Crimson Worlds

Kodama

5 min read

columns: 2
forcecolumns: true
layout: Basic Pathfinder 2e Layout
source: "Pathfinder Bestiary 3"
name: "Kodama"
level: "Creature 5"
 
alignment: ""
size: "Small"
trait_01: [[good]]
trait_02: [[holy]]
trait_03: [[kami]]
trait_04: [[spirit]]
modifier: 16
perception:
  - name: "Perception"
    desc: "+16; Darkvision"
languages: "Common; speak with plants, telepathy 50 feet"
skills:
  - name: "Skills"
    desc: "Acrobatics: +11, Athletics: +11, Nature: +14, Stealth: +13, Survival: +14"
abilityMods: [2, 4, 5, 0, 5, 4]
speed: 25 feet
sourcebook: "_Pathfinder Bestiary 3_"
ac: 21
armorclass:
  - name: AC
    desc: "21 +1 status vs. evil creatures; __Fort__ +12, __Ref__ +11, __Will__ +14; +1 status to all saves vs. evil creatures"
hp: 95
health:
  - name: ""
  - name: HP
    desc: "95; __Weaknesses__ cold iron 5; __Resistances__ unholy 5"
abilities_top:
  - name: ""
  - name: "Items"
    desc: "Spiritual Rope"
  - name: "[[Bestiary Ability Glossary/Telepathy|Telepathy 50 feet]]"
    desc: " (aura,magical) A monster with telepathy can communicate mentally with any creatures within the listed radius, as long as they share a language. This doesn't give any special access to their thoughts, and communicates no more information than normal speech would."
 
  - name: "Ward"
    desc: " (divine) Every kami is bound to a ward: a specific animal, plant, object, or location. A kami can merge with or emerge from their ward as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. While merged, the kami can observe their surroundings with their usual senses as well as the senses of their ward, but can't move, communicate with, or control their ward. Additionally, a kami merged with their ward recovers Hit Points each minute as if they spent an entire day resting.\n\nA kodama's ward is a specific tree."
 
  - name: "[[Bestiary Ability Glossary/Constant Spells|Constant Spells]]"
    desc: "  A constant spell affects the monster without the monster needing to cast it, and its duration is unlimited. If a constant spell gets counteracted, the monster can reactivate it by spending the normal spellcasting actions the spell requires."
 
abilities_mid:
  - name: ""
  - name: "Distracting Gaze"
    desc: " (aura,divine,visual) 30 feet. When a creature ends its turn in the aura, it must attempt a DC 23 Will check save. The kodama can activate or deactivate this aura by using a single action, which has the concentrate trait.\n* * *\n\n**Success** The creature is unaffected.\n\n**Failure** The creature is [[Conditions/Fascinated|Fascinated]]. This condition ends if the creature ends its turn outside the aura.\n\n**Critical Failure** As failure, plus the creature is [[Conditions/Slowed|Slowed 1]] as long as it remains fascinated."
 
attacks:
  - name: ""
 
  - name: "**Melee** `pf2:1` Fist"
    desc: "+13 (agile, finesse)\n__Damage__  2d6 + 4 bludgeoning"
 
  - name: "Divine Innate Spells"
    desc: "DC 23, attack +15; __5th __  _[[Spells/Nature's Pathway|Tree Stride]]_; __2nd __  _[[Spells/One with Plants|Tree Shape]]_\n__Cantrips__  __(3rd)__ _[[Spells/Ghost Sound|Ghost Sound]]_\n__Constant__  __(4th)__ _[[Spells/Speak with Plants|Speak with Plants]]_"
 
  - name: "Spiritual Rope"
    desc: " (divine) The kodama spends 1 minute to fashion an enchanted straw rope out of nearby materials. The rope can be wrapped around other kami creatures to protect them from fell forces.\n\nA kami who wears a _spiritual rope_ gains resistance 5 to unholy, a +1 status bonus to AC against evil creatures, and a +1 status bonus to saving throws against effects from evil creatures.\n\nA kodama always wears a _spiritual rope_, and they can have one other _spiritual rope_ in existence at a time. Creating a new rope beyond these two releases the magic of one other rope of the kodama's choosing. A _spiritual rope_ around a creature other than a kodama loses its magic after 24 hours or if it's taken outside of the kodama's forest."
 
name: Kodama
creatures:
  - 1: Kodama

A kodama is a type of kami who inhabits a tree. Kodama commonly appear in old Tian forests, especially old-growth forests far removed from civilization. In the Forest of Spirits in Minkai, for example, so many trees are possessed by kodama that a traveler might pass by hundreds, if not thousands, of these beings while journeying through a single acre of woodland.

Kodama try their utmost to protect their sacred trees, but a single kodama is a minor obstacle to most oni or others who have no qualms about desecrating forests or harvesting them for natural resources. Like trees in a forest, kodama are most powerful in great numbers and among other kami, whom they can bolster with their magical straw ropes while distracting strong enemies with their mesmerizing presence.

On the other hand, kodama bear no ill will toward those who respect their wards, even allowing druids and other deferential creatures to dwell within their bounds. They might even subtly guide lost travelers out of the forest or back to safety.

Kami are divine nature spirits native to the lands of Tian Xia, far to the east of the Inner Sea region. They serve as guardians of natural objects and places they protect-their “wards”-and are ancient enemies of the oni. Kami can merge with their wards, allowing them to surreptitiously watch anyone who treads upon their sacred grounds. Kami leave those who they deem harmless alone, but the spirits fight vigilantly to scare away anyone perceived as a threat. Kami choose their own wards, though many mortals seek to attract them to sites that might require protection, leading to a proliferation of certain trees, statues, gates, and other symbolic elements in areas where kami are known to dwell.

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