Flower Nymph V3.1 (Homebrew race)

Flower Nymph (homebrew by SSD@K)
Type: Fey
Size: Medium
Ability Scores: +2 CHA, -2 STR, +2 CON (Standard)
Languages: Sylvan, Common + Elven, Aquan, Auran, Draconic, Terran, Aklo, Celestial
Racial Traits:
	Ward Flower - At character creation, a Flower Nymph chooses one type of flower (and a habitat associated with it) as her ward. The racial traits she gains differ depending on the habitat of her ward flower. There are eight habitats, corresponding to the Terrain types of the same name: Plains, Mountains, Deserts, Arctics (Cold), Forests, Waters, Jungles and Wetlands (Swamp).
	Fey Damage Resistance (Lesser) - DR1/Cold Iron at lv1, increases by 1 at level 5 and every 5 levels thereafter. If you gain additional DR/Cold Iron from a different source, the DR gained from this trait will stack with the highest other source of DR/cold iron your character has.
	Adapted Growth - The Flower Nymph, depending on the habitat associated with her ward flower (Plains, Mountains, Deserts, Arctics, Forests, Waters, Wetlands, Jungles) gains the traits associated with that habitat.
			Plains: Plainspeaker, Quick, Fast = Speak with Animals, Message, Enhanced Diplomacy as spellike 1/day, +2 racial bonus to initiative, +10 movespeed
			Mountains: Mountain Magic, Climb = Goodberry, Feather Fall as spellike 1/day, Climb speed of 20
			Deserts: Desert Magic, Fast, Sprinter =  Endure Elements, Create Water and Know Direction as spellike ability 1/day, +10 movespeed, +10 speed bonus when using Charge, Run or Withdraw
			Arctics: Arctic Magic, Energy Resistance (Cold), Terrain Stride (Arctics) = Endure Elements and Read Weather as spellike ability 1/day, cold resistance 5, ignore difficult terrain from snow and ice
			Forests: Forest Magic, Bond to the Land (Forests), Terrain Stride (Forests) = Entangle, Ghost Sound, Dancing Lights as spellike ability 1/day, +2 Dodge Bonus in forests, ignore difficult terrain in forests
			Waters: Water Magic, Swim = Nereid's Grace, Create Water and Purify Food and Drink as spellike 1/day, Swim speed of 30
			Jungles: Silent Hunter, Terrain Stride (Jungle): Stealth penalty while moving reduced by 5 and can stealth while running at -20 total, +4 to Stealth checks in jungles, ignore difficult terrain in jungles
			Wetlands: Resistant, Poison Use, Terrain Stride (Swamp) = +2 saving throws against poison and mind-affecting effects, No risk of poisoning self, Ignore difficult terrain in swamps
		ALTERNATIVE: Entrancing Gaze - Some Flower Nymphs lack their race's usual strong connection to the land, and are instead blessed with powers similar to true Nymphs. When casting Enchantment spells, the save DC of the spell is increased by 1. Once per day, a Flower Nymph can fixate a target with her eyes as a standard action. The target must make a Will save against the Flower Nymph's level/2+charisma modifier+10, or be Fascinated for 1d4 rounds. In addition, she can focus on keeping any already Fascinated targets focused on her, keeping them Fascinated as long as she concentrates on them (full-round action). She can keep 1+her charisma modifier creatures entranced this way, though they get to make a new will save every 2 rounds.
		ALTERNATIVE: Enclave Protector - A few Flower Nymphs have abilities suited to protect their kind's secret communities from intruders. They get +1 CL to abjuration spells, and can cast Nondetection, Obscure Object and Sanctuary as Spell-like abilities 1/day.

	Fey Affinity - Flower Nymphs count as 1 level higher when using domain spells/powers of the Plant domain or its subdomains, mystery spells/revelations/hexes/spirit magic/abilities of the Nature mystery/Nature Spirit, or bloodline spells/powers of the Fey or the Verdant bloodline.
		ALTERNATIVE: Gracious Arms - You gain proficiency with the Urumi (Whip Sword) and the Bladed Scarf. If you have the Weapon Finesse feat you can use Urumi with it even though it's not a light weapon.
	Nature Warden - Knowledge (Nature) and Survival are always considered class skills, and you can make these checks based off your CHA rather than INT or WIS if they are higher.
		ALTERNATIVE: Friend of the Wild - A Flower Nymph with this racial trait treats her Class Level as 2 levels higher for the purpose of determining the abilities of her Animal Companion or Familiar, to a maximum effective Druid level equal to her character level.
	Sprout - Every day, a Flower Nymph may spend one minute planting magically enhanced seedlings of her ward flower, which spring to full bloom in 3d20 minutes. She can plant these seedlings anywhere in her ward flower's Habitat regardless of season, soil and water conditions, and they will remain fully bloomed for a full year after the Flower Nymph's passing before conforming to the flow of the seasons; outside her Habitat she can plant them in any reasonably fertile soil, but the bloom will only last for a week before returning to the state befitting the current season. She can plant her seedlings daily, enough to fill a number of squares equal to her (character level*2)+charisma modifier+2 per day.
	Low-light Vision - A Flower Nymph can see twice as far as normal in dim light.
	ALTERNATIVE: Gracious Fey - While most Flower Nymphs are of a sturdy build to better survive the dangers of the wild, some have a more flimsy and dextrous body type. Flower Nymphs with this trait get +2 to CHA and DEX rather than CHA and CON, and her weight is reduced by 30 pounds. This trait alters the Flower Nymph's standard ability score modifiers and her weight.
RACIAL FEATS - A Flower Nymph considers any of the racial feats below a valid choice for any class feature that grants her a bonus Combat Feat, Metamagic Feat, Bloodline Feat or any other Feat from a specific list. She can not replace set bonus feats (such as a Monk' Stunning Fist at level 1) with these feats.

RACIAL FEAT: Gaze of the Nymph (PRQ: Entrancing Gaze racial trait) - Some particularly powerful Flower Nymphs have a gaze almost as powerful as a true Nymph's. When the Fascinated effect of her Entrancing Gaze ends, or she breaks her concentration to keep Fascinated targets Fascinated, any target previously Fascinated instead becomes Stunned for 1 round, plus 1 round for each 5 he failed his save against the fascinate effect. In addition, keeping her targets Fascinated now only requires a Move action.
	RACIAL FEAT: Gaze of the Nymph, Improved (PRQ: Gaze of the Nymph, character level 5) - This feat grants 2 additional uses per day of the Flower Nymph's Entrancing Gaze ability, and increases the DC by 1. It can be taken twice.
RACIAL FEAT: Nature Protector (PRQ: Enclave Protector racial trait) - The Enclave Protectors are the bulwarks of safety that ensure the survival of all Flower Nymphs, and their magical powers reflect this as they gain strength. Spontaneous casters that take this feat gain the ability to once per day cast any known abjuration spell without using up one of their Spells Per Day. Prepared casters that take this feat can convert any prepared spells into any known abjuration spell.
RACIAL FEAT: Ward Union - Some Flower Nymphs are more bound to their ward flowers than others, and can control them as if they were part of her own body. She can grapple enemies using her hair, leaving her free to take other actions and preventing her from gaining the Grappled condition whenever she is grappling offensively; grappling this way does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
	RACIAL FEAT: Ward Symbiosis (PRQ: Ward Union, character level 5) - Powerful Flower Nymphs may eventually reach a state of complete symbiosis with their ward flowers. A Flower Nymph with this feat grows thick yet flexible vines, roots or tentacles from her head, which empowers the way she can use her ward flowers in combat. She gains the Strangle (Ex) feature when grappling with her hair. If she has the Adapted Warden feat, Entangling creatures at range now only requires a Move action as long as she is standing on the same surface as they plants she is trying to affect, and she can also wrap these plants together to slam her enemies rather than snare them. This counts as a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage, but uses her Charisma to calculate bonus damage rather than Strength. She cannot use these attacks as part of a full attack; attacking with her plants is a separate Attack action, but she can attack once with every set of plants (every square counts as separate) as long as all her attacks are made within a 30ft radius.
	RACIAL FEAT: Ward Fusion (PRQ: Ward Union, Ward Symbiosis, Adapted Warden, character level 8) - When reaching toward the pinnacle of their power, Flower Nymphs attain a strange state of unity not only with her ward flowers, but the nature around them. This feat lets a Flower Nymph that has a class feature granting her Favored Terrain in a terrain that is not her Ward Flower's Favored Terrain, treat her new Favored Terrain as the Ward Flower's Favored Terrain for all purposes, including feats. Additionally, the DC when she uses Adaptive Warden to Entangle her foes increases to 10+[1.5xCHA]+[level/2], and she can choose to Grapple as if using her hair in place of a Slam attack with these plants.
	RACIAL FEAT: Ward Synchronization (PRQ: Ward Union, Ward Symbiosis, Adapted Warden, character level 8) - Flower Nymphs who are practiced in battle use their Ward Flowers as proficiently as their own bodies. She can use her Ward Flower's Slam attacks (or Grapples if she has Ward Fusion) as part of a full attack action, and the area she can affect with this ability increases to a 60ft radius.
RACIAL FEAT: Adapted Warden - Some Flower Nymphs have developed a deeper bond to their ward flower's preferred habitat than others. Characters with this feat gain a +2 racial bonus to initiative and Survival checks while in her ward flower's favored terrain. A Flower Nymph with this feat can grow, grab and snare creatures or objects using any of her ward flowers in her range of vision or that she can otherwise sense (such as if using a Detect Animals or Plants spell), as long as they are planted inside her favored terrain. This does not include the ward flowers in her hair. Using this feat, she can spend a full-round action growing plants that are her Ward Flower and within her Ward Flower's favored terrain, Entangling creatures in squares where they are planted (Reflex save 10+CHA+[level/2] negates).
RACIAL FEAT: Ward Garden (PRQ: Character level 4) - Some Flower Nymphs are adept at creating powerful magical wards spun from their Ward Flowers, to protect themselves and their seedlings. Once per day while standing in a square of their own Ward Flowers, they can cast Tiny Hut as a Spell-like ability; the spell functions the same, but the hut is replaced by a lush garden of the Flower Nymph's ward flowers. At level 8, this functions as the Seducer Witch's Garden of Delight ability; if a Flower Nymph has both these abilities, both this ability and Garden of Delight function as Grove of Respite instead of Tiny Hut, and her Garden of Delight ability can be expended to instead gain another use of this ability. Multiple castings of this ability refresh the duration of the Garden, and two adjacent Gardens can be integrated with each other to form one bigger Garden if the caster(s) so wishes.
	RACIAL FEAT: Enclave Garden (PRQ: Enclave Protector alternate race trait, Nature Protector, Ward Garden) - The Enclave Protectors have many secret powers, but all Flower Nymphs are well aware of their ability to create the Enclaves themselves. Upon using her Ward Garden ability, a Flower Nymph with this feat may freely apply one of Extend Spell or Enlarge Spell to the casting; if she is at least level 8, she may apply both. Additionally, while inside the Garden, she gains extra abilities. She may cast any Abjuration spell with a range greater than personal and a duration greater than instantaneous targetting the Garden; this spell is then applied to all allies inside the Garden as long as they remain inside, as well as the Garden itself. Casting a second spell on the Garden while a previous spell is still active dismisses the previous spell, unless one of these spells is Nondetection. While inside the Garden she may also 1/day use its powers to detect nearby Flower Nymphs. This functions as Scrying, except it may only be used against Flower Nymphs within a range of 2 miles per caster level from the Garden, and she can grant the benefit of a Know Direction spell (that points towards the Garden rather than north) to her target through the sensor. Flower Nymphs within the range of this ability do not get the normal will save bonuses against the scrying, instead gaining a +5 if they are in the outer half of the ability's range, and a -5 if they are within two miles of the Garden; penalties due to the caster possessing body parts, likenesses or familiarity with the target still apply.
RACIAL FEAT: Adapted Magic (PRQ: Racial Spell-like abilities from the Adapted Growth race trait, character level 3) - While many Flower Nymphs choose to expand their magical repertoire, some train and refine their natural magic abilities. A Flower Nymph with this feat can use her racial Spell-like Abilities from the Adapted Growth racial trait at will, and she gains one of Speak with Plants or Plant Growth as a Spell-like Ability that she can use 1/day.
	RACIAL FEAT: Improved Adapted Magic (PRQ: Adapted Magic, character level 5) - This feat lets a Flower Nymph use Speak with Plants and Plant Growth as Spell-like Abilities 2/day.
OVERVIEW:
Among fey, Flower Nymphs are somewhat of an oddity; they are bound to their ward, but their ward is not bound to the land. Unlike the true Nymphs - who stand vigil over the secluded places of natural beauty they hold as wards - or the Dryads - who are mystically bonded to their trees and cannot leave them on pain of death - the Flower Nymphs carry their floral wards with them as they roam the land, spreading its seeds wherever she wanders.

While not possessed of the same level of unearthly, blinding beauty that true Nymphs have, Flower Nymphs are still fair creatures of great charm. Most do not possess the Nymphs' stunning gaze, but some individuals have the ability to briefly entrance their foes with their eyes. While certain individuals dispose over stronger enchantments than others, most Flower Nymphs have adapted to their roaming existences by growing sturdier and more capable of protecting themselves and their ward from various threats. This holds especially true for those among their number with wards from more hostile habitats; indeed, the most central aspect of any Flower Nymph's existence is the habitat her ward calls home. Flower Nymphs caring for the hardy flora of the wintry north are well capable of enduring winters and storms that may spell the end of another, and those heralding species of mountainous descent are well suited to scaling any peak that might hide a new place to which she may spread the seeds of her ward. And wherever a Flower Nymph goes, a bountiful glade of flowers soon springs up in her wake.

BIOLOGY:
Flower Nymphs are always female. Similar to true Nymphs their appearances are akin to that of beautiful elven women, with long, sharp-pointed ears decorating the sides of their heads. However, Flower Nymphs tend to be noticeably shorter than most humans; combined with their natural sturdiness and tendencies of wanderlust, their builds often end up similar to that of a particularly tall dwarven woman, rather than that of elves or humans. Driven by an intense desire to explore and spread their seeds, they can often be impatient and emotional, despite their long-lived nature. A Flower Nymph seldom stays in the same place for more than a few seasons, and many of them seek to avoid repetition in their lives - be it what clothes to wear or how to arrange a field of newly planted blossoms.

Their most distinctive feature is the coat of vibrantly blooming flowers that sprout from their heads, where other races might have hair. In some cases, depending on the type of blossom adorning their bodies, this is accompanied with lengths of hair-like grass, leaves or vines. Their skin colors are as varied as the land itself; from the dark, glistening skin of the towering mountains' rock, to the near milk-white skin of a lake's sand beach - or for that matter the ice-blue shades of the frozen north, or the red-tinged earths of forests and swamps. The Flower Nymph takes on the appearance of the land housing her ward flower; along with the host of blossoms she carries with her wherever she goes, she is a walking patch of floral beauty. Their eye colors vary as much as that of their flowery wards, but a Flower Nymph normally has the same eye color as the primary color of whatever ward flower she might have. Generally, Flower Nymphs live solitary existences, wandering from one secluded wilderness to another; while they may stay in the same place for a season or two and befriend the local inhabitants there, she extremely seldom brings company with her when she moves on.

While their bodies grow at the same pace as humans or half-elves in their early life, a Flower Nymph is typically not considered adult until she is at least 30 years old, and her magical powers have developed to match. Their physical features change little as they grow older, and it is often quite difficult to accurately tell the difference between a three-decade hotspur and an elder Flower Nymph several centuries old. Despite reaching maturity relatively early compared to other long-lived races, Flower Nymphs can quite often become over five centuries old. They never gain any penalties or bonuses from aging.

Flower Nymphs as a rule do not reproduce more than once in their life, and this usually happens when she is at least a few centuries old; when she does so she seeks out a mate, in order to conceive and eventually give birth to a Flower Nymph implanted with the same Ward Flower as herself. For the most part however, they are not concerned with such things, focusing on spreading their ward flowers instead. In fact, it has been observed that Flower Nymphs that share their Ward Flower with other individuals nearby have noticeably lower lifespans than others; this may also be a reason why most mothers tend to leave their children as soon as they can fend for themselves, or even entrust them to one of the Enclaves hidden in the wilderness or on the First World. A few cases have been reported of Flower Nymphs reproducing earlier in their life, or even multiple times; these cases have usually aligned with some other important paradigm shift or the rise of a particularly powerful Flower Nymph, however, which makes it hard to draw any definitive conclusion on the biological effects of such events.

The individuals referred to as Enclave Protectors are exceptions to most rules about Flower Nymph behavior and ecology. Instead of wandering endlessly they search for a defensible position to establish an Enclave Garden in, before settling down and fortifying their new home. These Enclave Gardens then become gathering places for Flower Nymphs, to trade knowledge, make contacts and most importantly, raise their young. Enclave Protectors have been known to be much more prolific than wandering Flower Nymphs in times of need, creating small, vibrant communities dedicated to protecting a vital Enclave - even at the cost of their own lifespan. Despite this, Enclave Protectors regularly live even longer than their wandering counterparts - a testament to their ability to ensure the safety of the Enclaves. They are tenacious and tactically minded, and never surrender their position to anything less than a massive calamity or imminent inevitable destruction; if they think there's any chance at all to hold the line, they will do so until their last breath.

CULTURE:
Like most fey creatures Flower Nymphs rarely enter civilization deliberately, instead normally staying to the vast wilds of the untamed parts of the land where they can cultivate the ever-growing colonies of their ward flowers as they wish. However, due to their wanderlust and semi-nomadic nature, along with a somewhat foolhardy tendency to overestimate their ability to handle themselves in dangerous situations and a lust for new experiences and pleasures similar to what one may find in adolescent elves, Flower Nymphs often cross paths with the more civilized parts of the world. Occasionally, they find themselves so enraptured with the things they find that they spend a few seasons away from the wilderness, often enrichening meager city gardens to grand exemplars of floral beauty. At other times, they might deliberately seek out other mortals or fey, in search for a fitting mate; this normally happens toward the latter part of a Flower Nymph's lifespan, and very rarely does the same individual set out on such a quest multiple times during her life. While often quite free-spirited and whimsical in nature, Flower Nymphs have great respect for those fey that steadfastly guard one single place of natural beauty; particulary true Nymphs, whom they refer to as "Great-sisters", but also to some extent Dryads, who they call "Tree-sisters". While they are just as eager to tease and prank the Dryads as they are to please and venerate the Nymphs, they will not hesitate for a second to come to the aid of either in their time of need.

Occasionally however, Flower Nymphs are born with with powers and instincts that greatly differ from most of their kin. These Enclave Protectors lack the great wanderlust that other Flower Nymphs live by, and instead seek out the most secluded, defensible hideaways they can find in the wild. These are then turned into bowers of safety and respite for other Flower Nymphs - as well as occasional visitors that manage to convince their hosts of their good intentions - led by one or a small group of Enclave Protectors. They are commonly entrusted with caring for and raising young and adolescent Flower Nymphs to adulthood, and training them to prepare for the difficult, endless journey ahead of them; their powers make them formidable guardians of their wilderness hideouts, well capable of guarding their charges from all but the most formidable of dangers. Some Enclaves, particularly on the First World, become large enough to grow into communities and settlements in their own right; these few places are vital to the continued existence of Flower Nymphs, as they are the only reliable way to make contacts and gather information among their own kind. Oftentimes these greater Enclaves will be host to caches and veritable treasure troves, left by wandering Flower Nymphs leaving on another journey, for the Enclave Protectors to safeguard until their return. There may also be a small variety of suitable mates, to ensure that the Enclave Protectors themselves can safely reproduce without endangering the Enclave with their absence; the largest Enclaves may even have small, self-sustaining populations of such mates, including females, to safeguard the community from any eventualities that may endanger it.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: Flower Nymphs are generally between 4'6" and 5'6" in height, and weigh between 110 and 170 pounds.

NAMES:
Flower Nymphs almost always take inspiration from nature when choosing names, and most reflect their ward flower in some way. Literal names are not uncommon, and as their roaming lifestyle brings them to new places with new languages this often results in their name being less of a name and more of a meaning, a word that embodies the Flower Nymph both in body and spirit. For this reason - and the absence of a family name - Flower Nymphs generally go by an epithet in Common as their "first name", alongside playful personal names that they make with syllables and sounds that sound like music.
    EXAMPLES: Radiant Green-Bringer Salvran, Hill-Singer Ylvrun, Lost-In-Thought Gangalm, Friend-Winner Palatrala, Treesister-Sung Anvalill