| Hit Dice: | 5d8+20 (42 hp) |
| Initiative: | +0 |
| Speed: | 30 ft. (6 squares), swim 20 ft. |
| Armor Class: | 18 (+8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 18 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +3/+7 |
| Attack: | Slam +7 melee (1d6+4) |
| Full Attack: | 2 slams +7 melee (1d6+4) |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Animate vines |
| Special Qualities: | Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning, low-light vision, malleability, plant traits |
| Saves: | Fort +8, Ref +1, Will +2 |
| Abilities: | Str 18, Dex 10, Con 19, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 10 |
| Skills: | Hide +15, Listen +3, Spot +3, Swim +16; racial bonuses |
| Feats: | Alertness, Blind-Fight |
| Environment: | Any swamp or aquatic |
| Organization: | Solitary or colony (2–12) |
| Challenge Rating: | 4 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Always neutral evil |
| Advancement: | 6–7 HD (Large); 8–16 HD (Huge) ♊ |
| Level Adjustment: | — |
Primitive, cruel, and elusive, vine horrors are sentient colonies of algae with the ability to assume a roughly humanoid form. They stalk swamps and similar areas, and they attack by surprise whenever possible.
Vine horrors are often mistaken for green-skinned humanoids with coarse, rough features. A vine horror’s features appear smooth and somewhat unformed, and when it speaks, its voice often changes pitch in unusual and seemingly random patterns.
Guided by their own malicious instincts, vine horrors seek to harm and slay any who enter their territory. Communities located too close to swamps or other vine horror lairs often suffer nocturnal attacks by animated trees.
Vine horrors speak Sylvan.
Vine horrors often attempt to hide in shallow, algae-filled water, where they then animate vines to attack foes one at a time. Unlike treants and similar creatures, vine horrors care nothing for the vines they animate or the swamps they inhabit.
Animate Vines (Sp): A vine horror can use this ability to animate any single vine or similar kind of plant life within 90 feet. An animated vine fights as an assassin vine in all respects. An animated vine loses its ability to fight if the vine horror that animated it is incapacitated or moves out of range.
Malleability (Ex): Because of a vine horror’s unusual body structure, it can compress its body enough to squeeze through a 1-inch-wide crack. Cracks and similar openings that are 1 inch or more in width do not slow the vine horror at all.
Skills: Vine horrors have a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard and can always choose to take 10 on Swim checks, even if distracted or endangered. Vine horrors have a +15 racial bonus on Hide checks in swamps or other areas with noticeable concentrations of algae.
Source: Fiend Folio, page 185. Changes applied as per the D&D® v.3.5 Accessory Update. Half damage from piercing and slashing special quality changed to damage reduction 5/bludgeoning. Changed instances of “trees” in the introductory Combat paragraph to “vines”.