D&D 5E Zhentarim flying snakes

pukunui · Apr 8, 2016

Hi all,

There are a few references in the 5e books to members of the Zhentarim faction using flying snakes to send messages to each other. I guess they're meant to be like homing pigeons. I've got a new PC coming into my Tyranny of Dragons campaign who's a member of the Zhents, and I thought it would be fun to let him have a flying snake. I'm just not entirely sure what all he'd able to do with it.

I'm thinking that him using it to keep in touch with his superiors would be a fluff thing that happens in the background maybe, since we're potentially talking long spans of time required for the snake to fly from wherever the PC is to wherever his bosses are and back ... but what if he's, say, scouting ahead (he's a rogue, of course), could he use it to send his comrades a message without having to report back in person? It's not a familiar, so he can't use its senses to scout ahead for him. It'd basically be a pet that could fill much the same function as the message cantrip. And, of course, unlike message, the snake can be intercepted.

Would he need to train it to recognize the other PCs first? He isn't proficient in Animal Handling.

Has anyone else made use of the Zhentarim's flying snakes?

Thanks in advance!

Ancalagon · Apr 9, 2016

... I've never heard of such a thing. Was this present in previous editions?

Al2O3 · Apr 10, 2016

I think the snakes are intelligent enough to go to a location when told to. There they will listen for the sound of a specific whistle and go to the person using it. They are able to carry a very small note with them, so they are a bit like a very slow "sending". Writing the note would probably be too slow and expensive to relay information during normal scouting ahead.

Skickat från min Nexus 6 via Tapatalk

pukunui · Apr 10, 2016

Ancalagon said:
... I've never heard of such a thing. Was this present in previous editions?

That's what I'm trying to find out!

All I know is there are several references to it in recent works. For starters, it's specifically called out on page 17 of The Rise of Tiamat: "Some Zhentarim have winged snake companions that carry messages on scrolls as they fly, allowing agents to keep in contact with one another."

A quick google search reveals that Zhentish agents using flying snakes also comes up in Erin M Evans' Ashes of the Tyrant novel.

Lastly, there are two pictures of Zhentish mercenaries with flying snakes in the 5e books. One is in the NPC section of the Monster Manual, while the other is in the factions section of Princes of the Apocalypse.

Al2O3 said:
I think the snakes are intelligent enough to go to a location when told to.

You reckon? They only have an Intelligence of 2.

Mephista · Apr 10, 2016

The snake thing shows up in a couple of FR novels. I've never seen rules for it, however. Basically, the snakes are the magical world equivalent to simple carrier pidgeons. And I think that you'd need to train the snakes in a similar manner to the aforementioned real life birds (likely requiring Animal Handling proficiency or magic to train). Alternatively, as part of a background - too lazy too look up which background gives you contact with your local thief guild. Criminal?

Honestly, in a world of magic, I don't really see the point of using the messanger snakes. Seems redundant and unnecessary for a game. It can fit into novels, because they can fill a need in the story, but chances are PCs won't need them beyond very a specific scenario that will take maybe one session. You'd pretty much need to design an entire story around it for the carrier snakes to be worthwhile.

Al2O3 · Apr 10, 2016

pukunui said:
That's what I'm trying to find out!

All I know is there are several references to it in recent works. For starters, it's specifically called out on page 17 of The Rise of Tiamat: "Some Zhentarim have winged snake companions that carry messages on scrolls as they fly, allowing agents to keep in contact with one another."

A quick google search reveals that Zhentish agents using flying snakes also comes up in Erin M Evans' Ashes of the Tyrant novel.

Lastly, there are two pictures of Zhentish mercenaries with flying snakes in the 5e books. One is in the NPC section of the Monster Manual, while the other is in the factions section of Princes of the Apocalypse.

You reckon? They only have an Intelligence of 2.

Oh, they have stats? And yes, I think that the intelligence they do have is enough to get them to a location. Identifying someone they haven't met several times beyond "I like the one with the whistle" is too much. And I base my posts on what I remember of Ashes of the Tyrant.

Skickat från min Nexus 6 via Tapatalk

pukunui · Apr 15, 2016

Al2O3 said:
Oh, they have stats?

Yes. In the back of the Monster Manual.

And I base my posts on what I remember of Ashes of the Tyrant.

Cool. I haven't read any of those books, so I was just going by what I found on google.

paintphob · Apr 15, 2016

pukunui said:
That's what I'm trying to find out!

They have been around since at least 2nd Ed. You can find them in the Monsterous Compendium. Then they were vicious and hunted by 'all intelligent creatures'.
In 3rd they appeared in Races of Faerun. They were still rare and vicious, but could be had as familiars using an advanced Find Familiar spell.
I don't know about 4th Ed.
Seems they have been domesticated and lost their acidic spit in 5th.

pukunui · Apr 15, 2016

OK. I was meaning how they came to be used as carrier pigeons by the Zhentarim. Got any insights into that? Seems to be a new thing.

SkidAce · Apr 15, 2016

Its not new. I remember it from as far back as 2e I believe.

But finding a citation, that;s going to be some work.

Maybe tonight.

D&D 5E Zhentarim flying snakes

pukunui

Legend

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon

Al2O3

Explorer

pukunui

Legend

Mephista

Adventurer

Al2O3

Explorer

pukunui

Legend

paintphob

First Post

pukunui

Legend

SkidAce

Legend

Similar Threads