Dryads And Dwarves

OG Dryad

When I was like 12, I lived in mild apprehension of ever rolling a character with 16+CHA, as dryads were said to Charm those hostile to them, and males possessed of 16+CHA, and with a -3 to ones saving throw this was a probable game over. Nowadays I realize 'taken away to live with a dryad' is a lot better than anything else that will probably happen to a D&D character and honestly probably a decent retirement option, but I digress. Dryads can walk inside trees and Dimension Door away unless Surprised, and seem to serve a role as ambiguous source of information on sylvan adventures, as they have exact knowledge of the forest in which they dwell, but are hard to find and contact and not necessarily aligned with party goals.

3.5 Dryad
They are buffed somewhat here, having defenses that come from being a fey spirit being and more spellcasting abilities than just charm, teleport, and speak with plants. They also go from living in groups of 1-6 to being mostly solitary, and mostly Chaotic Good. The latter change strikes me as sort of lame, as it changes their role from 'ambiguous personification of the temptation to return to the woods and forsake the troubles of civilization' to a green haired designated quest giver for eco-friendly 'heroes.'

Sunset Realm Dryad

If anyone needed an art prompt 'dryads resembling different types of trees'
would be a pretty good one I think

Dryads do not spring from isolated trees in forests untouched by humanity. Why would they appear humanoid when they have never seen a human? No, dryads spring from the slow dreams of trees that are very aware of humanity- trees that generations of children climb upon, or trees that are marveled at for their size and age, trees of orchards that provide fruit for a hundred years, ornamental trees that are pruned and prodded and shaped. These trees become aware of the rushing life of humanity around them and manifest a wish to communicate with the frenetic pace of mammalian life, and so a Dryad emerges to give the trees thoughts on an issue, usually about 20 or so years too late.

Once they are born in sap and leaf and bark, they can see the world through human(ish) eyes, and speak to the humans to tell them the will of the dreaming trees. They are shocked at how fast action is taken, and accomplish their goals at breakneck pace compared to what the slow-thinking tree expected.  Dryads have a great deal of leisure time in between enacting the will of their tree, and so they gain hobbies to pass the time. They may encourage certain life forms to live with them, and discourage others. As dream/spirit entities, they may inadvertently become the host of afterlives and gain clerical/druidic powers from the accumulated will of the dead souls of animals that passed away peacefully near the tree, and tending to the wills of not just the tree, but attending the living and dead makes for a meaningful passtime for these beings and they become leader-types of animals. To animals, the dryad is like the ruler of the castle where they reside, eternally gracious and generous, providing shelter from storms and predators, and food. They would not dream of harming a dryad, but would certainly come to ones aid if called.

There is, or course, the matter of humans. Sometimes the emergence of a dryad is simply seen as an interesting occurrence and little comes of it. The farmer who talked to his trees for years anyway now has them talk back. Kids tell their secrets to the dryad at the edge of the farm, kings have secret garden friends who truly care nothing for human politics. Dryads are sacred to Our Lady of Gardens, as the goddess is tickled pink at the idea of even the plants adopting good manners and becoming part of the tapestry of society.

However, some humans get ideas. People start cults to dryads, channeling power both mystical and societal into the focal point of a conveniently accessible spirit being (this is how most druids start out.) They try to marry the dryad, which usually goes over well until they realize a dryad is also married to the squirrels and birds and buzzing bugs and the love of a dryad is as the shelter of their branches and the bounty of their fruits and nuts, and rubbing faces for pollination. Some people try to coax dryads from trees intentionally, either for aesthetic reasons, as in the White And Green City, or bizarre reasons, like the wandering master who crafted a self-replicating order of Bonsai dryads to carry on their martial arts tradition. (In the generations hence, this martial discipline has split into Thousand Autumn Leaves, Thousand Falling Petals, and Thousand-And-One Needles).

Playing a Bonsai Dryad
As Fighter unless otherwise noted.
You need no nourishment, and do not tire, so long as your Bonsai is kept nearby and healthy, though darkness does make you sleepy. You regenerate 1HP per 10 minutes provided your tree is unhurt and healthy, as your material form is but a dream, and easily reconstituted. You are trained to fight with the bonsai and can balance it on your head, hands, or feet as required. If ever broken (the bonsai tree has 1hp per level you have) you vanish immediately. If you are slain, the bonsai tree may remake you, with the loss of one level or 2 points of constitution or similar penalties. You may occasionally argue with your tree about growing bigger, or finding another tree to pollinate, or places to deposit seeds, but these differences between tree and dryad are issues that are discussed one sentence a day over the course of years and are not significant obstacles to adventuring.

If you are a cactus or other spiny plant following Thousand-And-One Needles you deal 1 point of damage in grapples.

You may walk through living plant material as though it were water swimming, though this does not extend to your equipment, if any.

Secret Technique- Thousand Autumn Leaves/Thousand Falling Petals/Thousand-And-One Needles- when unarmed and unarmored, you may make melee attacks until you miss, though you may not move and attack like this.

Dwarves- are already mostly covered here, though it's worth noting a few more things

• I read something somewhere or other that dwarf beards are like natural filter masks that catch the particulate matter of mining and explain why they are so resistant to disease and poison gas and so on, and why a shaved dwarf is likely to grow ill and facial hair is not gender-specific among dwarves.
• I also read something about how the long lives of dwarves makes them perceive conflict as one big war with truces and armistices and momentary pauses, but ultimately the same war, and this explains some of their xenophobia and grouchiness towards other cultures (as if living shut up in mountain caverns didn't already). This is also why 'official' dwarves do not wish to share clockwork and gunpowder tech with humanity even in times of peace- because they remember times of war, and will probably live to see the next uppity human noble try to steal the treasures of the earth
• in AD&D they are likely to have wolves and bears, and a lot of magical arms and armor.