We look at what would happen when you take evil plant monsters and evolve them to live in an arid biome.
“The rustling of dried limbs breaks the silence of the dry winds and shifting sands. Before you a cluster of tumbleweeds bounce across the dunes. The small round husks tumble and roll about leaving small grooves in the sand as they move closer. It isn't until you feel the sharp burning pain in your leg that you realize they were moving against the wind.”
Twig Blight Origins
Reskinning the Blight
Stat Block
Weaknesses
Rooted in Evil
In Dungeons and Dragons lore all Blights were created when the vampire Gulthias was pierced through the heart with a wooden stake, the evil within the vampire was so great that the stake took root, growing into the Gulthias Tree. Inheriting the bloodlust of the undead originator the tree created the first Blights to seek out prey to nourish itself.
Twig Blights are one of my favorite low CR plant creatures from the Monster Manual. You can use the tiny ambush monsters against players starting an adventure, when setting up plot hooks, or pit them against higher level parties in hordes of scrambling branches intent on taking out an eye or two. They go hand in hand with evil druids or pair well with a cleric that worships a dark deity of nature. Evil rangers, barbarians or Oath of the Ancients paladins could also make use of these creatures as minions.
But not every campaign takes place in a forest or glen. What if your campaign is set in the desert? What if your players are investigating the disappearances of a group of miners in a derelict mining town? What are you going to use then? Kobolds? Everyone suspects kobolds. So today we put a twist on Twig Blights and see what it might look like if these monsters evolved in an arid environment.
Thriving in the Wastelands of a Dungeons and Dragons Desert
“Something bit me!”
Though sparse plant life may be, when most people think of the desert the first vegetation that comes to mind are cactus. The spiny succulents would be great Needle Blights in a desert adventure with almost no changes mechanically. For Cactus Blights all a DM need do is make a few descriptive changes reskinning the way they appear. Then bam! you now have evil cacti ready to hurl volleys of sharp needles at your party. For our twist on Twig Blights though we need to think smaller and shrubbier. Tumbleweeds. The desiccated husks of dead thistles make the perfect template for the desert grown plant monsters.
First we'll start with the name: Tumble Blight. Changing the name sets the mood and will help get the players in the right frame of mind to start imagining what the reskinned monster will look like. The stats are already decent for the 1/8 CR monster, but thematically a higher dexterity score would make sense. We can increase it to 14 bumping the dex bonus up to a +2 from a +1. This will add an extra point of damage and To Hit chance along with changing the Tumble Blights natural Armor Class.
That's just the beginning though. Tumbleweeds are iconic for the way they use the wind to travel across the desert sands so adding an extra 20 feet of movement speed fits with the mobility aesthetic. Lastly, taking the flyby feature from the owl and peryton stat block will allow the Tumble Blights more positioning power on the battlefield. When harrying their enemies this ability lets the attacker get into and out of melee range without provoking Attacks of Opportunity. Flyby paired with the extra movement speed make the reflavored monsters great for hit and run tactics against melee PCs like fighters and barbarians.
With these changes the stat block would look something like this:
The claw attack of the Twig Blight does an average of 3 damage (1d4 + dexterity bonus) on a hit. Against a low level party a swarm of these monsters may become a dangerous threat but against a higher level party they will barely cause a scratch.
As an optional tweak I recommend taking advantage of the Tumble Blight's extra movement speed by adding the Charge mechanic. This ability comes from the Centaur stat block, dealing extra damage (3 points of piercing in case of the tumble blight) when the monster moves more than 20 feet. All three changes have good synergy but could be overkill against adventures just starting out at level one.
Only the Strong Survive
The biggest weakness of the Tumble Blight is its lack of ranged attacks. Pairing them with a spellcaster or scout shores up this weakness. A desert druid using the Produce Flame cantrip can hurl fire from range or a Scout from Appendix B of the Monster Manual could pepper characters with arrows from the safety of an outcropping while the blights chip away at an enemy’s HP in melee.
Tumble Blights by themselves my not be the biggest threat in an encounter but they make good minions for bigger baddies, or become a threat in large numbers. Hopefully you can find a place in your campaign for the little monsters while offering a change of scenery for veteran players, and a fun way to spice up a favorite monster.
How would you use the Tumble Blight in your campaign? What kind of ranged creatures would you pair them with? Feel free to share in the comments below.
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