Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 60 (8d8 + 24; bloodied)
Speed 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., climb 30 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 13
Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +1, Con +5
Skills Athletics +5, Perception +2 (+1d8)
Damage Resistances necrotic, poison, psychic
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16
Languages Squash
Natural Artisty. When making an ability check , the gourdling gains an expertise die for each gourdling working alongside it to accomplish the same task (maximum 1d12).
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The gourdling attacks twice.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Vines. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Medium-sized or smaller it is grappled (escape DC 13).
BONUS ACTIONS
Dread Rend. When the gourdling hits a creature it is grappling with its slam, the creature takes 3 (1d6) necrotic and 3 (1d6) psychic damage and it makes a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or is rattled until the end of the creature’s next turn
REACTIONS
Root Down (1/day). When the gourdling would be reduced to 0 hit points, if it is touching a patch of earth or soil, it instead is reduced to 10 (4d4) hit points. No mundane plantlife grows in that patch for the next 1d10 years.
Legends and Lore
With a History, Nature, or Religion check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 As a wrathful god from ancient times that demands considerable sacrifice, to defy the Gourd Empress is madness.
DC 15 Squashlings are heralds of the Gourd Empress. Though they appear benign and even friendly, they can warp the mind to force people to help them in their often grisly tasks; sometimes they are accompanied by much larger plants that do as they command.
DC 20 The Gourd Empress is not a god, only an extremely dangerous spirit. Once defeated she departs to find new victims next year, but settlements that give in to her dire demands begin a horrible cycle of suffering.
Lacking in intellectual prowess but utterly loyal to the squashlings commanding them, gourdlings are incredibly strong and have a remarkable capacity to work together on difficult tasks. With the right direction they have been known to build entire temples in honor of the Gourd Empress in only a few nights
1–2 Squashlings or gourdlings gathering and stockpiling the corpses and bones of slain humanoids.
3–4 Minions of the Gourd Empress building gruesome effigies of their mistress that are part corpse and part plant.
5–6 Gourdlings mashing corpses into ground cover to create a macabre, verdant carpet.
1 Strange and indecipherable patterns of flattened stalks in unharvested fields.
2 Trails of blood that disappear into the wilderness, sometimes replaced by the tracks of very small vined-feet.
3 Leaves falling early after turning a dark and troubling shade of purple.
4 A green and purple mist briefly appears for an hour around midnight
It’s hard to say where the Gourd Empress will put down her horrid roots next, but she has been known to appear in forests, grasslands, hills, jungles, mountains, ruins, and swamps
CR 0–2 squashling ; 2 squashlings
Treasure coins totaling 100 gp or gallow hand
CR 3–4 3 squashlings ; gourdling ; squashling and gourdling
Treasure coins totaling 160 gp and dust of sneezing and choking
CR 5–10 2 squashlings and gourdling ; 2 gourdlings ; 4 squashlings and gourdling ; 2 squashlings and 2 ourdlings ; 3 gourdlings ; 4 squashlings and 2 gourdlings
Treasure coins totaling 250 gp, pumpkin bomb
CR 11–16 Gourd Empress or 5 squashlings and 2 gourdlings ; Gourd Empress and squashling or 4 gourdlings ; Gourd Empress and gourdling ; Gourd Empress , 2 squashlings , and gourdling
Treasure coins totaling 1,080 gp, 4 amber (worth 100 gp each), death’s essence pendant , pearl of power , potion of growth , skull liqueur
CR 17–22 Gourd Empress and 2 gourdlings ; Gourd Empress , 3 squashlings , and 2 gourdlings ; Gourd Empress , 2 squashlings , and 3 gourdlings
Treasure e coins totaling 2,000 gp, 3 sapphires (worth 1,000 gold each), +3 hide, necklace of prayer beads
Plant creatures are magical fungoid or plant-like creatures. Ordinary plants, such as trees, are not plant creatures. A treant is an intelligent plant creature that resembles a tree.