[RPG] living wood

dnd-5emtg-plane-shiftspecial-materials

On the Plane Shift: Innistrad material, it mentions that

Weapons cut from living wood are particularly effective against vampires, though any weapon can harm or kill them.

But I can't find any source about what living wood is. My guess is that it's some special kind of wood from some tree, but that's just a guess.

So, what is living wood and does it has any specific properties?

Best Answer

Information about Innistrad is more easily found in resources about Magic: the Gathering, since the world originated in that game. The article “A Planeswalker's Guide to Innistrad: Stensia and Vampires" says this about living wood and vampires:

In small villages, the cottages are usually arranged around a small grove of hawthorn trees for centralized access to living wood. […]

All vampires inherit a set of weaknesses linked to the ritual that created their race. First, although they can be harmed or killed by any weapon, weapons of living wood have special efficacy—this is the so-called Dryad's Legacy (dead wood is inert, no more effective than stone or steel). […]

Vampires enjoy a lively commerce in blood, although the commodity is only good for a few days before it provides no nourishment—about the same length of time as wood stays alive once cut from its plant. […]

From this, we can surmise that living wood is wood that's less than a few days cut from its living source, or wood that's part of a living-wood creature, like a dryad or a treant.

Related Topic