Yuan Ti and allies thread (Ti-Khana critters)

[Cleon]

ok tidying up loose ends as I had an idea. I went with 3d4 hp - also a spit attack maybe?

Tweaking it up to 7 hit points is OK by me. If seven hp is good enough for a Pseudodragon it's good enough for a Venomwing!

I'd caution against a Spit attack as that allows it to fly out of melee range and snipe, allowing it to (a) exploit PCs with weak ranged attacks, and (b) focus fire on single targets (e.g. a dozen venomwings would have trouble all biting a single opponent, but it'd be trivial for them to all spit at one.

For a similar reason I'm thinking we should remove the Flyby ability as it also makes it very hard for melee focused creatures to fight them. A Pseudodragon doesn't have that ability, allowing its enemies to at least use their Reaction to make an attack as it zips past them.

That'd increase its Challenge to 1/2 and I'd rather keep it at 1/4.

Also, Spit make it harder to stat up a swarm of these critters. How would they use their Spits? Could some of them spit while others bite. Do they divide their spits among targets, all spit together in a cone of expectorate, or what?

 

[Casimir Liber]

fair points all. ok removing spit and flyby. Over to you.

 

[Cleon]

fair points all. ok removing spit and flyby. Over to you.

Fine.

Updating the Ti-khana Venomwing Pterosaur.

I think that's done for them mechanically apart from the Familiar subsection. We were going to include a Familiar option weren't we, similar to that of a Pseudodragon?

 

[Casimir Liber]

oh yeh that's right...

 

[Cleon]

oh yeh that's right...

Let's see, hows about…

VARIANT: VENOMWING FAMILIAR
Some venomwing ti-khana pterosaurs can serve spellcasters as familiars. Venomwing familiars are normally exclusive to the yuan-ti and their allies, but in rare cases other spellcasters may possess them. A venomwing familiar is typically hatched from its egg by its master and takes after them in alignment, so will not be evil if raised by a good spellcaster. In addition, a venomwing pterosaur must be fed unusual foods such as rare meats and alchemical ingredients to remain happy and healthy. Venomwing pterosaur familiars are always chaotic and temperamental, and constantly demand titbits and attention as payment for their service. Such venomwings have the following trait.
 Familiar. The venomwing can enter into a contract to serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the venomwing senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While the venomwing is within 10 feet of its master, the master shares the venomwing's Magic Resistance trait. At any time and for any reason, the venomwing can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.​

 

[Casimir Liber]

published here

 

[Cleon]

Just realized we got the Shapechanger text wrong as the Ti-khana Pterosaurs can't fly in snake form but in some cases can slither faster, so we should model it more like a Quasit's Shapechanger ability.

So I've tweaked the Ti-khana Venomwing Pterosaur to:

Speed 10 ft. (30 ft. in snake form), fly 60 ft.​

​

Shapechanger. The ti-khana venomwing pterosaur can use its action to polymorph into a Tiny snake (speed 30 ft. but cannot fly), or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form, except for the speed changes noted. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.​

I've updated the Ti-khana Giant Pterosaur, Ti-khana War Pterosaur and Ti-khana Venomwing Swarm with the appropriate modifications.

That means the D&D Beyond version of the Ti-khana Giant Pterosaur needs updating.

 

[Cleon]

Just realized we got the Shapechanger text wrong as the Ti-khana Pterosaurs can't fly in snake form but in some cases can slither faster, so we should model it more like a Quasit's Shapechanger ability.

Hmm, come to think of it the precedent of the Quasit would only include the true form's speed in its main stat block, i.e.:

Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft.

Shapechanger. The ti-khana venomwing pterosaur can use its action to polymorph into a Tiny snake (speed 30 ft. but cannot fly), or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form, except for the speed changes noted. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.​

Which do you think is better?

 

[Casimir Liber]

The latter is less tautological - let's follow the quasit. Ti-Khana Venomwing Pterosaur

also

Ti-Khana Giant Pterosaur

 

[Cleon]

The latter is less tautological - let's follow the quasit.

Updating the Ti-khana Giant Pterosaur, Ti-khana War Pterosaur, Ti-khana Venomwing Pterosaur and Ti-khana Venomwing Swarm with the appropriate modifications.

Ti-Khana Venomwing Pterosaur

also

Ti-Khana Giant Pterosaur

Why is the Venomwing unaligned? Ti-khanas are Neutral Evil.

I'd also cut the "typically" from the Giant Ti-khana Pterosaur's alignment.

The Shapechanger should have "Its statistics are the same in each form, except for the speed changes noted" in both pterosaurs.

The Magic Resistance of both pterosaurs uses "The ti-khana has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects" rather than "venomwing" or "ti-khana giant pterosaur". ALL ti-khana possess magic resistance and I can't be bothered changing them individually.

The Description of both pterosaurs need some spacing in front of the Creatures of the Yuan-ti subsections and the "(Based on a monster from the Fiend Folio (2003).)" credit.