Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dryad thought experiment
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8270267" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>According to the MM, if a dryad's tree is destroyed, they go mad. If an entire forest was destroyed, you could have a very large population of insane dryads running around.</p><p></p><p>But another consideration is the time factor. Even a year after Mt St Helens seemingly destroyed everything, life was returning. The area is now reforested and in many ways thriving. It's not the same as it was before the eruption, but life is tenacious. In a century or two it's likely there will be no indication (from the surrounding forest) that there was ever an eruption.</p><p></p><p>So, in many ways it could look like a normal forest but would be haunted by these spirits. According to the lore, powerful fey sometimes bind lesser spirits to trees as punishment for falling in love with a mortal. So I would play up the forest having a reputation for aiding spurned lovers (at a cost) or a place where the heartbroken go never to be seen again. </p><p></p><p>Then it just becomes how difficult you want things to be. People that were drawn to the forest could be similar to The Lost from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or a variation of vampire spawn that feed off of emotion instead of blood. The dryads could be similar to banshees. Perhaps the dryads came together and "resurrected" their trees and there's now some variation of what is basically an undead Treant.</p><p></p><p>Lots of ideas, but I'd focus on the sense of loss and mourning. Depending on how the dryads were created they were punished forbidden love and then lost their beloved trees. Giving me all sorts of interesting ideas! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite29" alt=":devilish:" title="Devil :devilish:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":devilish:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 8270267, member: 6801845"] According to the MM, if a dryad's tree is destroyed, they go mad. If an entire forest was destroyed, you could have a very large population of insane dryads running around. But another consideration is the time factor. Even a year after Mt St Helens seemingly destroyed everything, life was returning. The area is now reforested and in many ways thriving. It's not the same as it was before the eruption, but life is tenacious. In a century or two it's likely there will be no indication (from the surrounding forest) that there was ever an eruption. So, in many ways it could look like a normal forest but would be haunted by these spirits. According to the lore, powerful fey sometimes bind lesser spirits to trees as punishment for falling in love with a mortal. So I would play up the forest having a reputation for aiding spurned lovers (at a cost) or a place where the heartbroken go never to be seen again. Then it just becomes how difficult you want things to be. People that were drawn to the forest could be similar to The Lost from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or a variation of vampire spawn that feed off of emotion instead of blood. The dryads could be similar to banshees. Perhaps the dryads came together and "resurrected" their trees and there's now some variation of what is basically an undead Treant. Lots of ideas, but I'd focus on the sense of loss and mourning. Depending on how the dryads were created they were punished forbidden love and then lost their beloved trees. Giving me all sorts of interesting ideas! :devilish: [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Dryad thought experiment
Top