The serpent stirred at the approaching footfalls - a telltale sign of incoming prey. It uncoiled its sleek body, muscles rippling under silvery blue scales, and dove into the floor, passing through the ancient flagstones and into the misty mirror universe of the Ethereal Plane. It slithered through curling wisps of vapor until it came to a place where it sensed the echoes of creatures on the material plane. Slowly, cautiously, it passed its head up through the floor behind the interlopers. There were four of them, two in gleaming metal armor, one in flowing robes, one in black padding.
Like flowing water, it lunged, piercing the robed one with its long fangs, then dropped back through the floor and into the ether. The one bearing its venom glowed, visible to the serpent even across dimensions. It followed the warm glow of the venom as the material creatures continued through its lair. When it judged the time to be right, it found a passage through the ether to the ceiling of the room the prey were in. It struck boldly now, hissing and rearing. At it attacked, it blinked back and forth between ether and material. One of the prey swung a cruel sword at the serpent, but the blade passed through curling mist as the creature popped back to the Ethereal Plane for a split second.
Taking advantage of its distraction, the black padded prey cut deep into the serpent with twin short blades. The serpent recoiled into the ceiling. The black one was a greater threat when part of the group. It needed to be isolated. The serpent sprang out of the ceiling, barreling into the black figure, sinking its fangs deep into its shoulder and pushing it into the floor and through it, dragging it into the shrouding ethereal mists that lay just beyond the edge of the material world. The black padded figure was startled. The serpent tasted its fear on the air. It tried to strike back at the serpent, but the silvery beast simply coiled around it, biting it again and again.
Suddenly, there was a burst of flame searing the serpent's hide. The serpent turned to find the robed prey blinking erratically in and out of the Ethereal Plane. It was terrified even as it blasted the serpent with another gout of flame. The hunter reared back and struck, but it bit down on nothing as the robed one blinked away. As the serpent hissed in frustration, the robed one reappeared and unleashed a crackling bolt of deadening energy which struck the serpent square in the snout. It felt heavy. It tried to pursue the robed one back to the Material Plane, but it couldn't make a passage there. The ethereal connections to the solid world were closed to the serpent by some magical force. It could only watch angrily as the three remaining prey, still lit up with the serpent's venom, passed deeper into its lair.
It watched, and it waited.Today's Monster Monday is the phase serpent, a silvery hunter from the ethereal plane. Armed with an array of dimension-defying abilities that let it strike from anywhere, this slithering terror is the perfect ambush predator to stalk the halls of any dungeon.
The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2017 Jonah Bomgaars.
This silvery serpent phases through the
solid wall, baring its wicked teeth
Phase Serpent CR 7
XP 3,200
NE Large magical
beast
Init +7; Senses low-light vision, darkvision 60
ft.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3
Dex, +5 natural, +1 dodge, -1 size)
hp 85 (9d10+36)
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +5
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)
Melee bite +13 (2d8+7 plus tracking
venom)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Ethereal Grab
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th)
At will – blink, quickened dimension
door
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 28 (can’t
be tripped)
Feats Dodge, HoverB, Improved
Initiative, Mobility, Spring Attack, Vital Strike,
Skills Acrobatics +8, Fly +10,
Perception +7, Stealth +5
Languages Aklo
SQ ethereal jaunt
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ethereal Jaunt (Su)
A phase
serpent can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as a free
action, and shift back again as a move action (or as part of a move action). No
matter its location on the Ethereal Plane, a phase serpent can always use its
ethereal jaunt ability to shift to the Material Plane anywhere within 60 feet
of a creature affected by its tracking venom.
The ability is otherwise identical to ethereal jaunt (CL 15th).
Tracking Venom (Su)
The phase
serpent’s fangs inject a harmless venom into its victim’s bloodstream that
allows the phase serpent to track it from the Ethereal Plane. Those struck by
the phase serpent’s bite attack must make a DC 18 Fortitude safe or be subject
to the tracking venom. Those affected by the tracking venom can save again once
per minute, with the venom’s effects wearing off after two consecutive successful
saves. The phase serpent can sense the exact location of any creature affected
by its tracking venom, even from the Ethereal Plane. This sense is not fooled
by invisibility, blur, mirror image, or other spells or effects
that deceive sight-based tracking.
Ethereal Grab (Ex)
When a phase
serpent succeeds on a bite attack, it can make
a free CMB check against its target while activating its ethereal jaunt
ability. On a success, the target is temporarily pulled into the Ethereal Plane
and remains there for 1d3 turns before being shunted back to the Material
Plane. Once a creature has been forcibly plane-shifted in this way, it cannot
be the subject of the same phase serpent’s ethereal grab attack for 24 hours.
ECOLOGY
Environment any, Ethereal Plane
Organization solitary
Treasure standard
Phase
serpents are determined hunters that stalk their prey from the safety of the
Ethereal Plane. They are silvery with a purple or blue sheen, and can slither
through the air as easily as they can across the ground. When they strike, they
appear to phase out of a nearby surface, rearing up like a sea serpent out of
water. They prefer hit-and-run tactics, striking at weak prey from behind to
inject its tracking venom, then tracking them from the Ethereal Plane,
occasionally darting out to deliver another bite when it is least expected.
When facing a group of enemies, the phase serpent will soften its target up by
dragging it to the Ethereal Plane where it can face it alone, if only briefly.
Phase serpents attack phase spiders on sight, and will go to great lengths to
remove these competing predators from their territory.
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Encounter Ideas & Plot Hooks
- The Labyrinth of the Gilded Minotaur has become a hatchery for phase serpents, making its treasures even more difficult to obtain.
- An abandoned house on the edge of town, known for strange happenings and long thought to be haunted, is actually the lair of a phase serpent.
- The merchants' quarter of a major city has become the site of a turf war between phase serpents and phase spiders due to an incautious wizard's planar experiments.
- A cabal of shadow assassins is paying extremely well for doses of phase serpent venom.
-your material d20 despot
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