BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Hey Ed, remember the Hell Tree? 
Subj: Re: Stench Kine and Thunderbeasts!!!
Date: 24 Jun 1997 13:11:26 EDT
From: Armenelos
In response to the overwhelming demand for my Hell Trees (all 2 of you who asked ), I here present the Treants of Avernus (aka Hell Trees to us mortals). I am not going to update them (or otherwise adapt them) to 2nd editon PS rules. This is what I remember from the mind of a 16 year old kid recently filled with creative energy from those classic 'Devil' articles in Dragon and the exciting release of the MM2 - an electric time
for great gaming as a youth.
HELL TREES
HD 10+10 to 16+16
AC 0 to -6
# of attacks: 4 big branches
damage per attack: 4d6+4
Alignment: Neutral (lawful evil tendencies)
Hell Trees are the treants of the Nine Hells. There were originally brought to Avernus as part of Tiamat's 'Beautify Avernus campaign" from the Plane of Concordant Opposition (I was learning about Lady Bird Johnson and her Beautify Washington DC campaign in high school at the time when I was writing this and I must have somehow thought it appropriate that Tiamat would try to do the same on her layer of the 9 Hells). The evil soil
of Avernus twisted the souls of the treants that put their roots into it thus corrupting their neutral souls. They rebelled against Tiamat immediately but it was too late to save their souls.
Hell Trees are immune to fire attacks (natural and magical). They are led by treants (16+16 HD) that follow the paths of the druid possessing the spell abilities (back then druids were a class unto themselves and not just one of many specialty priests) of a druid of 16th level.
The Hell Trees despise Tiamat for bringing them to this infernal place and by extension they hate her devil servants. They have been able to proliferate here and live in a huge 'forest' (pack) - any devils wandering too close are killed immediately by them - torn to bits by their flailing branches. When the forest is on the move, it is capable of destroying an army of abishai or spinagons.
The most interesting thing about Hell Trees is their fruit - bright red, soft apple-like fruit - that has a magic resistance dampening quality. Any being with MR struck by an apple suffers a temporary loss of its MR (-30%). Plucked apples stay potent for 1d4+1 days before rotting. Hell Trees often pelt devils with their fruits to weaken their MR for spell attacks by their druidical leaders. The trees will assist adventurers in the Hells who
speak against the devils and reward them with as many 'MR apples' as they can carry. (The fruit was my attempt at giving PCs in the Nine Hells a better chance of survival when fighting devils).
There you have it - the Hell Trees - straight from the early 1980s - Enjoy it (or trash it)
Ed Bonny
Subj: Re: Stench Kine and Thunderbeasts!!!
Date: 24 Jun 1997 13:11:26 EDT
From: Armenelos
In response to the overwhelming demand for my Hell Trees (all 2 of you who asked ), I here present the Treants of Avernus (aka Hell Trees to us mortals). I am not going to update them (or otherwise adapt them) to 2nd editon PS rules. This is what I remember from the mind of a 16 year old kid recently filled with creative energy from those classic 'Devil' articles in Dragon and the exciting release of the MM2 - an electric time
for great gaming as a youth.
HELL TREES
HD 10+10 to 16+16
AC 0 to -6
# of attacks: 4 big branches
damage per attack: 4d6+4
Alignment: Neutral (lawful evil tendencies)
Hell Trees are the treants of the Nine Hells. There were originally brought to Avernus as part of Tiamat's 'Beautify Avernus campaign" from the Plane of Concordant Opposition (I was learning about Lady Bird Johnson and her Beautify Washington DC campaign in high school at the time when I was writing this and I must have somehow thought it appropriate that Tiamat would try to do the same on her layer of the 9 Hells). The evil soil
of Avernus twisted the souls of the treants that put their roots into it thus corrupting their neutral souls. They rebelled against Tiamat immediately but it was too late to save their souls.
Hell Trees are immune to fire attacks (natural and magical). They are led by treants (16+16 HD) that follow the paths of the druid possessing the spell abilities (back then druids were a class unto themselves and not just one of many specialty priests) of a druid of 16th level.
The Hell Trees despise Tiamat for bringing them to this infernal place and by extension they hate her devil servants. They have been able to proliferate here and live in a huge 'forest' (pack) - any devils wandering too close are killed immediately by them - torn to bits by their flailing branches. When the forest is on the move, it is capable of destroying an army of abishai or spinagons.
The most interesting thing about Hell Trees is their fruit - bright red, soft apple-like fruit - that has a magic resistance dampening quality. Any being with MR struck by an apple suffers a temporary loss of its MR (-30%). Plucked apples stay potent for 1d4+1 days before rotting. Hell Trees often pelt devils with their fruits to weaken their MR for spell attacks by their druidical leaders. The trees will assist adventurers in the Hells who
speak against the devils and reward them with as many 'MR apples' as they can carry. (The fruit was my attempt at giving PCs in the Nine Hells a better chance of survival when fighting devils).
There you have it - the Hell Trees - straight from the early 1980s - Enjoy it (or trash it)
Ed Bonny
