Greenwood, Ed, Eric L. Boyd, and Darrin Drader. Serpent Kingdoms. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004. Ignans are another rare subspecies of yuan-ti that dwell in hotter climes of the world, including in volcanoes and on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Ignans are similar to yuan-ti halfbloods, except they are slightly more powerful due to some of the fire spells they wield. Ignans were first described in Monster Manual IV. Fear and polymorph are redundant to the anathema’s other features. Don’t waste spell slots on them. Alignment. Purebloods are devoid of emotion and see others as tools to manipulate. They care little for law or chaos and are typically neutral evil. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and your choice between either Draconic, or Abyssal.

The yuan-ti anathema is both fanatical and megalomaniacal, and its ritual of transformation will have burned out any survival instinct its species possesses. However, it’s also ageless and effectively immortal as long as it doesn’t get itself killed, and that’s a persuasive reason to stay alive. Split the difference: the anathema retreats when seriously wounded (reduced to 75 hp or fewer), choosing the Disengage action because of its discipline, its high base movement speed, and its ability to climb and swim.Frank Mentzer (January 1985). “Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #93 ( TSR, Inc.), p. 30. A fantastic analysis, as always. I especially like the note about the edge-case value of Polymorph into Snake (since it does seem unlikely for WotC to have meant this to be Concentration-less) with its ability to shut down spellcasters, as well as the analysis of Divine Word (and the retroactive justification certainly makes sense). Since my party has a naga rival they need to kill and will be encountering yuan-ti soon, this post came at exactly the right time!

Magic Resistance. The yuan-ti has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. This room is filled with warm water to a depth of one foot. 9 small-sized Eggs fill this room, each containing an unborn Yuan-Ti Abomination. The eggs have an Armor Class of 10 and 1 Hit Point. b]Innate Spellcasting (Abomination Form Only).[/b] The yuan-ti's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15). The yuan-ti can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: Yuan-ti society slightly favors males, as only males may be high priests. However, they are too intelligent to not utilize their females' talents, and in non-priestly or reproductive roles females are permitted to do everything that males are. Female purebloods are particularly useful as seductresses in the human world.Divine word is a coup de grâce, delivered in the third round of combat. Why the third? Because one of the premises of D&D 5E is that the typical combat encounter lasts three rounds, so if things are properly balanced, the third round should be the last round most of the time, and if it wouldn’t be the last round otherwise, casting divine word makes it more likely that it will be. Plus, I’m assuming that you don’t want to kill your players, and waiting past the third round makes it more likely that at least one of them will be down to fewer than 20 hp. This is an underhanded meta-analysis rather than an honest assessment of how the yuan-ti anathema would use this spell to maximum effect, but I’m going to retroactively rationalize it by noting that an anathema would expect to destroy or subdue most of its foes instantly, and if it hasn’t managed to do so already after two rounds, it’s going to decide that a more drastic measure is called for. Eventually, though, Merrshaulk had sunk into a slumber, ignoring his followers. Around the time of the collapse of the human empire of Netheril, Merrshaulk himself was also reborn as a winged yuan-ti avatar named Sseth, who became the yuan-ti's new primary deity. In the end, though, Sseth too sank into somnolence. [24] The Snake Mother, the ancient and immensely powerful 20 feet (6.1 meters) female Nubari-faced long yuan-ti abomination who was worshiped by the snake people of the Malatran Plateau. [1] Yuan-ti also create a highly addictive drug called white resin, made from rare herbs and yuan-ti venom. They introduce it into humanoid populations, using the drug to manipulate them. They also use them to control their slaves, but they're reluctant to do this too much, as extended use of white resin can drive humanoids mad, giving them reptilian features that obligate the yuan-ti to care for them after they become too mentally ill to work, due to their reverence of reptilian beings. The yuan-ti were reprinted in the 1st edition Monster Manual II and appeared in 2nd edition in Volume One of the Monstrous Compendium series. The histachii, later called the broodguard, was introduced in Dragon #151 and reprinted in the Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium Appendix, and as the broodguard in Monsters of Faerûn.

Unusual Abilities offers four traits that DMs can use to customize an individual yuan-ti or a group of them: Finally, yuan-ti abominations will monologue as they fight, because what more could you want from a fanatically religious enemy boss with an 18 Charisma? Chew that scenery! In tier I, Abominations should be rare. They have a CR of 7, which means it is possible to place them in a position of power for tier-I adventurers to face. However, their position in Yuan-Ti society means they will never be without their guards and servants. Yuan-Ti purebloods appear as humans with snakelike features, such as snake eyes, scaly patches of skin, or serpent's tongues, Purebloods may have any hair color humans can have. In Yuan-Ti society, they are seen as the lowest caste.

Lair Actions

Hey so one of my players is super instant on playing a Yuan-ti abomination and not a pureblood. I wanted to give her the proper experience of the abomination and also kind of wanted to try my hand at home-brew. I'm still fairly new and was just wondering if this race has some balancing issues or how I could make it more enjoyable. TIA! rd-edition concept art. Appearances [ ] Adventures Test of the Samurai • Hoard of the Dragon Queen • Mysteries of the Moonsea • Tomb of Annihilation • Rise of Tiamat • Polyhedron #41, "Wedding Party: An AD&D Oriental Game Adventure" Novels Venom in Her Veins • House of Serpents Video Games Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone • Icewind Dale II • Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition • Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms • Neverwinter Nights • Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Card Games AD&D Trading Cards Organized Play & Licensed Adventures Quest for the Snake Mother • When the Lights Went Out in Candlekeep Further Reading [ ]