Verdant Lord
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Verdant Lord is a prestige class (PrC) in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, introduced in the supplimentary book Masters of the Wild. Verdant lords are people who have dedicated their lives to the understanding and well-being of all plant life.
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[edit] Requirements
Verdant lords must be skilled in herbalism and wilderness lore (8 ranks in each skill) and be non-evil. They must also demostrate their connection to plants by having the Plant Control and Plant Defiance feats, and their powers over plants by being able to cast the spell control plants.
Verdant lords are almost always elven or half-elven druids, as their long lifespan allows them to appreciate that of the trees and forests they care for. Occasionally, a druid of another race or a ranger may follow this calling, along with a cleric of either of the nature deities Obad-Hai or Ehlonna. Other people tend to lack the knowledge of plant life and commitment to nature required of a verdant lord.
[edit] Abilities
Verdant lords gain the ability to create and identify infusions. An infusion is a way of storing a spell for later use inside a specially prepared herb, in a similar way to a potion. A limited form of photosynthesis is gained by low level verdant lords, that allows them to survive without food as long as they spend at least 4 hours a day exposed to sunlight.
At mid levels the verdant lord can transform themselves into a treant using a version of the druidic wild shape ability. They can channel energy from another spell to spontaneously cast a regenerate spell of the same level, and gain the Fast Healing ability. This reflects the resilience of most plants to even severe damage.
At the highest levels, the verdant lord experiences Gaea's Embrace. This results in the person's type changing to that of a plant creature, granting immunity to sleep effects, poison, paralysis, stunning and polymorphing against their will. They are also immune to critical hits, mind-control of any sort and many aging effects. The Verdant Lord gains low-light vision.
[edit] Plant Control
Several of the verdant lord's abilities reflect their control over plants. Verdant lords can rebuke or command plants in a similar way to clerics rebuking and controlling undead. Their skill in this increases with experience.
At high levels the verdant lord gains the ability to animate a tree, effectively granting it mobility and limited sentience. The animated tree uproots itself and can fight for the verdant lord.
[edit] Verdant Lords in Society
Most verdant lords live apart from civilisation, prefering to keep to the company of intelligent plant creatures. They often live within very lush groves. Verdant lords are generally very patient and retiring in nature. However, if somebody threatens plants or carelessly waves fire around they become enraged very quickly. Few verdant lords travel, but those who do tend to travel in the company of mobile plants such as treants or animated trees.
[edit] The Order of the Verdant Grove
The Order of the Verdant Grove is an association of druids and verdant lords who share information about nature with each other. They report on the discovery of standing stones, druidic circles, new plants or animals and other lands.
Members are identified by a hoop earing adorned with a small green pearl. In order to be accepted, a druid must be sponsored by an existing member and voted in during one of the organisation's occasional meetings. Due to the links members form to pass information over long distances, it could be said that the Order of the Verdant Grove superfically resembles a druidic spy network.
[edit] References
Eckelberry, David; Mike Selinker (2002). Masters of the Wild. Wizards of the Coast, pp. 73-75. ISBN 0-7869-2653-8.
