Warlock - The Great Tree Patron

by somanyrobots

Search GM Binder Visit User Profile

Warlock Patron

The Great Tree

There exist forces as ancient and primal as any god, but rooted in far-flung forests and the green places of the world. Your pact is with such a being - perhaps a tree of colossal size and unfathomable years, an elder treant who rules over the forest, or a more primal fey who spurns elaborate courts in favor of simple glades.

Great Tree warlocks may be any alignment. Some patrons are benign or even benevolent forest spirits, intent on protecting the woods. Others are vengeful, marshaling their sylvan forces against settled society. Great Tree warlocks also come from a wide range of backgrounds; some are raised near the wild, while others start life in a city and find their patron only later.

Great Tree Features

Warlock Level Feature
1st Expanded Spell List, Verdant Growth
6th Deep Roots
10th Oaken Might
14th Mystic Shade

Expanded Spell List

The Great Tree lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Warlock Level Spells
1st bramble bindingK, entangle
3rd sprout treeK, oakenhideSDS
5th summon plantK, speak with plants
7th carnivorous gardenK, thorn lanceS
9th commune with nature, tree stride

Spells marked with an * are included at the end of this document.

Verdant Growth

At 1st level, you are able to channel your patron's verdancy to grant a regenerative blessing. As a bonus action, you can bless one creature you can see within 60 feet who has taken damage within the last minute.

A creature with your patron's blessing recovers hit points at the start of their turn equal to your proficiency bonus. The blessing lasts for 1 minute, and ends if the creature has 0 hit points or suffers fire damage.

You can grant this blessing a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, regaining all uses after a long rest.

Deep Roots

At 6th level, you inherit some of your patron's mighty resilience. As a reaction when you would suffer an effect that causes you to become prone or moved against your will, you can instead send temporary roots surging into the ground and ignore the effect.

Your patron's grounded might can also be focused against your foes. When you see an enemy within 60 feet become restrained, you may use your reaction to cause them to be seized and crushed by roots. If you do so, they take bludgeoning damage equal to half your warlock level at the start of each of their turns. Only one enemy can be rooted in this way at a time, and it ends if the enemy is no longer restrained.

Oaken Might

At 10th level, you gain the strength of an ancient ironwood. You may select two of the following effects:

  • Anytime you are at full health or have temporary hit points before making a saving throw to maintain concentration, you automatically succeed on the saving throw.
  • You become Large and gain a 10-foot reach.
  • Roots and vines always grow around you, causing a 15-foot radius of difficult terrain for creatures of your choice.
  • Whenever a creature is healed by your Verdant Growth, you gain temporary hit points equal to the amount healed.

You may change your selections after completing a long rest.

Mystic Shade

At 14th level, you can summon an avatar of your patron, bestowing its blessing upon you and your comrades. As an action, you select a point within 60 feet, and a spectral tree appears there. The tree persists for 1 minute, and its canopy casts a soothing shade for 30 feet around it. Creatures of your choice gain the following benefits when they begin their turns in its shade:

  • They heal as if affected by Verdant Growth.
  • The next time they take bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, they are resistant to it. This resistance is refreshed at the start of their turns.
  • They have advantage on saving throws against effects that would forcibly move them or knock them prone.
  • They have half cover against ranged attacks originating outside the tree's shade.

You can use this ability one time, regaining its use after completing a long rest.

Great Tree quirks

The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.

d6 Quirk
1 Blowing leaves and snapping twigs seem to follow wherever you go.
2 While you are healthy, diminutive tree spirits sit and play atop your body, fading in and out of view.
3 You have a powerful hatred for lumberjacks.
4 You say hello to every tree you meet, and act as if they all know each other.
5 You throw up, just a little, anytime you walk into a wooden building.
6 Your heartbeat is slow, and loud, and when you are injured your blood oozes like sap.
7 You ate a kite once.

Appendix: Spells

Bramble Binding

1st-level transmutation

  • Classes: Druid, Ranger
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Instantaneous

Brambles burst from your hand, lashing out at a target within range. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. On failure, they take 4d4 piercing damage and, if the target is Large or smaller, it becomes entangled by brambles. While entangled by brambles, it can't move, but it can free itself as an action (taking no additional damage) or rip itself free using half of its movement and taking an additional 2d4 piercing damage. On a successful save, they take half as much damage and aren't entangled by brambles.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, both the initial damage and the damage taken ripping free of the brambles increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 1st.

Carnivorous Garden

4th-level transmutation

  • Classes: Druid
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 60 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a dried carnivorous plant)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Targeting four unoccupied spaces that you can see within range, rooted carnivorous plants erupt from the ground, filling a 5-foot cube each. The ground within 5 feet of them becomes difficult terrain. When the plants appear, they each attack a creature of your choice within 5 feet of them. Each plant makes a melee spell attack, dealing 2d8 piercing damage on hit. Make a separate attack roll for each plant.

If a creature ends their turn within 5 feet of one or more of the carnivorous plants, the plants automatically attack that creature unless you use your reaction to prevent them from doing so. The plants use your spell attack modifier, and deal 2d8 piercing damage on hit.

The plants have AC 14 and 30 hit points, and have vulnerability to fire and slashing damage. Each plant regains all its hit points at the start of your turn if it has at least 1 hit point. A plant dies if it is reduced to zero hit points. When the spell ends, the plants wither and die leaving behind difficult terrain unless they were killed be fire damage.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can summon 1 additional carnivorous plant for each slot level above 4th.

Oakenhide

2nd-level transmutation

  • Classes: Druid, Ranger
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: 1 minute

You touch a willing creature, magically encasing its body in a hard shell of bark. The target gains 6 temporary hit points at the start each of their turns, and while they have these temporary hit points, they can calculate their armor class as 15 + their Dexterity modifier (maximum 2).

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the target's AC increases by 1 for each two slot levels above 2nd. The temporary hit points increase by 3 for each slot level above 2nd.

Sprout Tree

2nd-level transmutation

  • Classes: Druid
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 30 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Instantaneous

Targeting a 5-foot square on the ground that you can see within range, you cause a tree to sprout from the ground, growing rapidly to 20 feet tall with a 2-foot-radius trunk. This spell can only target a surface through with a tree could grow (for example, you can't target solid rock). At the DM's discretion, it can burst through up to 6 inches of most material.

A Large or smaller creature in this space must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they are lifted 20 feet into the air in the branches of the tree. On a success, they move 5 feet to an occupied space of their choice (if there is no space they can move, they automatically fail). A Large or smaller creature can choose to fail their saving throw. A Huge or large creature automatically succeeds on their save. The tree stops growing if it would hit a ceiling or other object when growing.

The tree provides half cover to any creature within its branches, and three-quarters cover from effects originating on the other side of its trunk. The tree has an AC 13 and 50hit points.

The tree remains there, but may die rapidly if sprouted in an unsuitable location or environment. Its wood is flammable only when dried, and serves no useful purpose other than firewood.

Summon Plant

3rd-level conjuration

  • Classes: Druid, Ranger
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 90 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a carved wooden figurine worth at least 300g)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You call forth a magical plant. It manifests in an unoccupied space that you can see within range. This corporeal form uses the Plant Spirit stat block. When you cast the spell, choose Dryad, Shambling Mound, or Treant. The creature resembles the creature of your choice, which determines certain traits in its stat block. The creature disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The creature is an ally to you and your companions. In combat, the creature shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required by you). If you don't issue any, it takes the Dodge action and uses its move to avoid danger.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, use the higher level wherever the spell's level appears in the stat block.

Thorn Lance

4th-level conjuration

  • Classes: Druid, Ranger
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 90 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (a rose petal)
  • Duration: Instantaneous

You summon a mighty spear of thorns and flowers, hurling it at a creature you can see within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. If the attack hits, the target takes 6d8 piercing damage and is restrained for 1 minute as the lance explodes into a cluster of vines, enveloping its form. At the end of each of its turns, the target takes 2d8 piercing damage and can attempt a Strength saving throw to break free. Any other creature within 5 feet of the target can clear the vines as an action. Once the target is no longer restrained, the spell ends.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the spell's damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.

Plant Spirit

Large (Medium for Dryad) plant, unaligned

  • Armor Class 12 + the level of the spell (natural armor)
  • Hit Points 35 + 10 for each spell level above 3rd
  • Speed 20 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 8 (-1) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 10 (+0)
  • Damage Vulnerabilities fire
  • Damage Resistances bludgeoning
  • Senses darkvision 60 ft., blindsight 60 ft. (Shambling Mound only), passive Perception 10
  • Languages Sylvan, understands the languages you speak

Engulf (Shambling Mound Only). If the plant hits a target that it is grappling, that target becomes restrained until the grapple ends.

Tree Stride (Dryad Only). Once on its turn, the plant can use 10 feet of its movement to step magically into one living tree within its reach and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be large or larger.

Actions

Multiattack. The plant makes a number of attacks equal to half this spell's level (rounded down).

Entangling Slam (Treant or Shambling Mound Only). Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d10 + 3 + the spell's level bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC is your spell save DC). Until this grapple ends, the plant can't use this attack on another target

Vine Lash (Treant or Dryad Only). Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8 + 3 + the spell's level slashing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC is your spell save DC). Until this grapple ends, the plant can't use this attack on another target.

Changelog

v1.3

  • Replaced guardian of nature with thorn lance

v1.2

  • Replaced art and relicensed

v1.11

  • Language cleanup on Mystic Shade

v1.1

  • Nerf to Verdant Growth

v1.01

  • Slight nerf to Oakenhide.

v1.0

  • Finalized for public release

v0.4

  • Adjusted Oaken Might again
  • Added Oakenhide

v0.3

  • Tweaked Oaken Might

v0.2

  • Nerfed Verdant Growth
  • Language cleanup on Deep Roots

v0.1

  • Rough Draft
Credits & References:

Great Tree Patron created by somanyrobots
Discord | Patreon

Spells
  • Oakenhide by somanyrobots
  • Bramble Binding, Carnivorous Garden, Sprout Tree, Summon Plant by KibblesTasty
Art

Great Tree Warlock, by Duong Thanh Lam

Background Image Stains

Jared Ondricek

License

© 2023 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0

5E SRD Content

  • This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.

  • The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.