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jguy
2010-04-22, 10:38 AM
I've always liked snakes. My favorite animal and I always have fun using them for themes and whatnot in my games. Through that extension, Naga and the Yaun-ti are some of my favorite fantasy monsters.

What I need help on is how to make a snake theme character without a huge LA or being completely useless. Are their any good (as in alignment and builds) Yaun-ti or some other form of snake people? There are a couple snake based spells like Gut Snake Snake Gout but not many that I know of. For LAs the highest I could possiblely go is +1....maybe +2 for high end games if there are no racial hitdice.

The Glyphstone
2010-04-22, 10:41 AM
Anthropomorphic Viper from Savage Species?

Lin Bayaseda
2010-04-22, 10:43 AM
Just play a druid and have a viper as your animal companion. Take Natural Bond, which ups your AC stats ridiculously. Now you can play a viper character with some free healing and support from your human companion.

Warpwolf16
2010-04-22, 10:44 AM
umm..dont have Savage Species in front of me, kind of at school at the moment. but i do remember a reptilian template in Savage Species.

As of snaked base spells, I just use spells that poison, oh and the SC has a spell that makes you yutani-ish...cant remember much, sorry :smallbiggrin:

jguy
2010-04-22, 10:57 AM
I heard somewhere that there is a Good Aligned version of the Yaun-ti. Is that true and if so, where can I find info on it?

Coplantor
2010-04-22, 11:07 AM
I dont think you need a good aligned version of the yuan ti, you can play a good yuan ti, just ask your DM.

Ferrin
2010-04-22, 11:07 AM
The Extaminaar are LA +0 with ties to Yuan-Ti. They can talk to snakes at will and charm snakes several times per day. They get a Dex bonus and Strength penalty. They're on page 11 of Champions of Ruin.

As for snake spells, I'll only look for some druid ones;

Breath of the jungle, while not a snake spell, it does involve poison DC's which is something you might like. It's in the Spell Compendium.
Blinding Spittle, also from the Spell Compendium. Some snakes can spray something out of there mouth to blind people if I remember right.
Entangling Staff and Snakebite are another two flavorful spells from the Spell Compendium.

Evard's Menacing Tentacles when refluffed to be two snake heads, and Blood Creepers, also with a bit of snaky refluffing. Both from Player's handbook 2.

Fishy
2010-04-22, 11:19 AM
Eberron's got the Shulassakar (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20040920a), snakey-feathery servant of the coatls that more-or-less use the Yuan-ti stats.

jguy
2010-04-22, 06:36 PM
Thanks! That should work great. Anyone know of snake items that are useful or just interesting?

TheMadLinguist
2010-04-22, 07:15 PM
The greensnake naga from Oriental Adventures is +1 LA.

It's also pretty overpowered.

Kuzimu
2010-04-23, 08:13 AM
In savage Species, the Yuan-ti Tainted one gives you poison and the ability to turn into a snake or a "snake-like" creature of any size at will. For LA +1, it's a strong template.

Greenish
2010-04-23, 08:24 AM
I seem to recall that Crystal Keep lists a boatload of snake-themed sorc/wiz spells from Dragon Magazines.

DragonOfLies
2010-04-23, 12:03 PM
Secrets of Sarlona has some more info on Shulassakar

Gensh
2010-04-23, 02:03 PM
I once ran a campaign that involved an evil snake god. I gave all his minions the draconic template (+1, both of the dragon books) and let the more important minions gestalt with sidewinder monk (CrystalKeep will be fastest). Player-wise, I probably wouldn't go sidewinder 20, but it's a little better than standard, at least, but 1/day deadly poison fangs are definitely cooler than 1/week quivering palm. Another option is cleric and besides just using snake-y spells, spamming divine metamagic on violate spell and saying that you're poisoning their souls.

Vizzerdrix
2010-04-23, 02:12 PM
Hmm... I've been on a serpent kick myself.

I wonder if Sticks to Snakes ever got an update...

Person_Man
2010-04-23, 03:00 PM
Serpent Kingdoms (Forgotten Realms sourcebook) is chock full of snake themed fluff and crunch. Most of it is for Evil characters/NPCs, but that can always be hand waved away. Highlights for players:

Wereserpent: +3LA and 1 racial hit die for Shapechanger subtype, DR 10/silver, Improved Grab, Constrict, and some decent bonuses. Not optimal, but not a completely horrible choice either since you can go into Warshaper immediately.
Prehensile Tail feat: If you have a natural tail attack (like a Kobold with the Draconic Tail feat) you can use it as an extra hand. Qualifies you for Multiweapon Fighting.
Viper weapon enhancement: Your weapon becomes a snake that you can attack with, dealing bite and poison damage. Particularly good for low level debuffer builds.
Manyfang Dagger: Deals quadruple damage on successful hit, and quintuple damage on a crit.
Grafts: Plenty of useful snake-ish additions.
Fang of Sseth: 7/10 BAB Rogue-ish PrC: 4d6 Sneak Attack, viper alternate form, Spider Climb, and a Greater Invisibility (Sp) that also hides you from hearing and scent for 8 hours per day (at ECL 15).

Vizzerdrix
2010-04-23, 05:32 PM
The greensnake naga from Oriental Adventures is +1 LA.

It's also pretty overpowered.

Are you sure about that? I can't find a LA listing for them.