The Wyrm Snake
As you may have already heard, today’s feature presentation is a new type of animal. Before you panic too much, though, you should know that this encounter is thoroughly exotic. Though lacking in magical or supernatural powers, this entirely fantastic animal features an array of deadly powers to challenge your PCs. By the time they have faced it down, they will no doubt be begging to go back to fighting the outsiders and dragons that are this creature’s peers. Beware the mighty wyrm snake!
Wyrm Snake
The serpentine creature before you defies normal explanation. From head to tail, it is fully 50 feet long and nearly 4 feet thick at the waist. The creature is covered in green and gold scales which gleam in the sunlight. The fangs of this immense snake drip with amber-colored venom and its emerald eyes glare forward hungrily.
WYRM SNAKE CR 17
XP 102,400
N Gargantuan animal
Init +5; Senses Perception +35
DEFENSE
AC 34, touch 7, flat-footed 23 (+1 Dex, +27 natural, -4 size)
hp 299 (26d8+182)
Fort +21, Ref +18, Will +13
Immune poison
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +24 (4d6+9 plus grab plus poison/19-20), slam +24 (2d6+9 plus grab)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft.
Special Attacks: bleeding attack, constrict (2d6+14), greater swallow, swallow whole (2d6 bludgeoning damage plus poison, AC 23, hp 27), venom spray
STATISTICS
Str 28, Dex 12, Con 22, Int 1, Wis 16, Cha 4
Base Atk +19; CMB +32; CMD 43
Feats Alertness, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Improved Natural Armor, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Climb +25, Perception +35, Sense Motive +5; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb
ECOLOGY
Environment warm and temperate jungles
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Bleeding Attack (Ex): In addition to being highly p0isonous, a wyrm snake’s venom also causes wounds to fester and remain open, leading to them bleed profusely. A character who takes damage from the wyrm snake’s bite attack also suffers 2d6 points of bleed damage. This bleed damage cannot be healed by any means while the target is suffering from the wyrm snake’s poison.
Greater Swallow (Ex): A wyrm snake swallows prey as large as an elephant whole and has exceptionally powerful muscles for doing so. A newly swallowed creature cannot act for 1d4 rounds after being swallowed by the wyrm snake.
Poison (Ex): Bite—injury; save Fort DC 29; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d4 Str, Dex, and Con; cure 2 saves.
Venom Spray (Ex): A wyrm snake has specialized venom sacks which can expel poison from its mouth at extreme velocity. As a full-round action, a wyrm snake can expel poison in a 60-foot cone, exposing characters within the area to the wyrm snake’s poison. The wyrm snake becomes nauseated for 1d4 rounds after using this ability.
Ecology
Wyrm snakes are massive predatory snakes living in the most remote of jungles. Remnants from a prehistoric time, when megafauna were much more common, the wyrm snake was the apex predator of its time. At their peak, wyrm snakes were relatively widespread, with perhaps as many as 2 dozen or so living on any given continent and sharing the wealth of food among themselves. Early civilizations worshiped wyrm snakes as gods, fearing their destructive potential and in awe of their sheer size and power. Over time, changing climates and diminishing habitats would greatly reduce wyrm snake populations. Today they are all but extinct, found only in remote areas where megafauna still thrive, and are rarely seen in significant numbers.
Wyrm snakes are fiercely territorial, non-social animals, and require vast tracks of land to themselves, which leads to few meetings between the great beasts. Wyrm snakes are incredibly long-lived creatures, capable of living for more than 2,000 years. Mating occurs only very infrequently, perhaps once every 600 or 700 years. Eggs can take as many 120 years to hatch and are typically laid underground or in very remote areas. When born, a wyrm snake is 10 feet long and nearly 6 inches thick. By the time they reach full maturity, they can be as large as 60 feet and weigh several tons.