This diminutive humanoid looks like a truly ancient but proud old warrior. A tiny tree branch juts from the top of his head.
Fukujin Kami CR 3
XP 800
LN Tiny outsider (kami, native)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +12; Aura aura of luck (15 ft.)
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 size)
hp 30 (4d10+8); fast healing 3
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +7
DR 5/cold iron or evil; Immune bleed, mind-affecting effects, petrification, polymorph; Resist acid 10, electricity 10, fire 10
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +7 (1d3+1/19â20)
Special Attacks precise attacks
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +6)
Constantâspeak with plants
At willâmending, purify food and drink
3/dayâdetect snares and pits, remove sickness
1/dayâdelay poison, goodberry, soften earth and stone
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative
Skills Appraise +7, Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (nature) +7, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12
Languages Common; speak with plants, telepathy 100 ft.
SQ merge with ward, ward (bonsai trees and small plants)
A fukujin brings good fortune with it wherever it goes. Any allied creature that begins its turn within 15 feet of a fukujin gains a +2 bonus on skill checks.
A fukujin can detect weak points in a foe’s defenses as an immediate action by succeeding at a DC 15 Perception check. Once these weak points have been determined, a fukujin gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls to confirm critical hits against that creature for 24 hours. A fukujin can inform a single ally within 30 feet of its findings as a swift action, granting that ally the same bonus. This bonus cannot be granted to more than one creature, even if a fukujin attempts to point out a weakness to another.
Environment any
Organization solitary, garden (2â4)
Treasure standard
Spiritual guardians of ornamental shrubs and miniature trees, fukujin are highly regarded among Tians as bringers of good fortune and sound wisdom. Fukujins are thought to only come to goodhearted and devoted bonsai gardeners, and since bonsai plants are often only cultivated by astute and aesthetically minded humanoids, the kami are usually of a similar nature, speaking to mortals rarely and always cryptically. Regardless of how much of their coveted knowledge they impart upon favored mortals, however, fukujins always bring with them a sense of hope and good luck, and almost all within close proximity of the kami feel an instant sense of relief.
Fukujins resemble humanoids with tree branches protruding from their bodies, most often their heads, and some fukujins possess leafy hair or treelike limbs. A fukujin in its physical form is only as tall as its bonsai wardâusually only a foot or twoâand weighs less than 30 pounds.
While many see the art of bonsai gardening as humanoids’ attempts at controlling or forming nature, fukujins reflect the practice’s virtues of patience and nurturing. Fukujins maintain that a moment of patience and study can reveal multitudes more than years of trial and error, and the diminutive beings spread this knowledge wherever they go. While kami do not reproduce in any typical sense, fukujins are known to sow seeds of bonsai plants in the wake of their footsteps, further delighting communities that appreciate such flora. Though assignment of kami remains up to the mysterious will of the gods, fukujins do their part in creating numerous hosts for these spirits.
The health and strength of the tree branch protruding from a fukujin’s head is often said to be a good indicator of the skill of the warded bonsai tree’s caretaker. While the aesthetic values of bonsai trees are often completely subjective, the kami spirits are evidence that there is perhaps a series of core doctrines bonsai farmers should adhere to when taking care of their plantsâideals that a gardener can strive toward to ensure he achieves success in his maintenance of the small tree. A poorly trimmed bonsai plant may sicken the spirit for a time, for instance, while expert grafting can result in a strong or knowledgeable kami. In most cases, however, a kami will almost always leave its ward if a bonsai gardener neglects the plant long enough or effectively ruins the effort, for though fukujins are patient, they have little tolerance for the virtues of negligence and wastefulness.
Since their wards are by nature the direct result of humanoid intervention, fukujins are naturally social creatures, and most seek to assist their humanoid partners in not only cultivating beautiful plants, but in all spheres of life. Many bonsai gardeners are often content to live in a permanent home, establish a family, and live a life of tranquility, and fukujins happily provide all manner of advice regarding these domestic issues. In other instances, however, fukujins have been known to travel alongside particularly adventurous cultivators, humanoids who keep the shrubbery and kami spirit in safe and comfortable packs or pouches and consult them for wisdom in circumstances both dire and unusual. The miniature kami‘s insights and good luck prove as useful in the heat of battle as in the hearthstone, and so humanoids from nearly all walks of life seek the favor of these beings.
Occasionally one might encounter a fukujin in the wild, in lands far from the societies and plants where they commonly make their homes. In such cases, these miniature kami often claim shrubs, young plants, and even whimiscal-looking mushrooms as their wards, grooming nearby groves and glades into quiet meditation gardens or into artistic shapes, inviting visitors to rest and reflect.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Adventure Path #52: Forest of Spirits © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Richard Pett.