Infested Treant

Infested Treant (Legend; CR 18)

Pure Evil - Huge - Plant (Vermin)

Lore:	Know (Nature)
38		51
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

36

Perception:
43	+33
Passive	Active

Ambush:

6+

on a d20

• Lore Notes: If lore check is failed, identifies as a CR16 Thistle Sage Treant
• Ambush Notes: If encountered in a non-natural setting, ambush chance is 12+.

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Low-Light Vision
• Echolocation 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 60 ft.
• Earth Glide 30 ft.
• Lesser Teleport 120 ft.

Defense

AC

42

Man Def

45

Monster Health
2,988	1,494	34
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+20
Refl:	+15
Will:	+20

Strong Against:

• (Legend Role) Immunity (partial 7): Legends are immune to the first seven conditions applied to them during an encounter. If an eighth condition is applied to a legend, it is resolved normally. A 'condition' is defined as any non-instantaneous harmful effect applied to the monster, other than damage, but is most commonly one of the defined Status Conditions (but it doesn't have to be). Statuses related to damage (such as injured, bloodied, staggered, dying, or dead) are not 'conditions', and cannot be negated or avoided with this ability.
• (Plant 1) Immune (no effect): poisons (tainted, poisoned, blighted), magical sleep (drowsy, sluggish, asleep), paralyzed, stunned, polymorph
• (Plant 2) Immune (no effect): Forced movement (including Drag, Reposition), Prone (quelled, prone, splayed)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Huge
15 ft.		15 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+28

Man Off

+33

Action

7

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Crushing Bole +28 (5d10+59/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Dimensional Ataxia
• 1x Branched Lash +27 (5d6+20/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  attacks all creatures in three adjacent spaces, plus: Dimensional Ataxia

Full Attack (Melee):

• 2x Crushing Bole +28 (5d10+47/x2)
  as crushing (physical, common)
  plus: Dimensional Ataxia
• 4x Branched Lash +27 (5d6+20/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  attacks all creatures in three adjacent spaces, plus: Dimensional Ataxia

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 2x Diaspora Spores +27 (5d10+47/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus: 18 points of negative energy (energy, uncommon) damage, plus: Dimensional Ataxia

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 4x Diaspora Spores +27 (5d10+47/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 100 ft.; Max Range: 500 ft.)
  plus: 18 points of negative energy (energy, uncommon) damage, plus: Dimensional Ataxia

Siege Damage:

• 1x Grinding Roots +30 (1d6+2)
  

Statistics

32

STR

24

DEX

24

CON

18

INT

18

WIS

24

CHA

Skills:

• Knowledge (Local): 32
• Knowledge (Planes): 34
• Might: 30
• Perception: 33
• Sense Motive: 30
• Survival: 30
• All other skills: 25 (no ranks)

Languages: Treant, Terran, Slaugh, Primal, Common

Feats:

Special Abilities

Dimensional Ataxia (Su) Automatic upon successful attack, 1/Rnd/Target

An Infested Treant's massive, dimensionally-unstable form, can 'jar' an enemy's attachment to reality. Their limbs, body, and mind seem to 'stutter' as they are knocked ever-so-slightly out of phase with reality. Up to once per round, when struck by any of the Treant's physical attacks, the target must make a Will save against a DC of 28. Succeed or fail, the target gains the Cloistered condition. However, those who succeed on the saving throw can end the condition normally, while those who fail the save suffer the condition until the end of the encounter, and it can only be cleared by magical means, such as a Restoration spell or a Paladin's Cleanse ability. No target creature can ever be forced to save against Dimensional Ataxia more than once per round. If a creature is already Cloistered when they are struck again (in a different round), they must make another Will Saving throw against a DC of 28. If they make this save, there is no further effect. If they fail this save, they become Displaced.

Shivering Reality (Sp) Standard Action

Concentration: 1d20 + 26 vs. a DC of 33 (7 needed on the die) As a standard action, an Infested Treant may give itself a sudden, vigorous shake, a shudder running over its trunk, limbs, and leaves, causing a shower of spotted, diseased leaves to rain down and a cloud of dust to surround it. This is a spell-like effect, and at the same time as it shakes itself, it chooses an area of effect 30 feet square (6x6 squares) within 300 feet of its space. All enemy creatures within that space suffer 5d8+33 points of interstice (physical, rare) damage and are Teleported to the closest open, unblocked, unoccupied space next to the Treant. Affected enemies are allowed a Fort save against a DC of 28 to resist this effect. If they make the save, they may negate either the damage or the movement, but not both.

Touch of Madness (Su) Automatic, Special

All Cloistered or Displaced creatures that begin their turn within ten feet of the Infested Treant's space must make a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 28. If they fail this save, they take 1d4+1 points of both Intelligence and Wisdom Ability Damage. If they make their Reflex save, they may negate one of these effects, as they manage to partially reject the insinuating tides of the treant's madness. Creatures with the Evasion class feature who succeed on their saving throw may negate both effects.

Leaf-Storm (Sp) Standard Action

Concentration: 1d20 + 26 vs. a DC of 33 (7 needed on the die) As a standard action, a Treant may sweep its branches in graceful arcs, shaking loose leaves and gathering a massive blast of wind. With a snapping motion, it then hurls this whirling vortex of air, filled with razor-sharp leaves, at its foes. Choose a 30 foot area (a 6x6 square area) within 500 feet of the treant's space. All creatures in this area of effect take 5d8+33 points of slashing (physical, common) damage and are Pushed out of the area of effect, moving directly away from the center cross-point of the effect. This is forced movement, and may be resisted with movement resistance or by falling Prone. Note that this push can move creatures into hazardous locations! Creatures are allowed a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 28 to ignore either the damage, or the movement.

Sapping Touch (Su; Legend Role) Free Action 1/Enemy/Round

When an Infested Treant moves in combat, all enemies that fall within its melee reach, or enter that reach due to its movement (of any sort, including a five foot step), is subject to a free action melee attack, once per eligible enemy creature, once per round, as its corrupt, thorny branches lash madly about due to its motions. All Sapping Touch melee attacks made by an Infested Treant that inflict damage past any defenses also heal the Treant for 34 points, each. Area of effect attacks (if it has an AOE melee attack) only heal the Treant once, for the largest amount inflicted. This ability can only heal the Treant up to its normal maximum of hit points, and any extra healing is lost.

Invigorating Bloodthirst (Ex; Legend Role) Auto At Start of Encounter

At the start of any encounter, even during an encounter with a surprise round, Legends gain a number of temporary hit points equal to their Bloodied Hit Points value (1,494 hit points). This ability can never be used more than once per encounter.

Juggernaut's Path (Ex; Legend Role) Free Action

Legends can force-move any non-Legend creature out of the path of their movement as a free action during their movement. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity. There is no strict limit to how far a creature can be pushed with this ability, but it is always the least number of squares required to move the creature out of the Legend's path (in the event that there are multiple paths of the same number of squares, the Legend chooses which path the pushed creature takes). This ability cannot be reduced by forced movement resistance in any way. The legend can decide the final space of the creature pushed, but that space must be unblocked and unoccupied (though it can be hazardous). As all forced movement, creatures can elect to fall prone to end it.

Infested Treant

This creature possesses the Legend role, and therefore counts as 5 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure.

This monster frequently has the Legend role, but may be set to other roles if desired.

Treants are the living expression of the Green. These intelligent plant beings can be kind or savage, gentle or brutal, much as any other creature of free will can. That said, Treants are plants, scions of the Nascent Seed, closely tied to the Fount, and as a result, their view of the world is different from other beings.

It is common for plant creatures to view all other living things as their enemies, and many Treants also fall into this category. In the eyes of a Treant, the 'civilized' races can mainly be viewed as fire and axe, the groan of toppling trees and the gnawing bite of saws.

Sadly, there are a lot of civilized races, and as a result, the Treants are often forced into hiding, deep in their forests, swamps, estuaries, and taigas. Those Treants that are of a gentle bent tend to set themselves up as mediators and negotiators, offering the bounty of the vegetal world in exchange for the largess of the animal kingdom. After all, simply by living, the blood-bearing races provide delicious fertilizers and the potential of help with pests and diseases.

It is not uncommon to find Treants who adminster long-standing and profitable relations with their neighbors, to the enrichment of both the plant and non-plant life. Such Treants are the source of the many legends and stories of the 'benevolent tree-elders', kind, patient figures who are the friends of all they meet.

Of course, there are also many Treants who are implacable enemies of everything that breathes or moves. You don't hear many tales about those Treants, because they rarely leave any survivors.

An Infested Treant looks like a normal treant to the casual eye, but a close look will reveal that it has diseased spots discretely scattered across its leaves, and its many limbs seem to shiver in place, a side effect of the fact that the diseased monster is struggling to hold itself in reality. Some sages suggest that the plant monsters have made some pact with the Deep Dark, for power, and can prolong their existence in the Prime by sacrificing other creatures. A dark destiny, if true. In any case, their attacks all carry a touch of this awful taint.

An Infested Treant is a classic example of the worst sort of Treant, that's made even worse by the fact that Infested Treants have been infected by...something. Something dark and terrible, an eldritch, awful wasting disease that gnaws at their sanity, rather than their bodies, and which grants them insane durability and access to horrible, corroding powers, powers that seek to tear apart the very fabric of reality and let everything slip away forever into the Deep Dark....

Combat Tactics

Infested Treants are massively powerful combatants, with insane mobility and devastating attacks. They can move their opponents out of the way with their Stride the Earth, or forcibly teleport them closer with their Shivering Reality ability.

In melee, their attacks hit with crushing force, and their Lashing Branches ability attacks all creatures in three squares with every strike. Combined with their size and melee reach, their attacks are nearly overwhelming.

Even worse, their Sapping Touch draws the injury and misery of their foes into their forms as potent fertilizer, healing them with every successful strike.

They tend to alternate between melee attacks and spells, using a Teleport or Earth Glide to move in and out of range, depending upon how many of their enemies are Cloistered or Displaced. Rather than waste attacks on Cloistered or Displaced foes, they will move away and smash a wholly different group of foes with one of their spell-like abilities.

As a result, fights against Infested Treants are fast, far-ranging affairs, as the beast will Earth-Glide beneath the feet one moment, then Teleport the next, then settle in for a savage series of full melee attacks, using Earth Stride to scatter foes like ten-pins. Then, dash away and use Shaking Reality to suck them all up close. Where, if they are cloistered, they are then subject to losing their minds....

Out of Combat

Infested Treants are often Legendary monsters, the dark, terrible things that lurk in the center of dark forests or which serve as the depraved centerpiece topiary in the gardens of the Truly Mighty.

But Infested Treants are not merely mindless, diseased hulks. Their power is such that many other powerful mastermind sorts will seek them out, with craven words and clever bladed gifts, seeking to turn their power to their own ends. There are few things that serve as a more deadly guardian, ally, or even serf than an infested treant, and surprisingly enough, the plant monsters tend to even be fairly reliable in such roles, as long as their odd requirements are met.

As a result, it is possible to meet these terrible fiends in the most mundane of places, lurking in the hearts of deathwoods the world over. It is also possible to find them growing in the courtyard of an evil emperor, or even shrunk and gracing a pot on the shelf of a peculiar shop, and that will surely deter even the most clever of shoplifters....

Rewards

XP: 768,000 (Legend role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 339,444 gp.

Weight: 900 lbs.     Volume: 36 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	Nothing Found
6 - 10	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
11 - 14	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
15 - 17	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
18 - 20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1	5 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
2 - 5	5 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
6 - 10	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
11 - 14	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
15 - 17	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
18 - 20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1	5 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
2	5 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
3 - 6	5 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
7 - 10	5 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
11 - 14	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
15 - 17	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
18 - 20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)