Sunflower Leshy
Sunflower leshys are the ambassadors and social leaders of their kind. Their petals radiate from their heads in various hues with a serrated, leafy, beard-like ruff. When particularly excited, their eyes and petals glow with collected sunlight, and when they become depressed or saddened, their usually vibrant coloration grows correspondingly muted. These shifts in coloration are echoed in sunflower leshy art, which can lead to unexpected color palettes for artworks. For example, a human artist might illustrate Hell as a place of glowing lava and flickering flames, drawing upon many vibrant colors, but to a sunflower leshy, the only proper way to depict a place like Hell is in morose grays, blacks, and whites.
The more adventurous sunflower leshys leave their communities to grow bonds with nearby settlements of humanoids. When interacting with humanoids, sunflower leshys are some of the most likely to act friendly and give strangers a chance to prove their good intentions, though they remain cautious. They're often accompanied by other, more powerful leshys.
Legacy Content
N Small Leshy Plant
Source Bestiary 2 pg. 160
Recall Knowledge DC 15 • Plant (Nature)
Perception +7; darkvision
Languages Common, Druidic, Sylvan; speak with plants (sunflowers only)
Skills Acrobatics +6, Diplomacy +8, Nature +5, Stealth +7 (+9 in plains)
Str +0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +3
AC 16; Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +7
HP 20
Heliotrope [free-action] (aura, evocation, light, primal) 20 feet; Requirements The sunflower leshy begins its turn in an area of bright light; Effect The sunflower leshy reflects the sun or another source of bright light from their face. Each creature that ends its turn in the emanation must attempt a DC 16 Will save. Success The creature is unaffected and is temporarily immune to heliotrope for 24 hours. Failure The creature is distracted by the light, becoming flat-footed for 1 round. Critical Failure As failure, but the creature is also dazzled for 1 round.Verdant Burst (healing) When a sunflower leshy dies, a burst of primal energy explodes from its body, restoring 1d8 Hit Points to each plant creature in a 30-foot emanation. This area immediately fills with sunflowers, becoming difficult terrain. If the terrain is not a viable environment for these sunflowers, they wither after 24 hours.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] tendril +6 [+2/-2] (agile, finesse), Damage 1d8 bludgeoningRanged [one-action] seed +6 [+1/-4] (range increment 20 feet), Damage 1d6 bludgeoningPrimal Innate Spells DC 17; 4th speak with plants
Change Shape [one-action] (concentrate, polymorph, primal, transmutation) The sunflower leshy transforms into a Small flower. This ability otherwise uses the effects of tree shape.Seed Spray [two-actions] (conjuration, primal) The sunflower leshy launches a deluge of seeds from their head in a 15-foot cone, dealing 2d6 bludgeoning damage to creatures within the area (DC 16 basic Reflex save). It gains a +2 status bonus to this damage against dazzled creatures. The sunflower leshy can't use Seed Spray again for 1d4 rounds.All Monsters in "Leshy"
Source Bestiary pg. 218Leshys are intelligent plant creatures that guard areas of primeval wilderness or earthly power. Originally created by powerful fey, they manifest when a skilled practitioner of primal magic—typically a druid—combines a nature spirit with a body carefully grown from local vegetation. The rites and materials required to create a leshy vary depending on the type of leshy. They are typically given life in an area of great natural significance, such as an arboreal’s grove, a druidic circle, a fairy ring, or a great natural wonder.
Associated Monsters
Because of their relative frailty, leaf leshys frequently act as liaisons and call upon more powerful forest guardians when their domains are threatened. Nymphs, sprites, and other goodly fey may respond to the call of a leaf leshy, as do arboreals and other plant creatures.
Dead Leshy
When a leshy dies, its body explodes in a wave of vegetation as its spirit returns to the natural world. Though leshy spirits that are called into new bodies after death typically keep only vague recollections of their pasts, they retain many of the values and habits of their former life.
Leshy Communities
Leshys are fairly egalitarian when interacting with their own kind. Most communities are meritocracies, rewarding leshys who defend their communities and help each other succeed, and they see working together as the best path to a successful future.
Leshy Heroes
Occasionally, a leshy proves so valuable to their community that they're uplifted as a hero. These admired leshys are not all warriors; outstanding artisans, caretakers, or diplomats might also be lauded as heroes.