#plant monster

Day 22: Plant ☘️

Plants brushes by Devin Elle Kurtz!

Inktober Day 20- Raptor Orchis will hibernate in bud form in the earth, but will sprout at the ready at the slightest provocation!

Image © Paizo Publishing

[Despite my grousing about some of the particulars, Starfinder does have plenty of interesting monsters in it, and I’m going to cover some critters from the first Alien Archive for the next month or so. So of course I had to pick a tricky one for my first choice. Starfinder has “resolve points”, an action point mechanic possessed by the PCs and some monsters. Like the ksarik. So what am I to do with converting monsters with resolve points? I made the abilities that it can trigger with resolve points 1/day abilities in this case, but I’m probably going to tackle that question on a case by case basis.

The reason I chose the ksarik is that it embodies a few of my favorite design tropes. It’s got body horror and a monster that can change within an encounter, so I had to cover it. I also like the suggested plot hooks in the flavor text, which boils down to “pest or people?” Like the horta from Star Trek, these aren’t necessarily malicious, but still dangerous, and difficult to facilitate communication with. ]

Ksarik
CR 5 N Plant
This creature appears to be a mixture of animal and vegetable, in garish hues of greens, oranges and purples. It has two eye stalks protruding wide from a mass of vine-like tentacles, and a quadrupedal body plan something like a big cat. A large leaf runs along its back like a sail. Thorny structures grow along its limbs and back.

Ksariks are mobile carnivorous plants native to the planet Castrovel, capable of altering themselves in order to adapt to their prey. They occupy an ecosystem niche similar to that of hyenas, being cooperative pack hunters with surprisingly sophisticated behavior, willing to scavenge if fresh meat is not available. They make slam attacks with a cluster of vines, which allow it to absorb and temporarily mimic some of its opponent’s abilities. Although these adaptations are lost quickly, some trace of the genetic code remains behind, and ksariks add to the variations of their offspring this way—some populations have one or more permanent traits, and it is believed that their acidic spit was copied this way from another organism.

Ksariks reproduce sexually, with two partners coming together but both bearing sprouts. These sprouts are on thorns, which the ksarik can launch like a dart at other creatures. A ksarik that is not hungry, but is laden with thorn darts, may stalk and tag multiple creatures without killing them, so its young can incubate in the skin and muscle. Their violent emergence several days later is fatal to smaller, weaker creatures, and decidedly shocking even to those tough enough to survive.

Ksariks are capable of communicating with each other with lilting song-like noises emitted from their skins. This appears to be a rudimentary form of language, but attempts to facilitate communication by humanoids have resulted in nothing but violence by the ksarik being “spoken” to. Some societies treat ksariks as a pest species and exterminate them wherever they appear, but others treat them as sapient, albeit troublesome, and argue that they deserve to be able to spread and develop their emerging culture.

Ksarik    CR 5
XP 1,600
N Large plant
Init+1;Senseslow-light vision, Perception +10, scent
Defense
AC18, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +8 natural)
hp52 (7d8+21); fast healing 2
Fort+8,Ref+3,Will+3
Immune plant traits
Offense
Speed40 ft., climb 40 ft.
Meleeslam +9 (1d12+7 plus adaptation)
Rangedacid spit (3d6 acid) orthorn dart (1d4+5 plus infestation)
Special Attacks double adaptation, extend adaptation
Statistics
Str20,Dex13,Con17,Int5,Wis12,Cha8
Base Atk +5;CMB+11;CMD22 (26 vs. trip)
FeatsBlind-fight,Point Blank Shot, Power Attack
SkillsAcrobatics +7 (+11 when jumping), Climb +14, Perception +10, Survival +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Perception, +4 Survival
SQundersized weapons
Ecology
Environmentwarm or temperate forests
Organizationsolitary, pack (2-5) or infestation (6-11)
Treasureincidental
Special Abilities
Acid Spit (Ex) As a standard action, a ksarik can spit acid as a ranged touch attack with a range of 60 feet and no range increment. It can use this ability every 1d4 rounds.
Adaptation (Su) When a ksarik hits an opponent with its slam attack, it can siphon off a portion of that creature’s essence and reshape its own physiology or psychology. It can grant itself one of the following abilities for 1 minute, as long as the creature it hit had the ability:

• Blindsense, blindsight or darkvision (up to 60 feet)
• A burrow, fly or swim speed of up to 40 feet. If it gains a fly speed, its maximum maneuverability is average
• Damage reduction (up to 5 points)
• Energy resistance (up to 20 points)
• Change the damage type of its acid spit to cold, electricity, fire or sonic, if the creature could deal that damage type with one of their extraordinary or supernatural abilities
• The ability to understand (but not speak) up to three languages that the target knows
• The target’s weapon proficiencies (the ksarik can wield weapons as if was a Medium creature, but cannot make slam attacks and weapon attacks in the same round)

A ksarik can only have one adaptation at a time, unless it uses its double adaptation ability.
Double Adaptation (Su) Once per day, a ksarik can maintain two adaptations at a time. It cannot use this ability in conjunction with its extend adaptation ability.
Extend Adaptation (Su) Once per day, a ksarik can maintain a single adaptation for 8 hours. It cannot use this ability in conjunction with its double adaptation ability.
Infestation (Ex) Carrion spores;thorn—injury;saveFort DC 16; onset1 minute; frequency1/day;damage1d2 Con damage; cure2 consecutive saves. A creature that takes 4 points of Constitution damage from this infestation has 1d10+10 ksarik seedlings (Diminutive, AC 14, 1 hp) emerge from its body, dealing 1 point of piercing damage each. An infestation is treated as a disease for the purpose of its duration and cure, but creatures with a physical body but immune to disease can be affected. The save DC is Constitution based.
Thorn Dart (Ex) A ksarik can fire a thorn as a standard action. Treat this as a thrown weapon with a range increment of 10 feet. A creature struck takes 1d4 piercing damage, modified by the ksarik’s Strength modifier, and is exposed to the ksarik’s infestation.