Chapter 2

Stage 1: The rooted

Awake, aware, and unable to leave. A Stage 1 plant will sit in its furrow for fifty years if the soil never gives it more than it needs.

Nearly every Stage 1 creature has the Rooted trait, printed in full on each stat block that carries it: its Speed is 0 and can’t be increased, and it can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

The exceptions are the Rollrind and the Podswarm, which move freely, and the Runt Patch, which drags its roots along behind it.

Stage 1 and CR

A creature with Speed 0 is a hazard, not an encounter: anyone can walk around it. Every creature in this chapter earns its listed challenge rating only when one of these is true:

Terrain forces contact. A walled kitchen garden, a greenhouse, a hedge maze, furrows narrow enough that a 10-foot reach covers the path.
The plants are the objective. The party needs them harvested, cleared, or taken alive.
They’re guarding something. A Stage 1 patch around a cache is a cheap, patient alarm that never sleeps and can’t be bribed.
They’re supporting something mobile. One Stalkstrider among four rooted Maize Sentinels is a better fight than either alone.

In open ground with no clock, halve their effective challenge rating. The ash-grown plants are the exception, because they move.

Grinning Gourd

Small Plant, Unaligned

A pumpkin that has woken up and cut itself a face. It sits in the furrow where it grew, indistinguishable from the rest of the crop until the light comes on behind its eyes, and it keeps a coal of fire in its heart that it spends all at once when it dies. Left in rich ground for a season it thickens, tears free, and walks away as a gourdstalker.

AC: 13
Initiative: −2 (8)
HP: 18 (4d6+4)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	13	+1	+1	INT	5	−3	−3
DEX	6	−2	−2	WIS	11	+0	+0
CON	13	+1	+1	CHA	9	−1	−1

Vulnerabilities: Slashing
Immunities: Fire; Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages: Understands Sylvan but can’t speak
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

False Appearance. While the gourd is motionless and its face is unlit, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary pumpkin.

Ember Heart. When the gourd is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it splits open in a gout of flame. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 5-foot Emanation originating from it. Failure: 5 (2d4) Fire damage.

Actions

Vine Lash. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 10 ft. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) Bludgeoning damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it makes a DC 11 Strength saving throw, and on a failure is pulled 5 feet toward the gourd.

Seed Spray (Recharge 5–6). Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 15-foot Cone. Failure: 5 (2d4) Piercing damage, and the ground in the Cone becomes Difficult Terrain until a creature takes an action to clear it. Success: Half damage.

Bonus Actions

Grinflare. The gourd’s face blazes, shedding Bright Light in a 20-foot radius and Dim Light for another 20 feet until the end of its next turn. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 11, one creature the gourd can see within 30 feet. Failure: the Frightened condition until the end of that creature’s next turn.

Rollrind

Small Plant, Unaligned

What a pumpkin becomes in ground that has burned. Ash-grown gourds never root properly: a rollrind sits loose in the cinders, dry and light and full of something that wants out, and it moves the only way it can — downhill, in a straight line, fast, until it hits something. Then it stops being a rollrind.

AC: 12
Initiative: +2 (12)
HP: 16 (3d6+6)
Speed: 25 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	14	+2	+2	WIS	8	−1	−1
CON	14	+2	+2	CHA	9	−1	−1

Vulnerabilities: Slashing
Immunities: Fire; Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 9
CR: 1 (XP 200; PB +2)

Traits

Careening. The Rollrind moves only in straight lines and must use all its movement on its turn. If it enters a solid obstruction it stops and takes 3 (1d6) Bludgeoning damage. It is not Rooted.

Unstable Rind. The Rollrind detonates when reduced to 0 Hit Points, or at the end of its turn if it is within 5 feet of a creature that isn’t a Plant. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 15-foot Emanation originating from it. Failure: 10 (3d6) Fire damage and 7 (2d6) Bludgeoning damage. Success: Half damage. The Rollrind is then destroyed.

Volatile. If the Rollrind is subjected to Fire damage, it detonates immediately as described above.

False Appearance. While motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary pumpkin lying in a field.

Actions

Slam. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 2) Bludgeoning damage.

Weeping Onion

Small Plant, Unaligned

An onion that has woken and cannot stop crying about it. The air around it stings and blurs, and layer by layer it sheds itself as it takes hurt, growing thinner and angrier as it goes. It is the smallest of the waking crop and the most common, and it is why an onion bed is worked from upwind.

AC: 11
Initiative: −1 (9)
HP: 13 (3d6+3)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	10	+0	+0	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	8	−1	−1	WIS	10	+0	+0
CON	13	+1	+1	CHA	6	−2	−2

Resistances: Poison
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Poisoned, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR: 1/8 (XP 25; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Weeping Aura. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature that starts its turn in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the onion. Failure: the creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight until the start of its next turn. Creatures that have no eyes, or that have their eyes covered or closed, automatically succeed.

Peeling. Each time the onion takes damage from an attack, its AC decreases by 1 (minimum 8).

Actions

Root Jab. Melee Attack Roll: +2, reach 5 ft. Hit: 3 (1d6) Bludgeoning damage.

Acrid Burst (Recharge 6). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the onion. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target has the Blinded condition until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only. The onion’s AC then decreases by 2.

Maize Sentinel

Large Plant, Unaligned

Maize wakes in rows, never singly. A sentinel is one stalk of a stand that has started paying attention: it cannot move and it cannot chase, and it does not need to, because it rattles a warning the length of the field long before anyone reaches it. Where three or four stand together they close ranks, and the row becomes a wall.

AC: 12
Initiative: +0 (10)
HP: 22 (3d10+6)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	14	+2	+2	INT	5	−3	−3
DEX	10	+0	+0	WIS	12	+1	+1
CON	14	+2	+2	CHA	7	−2	−2

Vulnerabilities: Fire
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages: Understands Sylvan but can’t speak
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Stand of Stalks. While at least two other Maize Sentinels are within 30 feet, this creature gains a +2 bonus to AC, and its space and all spaces within 10 feet are Lightly Obscured.

Rustling Alarm. The sentinel can’t be surprised, and no Plant within 60 feet that can hear it can be surprised.

Actions

Whipping Stalk. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 15 ft. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) Slashing damage.

Bonus Actions

Husk Rattle. Until the start of the sentinel’s next turn, the first attack roll made by each other Plant within 60 feet has Advantage.

Chimeweed

Large Plant, Unaligned

Maize grown over a ley line comes up wrong — hollow-stemmed, glassy, and tuned. Chimeweed rings rather than rustles, a thin sound that carries much farther than it should and sets teeth on edge across a whole valley. Nothing crosses a stand of it unannounced.

AC: 13
Initiative: +0 (10)
HP: 32 (5d10+5)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	14	+2	+2	INT	6	−2	−2
DEX	10	+0	+0	WIS	14	+2	+2
CON	12	+1	+1	CHA	11	+0	+0

Vulnerabilities: Fire
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 60 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages: Understands all languages spoken near it but can’t speak
CR: 1 (XP 200; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The Chimeweed’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Discordant Rattle. The husks of the Chimeweed ring against each other at a frequency that will not let a word finish. A creature within 20 feet that casts a spell with a Verbal component must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or the spell fails and the spell slot is expended.

Chime Alarm. When the Chimeweed is disturbed, every other Chimeweed within 300 feet begins to ring, and every Plant within 300 feet knows the direction of the disturbance.

Actions

Whipping Stalk. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 15 ft. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) Slashing damage.

Thistleheart Cabbage

Medium Plant, Unaligned

A cabbage is a great many leaves wrapped tight around one small heart, and a woken one is the same arrangement with thorns. It cannot follow, but it can hold: whatever it catches it folds inward, layer over layer, and cutting back out takes a good deal longer than getting in.

AC: 15
Initiative: −2 (8)
HP: 19 (3d8+6)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	6	−2	−2	WIS	10	+0	+0
CON	15	+2	+2	CHA	5	−3	−3

Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Layered Heart. The first time the cabbage would be reduced to 0 Hit Points, it instead drops to 1 Hit Point, its outer leaves strip away, its AC becomes 11, and it loses its Resistances.

Actions

Barbed Fronds. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 10 ft. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 1) Piercing damage.

Grasping Leaves. Strength Saving Throw: DC 12, one creature within 10 feet. Failure: the target has the Restrained condition (escape DC 12). The cabbage can Restrain only one creature at a time.

Bloodvine Tomato

Medium Plant, Unaligned

A tomato plant that has woken ripens on its own schedule and throws what it grows. The fruit bursts on impact into something midway between juice and blood, and the vine sets more the moment it is hurt. A woken bed is harvested from behind a board, if at all.

AC: 12
Initiative: +2 (12)
HP: 33 (6d8+6)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	10	+0	+0	INT	5	−3	−3
DEX	14	+2	+2	WIS	11	+0	+0
CON	13	+1	+1	CHA	8	−1	−1

Resistances: Acid
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages: Understands Sylvan but can’t speak
CR: 1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Ripening. The tomato starts combat with 2 fruits and grows 1 at the start of each of its turns, to a maximum of 4.

Splatter. When reduced to 0 Hit Points, it bursts. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 5-foot Emanation. Failure: 3 (1d6) Acid damage, and the target is coated in pulp — Disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and Plants have Advantage on attack rolls against it, until it takes an action to scrape clean.

Actions

Hurl Fruit. Ranged Attack Roll: +4, range 40/120 ft. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) Acid damage. Consumes 1 fruit.

Pulp Burst (Recharge 5–6). Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point within 40 feet. Failure: 3 (1d6) Acid damage per fruit consumed. Success: Half damage. Consumes all stored fruits.

Blightspud

Small Plant, Unaligned

Potatoes wake underground and stay there. A blightspud comes up only to strike, and the rest of the time the only sign of one is the ground above it, which sours in a ring until nothing else will grow and standing in it becomes a bad idea. A quiet-looking acre can carry a dozen.

AC: 13
Initiative: +0 (10)
HP: 31 (7d6+7)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	5	−3	−3
DEX	10	+0	+0	WIS	12	+1	+1
CON	13	+1	+1	CHA	6	−2	−2

Resistances: Necrotic
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
CR: 1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Buried. The Blightspud is entirely underground. It has Total Cover until a creature locates it — with Tremorsense, a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, or an effect that turns the soil — after which it has Three-Quarters Cover instead. When it takes an action it surfaces, losing all cover until the end of its turn. A creature within 5 feet of a located Blightspud can take an action to dig it out, making a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check with Advantage if it is using a shovel, a spade, or a similar tool. On a success the Blightspud is uncovered and has no cover for the rest of the fight.

Blighted Soil. The ground in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the Blightspud is Difficult Terrain. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature that ends its turn there. Failure: 3 (1d6) Necrotic damage.

Actions

Root Snare. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 10 ft. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) Piercing damage, and if the target is Medium or smaller it has the Restrained condition (escape DC 12).

Spore Belch (Recharge 5–6). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 15-foot Cone. Failure: 10 (3d6) Necrotic damage, and the target’s Hit Point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the damage taken until it finishes a Long Rest. Success: Half damage, no reduction.

Wardbulb

Small Plant, Lawful Neutral

Garlic wakes kindly, which is rare enough to be worth writing down. A wardbulb roots itself over something buried and keeps watch: the ground around it turns hostile to the restless dead, and it will spend its own light to put a shield between a stranger and whatever is coming for them. Some churchyards have been held by one alone for years.

AC: 12
Initiative: +0 (10)
HP: 18 (4d6+4)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	8	−1	−1	INT	8	−1	−1
DEX	10	+0	+0	WIS	14	+2	+2
CON	12	+1	+1	CHA	12	+1	+1

Resistances: Necrotic
Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Blindsight 30 ft., Passive Perception 12
Languages: Common, Sylvan
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Consecrated Bed. Undead and Fiends in a 20-foot Emanation originating from the Wardbulb have Disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than the Wardbulb. An Undead that starts its turn within 10 feet takes 3 (1d6) Radiant damage.

Pungent. Creatures relying on smell have Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks while within 30 feet.

Actions

Radiant Mote. Ranged Attack Roll: +4, range 60 ft. Hit: 7 (2d6) Radiant damage.

Reactions

Ward. Trigger: A creature the Wardbulb can see within 10 feet is hit by an attack roll. Response: The Wardbulb grants that creature a +2 bonus to AC against the triggering attack, possibly causing it to miss.

Emberpod

Small Plant, Unaligned

A chili that has woken keeps the heat it always had and learns to aim. An emberpod spits a seed of fire at whatever comes down the row, and the burn lingers — breath catches, eyes stream, and any thought anyone was holding on to goes with it.

AC: 13
Initiative: +3 (13)
HP: 18 (4d6+4)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	8	−1	−1	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	16	+3	+3	WIS	10	+0	+0
CON	12	+1	+1	CHA	7	−2	−2

Immunities: Fire; Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Blindsight 30 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Capsaicin. A creature that takes damage from the Emberpod makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. On a failure it is Seared: it takes 2 (1d4) Fire damage at the start of each of its turns and has Disadvantage on saving throws to maintain Concentration. It repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

Actions

Spit Ember. Ranged Attack Roll: +5, range 30/60 ft. Hit: 5 (2d4) Fire damage, and the target is subject to Capsaicin.

Pod Burst (Recharge 6). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the pod. Failure: 7 (2d6) Fire damage, and the target is subject to Capsaicin. Success: Half damage.

Speartip Row

Medium Plant, Unaligned

Asparagus comes up in ranks, points first, and a woken bed keeps the formation. A speartip row sets itself against anything that charges and lets the charge do the work. Most people who wake one find out by walking into it.

AC: 14
Initiative: +0 (10)
HP: 19 (3d8+6)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	14	+2	+2	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	10	+0	+0	WIS	11	+0	+0
CON	14	+2	+2	CHA	6	−2	−2

Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Serried. The Speartip Row gains a +1 bonus to AC for each other Speartip Row within 10 feet, to a maximum of +3.

Actions

Spear Frond. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 15 ft. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) Piercing damage.

Reactions

Brace. Trigger: A creature enters the Speartip Row’s reach for the first time on a turn. Response: The Speartip Row makes one Spear Frond attack against it. If the triggering creature moved at least 20 feet straight toward the Speartip Row, the attack deals an extra 7 (2d6) Piercing damage on a hit.

Podswarm

Medium Swarm Of Tiny Plants, Unaligned

Peas wake as a crowd, never as a plant. A podswarm is a few hundred pods that have split, put out legs of root, and gone looking together; individually they are nothing, and they are never individual. They rattle as they move, which is the only warning anyone gets.

AC: 12
Initiative: +2 (12)
HP: 36 (8d8)
Speed: 20 ft., Climb 20 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	6	−2	−2	INT	2	−4	−4
DEX	15	+2	+2	WIS	8	−1	−1
CON	10	+0	+0	CHA	4	−3	−3

Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Incapacitated, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned
Senses: Blindsight 20 ft., Passive Perception 9
CR: 1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)

Traits

Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and it can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny Plant. It can’t regain Hit Points or gain Temporary Hit Points. It is not Rooted — ripe pods drop from the vine and travel.

Rattling Mass. The swarm’s space is Difficult Terrain for creatures that aren’t Tiny.

Actions

Gnashing Pods. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 0 ft., one creature in the swarm’s space. Hit: 10 (4d4) Piercing damage, or 5 (2d4) Piercing damage if the swarm is at half Hit Points or fewer.

Reactions

Scatter. Trigger: The swarm takes damage from an effect with an area. Response: The swarm moves up to half its Speed.

Snaproot

Small Plant, Unaligned

A carrot that has woken points the wrong way. All of it is underground except the crown, and the first anyone knows of a bed of them is the sound of someone stepping into one. Pull it up and it snaps, and the half still in the soil goes on growing.

AC: 13
Initiative: −1 (9)
HP: 18 (4d6+4)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	8	−1	−1	WIS	11	+0	+0
CON	12	+1	+1	CHA	5	−3	−3

Immunities: Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 10
CR: 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Buried Point. The snaproot’s spike sits just under the soil. A creature that enters its space for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there makes a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4 (1d8) Piercing damage on a failure.

Snap. When the snaproot is reduced to 0 Hit Points, its crown snaps off and the buried root remains. Its space is Difficult Terrain until a creature takes an action to dig the root out.

Actions

Skewer. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 5 ft. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) Piercing damage.

Root Surge (Recharge 5–6). Spikes erupt from the soil. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 11, each creature in a 10-foot square within 15 feet. Failure: 5 (2d4) Piercing damage, and the target’s Speed is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn. Success: Half damage only.

Numbknot

Small Plant, Unaligned

Ginger wakes as a knot of joined roots that never quite finished being one plant. It cannot move and does not need to: the air over a numbknot bed goes thick and cold, hands slow, and the field takes twice as long to cross as it should.

AC: 12
Initiative: −1 (9)
HP: 33 (6d6+12)
Speed: 0 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	4	−3	−3
DEX	8	−1	−1	WIS	12	+1	+1
CON	14	+2	+2	CHA	5	−3	−3

Immunities: Poison; Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, Poisoned, Prone
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 11
CR: 1/2 (XP 100; PB +2)

Traits

Rooted. The creature’s Speed is 0 and can’t be increased. It can’t be moved against its will or have the Prone condition imposed on it while it has more than 0 Hit Points.

Numbing Haze. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature that starts its turn in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the numbknot. Failure: the creature’s Speed is reduced by 10 feet and it has Disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws until the start of its next turn.

Pungent Root. A creature that hits the numbknot with a melee attack makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, it has the Poisoned condition until the end of its next turn.

Actions

Root Jab. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 5 ft. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) Bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.

Numbing Burst (Recharge 5–6). Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 10-foot Emanation originating from the numbknot. Failure: 7 (2d6) Poison damage, and the target has the Poisoned condition for 1 minute, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns. Success: Half damage only.

Runt Patch

Large Swarm Of Small Plants, Unaligned

Not every bed gets what it needs. A runt patch is a whole plot that woke hungry — a dozen half-grown things of no particular species, dragging their roots behind them because they never had the strength to tear free cleanly. They go for whatever is weakest, and they are always hungry.

AC: 12
Initiative: +1 (11)
HP: 45 (7d10+7)
Speed: 15 ft.

Ability	Score	Mod	Save	Ability	Score	Mod	Save
STR	12	+1	+1	INT	3	−4	−4
DEX	12	+1	+1	WIS	8	−1	−1
CON	13	+1	+1	CHA	4	−3	−3

Resistances: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Immunities: Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained, Stunned
Senses: Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 9
CR: 1 (XP 200; PB +2)

Traits

Swarm. The Patch can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and can move through any opening large enough for a Small Plant. It can’t regain Hit Points or gain Temporary Hit Points.

Half-Rooted. The Patch drags its roots as it moves. Its Speed can’t be increased, and it can’t be moved against its will.

Starving. The Patch has Advantage on attack rolls against any creature that is below half its Hit Point maximum, or that has fewer Hit Points than any other creature in the Patch’s space.

Actions

Gnaw and Grasp. Melee Attack Roll: +3, reach 0 ft., one creature in the Patch’s space. Hit: 11 (2d10) Piercing damage, or 5 (1d10) if the Patch is at half Hit Points or fewer, and the target’s Speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn as roots wrap its ankles.