DRAGON SUN

5E RACE: ARBOREANS

Manuel.Joaquin & Chris Conn

5E Race:
Arboreans
By Dragon Sun Game Company: Manuel Joaquin & Chris Conn
Cover art: Shutterstock & Slava Gerj
Interior art: Shutterstock & Nattle
The use of the 5E logo or any other company or trademark in these pages is not a
challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. It does not indicate the permission
or endorsement of any entity.
Designation of Product Identity: All artwork, logos, the name Dragon Sun and all
associated trademarks, and the material under the headers of Arboreans, Sprouts &
their Trees, Benevolent Gods of the Forest, Im of Two Minds, and A Plant with a
Mission are designated as Product Identity.
Designation of Open Gaming Content: All mechanics derived from Open Gaming
Content, the Arborean race, subraces, and racial abilities, including their names and
descriptive text, are considered Open Gaming Content. It is the intention of this
publisher that as much of the character class presented in this book, along with other
game mechanics and their descriptions, be useable as open gaming content.

Dragon Sun. All rights reserved.

Arboreans are a new race you can use for 5th ed. characters.

ARBOREANS
The Sapling opened her iridescent eyes & took in the world as a
mortal for the first time in decades. Yes, it had been 2.75
decades since she, or rather, the Tree had seeded a Sprout in
humanoid form.
She felt the vine-like muscles & tendons in her new body tense
& relax as her former self, the Tree, tested the Sprouts reflexes
& autonomic systems. The knowledge of the process formed in
the back of her mind, nonintrusive, just a slight pressure
announcing the information was available to access, should she
desire it to. She chose not, & passed the time just breathing the
sweet air while she enjoyed the sight of the squirrels & blue jays
playing amongst her leaves.
At last, the bark rolled back, permitting her to emerge, fully
formed, newly awakened, & ready to take on the world. Calling
up memories she had last used nearly thirty years earlier, the
new Sprout set off down the path out of the Arboreans forest.
This was going to be fun!
Arboreans are sentient Trees of advanced knowledge that can
grow humanoid Sprouts implanted with all of the Trees
memories, basically a carbon copy of the Trees soul, to act as
their agents in the world. A Trees Sprout performs missions for
their mutual benefit before returning home to upload a copy of
the Sprouts mind into the Tree & consider physically remerging.

Sprouts & their Trees

The Trees, themselves, are gargantuan creatures hundreds of
meters tall & dozens wide. Arborean Trees are usually the most
powerful beings in the area, & so feel a certain responsibility to
protect & nurture the living things all around them.
Many Trees go so far as to create living space within their own
bodies for their wild neighbors, growing cozy nooks & crannies in
their trunks. These hollows can be very elaborate to fulfill the
needs of more specialized creatures, such as humans, providing
vegetable heat, lighting, & hot & cold running water. The end
result being that the trunk of an Arborean Tree might resemble a
somewhat convoluted, vertical village.
Sprouts are much different than their Tree seed-fathers.
Although Sprouts are human in shape, they are entirely
vegetable. They tend to be on the willowy side: slender & slightly
frail looking. Their skin is most often the light green color of a
new shoot. At first glance, they appear to be wearing somewhat
stiff tunic & shorts, however closer inspection reveals that their
chests & lower bodies are encased in a thin, flexible bark.
Just like in the vegetable kingdom, there is great variety
between Sprouts. They could be foliaged, floral, or even fungal.
In fact, theres no reason Sprouts from the same Tree have to
resemble each other, since Trees tailor a Sprouts appearance to
suit the needs of their mission or for purely aesthetic reasons.

Benevolent Gods of the Forest

The nervous systems of Arborean Trees are dispersed
throughout their entire physicality, from the lowest root to the
highest branch. They literally have tons of brains.
Their nigh-godlike intellect grants Trees the ability to see
things from virtually anyones point of view. Thats part of why
Arborean Trees tend to take on the role of forest-mother: they
have a hyper-empathy for every living thing.

With hundreds, if not thousands, of plants, animals, monsters,

& humanoids to take care of, Arborean Trees are never bored.
Like proud parents, Trees delight in the accomplishments of their
charges. In fact, a Tree will arrange special celebrations for
particular impressive achievements. Arborean Trees are most
satisfied when their forest children are happy, going to great
lengths to protect, nurture, & entertain their children up to &
including reengineering the landscape if need be.

Im of Two Minds
Since the Arboreans copy their thoughts wholesale into their new
Sprouts, each Sapling begins life with personalities identical to
their home Tree (given reasonable changes for their humanoid
forms, of course). However, as Sprouts experience life from their
unique point of view, away from the Tree, they can evolve over
time into completely different individuals.
Arboreans tend to have only a couple Sprouts active at any
single time. The process of growing a Sprout is not necessarily
costly, but it does take about a year of effort. The real trick is
taking centuries worth of information & compacting it down to fit
into something the size of a cantaloupe. With such limited
resources, certain priorities have to be set, giving specific
memories more significance over others, especially if the Sprout
was seeded with a particular mission in mind.
As the Sprout carries out his/her/its mission, their personality
will naturally grow & change as they face new challenges, learn
new things, & celebrate their successes or suffer setbacks. By
the time the Sprout returns to the Tree, the Sapling could be a
whole new person, with unique memories to share & cherish. By
merging their new memories with the Tree, both Arboreans are
renewed & become stronger individuals for it. In fact, this is the
actual overall goal, regardless of what particular quests a Sprout
may choose to undertake.

A Plant with a Mission

Its true that many, if not most, Sprouts begin life dedicated to a
specific quest on the behalf of their Tree, but its important to
remember that Sprouts are not merely tools of the Arboreans.
Sprouts arent mindless drones, vegetable robots hell-bent on
their mission. For all intents & purposes, Sprouts are copies of
the Arborean giants that seeded them. Sprouts can think; they
can reason. Each Sprout has deliberately chosen to take up the
responsibility of pursuing their quest. As such, Sprouts deserve
the respect & rights afforded to any creature, sentient or
otherwise.
Not even the Trees can overly influence their Sprouts without
slipping into the ethical failure that is slavery. Instead, Trees
must treat with Sprouts as the equals that they are, even if the
Sprout in question came from that particular Trees seed.
That being said, a Sprout & her Tree are more than mere
acquaintances. They are closer than friends, more than family.
They are mirrors of each other, almost the same soul, in fact.
Once a Sprouts quest is complete, the Sapling will most often
return to the Tree to merge back into the Arborean giant &
become whole again.
However, not all Sprouts choose to return. A few might find
themselves so changed by their adventures that they cant bear
the thought of losing their new individuality in the blending
necessitated by remerging. At other times, a Sprout might find an
area in such desperate need of help that the Sprout chooses to
put down roots to grow into a new guardian Tree.
At the same time, safe in the knowledge that a copy of their
self, their literal soul, is safely held in the form of a gargantuan,
immortal Tree, Sprouts are not afraid to take the drastic measure
of sacrificing their lives to ensure the defeat of utter evil.

Arborean
Arboreans are a race of immortal, sentient plants that can seed
human-shaped Sprouts with their memories to act as their
avatars in the world.
With duties ranging from collecting information as simple
tourists to dire missions to protect their forest homes, the
Sprouts adventure forth before returning to their home to upload
their memories & consider remerging with the Tree.
At once newborn yet ancient, motheringly gentle yet
indomitably strong, innocent yet possessed of godlike wisdom,
Arboreans are creatures of intriguing self contradiction.
Ability Score Increase (Sprout). The slow accumulation of
knowledge over the decades & centuries has given you a wide, if
somewhat dreamlike, range of experience.
Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. No one knows precisely how old a Sprout might grow. A
particular Sprout can be anywhere from newborn to tens of
decades of age. The vast majority of Sprouts feel the urge to
return home to their Tree & remerge after their mission is
complete, or at best, after a handful of years. Unless the Sprout
has an unbearable need to get away from itself, it's a rare
Sapling that chooses to live its life alone, isolated from its fuller,
more complete self that is the Tree.
Arborean Trees, themselves, are effectively immortal, barring
unexpected violence. The ones that choose to involve
themselves with the "Fleshy Races" are rarely more than a few
centuries old. Unless something immediately threatens their
forest homes, Millennial Trees tend to dedicate themselves in
their own, decades- or centuries-long projects that only rarely
require direct intervention.
Alignment. As some of the most ancient & most
knowledgeable creatures in their forests, Arboreans find they can
see every side of a conflict & can very often find merits to any
earnest argument. As a result, Arboreans appreciate every living
thing. They naturally take to the role of care-giver, serving as
mother/father to every creature within their purview.
Arboreans are Neutral, although their strong nurturing instincts
mean they have a strong tendency towards Good. Sprouts,
especially those whove been independent long enough to grow
into their own person, can be of any alignment.
Size. Sprouts are between 5 & 6 feet tall (1.5 to 1.8 meters) &
are rather willowy, rarely weighing more than 130-ish pounds (60
kg). Portly Sprouts grow thicker from the feet up rather than
around the middle in the way that humanoids do. Your size is
Medium.
Arborean Trees are dozens of feet across & hundreds tall.
Their root systems can double their apparent size, dominating
the subterranean ecology. Your size is Gargantuan.

Speed. A Sprouts base walking speed is 30 feet. The Trees

walking speed is 0.
Leafy Visage (Sprout). A Sprout may attempt to hide even
when you are only lightly obscured by vegetation, heavy rain or
snow, or other natural phenomena.
Natural Care Giver (Tree & Sprout). Your centuries of
accumulated knowledge, combined with your innate empathy,
give you a great nurturing ability.
When you use the Help action & you are proficient in the skill
you are trying to assist, add your proficiency bonus to the
creatures roll.
Plant Ancestry (Tree & Sprout). Neither the Tree nor the
Sprout are humanoids. Instead, you are Plants. You gain the
following benefits.
Firstly, its virtually impossible to starve you (see Taking Root).
Next, provided you are sufficiently watered, you have
advantage on saving throws against cold & fire damage.
Likewise, you have advantage on saving throws caused by
temperature extremes due to the weather. You lose both of
these advantages if you allow yourself to whither.
Taking Root (Sprout). During a rest, a Sprout may choose to
put down roots. While rooted, you enter a light sleep, basking in
the sun, & extend your tendril-like branches to unfurl your leaves.
If you have nutritious soil & some light, taking root for at least 4
hours grants you sustenance as if you had eaten a full meal &
slept a full 8 hours. Sprouts may choose to eat & sleep normally,
benefitting as any other humanoid would, although a Sprouts
idea of food includes everything from soil & compost to the
more typical meats & vegetables that humanoids enjoy.
If a Sprout finds a good, healthy batch of soil, (or a place in
need of a protector) you might choose to put down roots
permanently. Over the next 5 decades, you grow ever more
complex root & branch systems as your mind expands to
encompass ineffably boundless concepts.
During this period of growth, you can still uproot yourself to
fend off dangers or move out of a disaster, but it grows more &
more difficult each year. By the end of the half-century, you
become a full fledged Arborean Tree capable of seeding your
own Sprouts.
Languages. You can speak, read, & write Common, & you
have a nonmagical ability to speak with plants & animals.
Subrace. Most Arboreans are treelike in nature, hence the
name. However, in addition to the dominate Oukken Arborean
variety, two lesser known varieties of Arboreans exist: the roselike Romarin Arboreans; & the vine-like Vigne Arboreans.
All three subraces are described below.

Oukken Arborean

Vigne Arborean

Although there are few Arboreans in the world, if you do meet

one, youre likely to meet an Oukken Arborean. Oukken
Arboreans are tremendous trees, often with very convoluted
trunks where they grew in hollows or living areas to host various
forest critters or druidic hermits.
Oukken are noted for their honest, frank attitudes. They are
bold, strong, & assertive with their opinions. Natural leaders, they
always know best.
When an Oukken seeds a Sprout, they produce an acorn
about the size of a human baby. Over the course of a year, the
acorn grows until it reaches the size of an adult human & the
whole nut falls to the forest floor. The shell splits, & the newly
born Sprout enters the world. Oukken Sprouts often keep their
acorn caps to wear like a hat.
Ability Score Increase. The wood of the Oukken does not
break easily.
Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Protectors of the Wilderness (Sprout). When the foes of the
Oukken will not listen to your wisdom, you let your fists do the
talking.
You can cast the shillelagh cantrip. Wisdom is your
spellcasting ability for this spell. When you cast shillelagh, you
may use the wood of your body in place of the material
components & the club/quarterstaff.

Vigne Arboreans grow in tangled Vineyards hundreds of yards

across. Their vines climb structures like trees, cliffs, ruins, or
even pile upon themselves to form elaborate, 3D mazes.
Throughout the Vineyard, clusters of grapes & berries grow to
feed the thousands of creatures that climb & jump & nest within
the Arboreans cozy body.
Vigne Arboreans are probably the most easygoing of the
Arboreans. Friendly, gregarious people, Vigne Arboreans like
nothing better than getting to know new friends over a drink or
two, especially one brewed from their own fruit. Vigne Sprouts
are also very athletic & thoroughly enjoy using their long, ropey
limbs to run & leap & carry on like children.
When a Vigne Arborean decides to seed a Sprout, they begin
by growing a single grape. The grape swells & swells over the
next 6 months until it becomes roughly a yard across. Soon after,
verdant tendrils start appearing within the juicy mass of the deep
purple fruit.
The next half-year sees more & more tendrils grow inside the
fruit, until the skin splits & the newborn Sprout spills out. Vigne
Sprouts look a lot like their Oukken brethren, with the exception
that a Vigne Sprouts skin is a very colorful reddish purple, honey
gold, or even sparkling pink.
Ability Score Increase. Your vine-filled body isnt as stiff &
woody as other Arboreans.
Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Long Legs. Your stretchable vine legs allow you greater
mobility than your woody & fleshy counterparts.
Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Tendril Limbs. Your arms & legs are tightly looped
vines that can each double in length.
You gain 5 feet to your reach. In
addition, the distance you can
jump is doubled.

Romarin Arborean
Rather than the tall, strong Trees that Oukken Arboreans grow
into, Romarin Arboreans cultivate tremendous, thorny Thickets
covered in rose blooms. In the most secret & protected place,
the heart of the Thicket, a rose dozens of feet across flowers. It
is from this place that Romarin Sprouts emerge.
Out of a race of naturally nurturing people, Romarin are
perhaps the most motherly, & Romarin are everyones mother.
They are not shy about offering advice or any support they can.
Romarin are kind, caring, & empathetic almost to a fault. They
are not stupid, however. Its easy to forget that even the
youngest of Sprouts holds centuries of knowledge in their pretty,
little heads. They know exactly when to bare their thorns.
Romarin Sprouts begin life as a bud deep within the Romarin
Thicket. Soon the bud blooms slightly, opening more & more
over the next year as the bud grows to about the size of a human.
As the Sprout develops, its face begins to emerge from under
the petals of the flower. Finally, the flower folds in on itself (to
resemble humanoid hair, albeit in fantastical rose-like colors) &
the Sprout steps off the stem to join the world.
Ability Score Increase. Few can deny your floral beauty.
Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Inspiring Touch. Theres something about your presence, the
fragrance of your bloom, or the confidence that you inspire which
brings out the best in the people around you.
You can cast the guidance cantrip. Wisdom is your
spellcasting ability for this spell.
Romarin Knows Best. You can distill your years of life
experience down into concrete lessons.
You gain proficiency in 2 skills of your choice.

Arborean Feats
The following feats are available to any character that meets the
prerequisites.

Bear Fruit
Prerequisite: Plant Ancestry
You can produce enough fruit to feed your companions for a day.
You gain the following benefits:
Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
When you take root, you bear enough to feed & water up to 5
companions.
Creatures that partake of your fruit recuperate at faster rates
than usual. Each time they roll a Hit Die to regain hit points
before the start of their next long rest, the minimum number of
hit points they can regain from the roll is equal to twice your
Constitution modifier (minimum of 2).

Covered in Thorns
Prerequisite: Either Plant Ancestry or proficiency with any armor
If you are a Plant, you grow thorns & spikes all over your skin. If
not, you install spikes into your armor instead.
You gain the following benefits:
Thorns are martial melee weapons with the Light property that
deal 1d6 piercing damage.
Inflict thorns damage when you succeed on a grapple check.

Deceptive Camouflage
Youve studied the way the humanoid brain works such that you
know how to exploit its blind spots by disguising your presence in
ways that people dont even think to look for. Rather than
completely cloaking your presence, you blend in with your
surroundings such as by mixing in with a crowd of passersby or
by twisting your profile to appear as a tree, furniture, or artwork.
You gain the following benefits:
When you take the Hide action you may roll your choice of a
Wisdom (Stealth) or Wisdom (Deception) check, instead of the
usual Dexterity (Stealth) check.
You may take the Hide action as long as you are at least
lightly obscured.
When you take the Hide action, you may use your Bonus
Action to Dash, which doesnt reveal you as long as you end
the Dash in a place in which you can Hide (i.e. a place that is
at least lightly obscured).

Enthralling Fragrance
You have a floral/musky odor that influences those around you.
You gain the following benefits:
Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
You can use your Charisma-based skill checks in silence
without speaking at all.
You no longer need to share a common language with
creatures you attempt to influence via your Charisma-based
skill checks.

Fungal Familiar
A forest spirit has adopted you & assists you in any way it can.
You gain the following benefits:
You gain the ability to cast the find familiar spell. Wisdom is
your spellcasting ability for this spell.
The familiar is a Plant, rather than celestial, fey, or fiend. It is
an amalgamation of animated mushrooms & fungus.
Otherwise, it appears in the forms usually associated with the
find familiar spell.
You may cast area of effect spells centered on your fungal
familiar. Releasing the energies, however, causes your fungal
familiar to explode, instantly reducing the fungal familiar to 0
hit points.

Poisonous Flesh
Prerequisite: Constitution 13 or higher
Whether through a natural mutation, or by slow, careful ingestion
of highly toxic substances over a period of years, your flesh is
saturated with poison.
Ordinary physical contact causes no problems for you or the
people around you, but any contact to your bodily fluids or
penetrating your skin exposes the offender to the toxic material
inside of you.
You gain the following benefits:
The saving throw DCs of the following 2 benefits are equal to 8
+ your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.
You taste horribly bitter & exposure to your blood (or any other
bodily liquid) leaves burning welts. Any creature that is not
immune to poison & that hits you with a natural attack must
make a Wisdom saving throw. If the natural attack was a bite,
the creature rolls at a disadvantage. On a failure, the creature
is frightened of you until the end of the creatures next turn.
If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you may choose to explode,
completely destroying your body, but releasing a highly toxic
cloud of gas. Treat the poison cloud as the cloudkill spell with
the following adjustments: the cloud does 3d8 poison damage;
the cloud is centered on you & does not move; & the poison
cloud lasts for 1 minute.

Whipping Vines
You gain the ability to grow vines on command to harry your foes.
You gain the following benefits:
You gain the ability to cast the thorn whip cantrip. Wisdom is
your spellcasting ability for this spell.
When a creatures movement provokes an opportunity attack
from you, you may cast thorn whip against the triggering
creature instead of making the usual opportunity attack.
Your thorn whip can pull creatures that are Huge or smaller.