Heaps are lumbering creatures most commonly found in the bottomland swamps along the Yellow River in the Country of Yanth, particular in the environs of Lardafa, the Beggar City. They appear as anthropomorphic mounds of plant material, sometimes mixed in garbage.
Though only a few in the Land of Azurth are aware of their origins, Heaps are made when the process of generating a Green Man goes awry, leaving them unconnected to the spirits of nature, and dumb brutes, in the main. Heaps are nevertheless dimly aware of what their mission would have been and at least seem to intend to protect the forests where they dwell, though their means of doing so is not always effective.
Heaps are feared by most folk (and not without some reason), but Lardafans view them with reverence and augur meaning from their mysterious comings and goings.
HEAP
large plant, neutral
AC 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 128 (15d10+45)
Speed: 20 ft.
STR 18(+4) DEX 8(-1) CON 16(+3) INT 8(-1) WIS 11(+0) CHA 7(-2)
Skills Stealth +2
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened
Senses passive Perception 10.
False Appearance. A heap looks a mound of vegetation if it lies motionless.
Actions:
Multiattack. A heap makes two slam attacks per round.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 13(2d8+4) bludgeoning damage.
4 comments:
Love it! Thanks so much for taking the time to put that stat block together. As a GM/DM I have always felt like building creatures and statting NPCs is a fun mini-game in itself.Judging by those stats, the Heap is not something I would mess with.
Based upon its plant-like nature, do you think fire or electrical attacks would be particularly effective?
Thanks, Christian! I debated that. Basing it on the "planet creature" models in the MM, some of them are vulnerable to fire (Treants) and some aren't (Shambling Mound). Ultimately, I decided they might be sort of "wet" creatures so, I went with no, but I might change my mind again before they show up in the game. Interestingly, none of the plant creatures are vulnerable to electricity--in fact, the shambling mound is energized by it!
That makes a lot of sense. A swamp creature would be damp and moldy, while I could see an electrical attack have a sort of mystical recharge effect. Very cool. :)
Good to see The Heap make its way over here from Airboy Comics...a real classic character-creature. Did you give any thought to these things' growth rates? I like to start them off smallish and let them grow a bit each time they escape or are driven off by the characters...lets the thing escalate naturally.
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