Snake, Thread-Bound Constrictor

The beautiful snake woven into the rug begins to shift and slide as if slithering. It grows larger and springs from the surface of the rug.

Huge construct, unaligned

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 60 (8d12 + 8)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
19 (+4) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 1 (-5) 10 (+0) 3 (-4)

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Special Traits

  • Antimagic Susceptibility. The snake is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the snake must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or return to the textile to which it is bound for 1 minute.
  • Construct Nature. The thread-bound construct doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
  • Immutable Form. The snake is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
  • Magic Weapons. The snake’s weapon attacks are magical.
  • Shifting Form. The snake can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

Actions

  • Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage and the creature is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the creature is restrained, and the snake can’t constrict another target. Only a beast or monstrosity can be made into a thread-bound construct. To create one, a spellcaster ritually sacrifices a living creature over a textile’s materials. The creator must then meditate over the newly woven textile for a week, setting the conditions that trigger the creature, like the conditions in the glyph of warding spell. When a creature becomes a thread-bound construct, it retains all its statistics except as noted below.

About

Found on tapestries and rugs, thread-bound constructs are created with magic that infuses textiles with the essence of a once-living creature. They appear mundane until triggered, at which point the pattern comes to life.

Thread-Bound. When killed, the creature vanishes, reappearing upon the textile to which it is bound in a death pose. At the next dawn, it again assumes its living pattern and can be triggered again. If the textile is destroyed while the pattern of the creature is on it, the creature is also destroyed. Otherwise, damage to the textile does not harm the creature. If the creature is killed and the textile has been destroyed, the creature is permanently destroyed.

Template

Type. The creature’s type changes to construct, and it no longer requires air, food, drink, or sleep.
Senses. The construct gains darkvision 60 feet.
Resistances. The construct gains resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks.
Immunities. The construct gains immunity to poison damage and to the charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, and poisoned conditions.
Languages. The construct understands the languages of its creator but can’t speak.

Special Traits

  • Antimagic Susceptibility. The snake is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the snake must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or return to the textile to which it is bound for 1 minute.
  • Immutable Form. The snake is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
  • Magic Weapons. The snake’s weapon attacks are magical.
  • Shifting Form. The snake can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
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.