Animal Lord, Queen of Serpents

Family: Animal Lords

This brown-skinned, black-haired woman of regal bearing has her hair up and wears a gold tiara. She is wrapped in a cloak of snake scales, bearing a design like the spectacle markings on a king cobra.

Medium fey (shapechanger), lawful neutral

Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
Hit Points 170 (20d8 + 80)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
22 (+6) 20 (+5) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 21 (+5) 22 (+6)

Saving Throws Constitution +8, Wisdom +9, Charisma +10
Skills Arcana +8, Athletics +10, Deception +10, Nature +8, Perception +9, Persuasion +10, Stealth +9
Damage Resistances lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, poisoned, stunned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 12 (8,400 XP)

Special Traits

  • Bestowal of Trust. The Queen of Serpents can grant a single creature a +1 enhancement to Wisdom which lasts until the creature harms a reptile of any kind. Only one creature may have this enhancement at any time.
  • Keen Smell. The Queen of Serpents has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
  • Legendary Resistance (3/day). If the Queen of Serpents fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.
  • Magic Resistance. The Queen of Serpents has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
  • Magic Weapons. The Queen of Serpents’ weapon attacks are magical.
  • Rejuvenation. If she dies, the Queen of Serpents’ soul reforms on the Astral Plane. In 1d6 days, it inhabits the body of another serpent on the Material Plane which becomes the Queen of Serpents, with all of the hp and abilities thereof. Only killing every serpent on the Material Plane will prevent this trait from functioning.
  • Serpent Passivism. No serpents can willingly attack the Queen of Serpents. They can be forced to do so through magical means.
  • Shapechanger. The Queen of Serpents can use her action to polymorph into a Large constrictor snake, a Medium human woman of middle age, or back into her true human-snake hybrid form. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form with the exception that only her snake and true forms retain her climbing and swimming speeds. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying transforms with her.
  • Speak with Serpents. The Queen of Serpents can communicate with serpents as if they shared a language.
  • Innate Spellcasting. The Queen of Serpents’ innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 18). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

Actions

  • Multiattack (Human or True Form Only). In human form, the Queen of Serpents makes three shortsword attacks. In her true form, she makes two attacks: one with her bite and one with her shortsword.
  • Bite (Snake or True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 27 (6d6 + 6) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
  • Shortsword (Human or True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (1d6 + 6) piercing damage.
  • Constrict (Snake or True Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 27 (6d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 17) if it is a Large or smaller creature. Until this grapple ends, the creature is restrained, and the Queen of Serpents can’t constrict another target.
  • Mesmerizing Gaze (Recharge 5-6). The Queen of Serpents targets up to six creatures that she can see within 60 feet of her. Each creature must succeed on a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or be stunned for 10 minutes. The target is no longer stunned if it takes damage or another creature takes an action to shake it. If a creature’s saving throw is successful, the creature is immune to the Queen of Serpents’ Mesmerizing Gaze for the next 24 hours.

Legendary Actions

The Queen of Serpents can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The Queen of Serpents regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

  • Detect. The Queen of Serpents makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
  • Move. The Queen of Serpents moves up to her speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
  • Precognition (Costs 2 Actions). The Queen of Serpents gets a brief glimpse of the immediate future, gaining advantage on attack rolls and Dexterity-based saving throws until the end of her next turn.

The Queen of Serpents’ Lair

The Queen of Serpents resides in an ancient stone labyrinth deep in a mountain between a rainforest and a desert. In the winter months and during the rainy season, she can be found in her lair surrounded by tens of thousands of hibernating snakes. During this time, she relies heavily on information from her non-serpentine sources. When the weather changes, she often exits her lair to interact with the humanoid settlements nearby.

Regional Effects

The mountain where the Queen of Serpents lives is warped by her presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:

  • The area within 5 miles of the lair attracts thousands of snakes. The Queen of Serpents can choose to see or hear through the senses of any snake in this area and can speak through it while doing so.
  • Snakes and serpentine creatures within 5 miles of the Queen of Serpents’ lair have advantage on all Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide.
  • The Queen of Serpents leaves no physical evidence of her passage when within 1 mile of her lair unless she wishes to. In addition, creatures and plants native to her domain don’t cause her harm or cost her extra movement when she moves through the area.

If the Queen of Serpents dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.

About

Reclusive Seer. The Queen of Serpents is an oracle of minor fame. She delivers advice on matters material and mystical and has the favor of the benevolent desert gods. She seldom leaves the ancient stone chambers carved into her mountain home, but those seeking her counsel arrive with enough frequency to keep her informed of the outside world. They call her “the Serpent-Kissed;” her abode is awash with serpents, yet no one comes to harm there unless they seek to do harm to Shahmaran.

Queen of Serpents. Known only to a few, the Queen of Serpents is also an animal lord, who bears the mantle of protector of such creatures and treats with the gods on their behalf. The association of evil with serpents makes this a difficult task, and she secretly spends much of her time away from her home on errands and missions to keep her charges from dangers that threaten their existence and reputation. She is the only Queen of Serpents, and when she is killed a new queen rises within days.

Civic Mediator. The Queen of Serpents sees a connection between the well-being of her charges and that of humanoids in general. She’s noted that humans in particular only begin worshipping serpents in undesirable ways or killing them in droves when the humans’ own fortunes begin to flag. Therefore, the Queen of Serpents, on occasion, intercedes to restore order where there is chaos among humans, though she does so while attempting to conceal her involvement.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Creature Codex. © 2018 Open Design LLC; Authors Wolfgang Baur, Dan Dillon, Richard Green, James Haeck, Chris Harris, Jeremy Hochhalter, James Introcaso, Chris Lockey, Shawn Merwin, and Jon Sawatsky.

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