Dread blossom swarm

45
DREAD BLOSSOM SWARM
Tiny Plant (Extraplanar, Swarm)
Hit Dice: 7d8+14 (45 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: Fly 60 ft. (good) (12 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 15,
at-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/
Attack: Swarm (2d6)
Full Attack: Swarm (2d6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Blood drain, distraction, poison pollen
Special Qualities: Half damage from slashing and pierc-
ing, low-light vision, plant traits, regeneration
5, swarm traits
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 17, Con 14, Int ,
Wis 10, Cha 3
Skills: Hide +11*, Listen +2,
Spot +2
Feats: Alertness
B
, Ability
Focus (poison pollen)
B
,
Lightning Reexes
B
Environment: Wilderness of the
Beastlands
Organization: Solitary, pair
(24), or colony (58)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement:
Level Adjustment:
Ahead of you lies a beauti-
ful bed of hundreds of large
red f lowers speckled with
gold and black. Their sweet
perfume isnt quite strong
enough to disguise the sent of
rotting f lesh, and looking closer,
you notice the f lowers seem planted
in dead bodies. Suddenly, all the f lowers shudder
as if in a strong breeze and lift into the air. They f ly
up like a f lock of sparrows coming aloft and swoop
around toward you with f lowers pointed away and
wicked thorns aimed in your direction.
Dread blossoms are blood-drinking plants from the Wilder-
ness of the Beastlands transplanted to the Material Plane by
foolish elves who mistook their nature.
An individual dread blossom looks like a foot-long
crimson f lower, speckled with gold and black pollen,
that ends in a 6-inch-long hollow thorn surrounded at
its base by a frill of inch-long roots. Few creatures can
examine a dread blossom in such detail, as a dread blos-
som swarm at rest is usually firmly planted in the bodies
of its last victims.
In ight, a dread blossom swarm resembles a ock of
birds wheeling swiftly through the air. Each blossom ies
thorn forward, uttering two petals as rapidly as a humming-
bird aps its wings.
Creatures of the Beastlands know not to disturb beds of
dread blossoms, but inhabitants of the Material Plane are
often curious about the dead creatures where the plants have
taken root.
COMBAT
A dread blossom swarm swoops in to surround a creature
and attacks. It uses no tactics except to move over creatures
paralyzed by its pollen. It avoids areas of intense cold or heat
but otherwise attacks until it or its target is killed.
Blood Drain (Ex): In addition to swarm damage, a dread
blossom swarm deals 1d6 points of Con-
stitution damage to any paralyzed
or otherwise immobilized living
creature whose space it occupies at
the end of its turn.
Distraction (Ex): Any living
creature vulnerable to a dread blos-
som swarms damage that begins
its turn with a swarm in its square
is nauseated for 1 round; a DC 15
Fortitude save negates the effect.
Even after a successful save, spellcast-
ing or concentrating on spells within
the area of a swarm requires a Con-
centration check (DC 20 + spell level).
Using skills requiring patience and con-
centration requires a DC 20 Con-
centration check. The save DC is
Constitution-based.
Poison Pollen (Ex): A dread
blossom swarm constantly exudes
an airborne contact poison in a 15-
foot radius. Creatures within the
area or within the swarm must suc-
ceed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or be
paralyzed for 1 round. Secondary dam-
age is paralysis for 1 minute. The save
DC is Constitution-based.
Regeneration (Ex): Fire and cold deal
normal damage to a dread blossom swarm.
Skills: *A dread blossom swarm gains a +10 racial bonus
on Hide checks in forested areas.
DREAD BLOSSOM SWARMS
IN EBERRON
Dread blossoms are native to the plane of Lamannia, the
Twilight Forest. They gather in the jungles of Aerenal.
Millennia ago, elf sorcerers living on Xendrik brought
the first dread blossoms to Eberron to plague their giant
masters. Dread blossom swarms continue to ravage the
inhabitants of the jungles of Xendrik and Aerenal.
The elves of Aerenal have been accused of deliberately
transplanting and unleashing dread blossom swarms
upon their enemies, most recently the orc tribes of the
Shadow Marches.
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