Dungeons & Delvers: Treants
Usually when you think of treants you think of tree-like humanoids, which is to be expected given that they were based on Tolkien's ents, a race of tree-like humanoids.
In 2nd Edition the treant entry starts off by stating that, "Treants are strangely related to both humans and trees, combining features of both species," and that, "Their arms are gnarled like branches and their legs fit together when standing like the trunk of a tree." The art though doesn't quite match up with the bit about the legs:
I know that when stuck together they're supposed to resemble at trunk, but damn those gotta be some really, heh, stumpy legs. And some reeeally long toes. I'd imagine it waddling about more like a duck. Here's another from 3rd Edition:
Here I'd imagine the legs would be longer, but I'm still having trouble figuring out how they would walk with the really long roots. It's when you get to 4th and 5th Edition that they have a distinctively humanoid shape:
But my problem with these are the very obvious arms and hands, and legs that I can't imagine could possibly look like a trunk when mashed together. Looking at ents throughout the editions did get me thinking, though: why not just make them look like trees?
They would be truly indistinguishable from a normal tree: players wouldn't be able to look for rough or crude facial features, mossbeards (or eyebrows), suspiciously positioned arm-branches with clearly clawed hands, or...trunk crotches? You know, like a vertical groove indicating their legs being mashed together to look like a standard trunk.
Despite a complete lack of human-like features, they'll still be quite intelligent, and generally kind as long as they don't think you're dicking about their forest preparing to level or burn it. Given their long lives they would know much of the ancient world, moreso about the forest they inhabit, and some would even be capable of divination, druidic magic, or both.
I think it would also make them more alien: sure, they look like a tree, but can still speak and hear despite not having discernible mouths and ears. I figure they'd be able to "see" by sensing vibrations through the ground but also the motion of air caressing their leaves. This would make it harder for creatures employing illusions (which would commonly include fae) from getting the drop on them.
When they want to get around, they just tear themselves free from the ground, moving about on their roots like some combination of an octopus and spider. Instead of smacking you with their branches, they'll just try to stab or bash you with their roots. They could even do this as a surprise attack: roots would just suddenly erupt from the ground.
I thought I read something about sentient trees getting cut down and fashioned into wooden items, yet still retained the ability to think and speak. I like that idea, so wooden items created from a treant might still be able to communicate, and possess whatever knowledge and powers it did before. I imagine druids would have a number of such items.
We also thought of some specifically monstrous variants, including a few that were struck by lightning or burned (giving the latter a kind of fiery-undead theme), another that was used for hanging and so now thirsts for blood, and yet another that grows from the grave of someone who committed suicide (based on the trees from Dante's Inferno).
Now I figure if people want a tree-giant it would be trivial to change, but we could also just include a kind of forest giant in the giant section. Ent was apparently an old english word for giant (also possibly troll), after all.
You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want! We've also released the first big supplement for it, Appendix D, so pick that up if you want more of everything.
The first issue of The Delver, a magazine featuring fungal-themed content for both players and GMs (including an adventure in which myconids find religion), is available!
Our latest Dungeon World class, The Ranger, is now available.
Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!
By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).
In 2nd Edition the treant entry starts off by stating that, "Treants are strangely related to both humans and trees, combining features of both species," and that, "Their arms are gnarled like branches and their legs fit together when standing like the trunk of a tree." The art though doesn't quite match up with the bit about the legs:
Here I'd imagine the legs would be longer, but I'm still having trouble figuring out how they would walk with the really long roots. It's when you get to 4th and 5th Edition that they have a distinctively humanoid shape:
But my problem with these are the very obvious arms and hands, and legs that I can't imagine could possibly look like a trunk when mashed together. Looking at ents throughout the editions did get me thinking, though: why not just make them look like trees?
Despite a complete lack of human-like features, they'll still be quite intelligent, and generally kind as long as they don't think you're dicking about their forest preparing to level or burn it. Given their long lives they would know much of the ancient world, moreso about the forest they inhabit, and some would even be capable of divination, druidic magic, or both.
I think it would also make them more alien: sure, they look like a tree, but can still speak and hear despite not having discernible mouths and ears. I figure they'd be able to "see" by sensing vibrations through the ground but also the motion of air caressing their leaves. This would make it harder for creatures employing illusions (which would commonly include fae) from getting the drop on them.
When they want to get around, they just tear themselves free from the ground, moving about on their roots like some combination of an octopus and spider. Instead of smacking you with their branches, they'll just try to stab or bash you with their roots. They could even do this as a surprise attack: roots would just suddenly erupt from the ground.
I thought I read something about sentient trees getting cut down and fashioned into wooden items, yet still retained the ability to think and speak. I like that idea, so wooden items created from a treant might still be able to communicate, and possess whatever knowledge and powers it did before. I imagine druids would have a number of such items.
We also thought of some specifically monstrous variants, including a few that were struck by lightning or burned (giving the latter a kind of fiery-undead theme), another that was used for hanging and so now thirsts for blood, and yet another that grows from the grave of someone who committed suicide (based on the trees from Dante's Inferno).
Now I figure if people want a tree-giant it would be trivial to change, but we could also just include a kind of forest giant in the giant section. Ent was apparently an old english word for giant (also possibly troll), after all.
Announcements
You can now get a physical copy of Dungeons & Delvers: Black Book in whatever format you want! We've also released the first big supplement for it, Appendix D, so pick that up if you want more of everything.
The first issue of The Delver, a magazine featuring fungal-themed content for both players and GMs (including an adventure in which myconids find religion), is available!
Our latest Dungeon World class, The Ranger, is now available.
Dwarven Vault is our sixth 10+ Treasures volume. If you're interested in thirty dwarven magic items (including an eye that lets you shoot lasers) and nearly a dozen new bits of dungeon gear, check it out!
By fan demand, we've mashed all of our 10+ Treasure volumes into one big magic item book, making it cheaper and more convenient to buy in print (which you can now do).
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