Killer Spruce
A spiteful evergreen that tolerates no living thing beneath it, flailing passersby with iron-hard needles and, when finally felled, toppling onto its killers.
Appearance
Only its needles, far harder than normal, betray it, and whoever looks that closely is already being attacked. Saplings behave like ordinary trees until fully grown.
Combat
It lashes its lowest boughs down and inward at anything below, and loves elven prey most. About 15% have mildly venomous needles: a victim saves vs. poison at +3 or falls into a coma for 1-4 turns, and the spruce gains +4 to hit the sleeper. Blunt weapons deal only a quarter of their damage, while fire is deadly to it, and it saves against fire at -4. At 0 hit points or below it crashes down on its attackers for 5-30 damage; anyone hit is pinned under the trunk unless he passes a Dexterity check on 1d20.
Ecology
It ignores treasure, though earlier victims' gear may lie among its roots at the DM's option. Druids, unsure of its origin, resent rescuing adventurers from it.
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Statistics
| Climate/Terrain | Subarctic/Forests |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Rare |
| Organization | Grove |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Photosynthesis, with supplemental “organic enrichment” of the soil in which it lives |
| Intelligence | Non- (0) |
| Treasure | Incidental |
| Alignment | Neutral evil |
| No. Appearing | 1-4 |
| Armor Class | 0 (trunk)/3 (branches) |
| Movement | 0 |
| Hit Dice | 8 |
| THAC0 | 13 |
| No. of Attacks | 6 branch strikes |
| Damage/Attack | 2-12 per strike |
| Special Attacks | Dying blow, possible poison |
| Special Defenses | Camouflage, resistant to blunt weapons |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | L (30' tall) |
| Morale | Fearless (20), as it can't run away |
| XP Value | 5,000 (7,000 if poisonous) |