ORIGINAL CREATURES
SPIRIT OF THE FOREST
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 35 STR 25 16- Lift 3200 kg; 7d6 HTH Damage [3] 14 DEX 8 12- 28 CON 18 15- 18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13- 18 EGO 8 13- ECV: 6 - 6 30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d6 5 OCV 10 5 DCV 10 6 OMCV 9 6 DMCV 9 3 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12 18 PD 8 Total: 18 PD (8 rPD) 14 ED 6 Total: 14 ED (6 rED) 13 REC 9 50 END 6 20 BODY 10 50 STUN 15 Total Characteristics Cost: 185 Movement: Running: 12m/24m Leaping: 0m Swimming: 4m/8m Cost Powers & Skills 24 Enormous Wooden Fists: Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-¼) 30 Misdirection: Sight Group Images, -4 to PER Rolls, Area Of Effect (1m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity (+¼), Reduced Endurance (½ END; +¼), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; +1); No Range (-½), Set Effect (can only change the views of the surrounding forest; -½), END 2 64 Animate Trees: Summon 16 298-point Treeman (page 192 of HERO System Bestiary 6E), Slavishly Devoted (+1); Arrives Under Own Power (-½), Summoned Being Must Inhabit Locale (-½), Extra Time (Full Phase, -½), END 16 51 Call Of The Forest: Summon 256 200-point each forest animals, Expanded Class of Beings (animals of the local forest; +½), Devoted (+¾); No Conscious Control (cannot control what animals answer the call; -1), Arrives Under Own Power (-½), Summoned Being Must Inhabit Locale (-½), Extra Time (Full Phase, -½), END 18 12 Speak With Animals Of The Forest: Telepathy 4d6 (Animal class of minds), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½); Incantations (throughout; -½), No Range (-½),Communication Only (-¼), Perceivable (-¼) 30 Supernatural Resistance To Harm: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% plus Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% 15 Will Of The Forest: Mental Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% 12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -12m 10 Will Of The Forest: Mental Defense (10 points total) 8 Will Of The Forest: Power Defense (8 points) 21 Thick Bark: Resistant Protection (8 PD/6 ED) 0 To Massive To Jump: Leaping -4m (0m total) 12 Long Legs: Running +12m (24m total), END 1 17 Knowns What The Trees Know: Clairsentience (Sight And Hearing Groups), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+¼), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; can see anywhere in its forest domain; +1); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 ½), Concentration (throughout; 0 DCV; -1), Only Through The Senses Of Others (can only see what the tree "sees," can only look into an area if there is a living tree there; -½), Sense Affected As More Than One Sense (affected by Sight and Hearing Group Flashes; -½), END 7 39 Protector Of The Forest: Multipower, 39-point reserve 3f 1) Sense The Health Of The Forest: Detect The General State The Forest 13- (no Sense Group), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Range, MegaScale (1m = 10 km; 1m covers the spirit's domain; +1 ¼), Cannot alter scale (-¼) 2f 2) Knows If The Forest Is In Peril: Danger Sense (general area, any danger, Function as a Sense); Only Perceives General Threats To The Realm As A Whole (-1) 15- 5 Treeman Senses: Nightvision 4 Reach: Reach +4m Talents 3 Knows The Forest: Bump Of Direction 5 The Forest Never Forgets: Eidetic Memory 4 Thicketmaster: Environmental Movement (no penalties in undergrowth, thickets, and so on) Skills 16 +2 with HTH Combat 7 AK: Home Forest 16- 9 Concealment 18-; Self Only (-½) 5 Stealth 14-; Only In Forests (-½) Total Powers & Skills Cost: 409 Total Character Cost: 593 175+ Matching Complications (50) 15 Physical Complication: Enormous (roughly 7m tall and 3m wide, weighs several tons; +4 OCV for others to hit, +4 to PER Rolls for others to perceive) (Frequently; Slightly Impairing) 15 Physical Complication: Limited Manipulation (due to size of fingers and the shape of the hands) (Frequently; Slightly Impairing) 20 Psychological Complication: Protective Of The Forest And All That Dwell Within It (Common; Total) Total Complications Value: 50 Experience Points: 418
Ecology: According to the druids, a spirit of the forest is the will of a great woods given physical form. Only the largest and/or oldest of forests can create a spirit, and usually only do so in the face of great evil and danger. Normally, the forest selects (if that’s the right word) a lightning-blasted tree and pours its subconscious will and need into it. Within the space of a week or so, the tree has become a self-willed living being, dedicated to protecting the forest and its inhabitants from whatever threatens it.
Personality/Motivation: A spirit of the forest isn’t good or evil, at least not as most people define it. While one is normally created to combat evil, the forest’s definition of evil may be drastically different from that of men, elves, or halflings. For example, if men started to clear cut the forest in order to create land on which to grow crops, then a spirit of the forest might be created to drive the men out, destroying their homesteads and killing any who resist. At the same time, if a band of orcs attacked a settlement of wood elves, slaughtering them one and all, but otherwise left the forest itself alone, a spirit wouldn’t appear. That said, a spirit of the forest, while a force of nature, isn’t mindless, and doesn’t engage in wanton acts of destruction itself. However, it can be rather ruthless and uncaring when dealing with anything it doesn’t consider part of the forest and/or under its protection.
Powers/Tactics: The powers of a spirit of the forest are vast, ranging from its sheer physical might to its ability to make the forest a virtual maze for unwanted visitors. Normally, the spirit starts by using its Detect and Danger Sense to determine where the problem is, then talks to the trees and animals to determine what’s wrong (using its Clairsentience and Telepathy). It will then travel to the area in question to investigate personally. Depending on the severity of the situation, it may try to solve the problem itself, it may summon a mass of forest-dwelling animals to assist (bears, cougars, and wolves are a popular choice), or it may call forth the trees themselves.
A spirit of the forest’s tactics are usually direct and to the point—it will attempt to destroy and/or run off whatever is threatening its domain. Subtly isn’t its strong point (and neither is mercy.)
Appearance: Standing around 20’ tall, a spirit of the forest appears as a humanoid tree, complete with legs and long arms ending in massive fists. As spirits are made from already dead trees, they’re often festooned with vines, moss, fungi and parasitic plants.
Designer's Notes: Based on a miniature painted by Bill Keyes (a.k.a teh bunneh on the Hero Boards), the spirit of the forest was loosely based on the Carnivorous Tree (found in the HERO System Bestiary) as well as my own character sheet for a Lord of the Rings Ent. The powers were spliced in from many sources, including Tulala Morn. You can easily add more powers, especially by adapting any plant/wood-based powers from Champions Powers and/or druidic magic from the HERO System Grimoire. You can also make the spirit smaller (perhaps no more than 12’ tall) or larger (say, around 50’ tall, or even larger than that if you want.)
(Spirit Of The Forest painted by Bill Keyes, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
Spirit Of The Forest Hero Designer File
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