They cut me down!

[Kilmore]

Hello. I posted something on this adventure a couple of months ago, but I haven't run it yet, and wanted to get ideas. Um, hold on. One of my opponents in this adventure has something to say.

Hmph. Hello. I'm Esellidrian. I am a dryad who's tree got cut down to make a keel for a big stupid ship. Of course, that ended my natural life, but I guess it made me SOOO mad that I couldn't rest easy! So now I'm cursed to spend my afterlife sailing around the world UNDER the water. Now all kinds of people ride around on my tree and I have them around me all the time and nobody cares and I'm getting PISSED!!!

I guess I'm not a really a dryad anymore since I'm friggin' DEAD!! Can anyone tell me what I am now, and more importantly, what I can do about these jackasses that ride around on my tree? Oh, and I have it on good information that there's going to be a group of so called "adventurers" (at 9th level or something, whatever that means) that may want to "put me to rest" or some crap like that. I don't wanna be put to rest. I want REVENGE!!

Advice is appreciated.

 

[mkletch]

After the launch of the ship, she haunts it as a ghost; that is the fairly obvious answer, though I'm sure you'll soon get a more creative/bizarre answer from someone else.

-Fletch!

 

[Soldarin]

Great concept. Just thought I should mention it.

A ghost would be obvious, but you could try a modified Banshee as well, what with your woodsy background.

 

[Squire James]

I suggest a dryad ghost (perhaps with sorcerer levels) rather than something like a banshee. It's still a bit early for mass save-or-die checks. She could probably wreck more havoc by charming random sailors ("higher ups" are more likely to resist the effect, though she may have a couple of them too) and having them do things to help her out at strategic times. She could try to do the same thing to PC's at first, then trigger her fear effects if it doesn't work.

Don't forget to add +1 to the save DC's of her effects for every 2 HD or levels above normal (or just use the ghost template's fear DC for charm effects too, it will be about the same).

She will be a Will save acid test. If the party has lots of good Will saves, she will not be much of a threat. If they don't, she should cause major chaos.

 

[Kyramus]

I might use the revenant template and add in the possession ability.

That way the drayad can take over the dead that the ship transports. The more of the dead she takes over, the less intelligence they have.
(resident evil like, always hungry) The dryad wouldn't care how the people were killed, just so long as they are. She's still looking for the people that originally made her tree get cut down, hence the revenant template.

 

[RSKennan]

Killer idea. She should probably not show herself to everyone at first. She might cause strange "accidents at first, once the ship is at sea, leading the crew to think that a murderer is aboard. It's best to play up the ship's confining nature. This is a quick post before I leave for work, but I hope it helps.

 

[Lela]

Great concept. Just thought I should mention it.

A ghost would be obvious, but you could try a modified Banshee as well, what with your woodsy background.

While a Ghost would be obvious, a Dryad would never be--even after they're dead. She should sneak around a lot, catching saliors in they're bunks alone or on watch. Charm them and get them to do certian things (untie a rope, turn the wheel of the ship one notch the wrong way, lock/unlock a door) or do these things herself. Regardless, she would have men completely devoted to her to protect her.

If she's out to get a new guy, she'd have her tried and true hanging around outside the door; waiting to take down the guy should she fail and he try to escape (he's going to betray her, they can't have that).

You might also look to the Unsalie Nymph that WotC had up a long time back for ideas.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I would go with a sort of wood based poltergeist. From the keel she can control and move wood or rope that is attached to the ship.

At first she is suble and experiements with this power. Then after a while she starts kiling sailors. They might be found hanging from ropes in the morning as if they had fallen from the rigging and hung themselves.

The final act will be a murder suicide. The dryad will take control of the sails and rudder and attempt to sail the ship straight into a massive reef or even better into a massive storm that is brewing on the horizon that the crew of the ship know they have no chance of surviving.

 

[Kilmore]

Actually, I got a look at one of my players' Creature Catalog II. They have something called a "Sundered Woman", which is basically a dryad who's whole forest got toothpicked. I pilfered the book long enough to get an idea of the capabilities of the creature.

The coolest thing about it is that the Sundered Woman is not undead, although her tree got destroyed... she's still a fey! So when the guys with the anti-undead arsenal come in, they'll be in for a surprise.

I also really like Doc's idea with the plant matter posession thing. On a ship, this would be just plain wicked!

 

[Fast Learner]

Assuming it's the type of ship where the keel runs up the front of the bow and a small part of it can be seen from the deck, you could drop the players a hint as to the cause of the trouble by having a small sprig and leaves growing out of a little knot of the wood. Normally, of course, the keel would die completely after it was chopped apart, but a little bit of life coming out of it would indicate that something was up (consider it a random supernatural effect of her continued presence). Also, if there's a druid or possibly a ranger (or even a nature-oriented cleric) in the group, s/he could have dreams about the ship crying; since none of the other classes are having the dream, that would be an additional clue.

I enjoy cool plot ideas like these, but only if the players have some ability to figure out what's going on.