Spirit of the Land

A spirit of the land is a powerful force of nature that lies dormant until the area it guards is threatened. Each inhabits a particular geographical area, existing as a living part of the land. A spirit of the land usually assumes dominion over a small valley, a river, a desert, or some other bounded geographical feature. These creatures dwell in all regions of the world, and more than one can exist within the same area, each concerned with a particular aspect of the terrain.

In its natural form, a spirit of the land is an invisible and intangible force. It appears as a shapeless mist to creatures that can see invisible things. When it wishes to manifest a physical form, a spirit of the land can assume the shape of a humanoid, animal, or elemental of its own size composed of one particular element—air, earth, fire, or water.

Spirits of the land are always aware of what transpires in their territories, and they punish all who would ravage or defile them. They get along well with druids as well as with races that respect the land.

Spirits of the land speak Common, Elven, Dwarven, and most goblinoid languages. They can also communicate telepathically with speakers of other languages.

Combat

In combat, a spirit of the land prefers to strike invisibly, using its command over weather, nature, and the elements to destroy its enemies. Opponents may find themselves confronted by an earthquake, followed by a rain of lightning bolts accompanied by hurricane-force winds. A spirit attacks relentlessly, coordinating its actions to keep foes off balance while remaining unseen. To fight in melee, a spirit of the land must manifest an elemental form. In this shape, it usually focuses on destroying one foe before moving on to the next.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will⁠—​chain lightning, chill metal, cone of cold, control water, control weather, control winds, create water, earthquake, fire storm, fog cloud, heat metal, ice storm, incendiary cloud, lightning bolt, move earth, produce flame, quench, sleet storm, solid fog, soften earth and stone, spike stones, stone shape, wall of fire, wall of ice, wall of stone, whirlwind, wind wall. Caster level 20th; save DC 17 + spell level.

All-Around Vision (Ex): A spirit of the land is a part of all the terrain that surrounds it, so it sees from all directions at once. Because of this ability, it gains a +4 racial bonus on Search and Spot checks, and it cannot be flanked, regardless of its form.

Elemental Manifestation (Su): Once per day, a spirit of the land can assume a form composed of elemental material (air, earth, fire, or water), so long as that element exists in some form on its terrain. In elemental form, a spirit of the land is no longer invisible or incorporeal. It gains the element-specific qualities noted in the appropriate manifestation section below and loses the benefits of the incorporeal subtype. Should a spirit of the land’s elemental manifestation be destroyed, the monster dissipates but is not slain. A dissipated spirit of the land must wait 24 hours before it can use any of its abilities again.

While a spirit of the land is manifested, the following changes to its statistics are in effect: AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 18; Atk +14 melee (2d8+6, 2 slams); SQ DR 10/—; Str 23.

Natural Invisibility (Su): An incorporeal spirit of the land remains invisible even when it attacks. This ability is always active, but the monster can suppress or resume it as a free action.

Telepathy (Su): A spirit of the land can communicate telepathically with any creature within 5 miles that has a language. See Telepathy.

Wild Empathy (Ex): This power works exactly like the druid’s wild empathy class feature. The spirit of the land treats its hit dice as its druid level for purposes of this special quality.

Feats: A spirit of the land has access to the feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder, Improved Trip, and Power Attack only while it is manifested.

Air Manifestation

To manifest as air, a spirit of the land must have a windy valley, breezy seashore, or the like in its terrain. In this form, it gains the following abilities.

Air Mastery (Ex): Any airborne creature takes a ⁠—​1 penalty on attack and damage rolls made against a spirit of the land manifested as air.

Flight (Ex): A spirit of the land manifested as air is naturally buoyant. At will as a free action, it can produce an effect like that of the fly spell (caster level 5th), except that the effect applies only to itself. This ability gives it a fly speed of 120 feet (perfect).

Earth Manifestation

An earth manifestation simply requires any type of land. In this form, a spirit of the land gains the following ability.

Earth Mastery (Ex): A spirit of the land manifested as earth gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls if its foe is touching the ground.

Fire Manifestation

A fire manifestation requires a volcanic region, hot spring, or the like on the spirit of the land’s terrain. In this form, it gains the following abilities.

Burn (Ex): Any creature that is hit by the slam attack of a spirit of the land manifested as fire, or that hits the monster with a natural weapon or an unarmed attack, must succeed at a Reflex save (DC 30) or catch on fire. The fire burns for 1d4 rounds.

Fire Subtype (Ex): A spirit of the land manifested as fire has immunity to fire. It has vulnerability to cold, which means it takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from cold, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or failure.

Water Manifestation

To manifest as water, a spirit of the land must have a river, lake, pond, or other waterway in its terrain. In this form, it gains the following abilities.

Swim (Ex): A spirit of the land manifested as water can swim at a speed of 60 feet. It can move through water at its swim speed without making Swim checks. It has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. The creature can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Water Mastery (Ex): A spirit of the land manifested as water gains a +1 bonus on its attack and damage rolls if its opponent is touching water.

Source: Monster Manual II, page 189. This creature’s statistics block has been updated to version 3.5 as given in the D&D® V.3.5 Accessory Update for Monster Manual II. Added clarifying sentence to the end of the added wild empathy special quality. Corrected the fire subtype description for version 3.5 and added the other rules for having a swim speed to the Swim text.