Faolyn
(she/her)
We had a giant animal yesterday, so now some giant plants. This article is a mix of giant-sized but otherwise real carnivorous plants and completely fantastic plants. Most of the plants in this article are sessile, making them almost more like traps than proper monsters. As such, they are best used in surprise attacks; after all, if the party knows they’re there, they can just back out of range and lob ranged attacks.
Since these guys are plants, they don’t get the Signs and Behaviors and whatnot. And since they’re short statblocks, I’m including three of ‘em in this entry.
First is the giant bladderwort. Apparently, real bladderworts (genus Utricularia; found worldwide except in Antarctica) are incredibly sophisticated plants and can snap up prey in mere milliseconds by literally vacuuming it into their bladders and digesting it almost immediately. They’re not really dangerous to anything bigger than a couple of millimeters long at most, though, and most go after much smaller animals, the type measure in micrometers. The giant ones, of course, can go after adventurers.
Then there is the giant rainbow plant, (genus Bylbis; native to Australia and New Guinea), which has stems that are covered in sticky, shimmering mucilage. It glimmers colorfully in the light, hence its name. The real plant waits for mosquitos and other such creatures to land on it, thinking the mucilage is a treat, then get stuck and die from exhaustion or suffocation. As is usual, the giant version is a bit more proactive when it comes to securing prey. Wikipedia says that these plants may not be true carnivorous plants. They seem to have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with a type of true bug, where the bug eats the insects caught by the plant and the plant “feeds” on the bug’s waste. So maybe giant rainbow plants have a similar relationship with, I dunno, harpies.
Finally, there’s a fantastic plant, the bloodflower. D&D had a lot of blood-drinking plants: bloodthorn, bloodroot, bloodrose, and for a change of pace, the vampire rose. It’s one of those plants with white flowers that turn red as they fill up with blood. I’m using the picture of the vampire rose from the Mystara MC appendix
One strange thing I’ve noticed. Supposedly “mindless” creatures—for instance, shriekers, animated objects—are often immune to the fatigue condition, but not to strife. One would think that something with Intelligence and Charisma of 1 would be immune to metal stress. What gives?
image taken from carnivorousplantresource.com
Giant Bladderwort
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
Giant bladderworts is a rootless, floating water plant that can be found drifting just below the surface of the water in swamps and stagnant lakes. They can sometimes be distinguished by the small pollinating flowers that grow above the water’s surface. While the plant itself can’t move on its own, its long stems—each of which may grow as much as 50 feet long—are capable of weak movement. Each stem is covered in small “bladders,” transparent membranes that are covered in sensory trigger hairs. The bladders are under a negative pressure—effectively, a partial vacuum—so when a whisker is disturbed, the bladder opens and the water and anything else in it is sucked in with alarming speed and force. When the meal it vacuums up is completely dissolved, the bladder spits out everything else. The waters under a giant bladderwort may be covered in treasure.
A single bladderwort can cover an area 100 feet across, making it a very wide-reaching danger. It lacks a central stem
Giant Bladderwort
Gargantuan plant
Challenge 3 (750 XP)
AC 13 (natural armor)
HP 60 (8d12+8; bloodied 30)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 10 (+0) CON 13 (+1)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 3 (-4)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 14
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing
Damage Immunities acid, fire
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages —
False Appearance. While motionless, the bladderwort is indistinguishable from normal swamp palnts.
Actions
Multiattack. The bladderwort makes 4 bladdertrap attacks.
Bladdertrap. The bladderwort targets a Medium or smaller creature within 10 feet of one of its bladders. That creature must make a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be sucked into the bladder and be grappled (escape DC 14). While grappled, the creature is restrained, can’t breathe, and takes 7 (2d6) ongoing acid damage.
A trap may be targeted by attacks. It has AC 13, 10 hit points, and is immune to fire, acid, and bludgeoning damage. When the bladder is dealt damage while it is grappling, it takes half the damage (rounded down) and the other half is dealt to the grappled target. Each trap can only grapple a single creature at a time, but the bladderwort has as many as 50 bladders. Destroyed bladders are regenerated after 24 hours.
*
image taken from carnivorousplantresource.com
Giant Rainbow Plant
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
The giant rainbow plant has a woody, trunk-like stem from which grow a cluster of branch-like leaves, each of which ends up in a club-like knob. It secretes globs of sticky mucilage along each of these stems. These globs shimmer like rainbows with opalescent rainbows in sunlight, giving the plant its name—and allowing it to lure creatures in to be attacked.
Giant Rainbow Plant
Huge plant
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 45 (6d10+12; bloodied 22)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 20 (+5) DEX 10 (+0) CON 15 (+2)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 3 (-4)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 15
Damage Resistances fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from ranged attacks
Damage Immunities bludgeoning
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 10 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages —
Sticky. Dozens of thin, mucilage-beaded trigger hairs surround the rainbow plant to a distance of 10 feet. That space is difficult terrain, and creatures in that space have disadvantage on attack rolls, Dexterity ability checks, and Dexterity saving throws.
Actions
Dazzle. If it is in bright light, the rainbow plant shimmers. All creatures within 30 feet who can see the rainbow plant must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by the plant until the end of its next turn. While charmed, the creature is incapacitated and must use all of its speed to move towards the rainbow plant by the most direct route, not avoiding opportunity attacks or hazards. The creature may repeat its saving throw whenever it is damaged and before entering damaging terrain. If a saving throw is successful or the effect ends for a creature, that creature is immune to any rainbow plant’s dazzle for the next 24 hours.
Stem. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). While grappled, the creature is restrained and the rainbow plant can’t use that stem to attack another creature. If the rainbow plant hits the same target with two or more stem attacks, the creature is also restrained, and while restrained, takes 3 (1d6) ongoing acid damage, and can’t breathe. The rainbow plant has 10 stems.
Bonus Actions
Stem. The rainbow plant makes a slam attack.
*
Art by Arnie Swekel
Bloodflower (Vampire Rose)
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
Bloodflowers are thorny bushes with delicate translucent white flowers that resemble wild roses. It blooms both day and night and throughout the entire year. They exude an enticing narcotic perfume that causes those who breathe it in to fall unconscious. The bloodflower then extends a tendril and pierces the creature’s body with its thorns, drinking the creature’s blood until it’s been drained dry, which is what gives the bloodflower its other name—the vampire rose. While it drinks, the bloodflower’s white flowers turn first pink, then blood red.
Bloodflower (Vampire Rose)
Small plant
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 13
HP 44 (8d6+16; bloodied 22)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 8 (-1) DEX 16 (+3) CON 13 (+2)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +3
Maneuver DC 13
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 10 feet, passive Perception 8
Languages —
False Appearance. When motionless, the bloodflower is indistinguishable from a normal flowering plant.
Fragrance. The bloodflower exudes a narcotic fragrance in a 5-foot radius. A creature that enters that area for the first time on its turn or starts its turn there must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against poison or fall unconscious for 10 minutes or until another creature uses its action to awaken it. Creatures that don’t need to breathe or sleep are immune.
Actions
Thorn Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) damage plus.
Sip Blood. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one unconscious target. Hit: 1 damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and the bloodflower regains hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage taken. This attack does not wake the unconscious creature.
Since these guys are plants, they don’t get the Signs and Behaviors and whatnot. And since they’re short statblocks, I’m including three of ‘em in this entry.
First is the giant bladderwort. Apparently, real bladderworts (genus Utricularia; found worldwide except in Antarctica) are incredibly sophisticated plants and can snap up prey in mere milliseconds by literally vacuuming it into their bladders and digesting it almost immediately. They’re not really dangerous to anything bigger than a couple of millimeters long at most, though, and most go after much smaller animals, the type measure in micrometers. The giant ones, of course, can go after adventurers.
Then there is the giant rainbow plant, (genus Bylbis; native to Australia and New Guinea), which has stems that are covered in sticky, shimmering mucilage. It glimmers colorfully in the light, hence its name. The real plant waits for mosquitos and other such creatures to land on it, thinking the mucilage is a treat, then get stuck and die from exhaustion or suffocation. As is usual, the giant version is a bit more proactive when it comes to securing prey. Wikipedia says that these plants may not be true carnivorous plants. They seem to have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with a type of true bug, where the bug eats the insects caught by the plant and the plant “feeds” on the bug’s waste. So maybe giant rainbow plants have a similar relationship with, I dunno, harpies.
Finally, there’s a fantastic plant, the bloodflower. D&D had a lot of blood-drinking plants: bloodthorn, bloodroot, bloodrose, and for a change of pace, the vampire rose. It’s one of those plants with white flowers that turn red as they fill up with blood. I’m using the picture of the vampire rose from the Mystara MC appendix
One strange thing I’ve noticed. Supposedly “mindless” creatures—for instance, shriekers, animated objects—are often immune to the fatigue condition, but not to strife. One would think that something with Intelligence and Charisma of 1 would be immune to metal stress. What gives?
image taken from carnivorousplantresource.com
Giant Bladderwort
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
Giant bladderworts is a rootless, floating water plant that can be found drifting just below the surface of the water in swamps and stagnant lakes. They can sometimes be distinguished by the small pollinating flowers that grow above the water’s surface. While the plant itself can’t move on its own, its long stems—each of which may grow as much as 50 feet long—are capable of weak movement. Each stem is covered in small “bladders,” transparent membranes that are covered in sensory trigger hairs. The bladders are under a negative pressure—effectively, a partial vacuum—so when a whisker is disturbed, the bladder opens and the water and anything else in it is sucked in with alarming speed and force. When the meal it vacuums up is completely dissolved, the bladder spits out everything else. The waters under a giant bladderwort may be covered in treasure.
A single bladderwort can cover an area 100 feet across, making it a very wide-reaching danger. It lacks a central stem
Giant Bladderwort
Gargantuan plant
Challenge 3 (750 XP)
AC 13 (natural armor)
HP 60 (8d12+8; bloodied 30)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 18 (+4) DEX 10 (+0) CON 13 (+1)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 3 (-4)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 14
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing
Damage Immunities acid, fire
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages —
False Appearance. While motionless, the bladderwort is indistinguishable from normal swamp palnts.
Actions
Multiattack. The bladderwort makes 4 bladdertrap attacks.
Bladdertrap. The bladderwort targets a Medium or smaller creature within 10 feet of one of its bladders. That creature must make a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be sucked into the bladder and be grappled (escape DC 14). While grappled, the creature is restrained, can’t breathe, and takes 7 (2d6) ongoing acid damage.
A trap may be targeted by attacks. It has AC 13, 10 hit points, and is immune to fire, acid, and bludgeoning damage. When the bladder is dealt damage while it is grappling, it takes half the damage (rounded down) and the other half is dealt to the grappled target. Each trap can only grapple a single creature at a time, but the bladderwort has as many as 50 bladders. Destroyed bladders are regenerated after 24 hours.
*
image taken from carnivorousplantresource.com
Giant Rainbow Plant
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
The giant rainbow plant has a woody, trunk-like stem from which grow a cluster of branch-like leaves, each of which ends up in a club-like knob. It secretes globs of sticky mucilage along each of these stems. These globs shimmer like rainbows with opalescent rainbows in sunlight, giving the plant its name—and allowing it to lure creatures in to be attacked.
Giant Rainbow Plant
Huge plant
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 12 (natural armor)
HP 45 (6d10+12; bloodied 22)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 20 (+5) DEX 10 (+0) CON 15 (+2)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 3 (-4)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC 15
Damage Resistances fire; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from ranged attacks
Damage Immunities bludgeoning
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 10 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages —
Sticky. Dozens of thin, mucilage-beaded trigger hairs surround the rainbow plant to a distance of 10 feet. That space is difficult terrain, and creatures in that space have disadvantage on attack rolls, Dexterity ability checks, and Dexterity saving throws.
Actions
Dazzle. If it is in bright light, the rainbow plant shimmers. All creatures within 30 feet who can see the rainbow plant must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by the plant until the end of its next turn. While charmed, the creature is incapacitated and must use all of its speed to move towards the rainbow plant by the most direct route, not avoiding opportunity attacks or hazards. The creature may repeat its saving throw whenever it is damaged and before entering damaging terrain. If a saving throw is successful or the effect ends for a creature, that creature is immune to any rainbow plant’s dazzle for the next 24 hours.
Stem. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+5) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). While grappled, the creature is restrained and the rainbow plant can’t use that stem to attack another creature. If the rainbow plant hits the same target with two or more stem attacks, the creature is also restrained, and while restrained, takes 3 (1d6) ongoing acid damage, and can’t breathe. The rainbow plant has 10 stems.
Bonus Actions
Stem. The rainbow plant makes a slam attack.
*
Art by Arnie Swekel
Bloodflower (Vampire Rose)
The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #167
Created by Gregg Chamberlain
Bloodflowers are thorny bushes with delicate translucent white flowers that resemble wild roses. It blooms both day and night and throughout the entire year. They exude an enticing narcotic perfume that causes those who breathe it in to fall unconscious. The bloodflower then extends a tendril and pierces the creature’s body with its thorns, drinking the creature’s blood until it’s been drained dry, which is what gives the bloodflower its other name—the vampire rose. While it drinks, the bloodflower’s white flowers turn first pink, then blood red.
Bloodflower (Vampire Rose)
Small plant
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
AC 13
HP 44 (8d6+16; bloodied 22)
Speed 0 ft.
STR 8 (-1) DEX 16 (+3) CON 13 (+2)
INT 1 (-5) WIS 6 (-2) CHA 1 (-5)
Proficiency +3
Maneuver DC 13
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, fatigue, frightened, prone, restrained, strife, stunned
Senses tremorsense 10 feet, passive Perception 8
Languages —
False Appearance. When motionless, the bloodflower is indistinguishable from a normal flowering plant.
Fragrance. The bloodflower exudes a narcotic fragrance in a 5-foot radius. A creature that enters that area for the first time on its turn or starts its turn there must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against poison or fall unconscious for 10 minutes or until another creature uses its action to awaken it. Creatures that don’t need to breathe or sleep are immune.
Actions
Thorn Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) damage plus.
Sip Blood. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one unconscious target. Hit: 1 damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and the bloodflower regains hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage taken. This attack does not wake the unconscious creature.