what does this statue do?

[poolio]

Hey all, i am in dire need of some ideas, i'm building a simple one-two game dungeon crawl that takes place in the ruins of an underground Yanti temple, and i'm having some trouble filling this place out, specifically i have a large snake statue that i don't know what to do with, i don't want it to just be something that's there, my current idea is to have it be a stone golem that will attack if someone other then the what the golem recognizes as the chieftain tries anything with it, i have the "big bad" of the dungeon as the chieftain, getting his head dress will be enough to convince the golem that the wearer is the chief, but what can i have the statue offer up as a reward for 'beating' the encounter? i'm leaning towards a large orb in it's mouth that the chief can order be given up, and if anyone tries to take it out by force then it attacks, but what could this orb do?

any and all ideas, including how to describe things or even ways to change the encounter all together, are welcome, i just really want to find a way to make use of this statue.
thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to read this, have a great day

[Amechra]

An orb works... but I also like the idea that you get the statue's heart if you kill it. The heart is, of course, a massive ruby.

[Lupine]

I think you're asking how to turn this into an entertaining encounter. I would say that the simplest way would be to have the snake statue be fairly large (at least 15 feet tall, at least 5 feet wide, and however long you want. I recommend long enough to act as a complete wall from one side of the room to the other +10 feet.), and not directly deal any damage. So, the snake doesn't strike at the players, just slithers around in a manner controlled by the chieftain.
This creates a system of moving walls, separating the party, and allowing them to be isolated. Then, create a swarm of weaker monsters. (What's that? Swarm of Poisonous snakes to supply this feel, while running combat smoothly? good idea!)
The walls close off the players, leaving them stranded, while swarmed by snakes. For the fighter, not a big worry. For the wizard? lot more so.
Now, this would seem to contradict my "direct damage clause," but I'd also say that you could force any player in the snake's path to succeed of a Dex saving throw, or suffer setback damage. Enough so that the players don't want to keep getting hit by the snake, but that it won't kill them quickly if they do. (I call this indirect damage.) The player is also shoved to an open space on either side of the snake (player's choice).

Now your chieftain has a choice. If he moves the snake aggressively to deal damage, he leaves himself exposed, and will not optimize for separating the party, making the swarms much less powerful. But, if he exclusively uses it to act as a wall, then he's taking his time in the kill, and perhaps not being the most effective he could be.

As rules for movement, I'd say the chieftain must move the snake at the end of his turn, and must move every part of the snake onto a tile that the snake did not previously occupy. (So that the chieftain must get clever to keep walls up around the players.)

Have pillars and rubble, so that the players can get creative (Such as a players climbing a pillar to get on top of the snake)

Strategy, the Chieftain would probably lead by cruising through the party to separate them, then try to maintain their isolation

[poolio]

I think you're asking how to turn this into an entertaining encounter. I would say that the simplest way would be to have the snake statue be fairly large (at least 15 feet tall, at least 5 feet wide, and however long you want. I recommend long enough to act as a complete wall from one side of the room to the other +10 feet.), and not directly deal any damage. So, the snake doesn't strike at the players, just slithers around in a manner controlled by the chieftain.
This creates a system of moving walls, separating the party, and allowing them to be isolated. Then, create a swarm of weaker monsters. (What's that? Swarm of Poisonous snakes to supply this feel, while running combat smoothly? good idea!)
The walls close off the players, leaving them stranded, while swarmed by snakes. For the fighter, not a big worry. For the wizard? lot more so.
Now, this would seem to contradict my "direct damage clause," but I'd also say that you could force any player in the snake's path to succeed of a Dex saving throw, or suffer setback damage. Enough so that the players don't want to keep getting hit by the snake, but that it won't kill them quickly if they do. (I call this indirect damage.) The player is also shoved to an open space on either side of the snake (player's choice).

Now your chieftain has a choice. If he moves the snake aggressively to deal damage, he leaves himself exposed, and will not optimize for separating the party, making the swarms much less powerful. But, if he exclusively uses it to act as a wall, then he's taking his time in the kill, and perhaps not being the most effective he could be.

As rules for movement, I'd say the chieftain must move the snake at the end of his turn, and must move every part of the snake onto a tile that the snake did not previously occupy. (So that the chieftain must get clever to keep walls up around the players.)

Have pillars and rubble, so that the players can get creative (Such as a players climbing a pillar to get on top of the snake)

Strategy, the Chieftain would probably lead by cruising through the party to separate them, then try to maintain their isolation

This is a very interesting idea, and one i will be saving should i try to rebuild this dungeon, unfortunately the statue is not in the same area as the "boss" encounter, which currently involves an undead Yanti pit lord, along with a bone naga, but i really like your idea, and can't think of what else to do, so maybe i'll try to rework it like that now lol

[Aussiehams]

It might be a bit cliche, but maybe make the snakes eyes be magical jewels that give resistance to poison. What level is the party?

[JackPhoenix]

Make the statue a Shield Guardian. It *is* the reward: if the players figure out how it works, they can take it with them.

[poolio]

It might be a bit cliche, but maybe make the snakes eyes be magical jewels that give resistance to poison. What level is the party?

Three LV5 players, a Warlock/Bard, a Warlock, and a Druid with a touch of vampirism,

and the Shield guardian idea is pretty good too :smallsmile:

[Aussiehams]

A shield guardian would be a tough fight for that group, and would massively spike their power level if they manage to get it on their side.
Maybe re flavour Gorgon stats for the statue for something a bit different.

[Cwyll]

A 'statue' of a three headed stone serpent coiled around a table containing the incantation needed to open a door a little later in the dungeon.
The tablet can only be read when blood is applied to its surface, and the guardian doen't awaken as long as it's 'cold' blood.
Warm blood, then up she comes; two heads, with the left head having eyes that cast slow and the right head breathing a poisoning gas cloud.
The cetre head just tried to grapple then swallow you. Eaten foes taken 2d10 damage a round and the statue is healed the same amount.

something like that?

[MrStabby]

Do you have Xanathars guide? If I remember correctly there is a complex trap there based on statues that spew poison gas. I ran the version in unearthed arcana (it's in the traps one from a couple of years ago) and it was pretty awesome.

[Tawmis]

Three headed snake (Or more, if you want) emphasizing their maw is wide open as if ready to strike.

With eyes I watch,
Heads poised
Divided I feed
For safe passage.

So it's a math riddle.
With eyes I watch (six eyes)
Heads poisoned (three heads)
Divided I feed (6/3 =2)
Enter the maw of the 2nd snake to safely pass.
Any other attempt the snake "spits" poisonous mist into the room.
DC whatever save or take half damage for each turn in the room.
The mist lasts for 10 turns.

[Temperjoke]

What if the snake statue acts as a semi-sentient bag of holding? That is, the bearer of the headdress can issue commands to the snake, similar to a golem and it's creator, but one of it's special attributes is that you can issue a command to open wide enough for a person to walk inside, almost like a demiplane, and place or remove treasure or items. The snake can be too big to properly exit the room, and if they end up battling it, it's destruction releases the items, like if a bag of holding gets damaged. And just getting swallowed normally by the snake sends the player into a different room filled with poison of some sort, as opposed to the treasure room.

Extra bonus for the players if they can figure out how to take the snake with them.

[Laserlight]

If I walk into a room with a big snake statue, I will definitely be expecting it to attack. I'd have it offer information, at a cost ("Ask two questions and gain insight, if you can bear my poisoned bite."--CON save, lose some DEX or reduce your max HP or something). Or have it spray Stinking Cloud while other enemies attack. Or if anyone attacks it, an alarm sounds. It should a) be consistent with the rest of the dungeon (don't train them to smash every threatening looking object, then leave this one alone), and b) have a reason why the owner would have dragged it here.