Nagas: Serpents of Spirit and Bone

If you destroy me, I will return, and everyone you care about will suffer for it.

Explictica Defilus, Spirit Naga

Damn, this monster legit just said, “Talk shit, get hit.” That’s pretty cool! Let’s see if it loves up to that!

Lore: Arcane Egos

Residing within the ruins of ancient civilizations, nagas live to gather arcane knowledge and treasures. They were created long ago as guardian entities to a civilization long lost, but nagas chose independence when their creators vanished. Few creatures are as driven as a naga; in order to expand their knowledge or arcane collection, they will venture far out of their domain. It helps that they are immortal; when struck down, they gain a new body only a few days later.

Nagas rule their territory with an iron fist. Some are compassionate and rule kindly, others can reign among the most bitter and terrible of tyrants. In either case, the naga sees itself as the absolute ruler of its lands and will accept no other authority.

The ancient enemy of the nagas are the yuan-ti. Both sides view themselves as the highest form of serpentine evolution. As much as they despise each other, however, cooperation between the two races has been known to happen, should both have a common goal. Even still, the yuan-ti despise being ordered about by the uptight and narcissistic nagas.

Some yuan-ti even took their dislikes of the nagas to the next level. Using dark necromantic rituals, they can halt a naga’s regeneration. By doing this, they force it into the form of a Bone Naga, a significantly crippled version of its former self.

Guardian nagas can be considered the ‘good’ naga. They work to keep arcane powers out of sinister hands and actively play large parts in foiling evil plots. When provoked, they will try to solve the conflict peacefully. However, when its hand is forced, it is a formidable foe.

Spirit nagas are not so kind. They live purely off of spite, spending all of their time plotting revenge against those that have wronged them or could wrong them. Those that live within their dark domains do so as slaves. Spirit Nagas enjoy charming their prey, luring them into a false sense of security before attacking.

This is some really good lore, rife with potential for a campaign! Maybe they need to impress a Naga with arcane knowledge in exchange for a favor. Perhaps they need to find a way to turn a tyrannical Spirit Naga into a Bone Naga to kill it! Or you could explore the fallen realm from which they came! The possibilities are as boundless as they are exciting!

Design: Snakes with a Face

Remember those serpent dudes from Dark Souls 1? It’s kinda like that. Only a little less horrifying.

I really love these designs. Sure, they’re all fairly basic; two of them are just snakes with faces, and the third is a big ol’ skeleton. But the artists managed to squeeze out a ton of personality out of each one.

The Spirit Naga just looks like a rattlesnake that can voice its discontent. And it is discontent with everything. Plus, the black-and-red color pallet gives it a menacing appearance, completely unlike the gentle Guardian Naga, with its soft green color scheme and warm facial features.

Then there’s the Bone Naga. Which is an angry snake skeleton.

Stats: Hope you guys like spells!

When was the last time we had an entry that was just one monster? Can we go back to that sometime soon? Please? I’m so tired…

The Bone Naga is the simplest and weakest of the lot. Not to say that it’s a pushover; it’s AC is decent and its HP, while not monstrous, ain’t all that bad. Plus, it’s immune to poison damage, as well as the charm, exhaustion, paralysis, and poison conditions.

Melee wise, it only has one option: biting. And for a low to mid-level monster, this attack does some pretty hefty damage! 10(2d6+3) piercing with an added 10(3d6) poison is pretty scary for a party around levels three through five.

Then there are its spells. If you want this monster to have been a Guardian Naga, it has:

• Cantrips (at will): mending, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
• 1st level (4 slots): command, shield of faith
• 2nd level (3 slots): calm emotions, hold person
• 3rd level (2 slots): bestow curse

If it were a Spirit Naga, it would have:

• Cantrips (at will): mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost
• 1st level (4 slots): charm person, sleep
• 2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, hold person
• 3rd level (2 slots): lightning bolt

Hope you like those lists, ’cause we got two more of ’em coming up.

Next is the Spirit Naga. This is only slightly harder to kill than the Bone Naga, but it is far more dangerous. Its bite attack does less piercing damage and more poison, and its Rejuvenation ability technically makes it immortal. Then there’s the spell list.

• Cantrips (at will): mage hand, minor illusion, ray of frost
• 1st level (4 slots): charm person, detect magic, sleep
• 2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, hold person
• 3rd level (3 slots): lightning bolt, water breathing
• 4th level (3 slots): blight, dimension door
• 5th level (2 slots): dominate person

Finally, we have the most powerful one of all: the Guardian Naga. Its AC and HP are both on the high end, making it the most durable of the three. Its bite attack deals a pitiful bit of piercing damage, along with a monstrous 45(10d8) poison damage, should the victim fail a Con save. Or it could skip the fangs and simply use Spit Poison, dealing the same amount of damage for the same save.

And, of course, there’s the spell list.

• Cantrips (at will): mending, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
• 1st level (4 slots): command, cure wounds, shield of faith
• 2nd level (3 slots): calm emotions, hold person
• 3rd level (3 slots): bestow curse, clairvoyance
• 4th level (3 slots): banishment, freedom of movement
• 5th level (2 slots): flame strike, geas
• 6th level (1 slot): true seeing

All of that combined can make these three monsters fairly tricky and dangerous. How do the party members handle the various spells? Can they avoid panicking when they take that poison damage? How do they deal with an enemy that will simply come back to life a few days after they kill it? No matter which flavor you pick, any of these three can make for a pretty fun boss fight!

Placement

This is a top-tier monster for sure. The lore is fantastic, the design, while simple, is great, and the stats can make for a great boss fight. But the question is: are they top five worthy?

No. But they’re damn close!

With all that in mind, let’s put the Nagas on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Mind Flayer
4. Dragon Turtle
5. Mummy/Mummy Lord
6. Nagas (all three of ’em) <———–
7. Green Dragons
8. Red Dragons
9. Blue Dragons
10. Black Dragons
11. White Dragons
12. Silver Dragons
13. Couatl
14. Behir
15. Aboleth
16. Sea Hag
17. Lamia
18. Bronze Dragons
19. Brass Dragons
20. Copper Dragons
21. Gold Dragons
22. Chuul
23. Kuo-Toa
24. Gibbering Mouther
25. Kraken
26. Intellect Devourer
27. Chimera
28. Death Knight
29. Fomorian
30. Bone Devil
31. Dracolich
32. Faerie Dragon
33. Lich
34. Magmin
35. Kobold
36. Kenku
37. Hobgoblins
38. Night Hag
39. Green Hag
40. Ankheg
41. Hook Horror
42. Storm Giant
43. Hill Giant
44. Empyrean
45. Efreeti
46. Grimlock
47. Minotaur
48. Dao
49. Cloud Giant
50. Manticore
51. Drow (all four of ’em)
52. Shadow Demon
53. Modrons (all five of ’em)
54. Marilith
55. Drider
56. Aarackockra
57. Azer
58. Demilich
59. Spectator
60. Hydra
61. Marid
62. Harpy
63. Werejackal
64. Half-Dragon
65. Cambion
66. Fire Giant
67. Animated Armor
68. Banshee
69. Basilisk
70. Yochlol
71. Bulette
72. Cloaker
73. Darkmantle
74. Doppelganger
75. Ghoul and Ghast
76. Ettin
77. Medusa
78. Pit Fiend
79. Erinyes
80. Chain Devil
81. Bearded Devil
82. Barbed Devil
83. Spined Devil
84. Ice Devil
85. Mimic
86. Djinni
87. Merrow
88. Nalfeshnee
89. Glabrezu
90. Chasme
91. Grell
92. Barlgura
93. Horned Devil
94. Balor
95. Shadow Dragon
96. Myconids (all four of ’em)
97. Werebear
98. Lizardfolk
99. Vrock
100. Dretch
101. Gnolls (all three)
102. Goristro
103. Hezrou
104. Manes
105. Frost Giant
106. Weretiger
107. Werewolf
108. Duergar
109. Quasit
110. Dryad
111. Flumph
112. Goblin
113. Wereboar
114. Wererat
115. Githyanki
116. Planetar
117. Imp
118. Clay Golem
119. Flameskull
120. Displacer Beast
121. Carrion Crawler
122. Githzerai
123. Grick
124. Invisible Stalker
125. Rug of Smothering
126. Bugbear Chief
127. Bugbear
128. Flesh Golem
129. Vine Blight
130. Twig Blight
131. Needle Blight
132. Mephits (all six of ’em)
133. Bullywug
134. Hellhound
135. Ettercap
136. Gas Spore
137. Cockatrice
138. Lemure
139. Homonculus
140. Merfolk
141. Solar
142. Deva
143. Gorgon
144. Hippogriff
145. Griffon
146. Cyclops
147. Centaur
148. Ghost
149. Fire Elemental
150. Water Elemental
151. Air Elemental
152. Stone Giant
153. Deep Gnome
154. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
155. Iron Golem
156. Stone Golem
157. Earth Elemental
158. Galeb Duhr
159. Helmed Horror
160. Flying Sword
161. Crawling Claw
162. Violet Fungus
163. Shrieker
164. Gargoyle