Giant Snake 4 (12)

Early Access

Those about to stumble into the presence of a giant snake at least 50 feet (16 m) long are warned by the skin it shed and discarded and by the cracked, slippery bones of digested victims.

Real-world big snakes such as the green anaconda typically grow to 15 feet (4.5 m) long, and the Paleocene-era titanoboa could reach over 40 feet (12 m), but a truly giant snake reaching 50 feet (16 m) or more is a creature of legend, something altered by science or magic, or the favored pet of a snake cult. Such beasts have skulls big enough that they could easily swallow an adult human, with their usual prey being deer, wild pigs, or similarly sized quadrupeds.

Motive: Hunger for flesh

Environment: Anywhere temperate or warm where they can lurk, including jungles, sewers, caves, and spacecraft access tubes

Health: 18

Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound

Armor: 2

Movement: Short; short when climbing

Modifications: Perception and stealth as level 6; dodge as level 3 due to size

Combat: A giant snake bites foes, preferably with surprise. If it succeeds, the snake’s bite deals a moderate wound for that attack. What happens next depends on whether it is a constrictor snake (squeezing to kill its prey), a venomous snake (injecting poison into its prey) or both.

Most snakes are constrictors or venomous, not both.

• Constriction: If the snake successfully bites a foe, the character must make a Might defense roll or be grabbed by the jaws, after which the snake coils its body around the character. Each round on the snake’s turn, it automatically inflicts a moderate wound from the bite and a moderate wound from the constriction (ignores armor). On the character’s turn, they can attempt another Might or Speed task to escape the bite and grapple. A constrictor snake may instead coil around a sleeping, stunned, or helpless creature without biting it first.
• Fast Venom: If the snake’s bite damages a foe, the character must make a Might defense roll or take an additional moderate wound (ignores armor) from the snake’s venom.
• Slow Venom: If the snake’s bite damages a foe, the character must make a Might defense roll on the round of the bite and on each of the character’s turns. Failure means they take a minor wound (ignores armor) from the snake’s venom each round until they make a Might defense roll.

Once the snake kills its prey, it drags off the carcass and swallows it over the course of several minutes. It takes the snake several days to digest a human-sized creature.

A giant snake loses its perception and stealth modifications in cold climates and when attacked with abilities that reduce the temperature. Thus, the creature retreats from cold.

Interaction: A giant snake is a predator that regards other creatures as food, though it ignores them if it is already busy digesting a meal.

Use: Characters note something amiss as they glimpse lambent eyes peering from the darkness, glaring as if seeking to pin victims in place with cold terror.

Loot: A giant snake’s droppings or gullet might hold a few manifest cyphers and possibly an artifact that the creature could not digest.

GM Intrusion: The snake’s venom affects the character more strongly. In addition to the normal effect, on a failed Might defense roll the character is paralyzed for one minute or until they use a non-rest recovery.