NECROPHIDIUS

Dance of Death. (major) A necrophidius can cause its body to sway and writhe, requiring all creatures within line of sight observing the necrophidius to make a Wisdom save vs Poison or become fascinated (save negates). Creatures will remain fascinated while the necrophdius "dances" and, once the dance is begun, the construct can continue to dance as a minor action and attack. Fascinated creatures do not end the condition when taking damage. A necrophidius that is successfully grappled cannot dance.

Paralysis. A necrophidius' bite will require a victim taking damage to make a Wisdom save vs Poison or become paralyzed for 1d4 x 10 rounds (save negates). This is a magical (spell type) effect.

Despite its sinister appearance, the snake-like necrophidius is not an undead creature. Rather, it is a magical construct built from the skeleton of a giant snake and then mounted with the skull of a humanoid creature. Fangs are cemented into the jaws of the skull, after which the entire creation can be brought to life by a series of obscure and expensive rituals—these rituals are traditionally well guarded by those who discover them.

As a mindless construct that requires neither food nor sleep, a necrophidius makes an excellent guardian, and its innate stealth allows it to slip up on the unwary undetected. In certain areas, the necrophidius is commonly employed as an assassin, able to disable its quarries with its dance of death or paralyzing bite before disposing of them in a gruesome manner. Particularly macabre creators might even construct the creature from the skull of a friend or loved one of the intended victim in order to magnify the horror of the assassination, leaving much of the flesh on the skull so the victim can recognize its source. This flesh rots eventually—only freshly crafted necrophidiuses have this grisly feature.

A typical necrophidius is 10 feet long and weighs 200 pounds.

Environment. Underground

Construction. A necrophidius can be constructed by magic-users, clerics, or necromancers. If a magical tome is not used, spells required are typically: charm person, limited wish, and geas. Clerics would use neutralize poison (reversed), prayer, quest, silence, and snake charm. Cost is normally at least 500 gp per hit point and it takes at least 10 days to complete.