The adventuring party has formed from the few survivors that manged to escape the mutant invasion. They strike out across the wilderness of the World Above. During the journey, they encounter some of the feral mutants that thrive in the World Above.
The Journey Begins
You set out, following the remnants of the road that was built before the Spellburn, hoping it will lead somewhere that will grant you refuge. Even the trees and shrubs around you hint of danger. While some look similar to the images you've seen in books of the greenery that once existed, others have clearly been twisted by the Blight. Their roots have all but destroyed the surface of this old road - it is sometimes difficult to see where the road leads. But you manage. Eventually (HOW MUCH TIME HERE?), you come to a fork in the road. Do you go to the left or the right?
If the party goes to the right, they will enter the Dead Trees region. If they go to the left,their first encounter will be The Deadly Trees.
The Dead Trees
As you continue following the road, you notice that the forest seems to be thinning out a bit, and even the sparse foliage of the mutated trees is lessening. Before long, you are traveling through a region of little more than long-dead trees. Darkened trunks and bare, spindly limbs move slighly in the breeze; The brittle sticks that are all that remains of shrubs snap easily as you brush against them.
Suddenly, an ominous shadow passes over you, causing you to look up and around. As you do, you spy several dark forms flapping their leathery wings as they streak toward you.
This encounter will be with 2 VIchulkha. Have the party roll for initiative and conduct combat. The creatures will use their Reach to attack the party in fly-by approaches, though two of the party's weapons will be able to strike them anyway. Attacks are with two claws. If both claws hit, the creature can attempt a Grab, and if that is successful, it can also attempt its bite attack. If the Grab is successful, the creature can be attacked by others on the ground without reach being required.
If a Vichulkha drops below 17 hit points, they can no longer fly; they are grounded and accesible for normal melee attacks.
Defense
AC: 14 (natural armour)
HP:
35
5D8+15
Fortitude: +3 Reflex: +3 Will: +0
Offense
Speed: 30 ft (60 ft fly)
Melee: 2 Claws: To Hit +3 , ( 1d8+3 slashing damage) plus grab
Rending Fangs: To Hit +3 , ( 1d6+3 slashing damage). This creature can only bite when on the ground, not while airborne.
Space: 10 Reach: 10 ft
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 8
Base Attack: +3 CMB: +5 CMD: 19
Skills: Fly +5, Intimidate +5, Stealth +2
Racial Modifiers: +2 to perception when flying, +5 to intimidate
Languages: None
Ecology
Environment: Wasteland
Organization: Solitary
The Deadly Trees
The deeper you get into this twisted forest, the stranger the plants seem to become. Recalling images of the world before the Spellburn, you might think this was turning into what the ancients would have called a jungle. The plants are thicker; it is getting harder and harder to keep to the road. You find yourself entering a patch of growth where some of the trees appear to be laden with some sort of large fruit. Fleshy pods as big as a human or elf hang underneath a canopy of huge leaves. Vines hang from most of the trees and run along the ground and across the road. Just ahead, one of the strange fruit-bearing trees grows right in the middle of the old road; a few of its strange fruits hanging low enough that you could possibly reach them.
As the party gets within 20' of the Acuminata, have them roll Will Saves (DC14). On a failed save, they have been affected by a spore ejection and will think nothing of passing right next to the tree. On a successful save, they will be wary of getting too close to the fruit, and hence the body of the tree.
Defense
AC: 18
HP:
18
2D8+10
Fortitude: +3 Reflex: +2 Will: +1
Immune: Poison
Weaknesses: Fire
Offense
Melee: 3 vines: +4 ( 1d6+4 plus grab and pull)
Special Attacks: Hallucinatory Spores (Ex):
Once per day as a standard action, a acuminata tree can release a cloud of spores in a 20-foot-radius spread. Creatures in the area must make a DC 14 Will save or believe the giant acuminata tree to be a perfectly ordinary tree—or at worst, a treant or some other friendly tree-like creature. An affected creature becomes passive for 1d6 minutes and refuses to attack the giant acuminata tree during this time. An affected creature can attempt a new Will save each round that the tree attacks an ally—if a hallucinating creature is attacked by the tree, it gains a +4 bonus on its Will save to see through the hallucination. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Vines (Ex)
A giant acuminata tree's vines are primary attacks that deal bludgeoning damage. When a giant acuminata tree grapples a foe with its vines, the tree does not gain the grappled condition. A giant acuminata tree that uses swallow whole transfers a pinned creature from a vine to nearby leaves, which form a cocoon around them.
The giant acuminata tree lies waiting for victims to wander by. These carnivorous plants are incredibly patient, and can wait for months for food to approach. When prey does draw near, the tree's vines lash like striking snakes. The tree often uses its pull ability to hoist grappled foes 10 to 15 feet in the air so that they are out of reach of allies while the nearby leaves forms a cocoon around them, which often becomes the victim's final resting place.
Cocoon (Ex)
Once grabbed by the vines, the tree will try to transport it's victim 15ft up to nearby leaves, which will wrap themselves around them. This takes 1d3 rounds, during which time they get a DC 14 Strength check to escape. Once in the leave's grasp the escape DC increases by +2 each round and they also take 1d6 acid damage each as they slowly get dissolved.
Space: 15 ft Reach: 15 ft
Statistics
Str 18, Dex 8, Con 20, Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Attack: +1 (+4 to grapple) CMB: +7 CMD: 16 (immune to trip)
Feats: Improved Initiative
Languages: None
Ecology
Environment: Wasteland
Resembling a form of banana tree with enormous fruit, these trees are to be avoided at all costs. The 'fruit' were once people or animals that wandered too close and were caught in the deadly grasp of its vines then consumed by the huge leaves that form a cocoon around them. The unfortunate victim then gets slowly dissolved by the acid secreted by their deadly tomb. In their place grows one of the acuminata fruit, ready to spawn another of these deadly trees.
Defense
AC: 15, touch 9, flat-footed 15 (+6 natural, –1 size)
HP:
30
(4d8+12)
Fortitude: +7 Reflex: +1 Will: +2
Immune: electricity, plant traits;
DR: cold 10 and fire 10
Offense
Speed: 5 ft
Melee: slam +7 ( 1d8+7 plus grab)
Special Attacks: constrict ( 1d8+7 ), entangle
Camouflage (Ex)
Since an assassin vine looks like a normal plant when at rest, a DC 20 Perception check is required to notice it before it attacks for the first time. Anyone with ranks in Survival or Knowledge (nature) can use either of those skills instead of Perception to notice the plant.
Entangle (Su)
An assassin vine can, as a free action, cause plants within 30 feet of it to animate and grasp at foes. This ability is otherwise similar to entangle (CL 4th, DC 13). The save DC is Wisdom-based.
Space: 10 ft Reach: 10 ft
Statistics
Str 20, Dex 10, Con 16, Int —, Wis 13, Cha 9
Base Attack: +3 CMB: +9 (+13 grapple CMD: 19 (can’t be tripped)
SQ: camouflage
Ecology
Environment: temperate forests
Organization: solitary, pair, or patch (3–6)
Treasure: incidental
The assassin vine is a carnivorous plant that collects its own grisly fertilizer by grabbing and crushing animals and depositing the carcasses near its roots. These remarkable plants can see minute movements in the earth and air and detect changes in light and heat through their broad leaves, giving them exceptional awareness of the area around them. Possessing no intelligence or agenda, they lash out at whatever living things pass nearby, regardless of the target’s size, sentience, or potential deadliness. A mature plant consists of a main vine, about 20 feet long; smaller vines up to 5 feet long branch off from the main vine about every 6 inches. These small vines bear clusters of leaves, and in late summer they produce bunches of small fruits that resemble wild blackberries. The fruit is tough and has a hearty and typically bitter flavor, although some say the berries change in taste depending on what victims composted a given plant’s roots. The most murderous assassin vines supposedly produce the sweetest berries.
An assassin vine can move about, but usually stays put unless it needs to seek prey in a new vicinity. The plants use simple tactics, lying still until prey comes within reach and then attacking. Once an assassin vine is engaged, it pursues prey (albeit slowly) in order to catch and compost the creature. The plants prove tenacious, as long as their quarry remains within sight. Once a creature moves beyond the plant’s ability to perceive it, the unthinking vine falls still and lies in wait for the next passerby.
Assassin vines lurk within dense forests and swamps, but some might encroach upon poorly tended fields and vineyards. The vine’s seeds might be spread far by birds swift enough to pluck them and escape. Tales often tell of assassin vines appearing in flower beds or infiltrating greenhouses, murderous surprises planted by rivals and enemies or arbitrary doom dropped by unsuspecting wing.
The Gorge
Defense
AC: 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +2 natural, +1 size)
HP:
17
(2d8+8)
Fortitude: +7 Reflex: +5 Will: +0
Offense
Speed: 5 ft., swim 30 ft., burrow 20ft.
Melee: Bite: +3 ( 1d6+1 piercing damage). Target is grappled on a successful hit.
Special Attacks: Bore: While a target has a lamprey attached after a successful grapple, on its subsequent turns it can bore into the victim's flesh, dealing 1d6+3 piercing damage each time. A contested Strength check, versus the lamprey's Strength, is required to remove the creature. On each successful bore attack the victim gets a -2 on the Strength check to remove it, as the lamprey burrows deeper into their flesh.
Space: 5 ft Reach: 5 ft
Statistics
Str 13, Dex 14, Con 19, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 6
Base Attack: +1 CMB: +1 CMD: 13 (can’t be tripped)
Feats: Improved Initiative
Skills: Escape Artist +10, Perception +4, Stealth +10, Swim +9;
Racial Modifiers: +8 Escape Artist
Languages: None
Ecology
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary, Group (2-10)
Defense
AC: 15 (natural armour)
HP:
10
2D6+4
Fortitude: +0 Reflex: +2 Will: +0
Weaknesses: Fire
Offense
Speed: 20 ft (20ft burrow)
Melee: Bite: Hit -2 ( 1d4 piercing damage and 1d4 acid damage)
Space: 5 ft Reach: 5 ft
Statistics
Str 6, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 4, Wis 4, Cha 4
Base Attack: +2 CMB: +2 CMD: 11
Skills: Stealth +8
Languages: None
Ecology
Environment: Underground
Organization: Any
Crossing the River
The Race for the Gate
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