Monster Geographica - Marsh & Aquatic.pdf - The Secrets of the ...

Soultrapper
Diminutive Plant
Hit Dice: 2d8 (9 hp)
Initiative: -5
Speed: 0 ft.
Armor Class: 9 (+4 size, -5 Dex), touch 9,
flat-footed 9
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/—
Attack: —
Full Attack: —
Space/Reach: 1 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Attraction, spell-like
abilities, soul steal
Special Qualities: Blindsight 50 ft., plant
traits
Soultrappers are rare flowers that steal the
souls of unwary beings, transforming them into
seed-bearers in order to reproduce.
Bearing a faint resemblance to sunflowers,
with black centers and large orange petals, a
soultrapper blossom blooms at the center of a spread
of finger-thin vines. The vines rise from the ground,
clinging to any surfaces present and anchoring the
blossom to a rock or tree trunk. Soultrappers prefer
humid and moist areas, but are able to adapt to
virtually any environment by using their magical
abilities to alter their surroundings.
Soultrappers power their magic with their
petals, each one holding the captured soul of a being
who touched the soultrapper. Not normally violent,
soultrappers allow most animals and uninterested
creatures to pass by without confrontation. Only
if a soultrapper is running low on petals, or if it
perceives a creature to be a potentially useful seedbearer
(based on the creature’s apparent strength and
endurance) does it try to lure in prey.
Despite their dangerous nature, soultrappers
are occasionally found at the center of farming
communities, due to their beneficial effect on the
environment. This risky tactic occasionally leads
to worship of the flower, where individuals are
offered as sacrifices to the plant. Some druids
revile soultrappers, but others believe soultrappers
epitomize the cycle of life. These druids, when they
find themselves too old or ill to carry on, often give
themselves to soultrappers, offering their bodies and
souls to nature.
Combat
Soultrappers target violent creatures with
their attraction ability first, and immediately shift to
using their spell-like abilities if the attraction fails.
A typical soultrapper strategy against attractionresistant
creatures is to keep them from approaching
57
Saves: Fort +3, Ref —, Will +2
Abilities: Str —, Dex —, Con 10, Int 1, Wis
14, Cha 16
Skills: Survival +7
Feats: Ability Focus (attraction)
Environment: Temperate and warm land
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3-4 HD (Diminutive); 5-6
HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: —
with abilities such as entangle and soften earth
and stone, then use insect plague to create a living
barrier. A soultrapper that feels threatened, but that is
not in immediate danger, will use control weather to
summon a storm, to enhance call lightning later on.
Some soultrappers grow behind tree branches
or between rocks, giving them concealment or a
cover bonus to AC. At the start of any encounter, a
given soultrapper is likely to have 1d4+1 petals.
Attraction (Su): A soultrapper can attract
intelligent creatures within 30 feet as if using a
sympathy spell (Will DC 16 negates). A soultrapper
is limited to attracting one type of creature at a time
(as with sympathy), but can change the type of
creature as a move action. A soultrapper can turn its
attraction ability on or off as a free action. The save
DC is Charisma-based.
Soul Steal (Su): A soultrapper may steal the
soul of any living creature with Intelligence and
Charisma scores of 3 or higher, five times per day.
The soultrapper’s flowering blossom functions as if
it were the trigger object for a trap the soul spell, and
any creature touching it may have its soul drawn into
the flower (Will DC 14 negates). The flower grows
another petal as a free action, and the victim’s soul
is placed in the new petal. The save DC is Charismabased.
A soul trapped in a petal allows the soultrapper
to fuel its spell-like abilities. Each such petal can be
used 5 times. The soultrapper always uses up the
oldest petals before moving on to newer ones.
When a petal has been used up, it wilts and falls
off, crumbling into dust. The soul that was trapped
inside is permanently dead, and cannot be restored
by anything less than true resurrection. If a petal is
removed from the soultrapper or if the soultrapper
dies, the petal will crumble into dust in the same
manner after 1d4 weeks.
The victim’s Intelligence and Charisma scores
3