#plant master

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"Snip! Snip! Snip!" The Atom #24, Apr 1966. Cover by Gil Kane.

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The All-New Atom

Volume: 1 #12

Hunt for Ray Palmer (Part I of IV) - Never Too Small to Hit the Big Time

Writers: Gail Simone

Pencils: Mike Norton

Inks: Dan Green

Covers: José Ladrönn

Featuring: Atom (Ryan Choi), Bug-Eyed Bandit, Man in the Ion Mask, Panther, Plant Master, Thinker, Wizardo, Chronos (David Clinton), Dwarfstar, Thomas Dinawa, Martin Campbell, Helmond Kettering, Panda Potter, Lady Cop

DC

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Jason Woodrue aka The Plant-Master was an old villain of The Atom but that didn't stop Denny O'Neil from having him harass Hal. In this story, Woodrue swigged some concoction that transformed him into a literal plant man. I suppose he's a suitable Green Lantern foe because plants are green? "Perilous Plan of the Plant-Master" was the back-up story in The Flash #245, Nov 1976. Writer Denny O'Neil; artists Dick Dillin and Terry Austin.

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They called themselves the Secret Society of Super-Villains

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Kunzo, Japan's Plant Master; Part 1 | Private Greenhouse Nursery Tour of...

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Plant Master (Hunter Archetype)

Just as there are those hunters that specialize in vermin companions and vermin aspects, so too are there those that specialize in plant life.

While the subject of their veneration may not be as active or dynamic as animals, the plant kingdom is full of its own strengths and aspects that a prospective hunter could draw upon.

Originally introduced with the treesinger racial druid archetype for elves, the list of plant companions has certainly grown since that time, and is no longer limited to that or those few other archetypes that could as-written take them. Whether you stick with the classic four or take one of the new companions in Ultimate Wilderness, their companionship with the hunter is sure to be a strong bond indeed.

Given the strong bond that most hunters have with animals, you can easily imagine plant masters having much the same, identifying more with sessile plant life than with more active life forms, taking life as it comes, but remaining flexible.

 As one might expect, these hunters must have a plant companion.

Where things get interesting is there new set of aspects that they draw upon rather than the traditional animal aspects. Namely, they can emulate the assassin vine and other mobile vine monsters to enhance their grappling capability; infuse themselves or their companion with the focus of brambles to grow thorns from their body, punishing those that touch them; invoke the creeping vine to climb with ease; wait in ambush, acting as the giant flytrap; call upon mushrooms to safely process toxins in their bodies; become as rooted and hard to move as the mighty oak; gain preternatural senses and perception in the dark as the shrieker fungus; become as light and airy as spores or wind-catching seeds; or even call upon water lilies and aquatic plants to better float and move in such envirions.

Tapping into their deep empathy for plant life, these hunters are quite skilled at communing with plants both mobile and mundane, and can calm and befriend plant creatures easily if given enough time and the capability to avoid setting off its instincts.

That being said, eventually, these hunters are so in tune with the green side of nature that all but the most intelligent plant monsters instinctively know better than to act aggressively against these known friends of nature, though they will still fight to defend themselves.

Just as the most powerful normal hunters can have a single animal aspect active the whole day while still benefitting from others, so to can masterful plant masters do the same with their plant aspects.

Interested in playing with all the plant-related spells on the hunter spell list, but felt like you couldn’t go in-depth due to wanting to focus on an animal companion? This archetype may be for you. Naturally, your spell selection will probably be more battlefield control and debuffing than it will be buffing, but if that suits you, go for it. Additionally, consider that most plant companions are pretty slow, and plan your build accordingly. I will say that the archetype seems to be missing an important caveat about replacing the “second animal aspect” ability, but I think it goes without saying that it would function exactly the same, except with plant aspects instead of animal.

 You can draw upon a lot of different ideas for these hunters and how they interact with their plant companions. Some may appreciate them just as they are with their alien behavior and physiology, while others may treat their pet flesh-eating plants like any other pet. Either way, they universally don’t really understand why others are put off by their companions.

  The lizardfolk of Geuga Bog mark their green scales with red dyes in particular patterns, resembling the various carnivorous plants they live alongside, and emulate through their ambushing tactics. The greatest among them even keep such plants as guardians and pets, a particular favorite being the “Forked Tongues of the Snake God”, their name for the slithering sundew.

 The bounty hunter Sharmir is fairly infamous for bringing in his quarry mutilated, but this is only natural considering his style of bringing in marks with a hunting cactus companion he nicknamed “Bloody Embrace” for non-metaphorical reasons. Those they take dead are often in even worse condition, though their bodies are preserved well by desert heat and dehydration.

 The party comes across a relatively small pine treant carrying a woman. She, the treant explains, is her hunter companion, who was severely injured in an encounter with a fjord linnorm. Though the dragon is dead, she is now in critical condition and cursed, and is in dire need of aid. If healed and the curse removed, she will happily lead the party to a treasure cache as a reward.