy. Poppy leshys are usually grown in the early spring, planted with poppy seeds soon to sprout. When first born, a poppy leshy does not have a weapon, but can construct one from available materials given a day and left to its own devices.

Creating it requires 600 gp of materials, a DC 12 Nature check, and casting animal friendship, charm person, and plant growth.

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.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Faerie Bestiary (5E) © 2022, Legendary Games; Authors Matt Kimmel, Michael “solomani” Mifsud, Miguel Colon, Robert J. Grady, Jason Nelson, Jeff Ibach, Tim Hitchcock.

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