Crowned White Snake

Tiny fey, Neutral Good

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 45 (10d4 + 20)

Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR 4 (−3) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 14 (+2) · INT 12 (+1) · WIS 16 (+3) · CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +5, Cha +6

Skills Insight +5, Perception +5, Performance +6, Stealth +6

Gear Tiny Golden Crown (If given willingly by the snake, functions as a Luckstone. If taken by force or after the snake is slain, it loses all magical properties and is worth 50 gp).

Senses Blindsight 10 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Understands Common and Sylvan but cannot speak (communicates through sweet, melodic singing)

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Traits

Melodic Presence: The snake hums a quiet song. Beasts and Fey within 30 feet of the snake have Advantage on Wisdom and Charisma checks made to interact peacefully.

Actions

Multiattack. The snake makes two attacks: one with its Bite and one with its Misfortune Strike. One of these attacks can be replaced by Spellcasting.

Bite. Melee Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) piercing damage, and the target is Poisoned until the end of its next turn.

Misfortune Strike. Magic Attack: +6 to hit, range 30 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) psychic damage, and a sudden lapse in luck causes the target to fall Prone.

Spellcasting. The snake casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (Spell Save DC 14):

At Will: Guidance (PHB, p. 282), Prestidigitation (PHB, p. 307)

1/Day Each: Bane (PHB, p. 245), Bless (PHB, p. 247)

Lore

A snake with a golden crown that brings good luck.

If you ever wander through the German countryside and fall into conversation with some of the old-timers who still enjoy a long chat, you’re almost sure to hear a legend about magical snakes that wear tiny golden crowns. Folks give them all sorts of names—“the crowned grass snake,” “the serpent queen,” and so on—and swear that anyone who manages to get hold of one of those crowns will be blessed with incredible luck and happiness.

One of those tales tells of a tight-fisted merchant who kept a warm-hearted maid. In the cow barn where she worked lived a little snake with a golden crown. People sometimes heard it singing at night, for these snakes are said to have voices sweeter than the finest songbird. Whenever the maid came into the barn to do her chores—which she did with special care, because her master’s cattle meant the world to her—the snake would occasionally glide over to her. It was small and white, almost like a mouse, and it peeped out of a crack in the wall with bright, clever eyes that seemed to ask for something. So the girl took to pouring a bit of cow’s milk into a saucer and setting it down for the snake, and the creature lapped it up with obvious delight.

From Grimm Legends Bestiary 5E, p. 12 · Fern Flower Press