Monster Lab: D&D 5e Carnivorous Plant

Last week I wrote about Monsters & Traps for a D&D 5e Jungle Adventure. An interesting bit of feedback I received on Facebook was that I missed Carnivorous Plant. To update Carnivorous Plant for D&D 5e, I could just use Vine Blight, Roper or Shambling Mound, but I wanted something that was relatively stationary with a challenge rating around 2. The D&D 5th edition Monster Manual does not have such a creature, so I had to look around for ideas and build my own. One Carnivorous Plant presents a tough challenge at low levels or a challenging trap like encounter for higher level PCs with a group of these plants surprising them.

Carnivorous Plant

Challenge Rating: 2 | Homebrew
The Carnivorous Plant is a type of living foliage that look like a giant plant. Its head resembles a giant Venus Fly Trap with teeth, but is reddish-purple in color and it has 2 long, arm-like tendrils. This deadly plant remains motionless until it detects a creature within range using its Tremorsense or Blindsight.

CARNIVOROUS PLANT Large plant, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor) Hit Points 65 (10d8+24) Speed 10 ft.
STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	13 (+1)	14 (+2)	1 (-5)	12 (+1)	2 (-4)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +3 (+8 if it is motionless and surrounded by thick foliage) Condition Immunities blinded, deafened Senses Blindsight 30 ft (blind beyond this radius), Tremorsense 60 ft, Passive Perception 11 Languages none Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Grasping Tendrils. The plant can have up to 2 tendrils at a time. Each tendril can be attacked (AC 13, 10 hit points). Destroying a tendril deals no damage to the plant, which can extrude a replacement tendril on its next turn. A tendril can be broken if a creature takes an action and succeeds on a DC 13 Strength check against it. False Appearance. When the plant remains motionless, it looks like just another plant.
Actions: Multiattack. The plant makes three melee attacks (one with its bite) and two with tendrils. The plant will use reel on any creatures it has grappled. These attacks can be launched in any order. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d8+2) piercing damage. Tendril. Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: The target is grappled (escape DC 15). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained. The plant can’t use the same tendril Reel. The plant pulls each creature it has grappled by it up to 20 feet straight toward it. Entangle (Recharge 5-6). Grasping roots and vines sprout in a 15 foot radius centered on the plant, withering after 1 minute. For the duration, the area is difficult terrain for non-plant creatures. In addition, each creature of the plant’s choice must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or become restrained. A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another entangled creature within reach on success.

The Carnivorous Plant above can be made harder by adding more tendrils, more hit dice, acidic touch or converting it into a gargantuan plant.

carnivorous-plant

Some other plant monsters I found were Assassin Vine, Bloodsipper, Hunting Cactus, Violet Fungus and Shriekers, Topiary Bushes, Tendriculos, the psionic Udoroot and Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. There is also a race of playable plant people called the Stranglethorns.

Looking for more monsters? Check out my series of Monsters by environment.

Monster Lab: D&D 5e Carnivorous Plant

Carnivorous Plant

CARNIVOROUS PLANT

Actions:

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