This thread fascinates me greatly. Is there any chance we might see the Shadowroot Bloom? I need it for my campaign.
Ask, and ye shall receive. Let the apocalypse begin!
Shadowrot Bloom CR 24
Advanced Shadow Vampire Lord Boneleaf/Lifedrinker10
Huge Undead (Augmented Aberration)
Hit Dice: 15d12 + 10d12 + 125 (287 hp)
Initiative: +11 (+7 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 10ft, burrow 10' (soft earth and soil, optionally other types)
Armor Class: 38 (-2 size, +7 Dex, +23 Natural), Touch 15, Flat Footed 31
Base Attack/Grapple: +18/+47
Attack: Slam +36/+31/+26/+21 melee (2d8 + 13 + 1d4 plus Strength Drain), or Tendril +36/+31 (Improved Grab plus Constrict plus Blood Drain)
Full Attack: 2 Slams +36/+36/+31/+26/+21 melee (2d8 + 18 + 1d4 plus Strength Drain), or 2 Tendrils +36/+36/+31 melee (Improved Grab plus Constrict plus Blood Drain), or Slam +36/+31/+26/+21 melee (2d8 + 18 + 1d4 plus Strength Drain) and Tendril +36/+31 melee (Improved Grab plus Constrict plus Blood Drain)
Space/Reach: 15'/15' (20' w/ tendrils)
Special Attacks: Constrict (2d6 + 1d4 + 18), Improved Grab, Razor Leaves, Blood Drain,
Dominate Person, Create Spawn, Strength Drain, Bleed Shadows, Telekinesis,
Special Qualities
arkvision 60', Illusionary Lure, low-light vision, Pervasive Sentience, Plant-like traits,
Darkness, DR 10/ silver and magic, Cold and Electricity Resistance 10, Turn Resistance +4, Fast Healing 8, Shadow Form, Shadow Jump, Vampire Lord Weaknesses, Alternate Form, Control Weather, Dark Grace, Telepathy, Lifewell, Greater Invigorate, Blood Potency, Shadowblood Resilience
Saves: Fort +21, Ref +26, Will +24
Abilities: Str 46, Dex 25, Con -, Int 12, Wis 20, Cha 20
Skills (Ranks; total modifier): Bluff (17; +28), Hide (28; +43), Move Silently (0; +15), Spot (28; +43), Listen (28; +43)
Feats: Alertness(B), Combat Reflexes(B), Dodge(B), Improved Initiative(B), Lightning Reflexes(B), Improved Natural Attack (Slam), Improved Grapple, Multigrab, Improved Multigrab, Large and In Charge, Rapidstrike (Tendrils), Improved Rapidstrike (Slams), Iron Will(B), Undead Leadership(B)
Greater Blood Drain (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom can suck blood from a living victim with its tendrils by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d6 + 2 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, the vampire gains 5 temporary hit points.
Bleed Shadow (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom can draw 1d4 + 1 Shadows out of Mabar by voluntarily shedding a few drops of blood and focusing the negative energy contained within so it will open pinprick openings into the plane of Endless Night. These Shadows arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the Shadowrot Bloom until dismissed. Further, a Shadowrot Bloom may extend it's senses through the Shadows, and communicate emphatically with them to a range of ten miles.
Dominate (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom can crush an opponent’s will just by looking onto his or her eyes using pseudo-blooms with eye-like organs within. This is similar to a gaze attack (with a range of 30 feet), except that the Shadowrot Weed must use a standard action, and those merely looking at it are not affected. Alternatively, a Shadowrot Bloom may use it's 'voice' through bizarre mouth-like organs or by manipulating it's leaf-like appendages. The Shadowrot Bloom need not have line of sight to the target, but the target must be able to hear the Shadowrot Bloom's 'voice' when it 'speaks' at normal volume level. This also requires a standard action. Anyone the Shadowrot Bloom targets must succeed on a Will save (DC 28) or fall instantly under the Weed’s influence as though by a
Dominate Person spell (caster level 25th).
Create Spawn (Su): A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a Shadowrot Bloom’s Strength Drain rises as a vampire 1d4 days after burial.
If the Shadowrot Weed instead drains the victim’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the victim returns as a vampire. The new vampire is under the command of the Shadowrot Bloom that created it and remains enslaved until its master’s destruction. A Shadowrot Bloom may have as many vampire slaves as it desires: it's necromatic potency allows it a far greater grip on it's minions than a Shadowrot Weed. A Shadowrot Bloom may voluntarily free an enslaved vampire, but once freed, a vampire cannot be enslaved again.
Strength Drain (Su): Once per round, a Shadowrot Bloom inflicts 2 points of Strength damage with it's Slam attack. Strength damage inflicted in this way grants the Shadowrot Bloom 5 temporary hp. Creatures reduced to 0 strength are slain, as per a Shadow's Strength Drain ability, except it instead rises as a vampire spawn 1d4 days after burial.
Darkness (Su): As the spell, 4/day (Cha mod).
Fast Healing (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom heals 8 points of damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, it automatically assumes shadow form and attempts to escape. It must reach its bulb within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed. (It can travel up to four and-a half miles in 2 hours.) Any additional damage dealt to a Shadowrot Bloom forced into shadow form has no effect. Once at rest in its bulb, a Shadowrot Bloom is helpless. It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 2 hit points per round.
Shadow Form (Su): As a standard action, a Shadowrot Bloom can assume shadow form at will, which grants it a +4 Competence bonus to Escape Artist, Hide, and Move Silently checks, as well as Concealment. The Concealment is suppressed while within the area of a
Daylight spell.
Shadow Jump (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom may jump from shadow to shadow as if by means of a
Dimension Door spell, but this transport must begin and end in some kind of shadow. A Shadowrot Weed may jump up to 100'/day, divided up as it desires.
Alternate Form (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom can assume the appearance of any plant at will, and is able to drastically alter it's shape in order to do so, although it can't do much about it's bulk. This ability has no effect on it's combat statistics.
Control Weather (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom can use use either Control Weather or Fog Cloud (both at caster level 12th) at will as a Sorcerer.
Dark Grace (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom gains bonus hit points equal to it's Cha modifier * it's hit dice, as well as a bonus on all saving throws equal to it's Cha modifier.
Telekinesis (Su):A Shadowrot Bloom can use telekinesis (caster level 12th) at will.
Telepathy (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom can communicate telepathically with any living creature within 100 feet with a language, and with any vampire under it's direct control to a range of 1 mile.
Vampire Lord Weaknesses (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom has far fewer weaknesses than the typical Shadowrot Weed. It cannot be repelled by garlic, holy symbols (although they can still be turned), or mirrors, and it casts a reflection as living beings do. It can cross running water, and cannot be harmed in any way by immersion in running water.
A Shadowrot Bloom is not vulnerable to sunlight as Shadowrot Weeds are, and can even exist underneath broad daylight as normal plants do if it suits it's purposes. However, under sunlight or within the radius of a
Daylight spell, a Shadowrot Bloom takes a -4 penalty to all ability scores and on all attacks, saves, and skill checks. Also, a Shadowrot Bloom cannot use any of it's supernatural powers underneath sunlight, although it retains such powers within the radius of a
Daylight spell. Victims are not freed of the domination ability of a Shadowrot Bloom during daylight hours, and it can verbally command any creature in it's thrall even in direct daylight. A Shadowrot Bloom still receives a -2 penalty on all saving throws to avoid light effects (including Flash Pellets).
Lifewell (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom stores life energy that it steals in a reservoir within itself called a lifewell. A Shadowrot Bloom draws on these reserves of power to further increase it's already terrifying abilities. A Shadowrot Bloom gains lifewell points by dealing Strength and Constitution drain: each 2 points of Strength drain grants 1 lifewell point, while each 1 point of Constitution drain grants 1 lifewell point. A Shadowrot Bloom can hold a maximum of 75 points: lifewell points gained when the lifewell is already full are wasted.
A Shadowrot Bloom with 25 lifewell points or less must succeed at a Will save (DC 20 + number of lifewell points below 15) or go completely mad with thirst for blood, attacking the nearest living creature available until it has at least 25 lifewell points. A successful save means it retains control and needs not make another saving throw against the thirst for a day - and even then only if the lifewell itself is not tapped further during that day. Each day at midday, a Shadowrot Bloom depletes 5 lifewell points to nourish itself, and 1 lifewell point for each Shadowrot Weed it has active. However, Shadowrot Weeds which sprout from the Shadowrot Bloom's bulb can "feed" the parent Shadowrot Bloom with up to half the Constitution points of blood it has drained from it's victims: this process takes 1 hour per lifewell point in blood a Shadowrot Weed transfers to the parent Shadowrot Bloom. A Shadowrot Weed need not be present in order to transfer blood: it sends nourishment directly to the Shadowrot Bloom through the network of nerves that connects the Weed to the Bloom.
Greater Invigorate (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom may spend 1 lifewell point in order to gain 1d6 temporary hit points. These temporary hit points last for 24 hours, and while they do not stack with other sources of temporary hit points, they stack with subsequent activations of Greater Invigorate. In addition, a Shadowrot Bloom gains a +1 enhancement bonus to it's strength for each lifewell point spent activating Greater Invigorate. Multiple lifewell points spent at once results in a correspondingly larger bonus (eg. spending 5 lifewell points results in a +5 enhancement bonus to strength), but strength bonuses from subsequent lifewell points spent activating Greater Invigorate do not stack (eg. if an additional 5 lifewell points were spent after the previous example, the enhancement bonus to strength remains at +5).
A Shadowrot Bloom can spend a maximum of 25 points per day on Greater Invigorate.
Blood Potency (Ex): As a swift action, a Shadowrot Bloom may spend 4 lifewell points in order to temporarily ignore it's inability to use supernatural abilities in daylight for one use of any supernatural ability it chooses.
Empower Ability (Ex): As a swift action, a Shadowrot Bloom may spend 4 lifewell points in order to empower all the variable, numeric effects of a special attack by one-half for one use (eg. empowering Summon Shadows can potentially allow a Shadowrot Bloom to summon more Shadows than normal, while empowering Blood Drain allows a Shadowrot Bloom to suck even more blood than usual in a single feeding).
Heighten Ability (Ex): As a swift action, a Shadowrot Bloom may spend any even number of lifewell points to increase the DC of any special attack it possesses for one use. For every 2 lifewell points spent, the DC of the relevant ability being heightened increases by 1 (eg. heightening Dominate makes it more difficult to resist, while heightening Telekinesis makes it both more difficult to resist and a higher-level spell).
Maximize Ability (Ex): As a swift action, a Shadowrot Bloom may spend 6 lifewell points in order to maximize all variable, numeric effects of a special attack for one use (eg. maximizing Blood Drain automatically deals 8 points of Constitution drain to a pinned victim).
Quicken Ability (Ex): As a swift action, a Shadowrot Bloom may spend 8 lifewell points to quicken one of it's special abilities, just as if it were a spell with the Quicken Spell metamagic feat applied to it (eg. quickening Blood Drain allows a Shadowrot Bloom to drain twice from a single pinned victim inside a round).
Shadow Servant (Su): By spending 10 minutes and up to 18 lifewell points, a Shadowrot Bloom can emulate the effects of a Greater Planar Ally, except the called creature automatically serves for 24 hours, and the Shadowrot Bloom spends lifewell points equal to the HD of the called creature(s). A Shadowrot Bloom may attempt to negotiate for longer service, as per the Planar Ally spell description. Called creatures are always undead or natives to the plane of shadow.
Shadowblood Resilience (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom may spend 8 lifewell points to grant a +5 profane bonus to it's AC, increase turn resistance by +5, gain immunity to cold and electricity, and improve it's damage reduction to 15/silver and holy. This ability lasts for 25 rounds.
Blood Revel (Ex): Once a Shadowrot Bloom drains any blood from a victim, it can choose to enter a state called a blood revel as a free action at the beginning of it's next turn and remain in that state for 25 rounds. In this state, the Shadowrot Bloom gains a +4 profane bonus to all ability scores, it's damage reduction increases to 20/epic and silver and holy, it's fast healing increases to 40 points a round, and it looses all vampiric vulnerabilities.
However, during the blood revel, the Shadowrot Bloom cannot flee from living foes, and must attack physically every round. After 25 rounds have passed or the Shadowrot Bloom chooses to end the Blood Revel, it must immediately retreat into it's bulb and stay there for as many weeks as the number of rounds the Shadowrot Bloom had engaged in the Blood Revel. During this time, a Shadowrot Bloom must rely on it's Shadowrot Weeds and vampiric thralls for protection. At the end of this torpor, a Shadowrot Bloom emerges with 0 lifewell points, and must gorge itself on blood in order to replenish itself; it only gains half the normal amount of lifewell points from draining blood, and none at all from draining strength, until it has a full lifewell pool.
Constrict (Ex): A Shadowrot Bloom may deal automatic constricting damage on a successful grapple check.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a Shadowrot Bloom must hit with a tendril attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and may constrict. A Shadowrot Bloom may also opt to forgo the Constrict attack and instead attempt to establish a pin to burrow it's tendrils into the creature to use Blood Drain instead. A Shadowrot Bloom may maintain a hold on a creature using only a single part of it's 'body' without penalty, thanks to it's Improved Multigrab feat.
Razor Leaves (Ex): The off-white leaves of a Shadowrot Bloom are surprisingly tough and razor-sharp. These leaves are the source of the additional 1d4 points of damage on Constrict and Slam attacks, and it is considered slashing damage.
Illusory Lure (Su): A Shadowrot Bloom can generate detailed but short-lived illusions, designed to lure prey into it's reach. These usually take the form of something valuable lying among the trunks, or an injured individual crying for aid, but it may differ depending on the information it has gathered through minions and servants. This ability functions as the spell
Major Image (CL25), except this illusions lasts only for 1d6 + 1 rounds and the Shadowrot Bloom must wait 1d4 rounds before using the ability again. Interaction with the illusions allows a DC 28 Will save (Cha based) to disbelieve.
Undead Traits: A Shadowrot Bloom has no Constitution score, Darkvision out to 60 feet, and immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects). A Shadowrot Bloom have immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects. A Shadowrot Bloom is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain, is immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal Shadowrot Blooms. A Shadowrot Bloom has immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless). A Shadowrot Bloom are not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hit points or less, a Shadowrot Bloom immediately assumes Shadow form. A Shadowrot Bloom do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
Pervasive Sentience (Ex): The Shadowrot Bloom functions as an individual creature, but it is the metaphorical heart of a much larger whole. A Shadowrot Bloom can have 1d6 + 6 (or even more) Shadowrot Weed buds, and all, including the Bloom, are considered individual creatures, although they are technically the same being. They operate as individuals since they can be anywhere from 100 yards to 4 miles apart from one another, but a network of underground nerves and roots connects them together, allowing them to share memories and experiences; anything known by one Weed or the Bloom itself is known by the rest almost instantaneously. A single bulb of fleshy roots, tendrils, and leaves binds them together, acting as the Shadowrot collective's coffin equivalent.
Although the Shadowrot Bloom is the metaphorical heart of the Shadowrots, it is not truly the source of infestation: the bulb is. To truly end the Shadowrot infestation, the bulb (a Large, vaguely egg-shaped thing that pulses and twitches) must be permanently destroyed. Since it lacks a mouth to fill with holy wafers and a head to behead, the usual method is to either to soak it completely in blessed oil and set it on fire (which permanently destroys it), or to spray it with holy water and impale it with three livewood stakes (which puts it and all attached Shadowrot Weeds into suspended animation as if you had staked a regular vampire). The bulb itself is immobile and relatively defenseless, so it the Shadowrots put great emphasis on it's defense. All bulbs that boast a Bloom also have the capability to store vampiric thralls within itself: Blooms and Weeds both contribute vampire (spawn) to the bulb, which then use the bulb as it's coffin equivalent and use their gaseous form ability to enter and exit.
A Shadowrot Bloom have a +12 racial bonus to Hide checks made in forested or overgrown areas. A Shadowrot Bloom have a +8 racial bonus to Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Alertness grants the Shadowrot Bloom a +2 bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
