Sticks to Snakes

(Pending final discussion and approval)

These statistics are only slightly modified from the Monster Manual: specifically, I have reduced the movement rates to conform better to my understanding of snakes’ speeds (although, obviously, exceptional species may appear, especially in the tropics). Also, the HD given apply to snakes of a given size: 15’ long for constrictor snakes, 5’ long for poison snakes. These sizes probably exceed t he size of the sticks a priest can carry around, and therefore, I think should be understood as maxima. Let us say with small snakes (those made from the kind of sticks one can carry faggots of around) that constrictors have 2 HD, poison snakes 1 HD. Of course, a forest may offer available large sticks (and certainly will if time is taken to gather them, say before resting), as may an armory, woodpile, etc.

• constrictor

AC 6, 6”, 3+2 HD, thaco 17, 1 (1-3), M 15

A constrictor snake bites for 1 hp, and then next round encoils for 1-3 hp of damage a round. This grip can be broken with a successful open doors roll at a –1 penalty, whereupon the snake must attempt to bite again. If one is bit but has not acted, or wins initiative next round, an identically modified open doors roll throws the snake off.

Remember that a 2 HD constrictor has a thaco of 19.

• poisonous

AC 6, 12”, 2+1, thaco 19, 1, S 5

The toxicity of various snakes has its own table in the Monster Manual, which I have modified only by altering the “death” categories. Each snake’s venom is randomly determined by a d20 roll. For convenience, one can roll toxicity only after the snake in question hits.

• 1-4: save at +3; sickness + incapac 2-8 days
• 5-8: save at +2; “veins on fire;” 1-4 hp/rd for 1-4 rds
• 9-11: save at +1; 2-8 damage
• 12-14: 3-12 damage
• 15-17: save at –1; sick + incap 1-4 days
• 18-19: save at –2 sick; + incap 2-12 days
• 20: death

"Sickness" is here interpreted as an immediate 1d4 penalty to thaco & AC; within 1-3 hours of the poison’s onset the subject will be incapacitated, as one at 0 hp, for the given time.

Constrictor snakes have a “weapon speed” of 3; poison snakes are notoriously fast, and have therefore a speed of 0.

Snakes attack the round after they are created.

Although it does not state it in the spell, I would probably give a snake a saving throw to avoid the reverse of the spell, unless perhaps they are snakes made by the spell in the first place. However, if you can turn 14 snakes into sticks, and cast the spell at one snake, he would have to make 14 saves (and when it fails one you can throw it on the fire, etc.); the saves just prevent mass quantities of snakes from being turned into sticks with no chance at all.