Hoarding Swordbrush
We've felt for a long time now that 5E is seriously lacking in plant monsters. The shambling mound is a classic, of course, but it's only one beastie; where are the rest? Here, we begin to slowly fill that gap, with a new photosynthetic monster for your party to chop up. We've also taken the opportunity to play with some grappling variation, since being wrapped by half a dozen angry vines is different from one muscly fist gripping you by the shirt, you know? We hope it makes for some tense encounters, and that that tension makes it all the more satisfying to prune away all its grabby bits. Enjoy!
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Hoarding Swordbrush
The hoarding swordbrush is a bundle of vines and scrap metal, endlessly driven to gather and slowly devouring more forged metal. The swordbrush’s stolen items are tightly wound around by its vines, leaving blades and bent edges of metal sticking out at all angles in between. While motionless, a swordbrush looks like a pile of discarded scrap overgrown with vines and groundcover, and only a creature that observed the swordbrush over several days might notice the piled detritus occasionally turn over or shift. In combat, a swordbrush is almost suicidally committed, mindlessly grabbing and crushing its enemies against their bundled thorns, torn metal, and deteriorating weapons.
Reckless Origins. First created by druidic magic, it is thought that the first swordbrushes were made to gather and dispose of the weapons of a druid tribe’s enemies, but the plant’s life cycle didn’t develop as its creators intended. As a swordbrush’s collection grew beyond what it could easily wrap and carry, the plant would divide like an ooze, splitting the vines and collected metals in two smaller, independent creatures. As a result, in a metal-rich area, swordbrushes multiply quite quickly, and their creators quickly failed to contain them all. Now loose, hoarding swordbrushes prowl the forests and jungles of their supposed creators, preying upon the well-armed and well-armored.
Patient Eaters, Swift Thieves. A swordbrush only remains still if it cannot sense any refined metal nearby, at which point it settles down to churn and digest its gathered items. Even a single dagger can sustain a hoarding swordbrush for several months, and so swordbrushes in remote areas sometimes remain motionless for years as their plundered armaments rust and corrode away. However, the plants are never truly at rest, and reach out without hesitation when anything big and forged comes close. However, some travelers have learned how to avoid their notice, foregoing any metal larger than a buckle or an occasional nail, and are thus able pass by the swordbrush without it even seeming to notice.
Massive Swordbrush
If a swordbrush gets its vines around a single, massive piece of metal, it can’t divide it as it would a bundle of smaller forged pieces. Rather than multiply, a swordbrush in such a situation simply adapts to wrap and carry this enormous burden, and is all the more dangerous as a result.
A massive swordbrush has the hoarding swordbrush stat block, with the following changes:
It has a challenge rating of 7 (2,900 XP)
Its size is Large
It and its vine tendrils have an AC of 18
It has 142 (19d10 + 38) hit points
It can have up to 16 vine tendrils at one time
Its multiattack makes four attacks with its lashing vines
Its detritus crunch deals 2d8 bludgeoning damage
Hoarding Swordbrush
Medium plant, unaligned
Armor Class 16
Hit Points 78(12d8 + 24)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
STR 16 (+3)
DEX 11 (+0)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 3 (-4)
WIS 13 (+1)
CHA 2 (-4)
Skills Athletics +5, Stealth +4
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 11
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
False Appearance. While the swordbrush remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a cluster of vines and discarded metal.
Grasping Vines. The swordbrush can have up to ten vine tendrils at a time. Each tendril can be attacked (AC 16; 10 hit points; immunity to poison and psychic damage). Destroying a vine tendril deals no damage to the swordbrush, which can grow a replacement tendril on its next turn. A tendril can also be broken if a creature takes an action and succeeds on a DC 13 Strength check against it.
Tenacious Grappler. The swordbrush can grapple a target with multiple vine tendrils at once. If a creature is grappled by multiple tendrils, it must escape each tendril individually to free itself. However, when a creature uses its action to attempt to free itself, it can attempt to break and free itself from any number of tendrils grappling it as part of the same action. As long as the swordbrush is grappling at least one creature, its speed becomes 5 ft.
Actions
Multiattack. The swordbrush makes two attacks with its lashing vines. It then uses its detritus crunch.
Lashing Vines. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+2) piercing damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 13), and the swordbrush can’t use the same vine tendril on another target.
Detritus Crunch. Each creature grappled by the swordbrush makes a DC 13 Strength saving throw for each tendril grappling it. Any creature that fails the save is pulled up to 10 feet closer to the swordbrush. Then, any grappled creatures within 5 feet of the swordbrush take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage.
Reactions
Steel Snatcher. When the swordbrush is hit by a melee attack made with a weapon, it can use one of its free tendrils to restrain the weapon. The swordbrush makes a grapple check against the creature that hit it. If the creature wins, the swordbrush takes 2 (1d4) slashing damage. If the swordbrush wins, the weapon is stuck.
While the weapon is stuck, the creature holding it can’t make attacks with it, and is treated as grappled by the swordbrush unless it releases the weapon (no action required), or until it frees the weapon with a successful DC 13 Strength check. If the creature releases the weapon, the swordbrush pulls it into the mass of weapons in its middle, where it is lost until the swordbrush dies.