The barbarian swung his axe in a wide arc, batting at the roots that rose from the earth as he laughed mockingly at the strange tree before them. The thick gnarled trunk grew out of dark, churning earth, its body twisting skyward into crooked branches from which heavy, ugly fruit hung. However, the most disturbing aspect of the tree was a single eye that split the bark of its trunk to glare at the party assembled before it. Its powerful roots stabbed from the ground, swinging and swiping out at the heroes who struggled to dodge. The sorcerer ducked too slowly and suddenly found herself bound in the sinuous root, which wrapped tightly around her, making it difficult to even bring her magic to bear. As she writhed against it, the slithering root pressed into the back of her neck and dug under her skin. She screamed as she felt it growing beneath her skin before she suddenly felt silent and went limp. Her friends turned to regard her, watching as her head lifted to reveal eyes that glowed the same magenta as the puppeteer tree’s gaze. A wicked smile split across her face as arcane energy sparked from her fingertips, reaching towards her confused comrades.
Illustration by Blue himself who you can check out here!
I’m very excited to share this monster which served as the main boss for the very first Pathfinder Second Edition campaign that I ran. It’s seen quite a few updates since then, leading to me designing it as a level 9 creature rather than the level 5 monster I originally made it as. Back then, it was a unique monster that the heroes put a stop to but for the setting of the world and to share, it simply styled it as a rare creature that mostly follows the spellcaster road map. It does use some spells, mostly designed in manipulating the minds of its enemies, weakening their will so that it can wreak its other effects. It does have some spells about sharing the vast knowledge it contains since that was actually its original purpose – a tree that could tap into the minds of others and house their knowledge within itself.
The other ability that really demonstrates this is its Fruit of Knowledge. A puppeteer tree may give this freely if it thinks it can use the heroes to its own ends, granting them lore about a subject they’re interested in, but most likely, they’ll encounter its effects when they get hit by the tree’s Strike, which uses a moderate attack and deals low damage. They must then make a Will save against a moderate DC since this is an effect triggers without the puppeteer tree having to put forth any further action and stupefied sets a creature up for many of the tree’s other tricks. Which requires the tree to land its root Strikes, again using that moderate attack with a moderate damage and having Improved Grab because it needed some action compression in its kit.
Roots is relevant here but there isn’t much to discuss in regards to it, just being a passive effect that details how many creatures the puppeteer tree can hold. Take Root is of greater import and covers the first part of this potent plant’s perfidious plot where it will attempt to drive its root into its victim’s nervous system. This uses a high DC and mostly just serves to make the target restrained, which is important as it means that the tree will no longer have to spend actions to maintain a hold on such creatures. This sets it up to use the eponymous Puppeteer, which serves as a central ability. Controlled can be a touchy subject and one that I use sparingly which is why each use of this power, which features a high Will DC, only lasts for 1 round. And even then, unless the creature critically fails, the tree only gets to control them for two actions to limit the power to a reasonable level.
In my original pass on the tree, it had a low end of high Hit Points that I reduced to moderate after adding the Interpose Puppet reaction. This functions similarly to reactions such as Shield Block and increases the tree's survivability while spreading some damage to the party.
Pathfinder 2e:
The biggest difference between the different editions of the puppeteer tree is the focus on spells for the 1e tree, which further modifies its spell list with feats that enhance and alter them with options such as Disruptive Spell-Like Ability and Intensified Spell-Like Ability. Given how the action system works in 1e, I had to do something a little different for its puppeteer ability and folded Take Root into it with the ability to maintain its grip as well as exert its will.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOK
Gang-Up in the Greenhouse: The heroes are asked to investigate a greenhouse that specializes in magical plantlife but has gone silent for a while. Visitors haven't returned and the usual trade has been cut off from it. When the heroes arrive, they find that the plants have grown out of control. Further explorations into the greenhouse reveals that a puppeteer tree has taken over the greenhouse where it intends to grow an entire army of itself and spread its influence.
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Have a monstrous Monday!