How do dryads/ents/etc in your settings reproduce? Do they resemble

>>54074585
They fuck and then make baby dryads

>>54074585
Usually pollen, but dryads can fuck human-like and produce babies with them too.

Only the most determined bard will attempt to fuck the cactus-dryad.

They usually don't, they just kind of spawn on their own with no mother or father as all of the fey in the setting. They can have children with mortals, but those children would be mortals as well, just with some eerie traits.

>>54074585
Nymphs and dryads are the same creature. A nymph mates with several humans (o elves, dwarves, etc) but instead of giving birth they "bloom", releasing spores that germinate into dryads. The dryads wander for a time and mate with each other, then seek out a human settement to take root near, becoming "pregnant" for several years until a nymph climbs out of her trunk and the process starts again.

>>54075436
This got me thinking: is there a mythological male equivalent to nymphs?

>>54076008
Traditionally, satyrs are considered to be the counterpart to nymphs.

Ents are the males, dryads are the females. Ents produce little fairies that fly around and pollinate the females, who drop seeds as they travel.

Dryads and Ents are the result of symbiotic relationship of a special fey planet, typically a special tree that will will birth fairies and create a special pollen to attract humans into the woods.

Once inside the fairies will take the entoxicated human (male or female) and implant the seeds into their skin by chewing on them until they draw blood and stuffing the seed inside.

Males become Ents and females become Dryads. From there, the resulting Dryads and Ents will take over the task of acquire more humans who are given to the Primary tree where the roots will ensnare the body and form a cacoon to devour the individuals body and soul to empower the tree and and the dryad/Ents

https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/05/osr-plants-forests-gardens-and-dryads.html

This guy's drayds are haunted trees.

>>54074585
wooden dicks

I saw an image that I really liked about dryad procreation. Basically they use sex and pollination via humans/humanoid males.

Thier saliva/"sexual fluids" contain highly sticky pollen. If they fuck a dude and then that dude fucks another dryad in a short period of time they can pollinate.

It makes sense why all dryads look female, since they need male humanoids like flowers need bees.

>>54074585
I have them down for 2 reproductive systems.
The first, and more important is the standard plantey pollen system. I've loosly decided that young immobile plant things have a brief "nymph" stage where they find a good place to root down.
Second, if it's something a person might want to fuck, it has a vaguely mammelian reproductive that produces chimeric offspring with the mate, basically adding a fey/plantey flavor to a near-clone of the parent.
This style of reproduction is totally capable of producing things like a 1/2 Human, 1/2 Orc,
1/2 Feytouched (probably not really, but fuck off, this is magic).

>>54083773
I was thinking of doing something similar myself but extending it to animals in general, making them the origin of things like satyrs, harpies, etc. But I fear that's crossing too much into magical realm

>>54078548
Cryptostylis for humans.

Hypothetical Dryad reproductive cycle:

1. Dryad A attracts a human.
2. Human mates with Dryad A and gets covered in dryad pollen.
3. Human encounters another dryad.
4. Human mates with Dryad B, in the process transferring pollen.
5. Dryad B is fertilized by the pollen transferred from Dryad A.

Of concern is that the dryads are involved in brood parasitism on a massive scale. While individual humans might benefit from these encounters, all offspring will be dryads rather than humans. The problem should be obvious. Dryads must breed often enough that there are good odds a man will encounter at least two of them for as long as Dryad pollen stays attached and viable, however, they can't breed so often that their human pollinators forgo creating a new generation of humans.

This may also explain elves being a dying species, why "treefucker" is an anti-elvish slur and why elf women played by That Guy keep ditching elf society to join adventuring parties and have lots of sex. Elves used to be a fairly abundant species until dryads led to a huge decline in birthrates. Elves are now in a post-collapse society, with most of their previously inhabited lands being reclaimed by wilderness. There are so many adventuring elves because they're trying to flee this apocalyptic scenario or find someone to breed with, but they're too afraid to let outsiders know this.

This might have been the plan of whatever created the dryads. Sterile insect technique. Once the dryads annihilate all sentient humanoid species, they'll be unable to reproduce and will shortly afterwards follow them into extinction.

>>54074585
A dryad reproduces through her tree.

>>54084732
Because living forest isn't already too much magical realm ;^)

>>54074585

I actually really like the way Dungeons the Dragoning does Dryad reproduction, merging it with the Asari and Tolkien Ents.

Maiden Dryads are beautiful plantlike humanoids who are filled with an intense wanderlust, exploring the spheres to find partners who would make suitable parents, with valuable traits to pass on to their children. They spend a lifetime wandering and collecting 'seeds' of both metaphysical and genetic data, until they reach the end of that stage of their life cycle.

Then they return home, usually to the planet of their birth but sometimes elsewhere, and put down roots- Literally. The Maiden to Mother transition involves a physical transformation, from a beautiful humanoid into a tree, inactive and passive, consciousness slowing (although still present) as they focus their effort on nurturing and growing their daughters.

Over many years, they'll bud off the many daughters sired during their wanderings, each one to grow into adulthood before going on her own journeys.

Once a Mothers daughters have all been born, she shifts into the final stage of her lifecycle, the Matron or Matriarch. No longer needing to focus energies on gestating and supporting new life, instead the tree becomes more active again, limbs and an echo of humanoid form returning, although they retain massive size and physical power. These entlike creatures are the guardians of Dryad worlds, protecting young Maidens and sedentary mothers to ensure the future of their species is secure, although as they grow older, larger and more powerful they spend more and more of their time in quiet, static contemplation.

File: Bioreaktor_quer2.jpg (156KB, 887x679px) Image search: [Google]

156KB, 887x679px

>>54074585
The running joke is that nobody actually knows for 100% sure, and the dryads like to laugh until they're ready to vomit sap if you ask them. Especially if you ask them which are the 'male' plants and which are 'female' despite all looking like plantgrills.

The ones who fuck dryads STIL don't know for sure.