AD&D Tree Spell: Hide, Watch, Wait
Tree is one of those spells that seems forgettable until you realize how nasty it can be in the right hands. A druid touches a tree or shrub and becomes it. No movement, no sound, but full awareness of everything going on nearby. To most people, they just look like part of the landscape. But they’re listening... watching... waiting.
This is not just a spell for running from a fight or spying in a forest. With some imagination, Tree becomes a tool for setup, infiltration, and deception. It’s perfect for assassins disguised as plants outside a city estate. It’s great for pulling off a fake death scene when a druid “disappears” mid-battle. One second they’re bleeding out... the next, gone... just a bush. That noble you passed on the road, yelling at his guards? Maybe that was a druid in disguise, luring you into a trap.
Want to mess with your players? Drop an old oak with strange bark patterns into the center of a dungeon. Have it whisper things. Let them suspect something is watching them... they just won’t realize it’s alive.
You can also reverse it. A cursed item that activates Tree unexpectedly. The moment a PC grabs it, boom, they’re a shrub... rooted for hours. Not dead, not harmed, but completely out of the fight and unable to talk unless someone dispels the magic or sets them on fire.
Tree lets you hide in plain sight, dodge danger, gather intel, and set traps. Not bad for a third-level spell.
So go ahead... turn that druid into a shrub. And see what your players do when the trees start to move.
