## Dryad

*I strode through a forest tall, As above the stars did glow, By maple trees and bird call, With my blade and hunting bow, I spied the creature's bramble lair, Beneath the cawing crow, There I caught the maiden fair, Crooning upon willow, And I knew her for a thief, For her hair was autumn flame, Her dress sewn of golden leaf, And my heart was hers to claim,*

— Roland of Daggerford, *the Huntsman's Rhyme*

The kind face, beautiful figure and deceivingly powerful deminor of these ancient protectors of the forest is almost impossible to witness without them wishing for you to do it, to take in all that you can see and fall prey to their legendary charm. The shy Dryad and their magic bond with nature is for many just a thing of legends but they might be walking among us all along. ### The Embodiment of Beauty Dryads in their true form have the features and body shape of an elf with the exception of their hair and complexion. Dryads embody the beauty and perfection of nature in their appearance, whatever the environment and surrounding cultures would consider ideal beauty on an elf, that’s what the dryad would look like. The hair and complexion of a Dryad tell a different story, they change from season to season to reflect that of their trees. An Oak Dryad during Autumn would have beautiful light red hair and a deep tan while most dryads in winter become extremely pale and their hair turns white. Dryads with different bonded tree species would change in a different way but they all follow the common rule of resembling closely their trees. ### Magical Bond to Nature There are several ways these magical creatures are born, the most common of these is when a powerful fey spirit binds a lesser fey into the soul of a tree as a form of punishment, hence forcing them to defend the tree and the forest surrounding it from interlopers. But this common punishment is not the only originator of Dryads. Some cultures of the forest might, as an act of desperation to save a loved one, try to bind the soul of an agonizing mortal into a particularly powerful tree. In the rare occasions this ritual succeeds, a new fully-grown Dryad is born. This ritual may also be performed on a live willing individual but the killing of the mortal body to free the soul for the bonding is required as a part of it. Another known way of Dryad creation also happens at the moment of death but this time no ritual is required, instead, the soul of a mortal that has developed throughout their life a deep connection with nature can spontaneously bind with a tree instead of fulfilling its normal cycle. The last way a Dryad can be born is perhaps the most obvious, through procreation. Dryads have been known to enjoy the pleasures of flesh and have the capacity to breed with several humanoid species the most common of which are humans and Satyrs. A Dryad conceived this way is always born as a female Dryad child, this is the only way a Dryad child can be born and they do not inherit any features from their non-dryad parent. They are raised by their Dryad parent and live in their tree until they reach maturity at age 12 at which point they search for a tree to make their own and perform a ritual in order to bind to it and that way become a full Dryad. \page ### Shy but Curious Their warm laughter and captivating song echoes through the woodland realms, rich and enticing, yet rare and elusive. Despite their alluring appearance, they are shy creatures, leading few mortals to ever glimpse one — except for the druids, with whom they share the duty of forest guardianship. Those who do see one do so mostly from afar, stealing a mere glance from the corner of their eye of a lithe beauty flitting between the trees. A lucky, handsome mortal may be fortunate enough to be approached by one, for a dryad is a curious creature, at the peril of the dryad bewitching them with their powerful charm. Dryads are typically neither evil, nor good. They do not harm without cause, and generally prefer to lure their foes away with their mystic, fey magic rather than confront them directly, but neither will they help someone in trouble if it's a natural phenomenon harming them. They are the protectors of the natural world, and that world has a dark side. The wolf must eat, the storm must blow. The dryad, for all its grace and endless serenity, understands the savage truth of nature. They are guardians of forests, and often work alongside satyr, druids and other forest folk. Good and neutral fey are often fond of dryads, with the mischievous pixies finding much in common with them. It is said among the fey folk that a ring of red toadstools marks the place where dryads and pixies come to dance and frolic beneath a full moon, and that any mortal who should stumble upon them will be granted a great boon. ### Reclusive Fey Dryads normally keep to the areas near their bonded tree and avoid being seen by mortals, they don’t form communities with each other if there’s more than one in the same area and they just interact with other nature creatures with the objective of protecting the area with the exception of those they choose as partners. Given this fact, most Dryads are not aware of how society works, they do not care for their naked bodies nor for giving themselves a name or abiding by any social rules. A Dryad that have lived long enough near civilization, interacted with druids or taken life as an adventurer quickly realises the importance of these norms and they, although reluctantly, would at the very least pick a name and wear clothes. ### The Call of Nature Not any Dryad is able to travel far from their bonded tree without growing sick and eventually dying but a very special subset of them, sometimes called Hamadryads, have found ways to retain their bonds over long distances either out of necessity or by accident. The easiest of these requires not only for a particularly powerful and old Dryad but also a tree with a strong enough aura to resist an ancient and powerful Fey ritual called *Acorn of Fast Travel* in which a piece of the bonded tree, usually a fruit or sapling, gets infused with fey magic and acts as a receiver of sorts for the magical energy of the tree. In this way, as long as the Dryad carries the infused trinket they can use it to maintain their bond with their tree healthy over any distance, even through different planes of existence. The reasons for a Dryad to travel away from their tree can be many, usually a quest to return a favor to someone that helped you or nature in a big way or avenging massive damage or even stopping an event threatening with destroying the balance of nature. Whatever the reason is, it must be incredibly important to the Dryad for them to leave their bonded tree and source of life unprotected. ### Dryad Names Dryads don’t care for social norms like names and clothing but the ones that live near civilization or become adventurers tend to take names derived from the Sylvan language or adult elven names if trying to pass as one which they usually do. Most dryads only possess one name and only take to fit in society although, if pressed, they may refer to their last name as that of the forest they come from. **Dryad Names:** Aloria, Casaraine, Ethissia, Lathesae, Nadasei, Satharia, Theralin, Yalasee ### Dryad Traits Your Dryad character has a number of natural abilities granted by the magical bond, current or past, with their tree **Ability Score Increase.** Your wisdom score increases by 2. **Age.** A magically created Dryad, either through the bonding of a lesser fey spirit by a greater one, the materialization of a tree’s aura or through the bonding of a mortal soul to a powerful tree at the moment of death, is born as fully mature, with no memories of their past life in the case of the fey spirit and with their memories being no more than distant recollections in the case of a bonded mortal. On the other hand, a Dryad conceived by breeding (typically from the union of a dryad and a human, although a Satyr and a female Dryad have been known to breed) reach maturity at 12 years of age at which point undergoes a process to find and bond with a different tree after which they acquire their powers and become a complete Dryad. They live as long as their trees do and die or sometimes become crazed if their tree is destroyed. This lifespan can be anywhere from 40 to a few thousand years depending on the tree. **Alignment.** Most Dryads tend to neutrality, with a deep love of nature and a focus on protecting it. Dryad that had lost their trees and survived tended to chaos and disregard for mortal life. Dryads, being reclusive and solitary creatures by nature, need a strong reason to leave their tree and become adventurers, think about how this would shape their alignment. **Size.** Dryad range from around 4 to above 6 feet tall and tend to have builds mimicking the most beautiful of elves. Your size is medium. **Sex and gender.** Dryads are almost exclusively female but male dryads have been known to exist. Dryads don’t form societies and are generally solitary so common norms like clothing and gender identity are concepts they are oblivious to. They, however, do enjoy mortal pleasures, can breed with multiple races, and are known to take partners by charming individuals that captivate them with their beauty upon entering the Dryad’s domains. **Speed.** Your base walking speed is 30 feet. **Darkvision.** Your fey heritage, combined with the magic bond you share with your tree and growing accustomed to the night skies, you have superior vision in dark and dim \page conditions. You can see in dim light within 60ft as it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. **Speak with Beasts and Plants.** The dryad can communicate with beasts and plants as if they shared a language. **Bonded tree.** While your tree is alive and healthy the magical connection between you grants you special benefits: * If you get at least 6 hours of direct sunlight (it can be magical in nature) in a day and have enough water you don’t need to eat. This benefit is removed if its winter for you or your bonded tree. * You don’t age or change your physical form and continue to embody eternal beauty. Mortals will be generally attracted to you and be more lenient to accommodate your requests. * While you maintain a healthy bond with your tree your body is filled with magic, making you more resilient. When you are not wearing armor, your AC is 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You can get the benefits of a shield while using this feature. * You don’t need to sleep. If you are more than 1000 feet away from your bonded tree you, instead, need to spend at least 6 hours bonding with nature to maintain the strength of your bond. After this bonding, you gain the same benefits a human would get from 8 hours of sleep and maintain the other benefits of this trait. **Nature’s gift.** You know the *druidcraft* cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the *charm person* spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the *barkskin* spell on yourself once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 7th level you don’t need to maintain concentration when casting *barkskin* with this trait. When you reach 9th level, you gain the ability to cast *barkskin* on a willing creature and get the benefits on yourself as well. Upon reaching 11th level you can cast *barkskin* at will using this feature. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. **Forest Step.** Once on your turn, you can use half your movement to step magically into one living tree within reach and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be Large or bigger. You can use this trait once, and regain it after a short or long rest. If you are within 1000 feet of your bonded tree you can use this trait to instantly teleport to it. **The beauty of nature.** The hair color and complexion of a Dryad changes through the year to reflect their bonded tree features. Their hair takes on the color of the leaves and the complexion closely resembles, in tan, the bark’s color. **Languages.** You can speak, read and write Common, Elvish and Sylvan. **Subrace.** Dryads get much of their abilities from the natural magic their trees imbued on them, there are few trees with strong enough auras to be able to create or sustain Dryads but each of them gives their Dryad special characteristics creating five distinct subraces: Oak Dryads, Cherry Dryads, Maple Dryads, Tropical Dryads, and Oasis Dryads. Choose one of these subraces.

#### Oak Dryad As an Oak Dryad you belong to the more common kind of Dryad found in the wild, you are bonded to an old and powerful oak tree, this magical bond gives you the strength and endurance of the Oak. Your tree is usually among many others in a deep and ancient forest and is easy to keep hidden from strangers and the surrounding forest is usually full of other magical and Fey creatures to protect it giving you freedom to roam the world as an adventurer. **Ability Score Increase.** Your Strength score increases by 1. **A friend to nature.** You can cast the Animal friendship spell at will with this trait but you may only target creatures that are native to the forest. **Strength of the forest.** Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level. #### Cherry Dryad As a Cherry Dryad you inherit the beauty and charm of your bonded tree, for a few months during the Spring you bloom in sync with your tree making your appearance even more striking, with your flowing pale pink hair and giving you leverage against any mortal. **Ability Score Increase.** Your Charisma score increases by 1. **A friend to nature.** You can cast the Animal friendship spell at will with this trait but you may only target creatures that are native to the forest. **Blooming beauty.** During the month of spring you, like your tree, blossom making your hair a beautiful pale pink and your visage awe inspiring, you have advantage on any charisma checks you do during this time. On other seasons you can use this trait once a day to cast a weak and discrete charm and gain advantage on one charisma check. #### Maple Dryad As a Maple Dryad you are specially attuned with the magical energy that flows through nature and all living things, you recognize and find comfort on balance and the cycles of nature. Also, you are from fantasy Canada, whatever that might be. **Ability Score Increase.** Your Intelligence score increases by 1. **A friend to nature.** You can cast the Animal friendship spell at will with this trait and you automatically succeed when foraging in a forest environment. **Extra language.** You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choosing.

\page #### Tropical Dryad As a Tropical Dryad you enjoy being near water and its creatures, you feel a special connection with Nymphs and find peace in the simplest things. You are adaptable but strong, as the palm tree you are bonded to, you can bend far without breaking, adapting to nearly any situation. **Ability Score Increase.** Your Charisma score increases by 1. **A friend to nature.** You can cast the Animal friendship spell at will with this trait but you may only target creatures that are native to the sea, rivers or coastal environments. **Tropical.** You are not used to the extreme conditions of the seasons, you need to eat double the amount of food to sustain yourself in cold climates or during winter. **Flexible.** You are proficient in acrobatics and have advantage in skill checks and saving throws that rely on flexibility.

> ##### Variant: Treeless Dryad > When a Dryad loses their tree there’s a slim chance for them to survive, although no one really knows how this is possible we do know that the loss of their magical bond and their trees does not come without consequences. > > Treeless Dryads retain most of the traits and magical abilities they once had but lose the connection to nature they once had and this severely damages their minds and souls. > > **Severed Connection.** You lose your *Bonded Tree* and *Forest Step* traits and gain the following instead. > > **Crazed.** When your connection is broken you lose your grasp on reality and your understanding of the cycles of nature. Everything becomes confusing and you feel lost. Some Dryads that manage to survive several years after their tree’s death get to control these feelings and become independent. Your order alignment becomes chaotic if it isn’t already. And you enter a crazed state and gain proficiency in the intimidation skill. > > **Aging.** After your tree dies, you start aging at the rate a human would, your body is similar to one of a 24 years old human and you live as long as them, up to 80 years. > > **Tree-like form.** Your skin becomes Bark like and you start growing foliage and weeds out of your hair making it impossible to hide your true nature without magical means. Your hard wood-like skin provides decent protection when you are not wearing armor making your AC 13 + your dexterity modifier. ``` ``` #### Oasis Dryad All Dryads are lonely by nature but this is especially true of Oasys Dryads, you have very little contact with civilization living in the desert, your tree is usually a particularly powerful, old or fey touched Acacia tree around an oasis (hence the name). Life for you and your tree is not easy but you find comfort in bringing respite to lost travelers and the various denizens of the desert. **Ability Score Increase.** Your Constitution score increases by 1. **A friend to nature.** You can cast the Animal friendship spell at will with this trait but you may only target creatures that are native to the desert. **Spirit of the desert.** Being native from the desert you are used to having lower resources, when you need to eat you only need to eat half as much. **Oasis of life.** You can use this trait to maximize one instance of healing you give or receive during a short rest. You need to complete a long rest before using this trait again.

> ##### Credits > Writen and designed by **CompiledGabriel** > **u/Server-side_Gabriel** on reddit! > Art credit: Dryad by [**@Alysha Lowery**](https://www.instagram.com/alysha.lowery/) and Forest by [**@ilyanazarovartist**](https://www.instagram.com/ilyanazarovartist/) on instagram!

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