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Dryad Queen

Creature 13 (uncommon) — fey, nymph, plant, wood

SnareWeaverLANDfeyplant

Also called a hamadryad, a dryad queen rules over an entire forest, or a portion of an incredibly large forest, leading and protecting all dryads within. Dryad queens often have strange relationships with powerful and deadly fey, working together in a dualistic way despite their differences, with the queen representing nature's wonders and the other fey representing nature's wrath. Nymphs are a family of fey that take the form of beautiful humanoids with elven features and have a deep associati

Source: pathfinder-monster-core

Perception +25; low-light-vision
Languages common, elven, fey, muan
Skills acrobatics +25, athletics +19, crafting +23 (+25 woodworking), deception +30, diplomacy +30, intimidation +27, nature +24, performance +28, stealth +25, survival +24
Str
+2
Dex
+6
Con
+6
Int
+4
Wis
+4
Cha
+8
AC 35 Fort +24 Ref +26 Will +24
HP 220
Weaknesses cold-iron 10, fire 10
Speed 30 feet

Offense

Melee Branch (finesse, magical) +27, Damage 3d12+8 bludgeoning
Ranged Leaves (plant, primal) +27, range increment 60 feet, Damage 3d8+6 slashing

Abilities

Nature Empathy — The dryad can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with animals and plants.
Tied to the Land — The dryad queen is tied to a forest or other woodland.

A nymph queen is intrinsically tied to a specific region. As long as the queen is healthy, the environment is exceptionally resilient, allowing the nymph queen to automatically attempt to counteract any spell that would harm the environment (such as the Blight ritual), using her spell DC with a counteract rank equal to the highest-rank druid spell she can cast.

When the nymph queen becomes physically or psychologically unhealthy, however, her warded region eventually becomes twisted or unhealthy as well. In that case, restoring the nymph queen swiftly heals the entire region.
Constant Spells — A constant spell affects the monster without the monster needing to cast it, and its duration is unlimited. If a constant spell gets counteracted, the monster can reactivate it by spending the normal spellcasting actions the spell requires.
Nymph's Beauty (aura, emotion, mental, primal, visual) — 30 feet. On a failed save, the target is Immobilized in awe for 1 minute.

Creatures that start their turn in the aura must succeed at a DC 30 Will save or suffer an effect described in the nymph queen's entry.
Change Shape (polymorph, primal) — Nymph queens can transform between their original form, which looks much like a typical nymph of their kind, and any Small or Medium humanoid form, typically choosing a more humanoid-looking version of their natural form.

The monster changes its shape indefinitely. It can use this action again to return to its natural shape or adopt a new shape. Unless otherwise noted, a monster cannot use Change Shape to appear as a specific individual. Using Change Shape counts as creating a disguise for the Impersonate use of Deception. The monster's transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine whether the creature is a member of the ancestry or creature type into which it transformed, and it gains a +4 status bonus to its Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through its disguise. Change Shape abilities specify what shapes the monster can adopt. The monster doesn't gain any special abilities of the new shape, only its physical form. For example, in each shape, it replaces its normal Speeds and Strikes, and might potentially change its senses or size. Any changes are listed in its stat block.
Focus Beauty (emotion, mental, primal, visual) — On a failed save, if the target was already affected by the dryad queen's beauty, the target can't use hostile actions against the dryad queen for 1 hour.

The nymph queen focuses her beauty upon a target, who must attempt a save against her nymph's beauty aura (DC 30 Will save). If the creature fails and was already affected by the aura, it takes a greater effect described in the nymph queen's entry.

A nymph queen can Focus Beauty on a given creature only once per turn.
Inspiration (emotion, mental, primal) — The nymph queen inspires a single intelligent creature by giving that creature a token of her favor, typically a lock of her hair, though it can be some other significant object as well. As long as the creature carries her token and remains in good standing with her, the creature gains a +1 status bonus to all Crafting checks, Performance checks, and Will saves.

If the nymph grants her token to a bard, and she's the bard's muse, the queen chooses one additional benefit granted by her token: a +1 status bonus to all Lore checks, a +2 status bonus to Performance checks when determining the effects of compositions, a +4 status bonus to untrained skill checks, or a +2 status bonus to Will saves against fey.
Tree Meld (primal) — A One with Plants spell cast by a dryad has an unlimited duration.

In addition, if the dryad merges with any tree in her domain, she can choose to instead enter an extradimensional living space within the tree, and can bring up to eight adjacent, willing creatures with her; the spell gains the extradimensional trait. The dryad can still be expelled from this space.
Primal Prepared Spells DC 35, attack +25
7th Regenerate
6th Chain Lightning, Cursed Metamorphosis, Tangling Creepers
5th Banishment, Howling Blizzard
4th Fly, Mountain Resilience
3rd Earthbind, Haste, Wall of Thorns
2nd Animal Messenger, Clear Mind, Resist Energy, Revealing Light
1st Fleet Step, Gust of Wind, Heal, Pest Form, Summon Plant or Fungus
Cantrips (7th) Detect Magic, Frostbite, Guidance, Light, Stabilize
Primal Innate Spells DC 35, attack +25
8th Impaling Briars
5th Nature's Pathway
4th Suggestion
2nd Entangling Flora, One with Plants, Shape Wood
1st Charm
Cantrips (8th) Tangle Vine

WORKS WELL WITH

AnvilLANDA durable front-liner keeps enemies engaged while Immobilized targets from the beauty aura cannot escape to help their allies.
CrasherLANDA heavy striker can freely finish off a target that Focus Beauty has already forced out of hostile action against the queen.
SniperLANDA ranged attacker benefits most when the aura's Immobilized condition prevents targets from closing distance or taking cover.

PUNISHES

✖ low Will✖ clumping✖ melee reliance
Avoid stacking with another Will-save aura controller; the same targets failing one save are already locked down.
Works well with · Punishes · Pairing advice Unlock with Tactics

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Stat block data sourced from the Foundry VTT PF2E system under the Apache License 2.0. Source book: Pathfinder Monster Core.

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