Viper Tree
Overview
These nightmarish plants are abundant in the Lower Planes, especially Gehenna & the Abyss. They appear as knotted and gnarled trees with gray bark, but the tips of their branches bear not flowers but snakes. These snakes coil amongst the branches of the viper tree, such that its branches are constantly amassed with hissing and waving serpents.Fiendish Life Cycle
Viper tree larvae hatch from eggs laid by fully-grown viper trees and seek out lesser fiends and soul larvae on which they can feed and root inside of. As they grow, wood covers their scaly exterior and more snakes sprout from their budding branches. In its adult form, a viper tree begins to murmur in Abyssal. One can identify a grove of viper trees by the susurrations gloating about its recent kills and the hoard which it has accumulated around its trunk. In their adult form, snake blossoms which are severed from the tree can continue to move and attack the prey of their father tree.Wretched Stench
Viper trees are not only dangerous for their paralytic venom but also the astonishingly vile stench of rotting flesh that they exude. This putrid odor is so pungent that it poisons the very air and causes any creature which smells it to vomit and reel from dizziness. Some yugoloths whisper that this stench is new to viper trees and was bred into the population by a mysterious lich who transplanted viper tree saplings in the Shadowfell to protect his lair.Viper Tree CR: 10 (5,900 XP)
STR
16 +3
DEX
16 +3
CON
15 +2
INT
13 +1
WIS
15 +2
CHA
12 +1
Regeneration. The viper tree regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If the viper tree takes necrotic damage, this trait doesn’t function at the start of the viper tree’s next turn. The viper tree dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate. Wretched Stench. Any creature other than a fiend that starts its turn within 30 feet of the viper tree must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned in this way, the target cannot move or take actions while it retches and reels. A creature may repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a success. Creatures that don’t need to breathe or are immune to poison automatically succeeds on this saving throw.
Actions
Multiattack. The viper tree makes four attacks: one with its roots and two with its bite. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 feet, one target. Hit: 1d10 + 3 piercing damage plus 4d6 poison damage, and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Roots. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 30 feet, one target. Hit: 2d8 + 3 bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained and has disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, and the viper tree can’t use its roots on another target.
Reactions
Viper Blossoms. When the viper tree is subjected to slashing or fire damage, some of the serpents on its branches break off and fall to the ground. These viper blossoms use the statistics of a swarm of poisonous snakes. The swarm appears in a space within 5 feet of the viper tree and act as an ally of the viper tree.
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