Background: Linkage Associate

An innate curiosity in the arcane, a dedication towards maintaining balance, and a lust for communal knowledge are the principle membership requirements for The Linkage. The Linkage is a multi-continental syndicate of mages who carefully monitor the world governments for signs of magical tampering or plans of magical weapon use. At night, they visit the Grand Network, a dream demiplane and gathering place for the members. One does not necessarily need to be a wizard to enter their ranks.

Regardless of status, talent, or wealth, Linkage members undergo rigorous testing and begin their tenure at the bottom of the faction.

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Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, plus one among Insight, History, or Persuasion

Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher’s Supplies

Languages: Any two (most likely the commonly spoken ones wherever you are stationed)

Equipment: A set of fine robes, a small chain of metal signifying your rank, a collection of magical trinkets, a dream journal, a fine fountain pen, a pouch containing 10 gp.

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Contributing Study

Like a wizard selects a spell school to study, you are dedicated to the observation of a certain school of magic. When making Arcana checks or when using dispel magic on an magic from your selected school, reduce the DC of the check by 5.

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Feature: Grand Network

Each night you may choose to spend an hour meditating with your chain before a long rest. If you do, you visit the Grand Network in your dreams, a demiplane populated with the other currently-dreaming members of The Linkage. You may choose to bring a manifestation of an item into the Grand Network. The high-ranking mages present may cast spells such as identify, remove curse, detect good and evil, legend lore, etc. for you as long as you bring any requisite material components.

While you are visiting the Grand Network, your physical body can not be roused from sleep until 8 hours pass.

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Suggested Characteristics

Linkage members can be found all over the world and with a variety of personalities. Above all else, their fascination with the arcane world drives their studies and motives.

Plant Dossier: Leaping Willow

“Look! Up there! It’s a dragon!”

“No! It’s a wyvern.”

“What are you all talking about? It’s a tree!” — A concerned adventuring party

Type: Deciduous tree

Where to Find: Forests, cloud giant gardens, the ocean, anywhere it flies. Comfortable range: -20° - 120° F

Distinguishing Features: Flat lightweight branches sticking straight up.

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When Trees Fly

Among the various phenomena in the world that run the risk of making paranoid adventurers feel unsound, the leaping willow is one of the most innocuous. Soaring at heights reaching 15000 ft. the leaping willow certainly defies what is expected of most trees. Like a hang glider, these trees use their unique branches to briskly sail through the air. With enough luck, the leaping willow will catch updrafts, wind currents, and flocks of birds to keep it airborne for as long as possible.

The leaping willow isn’t always in the sky necessarily, nor is it born of the sky. Instead, these trees grow and live much like other willows. Where they differ can be seen in their branches and interesting reactions to storms. The flat branches of the leaping willow jut upwards, forming multiple “wings” that catch breezes well. During a storm, hurricane, or tornado the heavy winds can exert a large amount of pressure on the branches to the point where the whole tree uproots!

The leaping willow’s wooden branches, while sturdy enough to catch hurricane-force winds without snapping, are light like balsa wood. In and after a storm, the leaping willow will be launched away from the spot where it took root. In the air, the willow rapidly lets off water by creating seeds. Droplet-shaped nuts form on the branches after about 5 days and fall to the ground if the tree is still aloft after this time. This is the only way the tree proliferates.

The sky-linked nature of the tree makes it a favorite inclusion within the temperate and blustery gardens of cloud giant palaces. Additionally, certain groups of ocean-crossing seabirds will use the tree as a temporary roost as it flies through the air. Some bird species have even been spotted forming a large flock around the soaring tree, using coordinated wing flaps to aid the tree in hovering across the seas.

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Gameplay Effects

Leaping willows can be caught from the air and taken back to the ground through flight-assisted means. A seed may be found after one flies overhead by succeeding a DC 12 Nature check.

Potion Ingredient. Muddling the fluid-heavy seeds of a leaping willow produces a cyan-colored paste. This paste can be used to create a potion of flying by using the rules presented in pages 128+129 of the DMG.

Plant Dossier: Weaver Wisteria

“The bond between creatures is far more complex and interwoven than any invisible magic web. The beauty of it is how close some of these bonds can be.” — Noldorian

Type: Flowering legume; pseudotree

Where to Find: Taigas, deciduous forests. Comfortable range (unaided): 67° - 87° F / (aided) -12° - 112° F

Distinguishing Features: Fuchsia leaves and curling tresses of wisteria flowers.

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Symbiosis

The unmistakable vibrancy of a weaver wisteria can be spotted from miles away. These rare trees are incredibly delicate and fragile but are prized for their beauty and copious growths of flowers. The flowers curl in unique flowing bundles, carrying with them a scent like newly made candy. The bark of a weaver wisteria is a dull sickly red color, damp, and porous, making it prone to disease. Gardeners have struggled to grow and raise weaver wisterias in a controlled environment for years. The tree dies within a matter of minutes when outside its comfortable range.

That being said, the weaver wisteria is found in taigas and areas with cold winters. The tree owes its persistence in the wild to a unique species of ant: Weaver Mites. The tree has come to earn its name from these ants. The ants are extremely miniscule, about as big as a strand of hair is wide (or 0.008 inches). Yet, they share a unique relationship with the tree. Queen weaver mites share their nuptial flights with the germination period of weaver wisteria seeds. After mating, instead of finding a nest, a queen weaver mite will locate a seed underground and proceed to burrow inside. The weaver mite colony then grows in tandem with the tree.

The principle benefit of the ant lies in the gossamer thread they expunge from their mouths. This thread has been found to be marvelously insulating and moisture-repelling. The microscopic ants will slowly patch the porous holes of the tree, protecting it and altering its comfortable range. As flowers grow, the queen will move into a cluster. This initial clustered, called the throneroom branch, is adorned in thread. Even in winter, this branch remains fully bloomed and protected. As the colony grows, the queen will essentially clone herself and produce new queens and drones, who breed internally and move into new branches called annex branches. Finally, when the tree is matured, the queen will give birth to genetically varied queens who will fly from the throneroom branch and attempt to find new seeds (often from their origin tree).

In exchange for this complex protection network, the weaver wisteria produces a rich golden sap in its trunk and roots. This is the primary food source for weaver mites, and a colony would quickly die if it was compromised. Only a few lucky individuals have gotten to taste the wisteria’s syrup; it is said to elongate one’s lifespan.

With all this in mind, it is easy to see why the eternally blossomed weaver wisteria is a welcome and heart-racing site for the naturalistically-minded adventurer.

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Gameplay Effects

Weaver wisterias may be carefully extracted and preserved for a period of 1d4 days with a successful DC 20 Nature check. This grants you a wisteria mantle for the time period rolled. This will not be sufficient to grow a tree.

With a DC 25 Nature check, and during early spring, an infested germinated weaver wisteria seed may be discovered in the ground around a healthy plant.

Wisteria Mantle
(rare, consumable)

The curling bundles of soft wisteria flowers drape your chest and shoulders. With this mantle equipped whenever you would drop to 0 HP you may choose to expend half your hit dice and regain the number rolled as though you had taken a short rest. The mantle immediately withers and crumples afterwards.

Potion Ingredient. The coveted sap of a weaver wisteria may be slowly extracted through the careful use of a treetap. You gain 1 mL of wisteria sap each month through this method. This sap may be used to brew a potion of superior healing by using the rules presented in pages 128+129 of the DMG.

Plant Dossier: Dreamvynn

“I wish these things grew everywhere. Seems like no one in this party ever wants to quietly stand watch at night. Don’t drink too much though, heh, made that mistake once and I hardly noticed we had entered dragon territory!” — Dunall Trubberdown

Type: Climbing vine

Where to Find: Jungles, wetlands, rainforests, tropical beaches. Comfortable range: 62° - 150° F

Distinguishing Features: Fat and tubular. Milky blue veins intricately webbed across the surface. Sloshes when shaken.

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Sleep Easy

Used by druidic shamans for centuries, dreamvynn is a plant prized for its high water content and sleep-inducing properties. Much like a taproot, when dreamvynn is cut into, it releases a gushing torrent of milky liquid called “reverie wine.” Reverie wine coats the mouth in a thin slippery film and subtly tastes like white grapes. The fluid is also jam-packed with a mild poison that causes a deep yet vibrant sleep.

The plant gets its name for the incredible dreams the torpor wine often induces. In the past, these dreams were thought to be prophetic and deeply insightful. Opponents to the wine’s use claim that the brain simply becomes hyperactive during the long periods of rest. Drinking reverie wine often knocks people out for almost 12 hours.

The modern uses for dreamvynn and reverie wine are varied. Adventurers who have trouble resting may carry a small vial to bring about easier sleep. Many use reverie wine as a recreational drug, lavishing in the long and intricate dreams. Some underground groups use the fluid to poison politicians or businessmen, making them sleep through important meetings or deadlines.

Though the sleep is easy to break out of, but the effects are hard to shake off without proper rest. The drug will remain in a user’s system long after she is spontaneously awoken unless it is allowed to fully break down in her sleep.

There is a risk of overdosing on reverie wine. Though the fluid isn’t necessarily deadly or harmful, too much can cause users to drop into an endless slumber. Many adventurers have suffered this fate, falling into a days-long slumber and slowly starving and dehydrating. Others willingly fall into this state. Some druidic circles administer large amounts of reverie wine to top members, tending to them as they fall into years-long dreams. These senior druids are called “Torpor Muses” and believe this level of self-introspection leads to a certain type of personal enlightenment.

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Gameplay Effects

Dreamvynn cannot be extracted. But it can be easily cut to extract reverie wine.

Reverie Wine (Ingested): A creature subjected to this poison may choose to make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failure the target falls into a deep slumber for 1d4 + 10 hours and is considered unconscious. Another creature may use an action to awaken a creature subjected to this poison. If this occurs before the number of hours rolled, the subjected creature takes 1d3 points of exhaustion.

Plant Dossier: Lily of the Bog

“It was my third day in the Jobbaco Swamp… bloody miserable. I was to hunt down a coven of green hags that had taken up shop deep within. Tricky bunch, they were. The mosquitos and mud were oppressive. But I swear, the smell of those flowers ringing the hag’s hut were worse than the ladies themselves.” — Elassia Volgenshire

Type: Flower (bulb)

Where to Find: Swamps, bogs, cesspools, swales. Comfortable range: 73° - 92° F

Distinguishing Features: White petals with mottled green and orange centers

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Putrid Petals

The dreaded lily of the bog is a distant relative of the lily of the valley. Like its counterpart, lily of the bog grow in clusters of small flowers, are primarily white in color, and spread rapidly. The similarities end there for the lily of the bog is further adorned with green and orange colors near the center of the bulb-like flowers. Additionally, each bulb has 4-7 bright orange stamen. These stamen are responsible for the flower’s most distinctive feature: its odor. Like other plants such as the corpse flower, lily of the bog emits a putrid rotting scent that attracts biting insects. Horrendously, clusters of lily of the bog plants often grow around puddles of standing water, making the air above the plants buzz in dark clouds of mating mosquitos.

Ranger conclaves and druidic circles have tales on the origin of lily of the bog. In these excerpts of folklore, a pair of women live an idyllic and romantic life together far removed outside any city or town. In their happy union the couple was unaware of a looming flood sweeping its way towards their homestead. While both the couple and their home survived the flood, one was stricken by pneumonia. With their home surrounded by water, it took many days until help could be sought. Eventually, a doctor was found— but far too late. The woman passed away quietly in their homestead. The legend says that the grief and woe of her partner was so great that the flood never fully drained away, the waters now corrupt from death, sickness, and tears. Now an abandoned swamp, the flowers themselves withered and rotted into lilies of the bog.

This story has never been verified and is claimed to be false by most scholars; with some even saying it is harmful rhetoric related to hags. This may be because hags and other mire-dwelling creatures tend to use lily of the bog around their dwellings to deter intruders. Regardless of the tale’s truth, the sickly miasma of these flowers cannot be understated.

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Gameplay Effects

Lily of the bog may be extracted by succeeding in a DC 10 Nature check.

Spell Component. Lily of the bog may be used as a spell component for the Stinking Cloud spell.

Pungent. Lily of the bog emits a harsh and noticeable odor in a 5 ft. square around it.

Potion Ingredient. Lily of the Bog may be used with an Herbalism Kit to make a Potion of Poison. Follow the magic-item crafting rules on pages 128 + 129 of the DMG.

Plant Dossier: Basset-Fur Moss

“I never liked the idea of pullin’ fur out of a poor bloodhound to find another animal. Like, what if I wanted to find a bloodhound? Also I wouldn’t want anyone pullin’ on my hair, just seems mean.” — Thistle Treetrot

Type: Flowerless bryophyte

Where to Find: Tree branches, sharp rocks, humid & wet areas. Comfortable range: -22° - 104° F

Distinguishing Features: Speckled tricolor (brown, white, black) clumps

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It’s the Fuzz

Basset-Fur Moss may look rather drab and unnatural when found in the wild, but really it is quite innocuous. The moss holds an impressive amount of water in non-vascular clumps. The strange coloration of the moss causes these clumps to look like matted down fur. This, combined with the pungent odor the wet moss gives off, gives the Basset-Fur Moss its name.

While unimpressive in the wild, the moss is beloved by animals and rangers. When carefully scraped off whatever it is clinging to, the moss can be dried over a period of hours. As the water evaporates and leaves the Basset-Fur Moss, the clumps puff up and expand into a plush downy material. The lush softness of the moss carries warmth and makes it a fantastic insulator. It is not uncommon to meet rangers who have decorated their armor in the moss. Animals prize the moss and it has been seen anywhere from rabbit’s dens to roc’s nests.

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Gameplay Effects

Bassett-Fur Moss may be extracted by succeeding a DC 10 Nature check.

False Spell Component. Basset-Fur Moss may be used as a substitute for any “Bloodhound Fur” spell component.

Insulating. By using 5 lbs. of Basset-Fur Moss to decorate armor, the armor can be considered cold-weather clothing.

Potion Ingredient. Basset-Fur Moss may be used with an Herbalism Kit to make a Potion of Animal Friendship. Follow the magic-item crafting rules on pages 128 + 129 of the DMG.

Plant Dossier: Gold-Pouch Pitcher

“Never trust a sack of coin you find nestled into a nook in the woods. Never trust one you find in the middle of a dungeon either… actually a good rule of thumb is to just stay away from suspicious looking sacks.” — Voltar

Type: Carnivorous, acid

Where to Find: Forest edges, city parks, cave entrances. Comfortable range: 43° - 92° F

Distinguishing Features: Beige burlap-textured outside. Numerous sparkling gold bulbs inside.

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Tempting Tricksters

The Gold-Pouch Pitcher is a carnivorous plant infamous for tricking greedy adventurers. More closely related to a mimic than a pitcher plant, the Gold-Pouch Pitcher lures and consumes prey with a deadly silent fervor.

Gold-Pouches attach themselves to other matter to grow. Typically, they will wrap a long cream-colored vine around a tree trunk or rock 2 or 3 times. Afterwards, it takes 7-10 days for the pitfall leaf to grow. These leaves are quite heavy, with most sagging down far enough to touch the ground.

Unlike pitcher plants, Gold-Pouches do not emit a scent. Instead, once their pitfalls touch the ground numerous small coin-sized bulbs sprout inside the pitfall. These bulbs form a copious looking shimmering layer that reflects light. The bulbs are beautiful and enticing and give the Gold-Pouch its name. They are also tremendously sticky.

Goblins, kobolds, crows, and unknowing adventurers are all counted among the Gold-Pouch’s victims. When a creature attempts to snag a “coin” from the plant, the sticky blubs adhere to the creature. Then, the pitfall lurches inward, often drawing a whole arm (or entire small animals) into the plant where they are quickly sprayed with corrosive digestive fluids.

Gold-Pouches are highly energy efficient and have incredibly slow metabolisms. They can survive for months off a single captured goblin. As if to further taunt ever more immense prey, Gold-Pouches go through a strong period of growth once a year. Some have reported finding Gold-Pouches with bulbs the size of dragon hoards in dense jungles.

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Gameplay Effects

Adhesive Bulbs. Whenever a creature reaches inside the Gold-Pouch Pitcher it must make a DC 10 Strength saving throw. If it fails it is considered grappled and takes 1d4 acid damage. The creature may attempt to make the saving throw again at the start of its turn. A creature reduced to 0 HP by this ability is swallowed by the plant.

False Appearance. The Gold-Pouch Pitcher is mostly indistinguishable from a bag of coins. A creature must succeed on a DC 10 Perception or Nature check to recognize the plant’s true nature.

By succeeding on a DC 15 Nature check a creature may harvest the pitfall leaf. The pitfall leaf operates as the following item:

Gold-Pouch Capture Bag
(common, mundane item)

This bag is used to lure and trap creatures. This item has the “Adhesive Bulbs” and “False Appearance” abilities. You can use your action to throw the bag a number of feet equal to 10 × your Strength modifier (minimum 10 ft.).

Plant Dossiers: A Primer

Hey!

If there’s one thing I love in my D&D games, it’s basic stuff. Seriously, I go nuts over things like plants, rocks, animals… legendary items are great and all but there’s something about the charm of the mundane I can’t resist. In fact, I like them so much that over the past year I’ve made dozens of unique plants for my own games.

This is gonna be for that. Well, I should say that this will be for three things:

1. Further develop the plants I have made.

2. Create new plants.

3. Share it all with you!

Will I only post about plants? Eh, who knows. Starting is the main thing and I get lots of ideas. I may share them here if they are good enough! If nothing else, this will be a nice way to either add variety to your games or provide a clean-looking avenue to view lots of silly ideas.