Fiend Factory 5E. White Dwarf 46: The Vily

Issue 46 The Vily

It’s interesting how the quality of the artwork accompanying a Fiend Factory can sometimes affect how one sees the quality of the monsters. Case in point is this one, a little mini scenario called Death in Green. The artwork is not some of the best to grace the pages, and it always made me overlook the creatures herein, but actually they’re really not bad. Compare to the similarly themed Out of the Woods, from Issue 26,with the wonderful Ian McCaig illustrations, and here the monsters are quite a bit more complex than the ones given there, whereas it’s the opposite for the illustrations.

The scenario, broadly, involves a former gold-mining town that has now turned to trapping for trade once the gold has dried up (so far, so Klondyke). Behind the troubles of the town is a secret war between hostile and benevolent nature spirits, with the hostile ones using plant creatures to harass the town.

Mixed in with the “proper” monsters are a couple of plant hazards by Mark Byng. The Crimson Carpet is reminiscent of the red weed from The War of the Worlds, but has a cumulative chance of causing a deadly illusion akin to the phantasmal killer spell the longer a person is near it, which is quite a cool effect, I like that. The Puffball Plant is pretty much that, a puffball fungus that ejects spores that cause intoxication. Again, fun and simple, using the overlooked intoxication rules from the 1E DMG.

First of the monsters with actual statistics is the Ivyx, a kind of small poison ivy creature that has two effects – its claws can cause poison ivy itch, but the author Dale Hueber doesn’t give any mechanical consequences for this. The second is that they are vulnerable to fire, but burning them causes a poisonous smoke – that’s a fun and cruel twist and I like it.

The Acrophids, by John Gordon, are triffids, basically. If you want triffid stats, these would work, although the splitting hit dice and armour class between different parts seems a bit awkward to adjudicate.

The Dame Verte from Ed Dovey is a kind of ethereal, psionic, nature spirit with extensive magical powers. They also call upon some of the attributes of the (infamous) Houri class published in WD13 and I think they’re based somewhat in folklore.

They’re interesting, but in the end I went with the vaguely similar Vily, by Dale Bartlett, partly because I saw a good version of the ballet Giselle, where these creatures feature heavily, and partly because they are more of a direct antagonist than the Dame Verte. Ultimately the scenario revolves around a behind-the-scenes battle between the Vily and the Dames Verte, which you could make the basis of nice moral dilemma with a bit of work, I think.

 

Vila

Medium fey, chaotic neutral

Armour Class 18 (vila gown) Hit Points 45 (10d8) Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 18 (+4) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 18 (+4)

Proficiency Bonus +2 Skills Insight +4, Perception +4, Persuasion6 Senses passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Sylvan

Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

Alternate Form. The vila can use an action to assume the form of a warhorse, a winter wolf or a falcon. In each form she gains the size, natural attacks, and movement rates of the form, and as a winter wolf she also gains resistance to cold and the wolf’s breath weapon. All other characteristics remain the same. The vila can use her innate spellcasting powers, but not her wizard spells while in an alternate form. She can revert to her natural form with her bonus action. Invisible Wings. The vila’s wings are invisible. Tree Affinity. The vila’s life is bound to a tree, although she can travel any distance away from it. If the tree is destroyed, the vila dies. Innate Spellcasting. The vila’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells without material components.  2/day: blindness/deafness, contagion, cure wounds, inflict wounds, lesser restoration 1/day: finger of death, raise dead  Spellcasting. The vila is an 10th level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The vila knows the following spells, treated as wizard spells: Cantrips (at will): chill touch, dancing lights, druidcraft, mage hand, resistance 1st level (4 slots): charm person, entangle, fog cloud, longstrider, silent image 2nd level (3 slots):blur, detect thoughts, misty step, moonbeam, web 3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, gaseous form, lightning bolt, remove curse, sleet storm 4th level (3 slots): blight, confusion, hallucinatory terrain, polymorph 5th level (2 slot): geas, tree stride, wall of force ACTIONS

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 2 (1d4 ) slashing damage. Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage. Fearsome Shout (Recharge 5-6). The vila gives a loud shout. All creatures within 60 feet that can hear the vila must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of the vila’s next turn.