#elapids include cobras and mambas and coral snakes

[firelord-frowny]

<3 <3 obviously one of the highlights of my visit to the national aquarium the other day was the reptiles <3 <3 specifically the snakes, SPECIFICALLY the death adder omgggg.

there is something so??????????? magical???????????? about being able to put your face just inches away from something that, if it were to bite you, would definitely kill you.

like, to have a thin lil pane of glass be all that keeps a small but very deadly beast from being able to end my life????????????

amazing.

[soylent-crocodile]

Animal Conversion- Black Mamba

(photograph by Ronald Scott)

The way Challenge Ratings work in Pathfinder means that creature's general damage input and output roughly align. This is game design for an even battlefield, where you charge in against monsters and start whackin', but it fares poorly in representing one aspect of the real world; venomous animals, creatures which can be killed with anything from a jab from a pointy stick to an errant slap of the human hand, but which possess chemical weapons that can debilitate or even kill a human being. One of the most notorious of these is the black mamba, an african elapid related to cobras, coral snakes, and other notorious killers.

(Incidentally, if you search Black Mamba on google here in the hellscape that is 2024, you get a bunch of AI images of what people think black mambas should be- jet black cobras with angry eyes and powerful jaws. Isn't is more interesting, though, that the real deal looks so gray and unassuming- until they open their jet black mouths?)

This is a very old statblock, designed years ago as I wanted to approach the feel of these animals- a quiet hiding creature that could kill you if you step in the wrong direction. They are designed to be used more like traps than Monsters, and uhm. May need some playtesting. But I think it's an interesting bit of game design and would love your thoughts! I also included a fictional violet mamba for if you really hate your players.

This gray-black snake is particularly unassuming as it hides among the leaflitter

Misc- CR8 TN Tiny Animal HD8 Init:+8 Senses: Perception:+9, Blindsense 30ft Stats- Str:8(-1) Dex:18(+4) Con:13(+1) Int:2(-4) Wis:14(+2) Cha:3(-4) BAB:+6/+1 Space:5ft Reach:0ft Defense- HP:48 (8d8+8) AC:20 (+2 Size, +4 Dex, +4 Natural Armor) Fort:+8 Ref:+10 Will:+4 CMD:17 Offense- Bite +11(1d4-1 plus Black Mamba Venom, touch) CMB:+3 Speed:20ft Special Attacks: Deft Fangs Feats- Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (Bite), Ability Focus (Poison), Improved Initiative Skills- Stealth +19, Perception +9 Ecology- Environment- Forest (Hot) Languages- None Organization- Solitary Treasure- None Special Abilities- Black Mamba Venom- Bite- Injury, Fort DC21, Frequency 1/round for 10 rounds Effect 1d3 Con damage, Victim is Paralyzed Cure 2 successful saves in a row Deft Fangs- Black Mambas bite as a touch attack.

Black mambas are infamous for their venom, and with good reason; they’re among the deadliest of all in nature. Not only is their venom powerful and fast acting, but it quickly paralyzes its victim, leaving them vulnerable to further assault.

Violet Mambas

Violet mambas are named not for a bright color but for the subtle magical iridescence that coats their scales; a small difference, but one that is critical to notice.

Violet mambas are variants of the black mamba. They are Magical Beasts. Do not recalculate their HD or skills. Those stricken with violet mamba venom gain SR20 against healing spells and spells that remove or cure poison or ability damage for as long as they are poisoned.

Black Mamba Companions

Starting Statistics: Size: Small Speed: 20ft Attack: Bite (1d4 plus black mamba poison) Ability Scores: Str 12(+1) Dex 14(+2) Con 12(+2) Int 2(-4) Wis 15(+2) Cha 10(+0) Special Qualities: Low-Light Vision, Scent, Blindsense 30ft, Black Mamba venom (Bite- Injury, 1/round for 5 rounds, 1d2 Con damage, save DC is HD based)

7th Level Advancement: Ability: Dex +2, Con +2 Special Qualities: Black Mamba venom (Bite- Injury, 1/round for 10 rounds, 1d2 Con damage, victim is staggered, save DC is HD based)

[venomous-animals-en-blog]

Cobra

This article is about the snake. For other uses, see Cobra (disambiguation). The Indian cobra, Naja naja, shown here with its hood expanded, is often regarded as the archetypal cobra. The Indian cobra, Naja naja. A Cobra is a venomous snake, most of which belong to the Elapidae family of snakes, which is capable of spreading its neck ribs to form a flattened hood when startled. They are indigenous to southern Africa, southern Asia, and some islands of Southeast Asia, as well as some parts of the United States and Cuba. Cobra derives from a Portuguese word for snake (from Latin original coluber) (the other is serpente) without distinction as to type. In English and in some other languages, it has been adopted as a more specific name for poisonous snakes that can produce a hood (though one of these, the "American cobra", produces no such hood). Not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even in the family Elapidae. The name "cobra" is short for cobra de capelo which is Portuguese for "snake with hood". In some modern languages, such as Afrikaans, the other part of the Portuguese name was adopted, and the predominant name for a cobra in Afrikaans is kapel. When used in reference to snakes, "cobra" may refer to: Any member of the genus Naja, also known as typical or "true" cobras, a group of elapids found in Africa and Asia. They include over 20 species, among them Naja nivea, the Cape cobra, a moderately sized, highly venomous cobra from southern Africa; Cleopatra's "asp" (the Egyptian cobra, Naja haje); the Asiatic spectacled cobra Naja naja and monocled cobra, Naja kaouthia, the spitting cobras which are able to squirt venom in self-defense, and the burrowing cobra, Naja multifasciata, considered a separate genus (Paranaja) until recent molecular studies classified it as belonging to the rest of the true cobras The monotypic snake of the genus rinkhals, the ring-necked spitting cobra, a species of elapid found in Africa closely related to the Naja genus Either of the two members of the genus Boulengerina, the water cobras, a pair of elapids found in Africa (now regarded by some experts as actually belonging to the genus Naja) Either member of the genus Aspidelaps, the shield cobras, an African genus in the Elapidae whose hoods are not nearly as well developed as those of Naja Either of two species of the genus Pseudohaje, the tree cobras, a pair of African elapids which until recently were classified as belonging to Naja but are now considered a separate group Ophiophagus hannah, the king cobra, an elapid found in parts of India and southern Asia which, despite its name and reputation, is not classified among the "true" cobras Micrurus fulvius, the American cobra or eastern coral snake, a species of the Elapidae found in the southeastern United States and in parts of Cuba; this is one of the few types of cobra which is not capable of producing a hood Hydrodynastes gigas, the "false water cobra", the only species of the family Colubridae, a mildly venomous snake indigenous to parts of South America; though unrelated to the elapids, it still forms a hood if disturbed, though the hood is longer and narrower than those of "true" cobras and it does not rear upwards Most species of cobras belong to the family Elapidae. Many other notoriously venomous snake species, including mambas, sea snakes, and coral snakes, also belong to the elapids, but are not cobras. Although the bites of some species are extremely dangerous because of their potent neurotoxins, cobras have not been shown to attack people unprovoked. Cobras almost never attack without a threat display, which typically involves raising the hood and hissing.[citation needed] Various species of cobras prey mainly on other snakes, birds, and small mammals, while their main natural predators in turn are other snakes, birds of prey, and small predatory mammals such as mongooses. The principal prey of the king cobra is other snakes.[citation needed] Although most cobras do not make nests, some species protect their eggs until they hatch (incubation typically taking around 60 days).[citation needed] More details Android, Windows