Staff of the Serpent

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Staff of the Serpent


Moderate Transmutation; CL 9th

Slot: —
Weight: 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

This unassuming short wooden staff is smooth to the touch and faintly warm, as though it possesses a living pulse beneath its surface. The head of the staff is intricately carved in the likeness of a hooded cobra, its flared hood framing a poised, watchful face with bared fangs. The craftsmanship is unnervingly lifelike - the eyes seem to catch the light, and faint scale-like patterns ripple subtly beneath the grain of the wood when held for too long.

When grasped firmly, the wielder can feel a slow, rhythmic thrum within the staff, like a heartbeat just beneath the surface. The carved cobra’s hood seems to flex ever so slightly, as though reacting to unseen movement, reinforcing the unsettling impression that the staff is not entirely dormant.

Up to five times per day, the wielder may speak a command word to transform the staff into a Large Viper. As the transformation begins, the carved cobra head softens and elongates, the wood flowing like living muscle and sinew as the entire staff rapidly reshapes into a serpent. The creature appears in an adjacent square and obeys the wielder’s spoken commands to the best of its animal intelligence. The serpent remains for up to 10 minutes per use, or until dismissed (a free action requiring a command word).

If the serpent is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, it instantly reverts to staff form. In this state, the cobra carving appears cracked and dulled, and the staff cannot be activated again for 48 hours, though it otherwise remains intact.

The serpent functions as a summoned creature, though it is not extraplanar and cannot be dismissed by effects that target summoned creatures.

LARGE VIPER FORM

Size/Type: Large Animal
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 15 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+6
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d4 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +11, Hide +8, Listen +5, Spot +6, Swim +8
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Challenge Rating: 2

Skills: Snakes have a +4 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, and Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. A snake can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened. It may use either Strength or Dexterity for Climb checks, whichever is higher. It also has a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks and may take 10 even when distracted or endangered, and can run while swimming in a straight line.

COMBAT

Vipers rely on their venomous bite to dispatch prey quickly or deter threats.

Poison (Ex): Injury; Fortitude DC 11; initial and secondary damage 1d6 Constitution. The save DC is Constitution-based.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, polymorph, summon nature’s ally III
Cost: 8,437 gp 5 sp + 675 XP
Price: 16,875 gp

Special Ingredients: The dried fang of a Large Viper, powdered and infused into the staff during crafting, and a length of shed serpent skin wrapped around the staff during its final enchantment.

LORE

The Staff of the Serpent is believed to have originated in ancient marshlands where druids and hedge-witches sought companionship with the more feared creatures of the wild. Rather than dominate beasts through magic, these practitioners forged pacts - binding willing spirits of serpents into wooden vessels so they might act as both weapon and ally.

Some traditions claim the serpent within each staff is not merely a construct of magic, but the lingering echo of a real creature - one that remembers hunger, warmth, and the thrill of striking prey. This has led to whispered superstitions that overuse of the staff can “awaken” the serpent’s will, causing it to hesitate or act with unsettling independence.

In darker circles, particularly among assassins and cultists, the staff is prized not just for its utility but for its symbolism. A coiled serpent hidden within something mundane is seen as a perfect metaphor for concealed lethality. Such wielders often decorate their staffs with etched scales, fanged motifs, or ritual carvings, reinforcing the belief that the boundary between tool and creature is thinner than most would care to admit.

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