Briarborn

When a briarborn flowers, they sprout from the ground, growing in an undefiled location, far from the eyes of other creatures. They emerge partially grown and mature quickly over the course of a single year. Once they have sprouted, the adolescent briarborn instinctively knows the way to the nearest knot or collective home of the briarborn.

They favor communities grown from natural surroundings and use druidic magic to shape and weave the natural environment to suit their needs. Their homes are well defended and camouflaged. The unobservant traveler may pass by a briarborn knot without noticing it.

The briarborn are plant-like humanoids that grow from the earth in secluded, untouched virgin lands. They are born from the essence of nature, a distillation of that untouched terrain. While rare, they are not uncommon in lands unspoiled by other races.

As a race, they are linked by a collective intelligence, allowing them to work in tandem with their brethren despite any distance. They speak freely with nature’s creatures and seek to protect them from those who would bring harm to them. When nature’s enemies ravage her gifts, the briarborn blossom and grow to defend her.

Wood and Vine

A briarborn is a humanoid creature, standing nearly as tall as a man, seemingly made of bark, vines, and foliage. They project a kind demeanor, with the facial appearance fey-touched deer. Beyond this, they vary widely in appearance, as wild as nature itself.

Leaves and branches form a crown of growth on their heads. The older they are, the more growths they present, sometimes becoming long twisted vines that hang to their waist or longer.

They can display the colors of plant life, tending towards shades of green and brown. Their flesh is rough and prickly, even barklike or covered in spiny briars. Their eyes range from virgin wood green, morning sun gold, rich brown earth, or deep sky blue.

The briarborn draw their collective knowledge and wisdom directly from their knot and the heart of each knot is a breathtaking living tree. This sacred dreaming tree is believed to possess divine powers, granting the briarborn spells and imparting knowledge about the surrounding environs.

Should a dreaming tree ever be killed, all of the briarborn connected to its knot are stricken with a profound sadness. They disband the knot, allowing the site to return to its natural state. They may seek out other knots, feeling lost until they find another community. Alternatively, many lost briarborn turn to wandering or adventuring until they are able to return to their kind.

Fallen briarborn are allowed to lie where they fall, quickly composting into nurturing mulch. Other races find this practice abhorrent, but the briarborn see this as completely natural. All things return to the world, having been born of it.

Traits

The briarborn fight against the unnatural perils of the world striving to correct and undo the evils they have wrought. Sometimes they need to grow some additional abilities to help them in that fight.

• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
• Age. Briarborn emerge in a flowering stage as adolescents and live for approximately 40 years.
• Alignment. Neutral
• Size. Briarborn range from 5 to 7 feet and weigh 135 to 200 lbs.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
• Language(s). You can speak, read, and write Common, Sylvan, and Elven.
• Plantlike. You don’t need to eat food, and you have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• Natural Armor. You have natural through the toughness of your flesh equal to AC 12 + your Dexterity modifier.
• Weak to Fire. You suffer an additional +50% from all attacks dealing fire damage.

Subraces

Boreal

The Boreal briarborn hail from the frozen northlands. Their material composition seems to be more rigid, made of coniferous trees and tough shrubs.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1

Boshk

The most commonly encountered briarborn, the Boshk are those of temperate zones, seemingly formed of plant vegetation, bark, and vines.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Lostlorn

The Lostlorn are those briarborn who come from destroyed tree homes. With their sacred trees destroyed, they lose much of their “goodness,” relying upon themselves and become more dangerous, sometimes even fatalistic.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.

Rune-scarred

You flesh is scarred with runes of power.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence or Charisma score increases by 1.

d4	Briarborn Quirks
1	Your heart is kind, and you believe that the men of the world can change and be an instrument of good. You befriend them to show them the way.
2	You fight with great passion against the unnatural creatures of the world, those things that seek to unravel your existence.
3	You protect the innocent beasts and wild creatures of the world who cannot fight for themselves.
4	You were born into this world, but your purpose has been muddied. You do not know yet what you were born to correct.