Hmm. Evil magic corn monsters.
I built some of those once, for a competition on WotC's forums.
[sblock=Carnivorous Corn]
Carnivorous Corn
Carnivorous Corn was created by an extremist Druidic sect who see the cultivation of domestic crops as a debasement of nature. By combining strains of several such plants with those of plant creatures such as the shambling mound, they created a deadly scourge. A single Carnivorous Corn seed planted in a crop field during sowing season will yield deadly results by harvest time.
Stage 1: Stalk
Size/Type: Diminutive Plant
Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: --
Armor Class: 11 (+4 size, -5 Dex), touch 11, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/--
Attack: --
Full Attack: --
Space/Reach: 1 ft. / 0 ft.
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Assimilate crops, false demise, mimic crops, plant traits, regeneration 1
Saves: Fort +2, Ref --*, Will --*
Abilities: Str --, Dex --, Con 10, Int --, Wis --, Cha --
Environment: Temperate fields (cultivated)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: --
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --
* A carnivorous Corn stalk automatically fails its save versus any effect which requires a Reflex or Will save
In this newly-sprouting crop field, a young stalk sprouts from the ground, all but indistinguishable from those around it.
Carnivorous Corn seeds germinate only when closely surrounded by the seeds of standard crop plants. In its initial stage, a Carnivorous Corn stalk is not truly a creature at all. It has no consciousness, and is almost entirely a normal plant, distinguished from those around it only by a few unique qualities.
Combat
A carnivorous corn stalk has no volition, and its combat capabilities are purely automatic and defensive in nature.
Mimic crops (Ex): As the Carnivorous Corn's root system grows, it intersects those of surrounding plants and samples them. When the plant begins to sprout from the ground, it takes on the appearance of the most prevalent crop plant in the surrounding area. This change of appearance is purely cosmetic, and the plant does not take on any other traits or properties of the surrounding flora. It is capable of mimicking the form of practically any food crop, from wheat and barley to rice or maize. A character with ranks in Profession (farmer) who makes a DC 25 Spot check can notice tiny differences between the stalk and surrounding crops, and can then make a DC 11 Knowledge (nature) check to identify it as Carnivorous Corn.
False demise (Ex): A Carnivorous Corn stalk has an extensive root system which intertwines with that of adjacent stalks, forming a single subterranean network. However, if a stalk is pulled or cut from the ground, most of that root network falls away, the stalk emerging from the soil with only what looks to be an ordinary root system for a plant of its kind dangling from it. The larger portion of the roots that remain in the ground become disconnected from adjacent stalks, and take on the colour and consistency of the surrounding soil within one round, appearing to be clods of earth. These roots regenerate overnight, becoming reconnected with any adjacent root complex, and a new stalk sprouts within 1d3 days. Even if an entire field of Carnivorous Corn is destroyed above the ground, it will sprout again so long as the root system remains intact.
Regeneration (Ex): Acid deals normal damage to the Carnivorous Corn's root system. If a portion of the root system is physically removed, it will regrow in 1d6 hours during the next night.
Assimilate crops (Ex): A week after sprouting, the Carnivorous Corn stalk's root system begins expanding. Its roots fasten onto those of surrounding crops and inject a transmutative fluid which transforms them into subsidiary stalks of Carnivorous Corn. The root clusters of these new stalks fuse with those of the original stalk, forming a single plant under the ground. When sufficient new crops have been absorbed, the Carnivorous Corn progresses to stage two of its lifecycle.
Stage 2: Patch (sample at halfway through growth cycle)
Size/Type: Huge Plant
Hit Dice: 6d8+12 (42 hp)
Initiative: -3
Speed: --
Armor Class: 7 (-2 size, -3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 5, flat-footed 5
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+11
Attack: Throttle +1 (1d8 non-lethal)
Full Attack: Throttle +1 (1d8 non-lethal)
Space/Reach: 25 ft. / 0 ft.
Special Attacks: Entangle, suffocate
Special Qualities: Assimilate crops, blindsight, false demise, mimic crops, plant traits, regeneration 3, sonic sensitivity, subterranean space
Saves: Fort +7, Ref -1, Will +2
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 4, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 11
Skills: Listen +12*, Spot +10
Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus (Spot), Toughness
Environment: Temperate fields (cultivated)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --
This field of corn seems unremarkable save for its good health.
When a carnivorous corn stalk has assimilated all crops within its 5-foot square, it enters the second stage of its lifecycle. As its subterranean root system grows in size and complexity, it acquires sentience, becoming a true plant creature, though an entirely non-ambulatory one. It acquires Wisdom and Charisma scores equal to 3d6 (as if
Awakened with the Druid spell). Its other ability scores progress as it continues to assimilate and grow, which it does by expanding to assimilate the crops in each 5-foot square surrounding its current space, which occurs at a rate of one expansion per week. The following table shows the progress of each expansion, and the plant's attributes at each expansion:
Code:
Week Size Space HD Damage Str Dex Con Int Nat. Entangle CR
Armour DC
1 Medium 5 ft. 2 1d4 2 2 10 2 +0 11 ½
2 Large 15 ft. 4 1d6 6 3 12 4 +2 13 1
3 Huge 25 ft. 6 1d8 10 4 14 6 +4 15 3
4 Gargantuan 35 ft. 8 2d6 14 6 16 8 +6 17 4
5 Gargantuan 45 ft. 10 2d6 16 8 16 10 +8 18 5
Its base saves, feats and skill points progress normally with its hit dice.
Although Carnivorous Corn evolves into an intelligent being during this stage, it has no personality to speak of, and is essentially an automaton, entirely driven by its instinctive imperatives. Whilst not actually evil, it has no sense of empathy and is entirely ruthless in pursuit of its biologically-imposed goals.
Combat
A carnivorous corn patch remains entirely quiescent so long as it detects the presence of a Small or larger creature, hoping to pass for a field of ordinary crops. It will act to defend itself only if its root system is attacked directly. However, in the absence of such creatures, it will attempt to capture and kill Tiny or smaller creatures which stray within its space. It can use its Throttle attack only upon creatures held in its Entangle effect, inflicting non-lethal bludgeoning damage until it renders them unconscious and then suffocating them. Creatures killed in this manner are dragged below ground within one minute, and their corpses are absorbed, providing extra sustenance for the corn. This process consumes the entire body, including bones, over a period of eight hours, and renders a corpse too degraded to be revived using Raise Dead after the first hour.
Entangle (Su): As a standard action, Carnivorous Corn can sprout twisting vinelike roots that bind and hinder creatures. This ability works exactly like the
Entangle spell, except that it can manifest the Entangle effect within any number of 5-foot squares within its space, but not anywhere beyond. It can maintain the Entangle effect indefinitely. If a creature fails its Reflex save, the Carnivorous Corn can use the entangling roots to make Throttle attacks. The save DC is Constitution based.
Suffocate (Ex): Once a creature entangled by the Carnivorous Corn is rendered unconscious, tendrils sensitive to the carbon dioxide in its inhalations swiftly infiltrate its air passages, blocking its airways within one round. The creature immediately begins suffocating as though it had failed its Constitution check to hold its breath. In the first round, it is reduced to 0 hit points. In the following round, it drops to -1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, it suffocates. Clearing the airway of a creature being suffocated in this manner is a full-round action.
Blindsight (Ex): Carnivorous Corn can detect the presence or absence of sunlight via the photosynthesizing cells in its stalks, but beyond that it has no sense of sight. Instead, once it enters the Patch stage of its lifecycle, each stalk's seed pod undergoes an internal transformation that turns it into a sensitive auditory organ. Using these myriad ears, the Carnivorous Corn can accurately detect sounds and air vibrations anywhere within its space, and beyond out to a range of 100 feet. Its roots and stalks also have a sense of touch comparable to that of a humanoid, though only the roots are capable of experiencing pain. Completely removing all stalks from a patch of Carnivorous Corn disables its blindsight for one day, until a sufficient number of new stalks have sprouted to replace them.
Sonic sensitivity: Carnivorous Corn's multitude of ears make it especially vulnerable to sonic attacks. It takes a -2 penalty to its saving throws versus these effects, and in addition to their normal effects, any such attack will render the Carnivorous Corn's blindsight inactive for a number of rounds equal to 1d4 plus one round per spell level. This affects it as though Blinded, with the exception that it can still accurately detect creatures within its own space by touch, and does not lose its Dexterity bonus to AC versus these creatures.
Subterranean space (Ex): Since most of the Carnivorous Corn's true form - its root system - is underground, creatures (even opponents) can move through and stand within its space above ground without being considered grappled or illegally occupying another creature's space, though its surface space is considered difficult terrain (each square counts as two squares of movement). Creatures attempting to pass through or interact with its subterranean root system are subject to normal movement rules. The root system extends underground to a depth of 5 feet.
Skills
* Carnivorous Corn's numerous ears give it a +6 bonus to Listen checks.
Once it has passed through its full growth cycle, either by undergoing four expansions from its initial Medium size or by absorbing its entire field - whichever occurs first - the carnivorous corn remains quiescent, seemingly ripening like a normal crop, and dining upon any tiny animals that enter its space, until a month before harvest. Then it enters the third stage of its lifecycle, becoming an active predator.
Stage 3: Field
Size/Type: Gargantuan Plant
Hit Dice: 12d8+36 (93 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: --
Armor Class: 16 (-3 size, -1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 6, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+26
Attack: Tentacle +10 melee (3d6+4), or Throttle +10 melee (2d6+4 non-lethal)
Full Attack: 10 Tentacles +10 melee (3d6+4), or Throttle +10 melee (2d6+4 non-lethal)
Space/Reach: 45 ft. / 15 ft. (see Manifest Tentacles ability)
Special Attacks: Entangle, constrict 3d6+4, improved grab, manifest tentacles, pheromonal lure, poison, suffocate
Special Qualities: Blindsight, create Cultivator, false demise, mimic crops, plant traits, regeneration 5, sonic sensitivity, subterranean space
Saves: Fort +11, Ref +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
Skills: Listen +17*, Spot +15
Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Natural Attack (tentacle), Skill Focus (Spot), Toughness
Environment: Temperate fields (cultivated)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 7
Treasure: Standard coins, 50% goods, 50% items
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --
The moonlit cornfield seems quiet and free of danger, the only figure a scarecrow standing in its centre. But as you push between the stalks, they begin rustling as though disturbed by a strong wind. The 'scarecrow' animates and reaches for you with grasping hands, and massive tentacle-like roots erupt from the earth around you.
In its third stage, carnivorous corn is driven to acquire large amounts of fertilizer to enrich its soil. It does this by actively attracting and capturing local livestock and other large animals. This activity is entirely nocturnal, and is carried out with the aid of the mobile Cultivator the plant grows to assist it.
Combat
A Carnivorous Corn field will readily attack single living creatures of Large or smaller size, and even small groups, though it prefers to avoid attacking more than one sentient humanoid at a time, in order to preserve its illusion as a normal field. It draws in prey using its poisoned grains and pheromonal lure.
Manifest tentacles (Ex): By this stage of its lifecycle, carnivorous corn has fused several of its larger roots into long tentacles similar in size and thickness to those of a giant squid. As a move action, it can bring up to four tentacles above ground, animating them to make melee attacks. Each tentacle takes up a single 5-foot square and has a reach of 15 ft. These tentacles can be manifested anywhere within the carnivorous corn's space, and it can have up to ten active at any one time.
Combat Reflexes: The Carnivorous Corn's Combat Reflexes feat allows it to make one Attack of Opportunity per round with each of its currently manifested tentacles, regardless of its current Dexterity modifier.
Improved grab (Ex): To use this ability, carnivorous corn must hit an opponent of any size with a tentacle attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict.
Constrict (Ex): Carnivorous Corn deals 3d6+4 points of damage with a successful grapple check.
Poison (Ex): Carnivorous Corn produces a poison in its grains as they ripen. The poison persists in the grains after removal from the plant, and in any foodstuff (bread, oatmeal, etc.) derived from them. The poison is insidious, and creatures ingesting it remain unaware of its effects, whether they make their saving throw or not, though others may notice a change in their behaviour as a result of the Wisdom damage. Ingestion, Fortitude DC 19, initial damage 1d4 Wis and pheromonal compulsion, secondary damage 1d4 Wis and pheromonal compulsion (see Pheromonal Lure below). The pheromonal compulsion effect wears off after 1d3+1 days. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Pheromonal Lure (Su): During the hours of darkness, a Carnivorous Corn field in the third stage of its life-cycle emits powerful pheromones, which can be detected from up to two miles away (3 miles downwind, 1 mile upwind). To any creature without the
scent ability, the pheromones are odourless, but they have a powerful effect upon anyone who has failed a saving throw against the Carnivorous Corn's poison. Any such creature must make a DC 19 Will save or be helplessly compelled to make their way to the centre of the field as quickly as possible. A creature which makes its Will save feels an unaccountable pang of longing toward the field which passes after a moment, and cannot be affected again that night. This is considered a mind-affecting compulsion spell for the purposes of creatures resistant or immune to such effects (such as Elves, or the subjects of a
Protection From Evil spell).
Create Cultivator (Ex): A carnivorous corn field produces a form of guardian being to protect it, gather sustenance and spread its seeds. Over a period of four hours during the night, it sprouts a thick tangle of stalks at its centre, which grow to form a humanoid figure composed of dry stalks surrounding a network of living roots. The Cultivator looks almost exactly like an ordinary scarecrow, and indeed if a farmer has placed a genuine scarecrow in the field, the cultivator will be grown in its image and the original scarecrow destroyed. If the Cultivator is destroyed, the field can grow a new one the next night. The statistics and function of the Cultivator are given below.
Skills
* Carnivorous Corn's numerous ears give it a +6 bonus to Listen checks.
A carnivorous corn field continues feeding on animal matter until a few days after harvest time. At this point, whether or not this particular field has been harvested, the remaining stalks and roots, including the Cultivator, come to the end of their lifecycle and die. They decompose within a few hours to a rich mulch. This mulch is laced with a powerful herbicidal toxin which kills any domestic crop plant that is planted there within the next two years, but has no effect on any other plant or animal. Aside from the herbicide, the mulch is supernaturally fertile, and any wild plant which germinates within it will grow as though affected by both the
overgrowth and
enrichment properties of a
Plant Growth spell.
Carnivorous Corn Cultivator
Size/Type: Medium Plant
Hit Dice: 6d8+18 (48 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 10 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+3 Dex, +5 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+6
Attack: Claw +7 melee (1d8+2 plus poison)
Full Attack: 2 claws +7 melee (1d8+2 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Entangle, poison
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, plant traits, regeneration 3, sonic link, sow seeds
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int --*, Wis 10, Cha 14
Skills: Listen +11*, Spot +15*
Feats: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus (claw)
Environment: Temperate fields (cultivated)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: N/A (included in CR of parent field)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --
* Use parent field's Intelligence bonus and skill ranks
As you approach the humanoid figure, you see that it is a scarecrow covered in baggy sacking. But as you draw near, it suddenly lurches forward, its grasping hands outstretched menacingly.
The Cultivator is a construct-like extension of its parent Carnivorous Corn field. It has no independent intellect, but is controlled directly by the parent field via a sonic link. It has only a few active corn ears, and thus lacks the blindsight ability of a Carnivorous Corn field, but instead has well-developed senses equivalent to those of a normal humanoid. Since it is directly controlled by its parent field, it effectively gains the full benefit of the parent field's senses whilst within range of them.
The cultivator serves three purposes. First, it provides extra defense for the field, its sense of sight adding to the field's natural senses and its ambulatory nature allowing it to respond to attacks more flexibly. Second, it propagates the field's seeds to surrounding crop lands. And third, it helps to gather extra sustenance, finding animals in nearby fields and using its special venom to bring them back to its parent field.
Combat
The Cultivator will defend its parent field without reservation, but otherwise the parent field prefers to keep it out of sight of sentient creatures. It pursues livestock and wild animals, attempting to use its claw attacks to inject them with its hypnotic poison without killing them. It will also bring dead animals back to its parent field to be consumed. If approached by humanoids, the Cultivator holds still and attempts to pass as an ordinary scarecrow (Disguise bonus +12). If severely pressed in combat, it attempts to Burrow away and return to its parent field. No matter how much damage the Cultivator takes, remaining in its field for at least eight hours leaves it completely healed.
Burrow: By shedding its outer straw covering (a move action), the Cultivator's central root system is able to burrow through soft earth and soil at a speed of 10 ft. It leaves no tunnel behind it.
Entangle (Sp): Three times per day, the Cultivator can use
Entangle as the Druid spell. The Reflex save DC is 15. The save DC is Charisma based.
Poison (Ex): Injury, Fortitude DC 16, initial damage 1d4 Wis and pheromonal compulsion, secondary damage 1d4 Wis and pheromonal compulsion (see Pheromonal Lure above). The pheromonal compulsion effect wears off after 1d3+1 days. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Sonic Link (Ex): Whilst the Cultivator is active, the Carnivorous Corn field emits a soft, susurrant rustling noise which sound almost like whispering in some foreign language. This rustling forms a complex communication link between the Cultivator and the parent field. It persists even through loud noise and inclement weather, allowing the field to control its Cultivator and see with its senses at a range of up to one mile. However, if the Cultivator is subjected to an effect that causes deafness, or if the Cultivator or the entire field is subjected to a Silence spell or effect, the link is broken, causing the Cultivator to become inert. It falls prone, losing its humanoid shape, and dies if the link is not restored within one minute, quickly decomposing to nothing but a bundle of straw. The same thing happens if for any reason the Cultivator is taken outside the field's range of control.
Sow seeds (Ex): A Cultivator can produce up to six fertile Carnivorous Corn seeds per night, which it sows into nearby fields, no more than 3-4 seeds per acre. Unlike the grains of the parent plant (which mimic the appearance of those of the crop it supplanted), these seeds have the appearance and hardness of small pebbles, and will be ignored by birds and animals as inedible. When dropped in fertile soil, they remain inert until new domestic crop seeds begin germinating around them. At this point, they germinate and produce a new Carnivorous Corn stalk within one week.[/sblock]
