Giant Bladderwort

The giant bladderwort is a rootless, freefloating water plant found drifting just beneath the surface of stagnant waters in deep marshes or swamps. It may grow in combination with other marsh plants in huge floating mats, which appear solid but through which even small animals quickly sink. The greenish-brown stem may grow up to 50? or more if conditions are right, and it usually has 1d10+10 traps, each about 4’ across, attached to its feathery green branches.

Combat: The traps are translucent bladders, each containing a partial vacuum, that lie beneath the water. Due to the slightly greater pressure of the water outside the trap, the sides of each bladder are slightly concave around the middle, giving it a pinched-in look. Water is kept out by a flap at the mouth of the trap, which is sealed with a weak glue and acts as a valve. Long guide hairs and shorter trigger hairs surround the mouth of the bladder. When the trigger hairs are touched, the valve opens inward and the victim is swept along with some water into the chamber. The flap reseals and the water is absorbed (to be expelled later), restoring the partial vacuum. The triggering, activation, and closure of a trap all take place in less than a second. Digestive fluids then flood the chamber, causing 1-4 hp damage per round. Due to the very small quantity of air inside the bladder, the victim suffocates in 1-6 rounds unless assistance is given.

A small-size creature (4’ or less) is wholly engulfed, while a larger one may have only part of its body caught in the bladder, which will still close and seal its flap, doing damage to the victim thereafter. In such cases, DMs should roll percentile die to determine what area of the victim?s body has been caught (1-20 right arm; 21-40 left arm; 41-60 head and upper torso; 61-80 right leg; 81-100 left leg). A character caught may attempt to break free by successfully rolling his chance to bend bars against the trap?s seal or by attacking the trap itself.

Each trap has 2 HD; the body of the plant has 8 HD. Damage inflicted on traps will not kill the body of the plant. Outside attacks on a trap holding prey inflict half the damage on the prey within and half on the trap itself. Victims wholly engulfed by the trap may attack only with teeth, claws, or daggers.

Habitat/Society: Bladderworts usually reproduce by pollination. Their purple and white flowers rise just above the water on narrow stems. During the winter, this plant forms green buds, called turions, that sink to the bottom of the marsh and rise up again in spring to develop into mature plants. If a bladder can be wholly raised above water (by itself, it weighs 50 lbs.), it collapses with a loud popping.

Giant Butterwort

The giant butterwort grows in rosettes of 2-8 6’-long oblong leaves of pale yellowgreen, having a greasy appearance and a faint, funguslike scent. The leaves of this plant rest flat against the ground and are difficult to see against the terrain (-2 to victim?s roll for being surprised).

Combat: Anything walking over this plant’s leaves becomes stuck, due to the mucilage secreted by glands in the leaves. The plant then attempts to roll all of its leaves up and over its prey (attacking as per its hit dice), becoming a tight, leafy cocoon that fills with digestive fluid, causing 1-4 hp damage per round. Victims holding small, edged weapons when caught may cut themselves free by doing damage equal to half the total hit points of the plant. Attacks from outside inflict half the damage on the plant and half on the victim trapped inside. The mucilage may be neutralized with liberal quantities of alcohol.

Habitat/Society: One of the most adaptive of carnivorous plants, the giant butterwort is found from arctic to tropical areas, favoring acidic or alkaline bogs with moist to very wet soils.

Giant Rainbow Plant

The giant rainbow plant has a woody, trunklike stem from which grow 5-20 branchlike leaves that each end in a knobby tip. The stem grows up to 10’ in height, with each leaf half the height of the plant in length.

Combat: Like the giant sundew, this plant has developed an awareness of its surroundings and is selective about its prey. It will not attack anything under 4’ in height. The leaves and the stem are coated in a thick mucilage produced by glands throughout the plant. This mucilage gives the plant a shimmering appearance during the day, and under intense light causes a nonmagical dazzling effect on those who view and fail to save vs. petrification. The effect lasts for 1-4 rounds and makes the dazzled creature -2 on attack rolls.

Also like the giant sundew, the rainbow plant strikes with its leaves, with 1-6 branches lashing out at each victim within reach and striking for 1-2 hp damage from the knob at the end of each leaf. Each leaf adheres to the object struck, reducing the victim’s ability attack by -1 for every four leaves adhering to him. If the plant rolls a natural 20, the plant’s leaf struck the victim’s head, clogging the victim’s mouth and nostrils with mucilage. Suffocation results in 1-4 rounds unless the sap is dissolved with vinegar or alcohol, The leaves also produce a mild enzyme causing 1 hp damage per round per leaf unless the leaf is broken. The chance for breaking a leaf is the same as for opening doors, checking for each leaf separately. Fiery attacks and missiles do only half damage because of the plant’s mucilage covering. Blunt weapons do no damage.

Habitat/Society: The plant favors sandy soils under moist conditions, though it may die back during drought seasons, going into a dormant state until conditions improve. A few druids and wizards are said to keep such plants as guardians, but this is a very rare practice.

Giant Waterwheel Plant

The giant waterwheel is a rootless plant that floats just below the water’s surface, drifting with the currents. It has a single curved stem about 20’ long; 3-12 trapping leaves, resembling open clamshells, grow in whorls about the stem like spokes on a wheel. During high summer, the plant’s white flowers may be seen just above the surface of the water, borne up on narrow stems. Victims have a -2 modifier to be surprised, both underwater and on the surface, and might not detect this plant until they have blundered into it.

Small items may be found buried in the silt beneath where a giant waterwheel floats. The traps open 1-2 days after prey has been digested, allowing indigestible parts to fall out.

Combat: Anything of small size brushing against any one of the many trigger hairs inside a trap causes it to close in less than a second. The lobes of the trap then press together, forcing the victim down to the bottom of the trap and forcing the water out, creating a hermetic seal that requires a successful bend-bars chance to break. Anyone caught inside the trap must act immediately, or he will be unable to brace himself to attempt to break the seal. The trap accepts small-size creatures up to halfling size) only; larger objects are released in the next round. Each trap has 2 HD and attacks accordingly. The body of the plant has 5 HD.

When closed, the trapping leaf begins secreting digestive fluids, causing 1-4 hp damage per round. Suffocation occurs in 2-4 rounds unless the victim is able to cut free with a small hand weapon by doing damage equal to half the trap’s hit points. Attacks from outside inflict half their damage on the trap itself and half on the victim inside.

Habitat/Society: Considered by some to be an aquatic version of the giant venus’ flytrap, the giant waterwheel plant grows under the surface of the water in acidic marshes, in company with reeds, rushes, and other aquatic plants. It has no natural enemies and is so subtle a predator that few communities are even aware of it. Swamp-dwelling races sometimes attempt to move these plants around their island lairs in lakes.