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Botanical Haunts

Source Pathfinder #144: Midwives to Death pg. 65
Botanical haunts are masses of vegetation that work as a single entity to fight against invaders in their territory. Their animating force typically originates from vengeful nature spirits, such as a corrupted dryad or angry kami. Botanical haunts differ from standard haunts in several important ways.

Botanical haunts are not fear effects. They take damage from negative energy, rather than positive energy. Spells that normally harm plants or plant creatures, such as blight, diminish plants, and horrid wilting, also affect botanical haunts. If an applicable spell would not normally deal damage to a haunt, it deals 2d6 points of damage per spell level to the botanical haunt. In addition, botanical haunts can be harmed with weapons that are particularly suited to chopping through foliage—they take half damage from nonmagical slashing weapons, or full damage from magical slashing weapons. These massive beings are hardier than standard haunts and thus have twice as many hit points.

The standard destruction condition for a botanical haunt is when the plant is entirely destroyed, which requires an hour of work and a successful Knowledge (nature) check (DC = 15 + twice the haunt’s CR) to thoroughly remove the plant’s roots. This destroys the haunt, but the animating nature spirit is likely to seek another vessel. The only way to permanently destroy a botanical haunt is by placating the spirit animating it; the exact method required depends upon the spirit’s grievance.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Botanical Haunts