Blood Bush

This creature appears as a 3-foot tall flowering bush with a thick trunk and small whip-like branches. Each branch is topped with a blood-red flower and deep, rich green leaves.

Blood Bush (CR 4)

Small Plant
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +0
Senses: Blindsight 30 feet, Low-Light Vision; Perception +1

Speed: 0 feet
Space: 5 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 18, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+7 natural, +1 size)
Hit Points: 57 (6d8+30)
Saving Throws: Fort +10, Ref +2, Will +3
Immunity: electricity
Energy Resistance: cold 10, fire 10
Weaknesses: vulnerability to sonic

Offense

Melee: tendril +7 (1d4+2)
Reach: 5 feet
Ranged: flower dart +5 (1d2+2)

Special Attacks: flower dart, implant

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
15 (+2)	10 (+0)	20 (+5)	-	12 (+1)	9 (-1)

Base Attack Bonus: +4
CMB +5
CMD 15

Feats:

Skills:

Languages:

Special Abilities

Flower Dart (Ex)

As a standard action, a blood bush can launch a barrage of six flower darts (make an attack roll for each dart). This attack has a range of 40 feet with no range increment. All targets must be within 30 feet of each other. The creature can launch only 30 such darts in one day.

Implant (Ex)

A creature hit by one of the blood bush's flower darts is implanted with one of its seeds. A seed quickly germinates as follows:

Round	Effect
First	DC 18 Will save or flee in fear for 1d6 rounds
Third	Paralysis for 1d4+2 rounds; DC 18 Fortitude negates
Fifth	Wounding: 1 point of Constitution damage per minute until the seed is removed or destroyed.

A seed can be removed safely up to 5 rounds after implantation with a successful DC 18 Heal check or by cutting it from the victim (dealing 1d2 points of damage otherwise only a remove disease spell destroys an implanted seed. The save DCs and check DC are Constitution-based.

Sonic Vulnerability (Ex)

A blood bush that is subjected to a sonic-based attack or effect (such as a shout spell) loses its blindsight ability and is effectively blinded (as the blindness spell) for a 1d4+6 rounds.

Ecology

Environment: Temperate Forests
Organization: solitary, cluster (2-4)
Treasure: none


The blood bush is a fell plant creature cursed by a wizard in times past. It is named for its blood-red flowers and its thorny blood-red seeds. A blood bush is sometimes referred to as a \"grave marker plant\" because a creature that encounters it, and fails to see the danger this sinister plant presents, rarely lives to tell about it.

A blood bush can only be grown from a seed that has germinated inside the warm body of a Small or larger animal. Roots from the germinating seed kill the host and use the nutrients provided to grow rapidly into a deadly plant. A number of nobles use this horrid plant as a deterrent against thieves and robbers, sometimes creating entire hedges of these plants.

A blood bush appears as a flowering bush about 3 feet tall. Its thick trunk quickly splits off into many smaller, whip-like branches, each topped with a blood-red flower surrounded by deep green leaves. Blood bush seeds can be sold for about 20 gp each on the open market; collecting them and living to earn the money they bring is not the easiest of tasks.

When a blood bush detects a warm-blooded creature within 20 feet, it fires a volley of flower darts at the creature, attempting to implant it with its seeds. A creature that dies from the blood bush's seed implantation rapidly decomposes, and a new blood bush springs up in the area within four days. Living creatures within 5 feet of a blood bush are slashed and cut with its four whip-like tendrils.

Copyright Notice Authors Scott Greene and Lance Hawvermale.