Weird Arcana - Fire Fruits (New Hazard)

Before you is a withered and twisted tree. The bark is of a deep red color, dulled by the accumulated ashes of the fiery peaks above. The roots are long, burrowing through the rough volcanic ground and surrounded by bone remains. Instead of leaves, the entire tree is covered in blue and yellow dancing flames, untouched by the strong wind. Although on fire, the tree doesn’t burn.

Fire Fruits (Hazard)

Flame trees are strange plants, undoubtedly of magical origin, that grow on regions saturated with powerful forces of the Elemental Plane of Fire. The tree themselves are not dangerous, being actually the source of a magical fruit greatly desired by alchemists, magic-users and other arcane sages. Such fruits are also coveted by elemental spirits and fey aligned with fire. Flame trees don’t have leaves, but it’s smoking sap is sought as a nutritious aliment by fire bats (Monster Manual II, p. 102, D&D 3rd Edition). Entire swarms of these lesser elementals cling to the branches of a flame tree, giving the illusion of the so described “fiery leaves untouched by the wind”.

Fire fruits are very rare, with each flame tree giving no more than 1d6+1 per year. The fruits are a chaotic concentration of dweomer, not unlike the blazing forces that spawned it.  1d6 minutes after eating a fruit, roll on the table below to determine its effect on the character (fire elemental, fire-aligned outsiders, fey or spirits are immune):

1         The character bursts into flames, suffering 3d6 fire damage (no saving throw).

2         The character bursts into flames, but only clothing and equipment are damaged.

3         The character begins belching smoke in irregular intervals for the next 2d6 hours (20% of losing an action in combat, stealth is impossible).

4         The character gains resistance to fire 10 for 1d6 hours.

5         The character starts to feel stomach pains (gains the sickened condition for 1d6 minutes), followed by nausea and a growing urge to vomit. If he spends a full-round action to do so, he unleashes a breath weapon of fire (10-foot cone, 4d6 fire damage). If he holds it, he suffers 4d6 fire damage (in the saving throw) after the 1d6 minutes above.

6         The character belches a small fire elemental (not under his control) and is sickened for 1d6 rounds.

If the character eats a second fire fruit in the next 24 hours, roll twice and take the worst result. If a third fruit is eaten, the character suffers 8d6 fire damage (no saving throw), burning from the inside out.

All the information above can be gathered with skills like Knowledge (Arcana/Planes) or Craft (Alchemy).

Remember that fire bats (and maybe other fire elemental creatures) are attracted by the sweet smell of these fruits.