FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-5
ARMOR CLASS: 1
MOVE: 9”
HIT DICE: 12
% IN LAIR: 30%
TREASURE TYPE: P, R, V
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 4-24 (bite)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Otiluke’s
Freezing Sphere
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Immune
to Cold Attacks
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%
INTELLIGENCE: High
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (50’ long, 5’ diameter)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL: IX
EXPERIENCE POINT VALUE: 6650
+ 16/HP
The cryoserpent is a fearsome
monster found only in arctic
climates, in areas where few other monsters
will go due to the cold
and desolation. Their lairs are in ice
caverns and glacial rifts, though
some (10%) may lair with ice worms (white-colored
purple worms
[see Monster Manual] that burrow
in glacial ice). Ice worms and cryoserpents generally avoid close contact
with one another, however,
and if they lair together they may stay
at opposite ends of a vast
multiple-entrance tunnel system.
Cryoserpents resemble immense, gloss-white
vipers; the head takes
up one-tenth of the total body length.
They have numerous razor-sharp teeth, each about two inches long, but no
especially large fangs
such as poisonous
snakes have. They have been known to
serve on occasion as intermediaries between
Good-aligned characters
and their deities.
Cryoserpents live to be about 250 to 300
years of age, and are
nocturnal predators for the most part.
During the times of the “midnight sun,” when the sun does not completely
set below the horizon in
the evenings, these monsters are very rarely
encountered and prefer
not to venture out of their lairs or ice
rifts. They accumulate treasure
by raiding the caverns of white
dragons and frost giants, and
polar
tribes of men
and gnolls often relate tales of terrifying
battles between
these monsters for domination of the nearly
uninhabited wastelands
where they live. Cryoserpents speak only
their own language, of
which little is known.
The spell-like powers of these monsters
are unique. Those beings
with 4 HD or levels or below who are met
with this creature’s
gaze (and fail their saving throws) are
paralyzed; the range of this gaze
is 9”. Gnolls and men know this power well
and fear it more than the
cryoserpent’s other deadlier (but less
often used) abilities. When confronted by creatures other than frost giants
who present considerable
danger to the cryoserpents, they will use
one of the following special
powers (similar to the various forms of
the Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
spell):
1) If a cryoserpent extends its tongue and
touches water with it,
it can freeze the surface solid to a depth
of 6 inches over an area of
12,000 square feet. This ice will last
12 rounds if the local temperature
is above the freezing point, and will last
indefinitely if it is below freezing. This power proves quite effective
against small boats and ships
approaching a seaside lair or a lair on
an iceberg. A cryoserpent will
not venture out over this ice sheet, as
it is too heavy for the ice to
support it and it cannot swim, but it can
bring other powers into play to
try to disable the crewmen.
2) The hollow tongue may fire a beam or
Ray of cold, 120 feet
long and one foot wide, that will do 48
points of damage if the victim
fails a save vs. spell. If the save is
made, the victim takes no damage
and is assumed to have dodged the ray.
This power is used most commonly against white dragons and remorhaz.
3) The tongue may launch a small ball of
ice, 4” in diameter, out
to a range of 120 feet with great accuracy
(+4 to hit). This ball will
explode when it strikes a TARGET
or the ground, doing 4-24 points
damage to all within a 1” radius (those
saving vs. magick receive only
1/2 damage).
A cryoserpent may use any combination of
the above 3 attacks
as often as it desires, 1 power per melee
round, up to a maximum
of 6 such uses per day. For example, a
certain cryoserpent may fire
2 Rays of cold, 3 ice balls, and freeze
a watery surface once in a
single day before it cannot use any further
attacks of this sort. If hard
pressed in close combat, cryoserpents prefer
using the Ray of cold up
to 6 times in a row. Thereafter they will
bite.
Cryoserpents are not affected by any sort
of cold or cold-based attack, such as a white dragon’s breath or a Cone
of cold. They take
extra damage against heat-based attacks,
taking + 1 point damage
per HD of the spell’s power, and saving
at -2 against such attacks.
A lair of cryoserpents is 5% likely to have
1-2 eggs within it, jealously guarded by the inhabitants of the lair. The
eggs resemble large,
smooth crystalline ovals, about 2 feet
across the longest axis, and
are translucent. The embryo inside is a
bright silver-white color, barely
visible. The eggs are 90% likely to shatter
if touched by a warm object
(such as human
hands) and will do 2-8 points damage to beings
within a 5-foot radius (no save). The eggs
have little value because
of the difficulty of preservation, but
the hide of an adult cryoserpent,
properly treated and enchanted, may be
made into a suit of scale
armor,
+ 1, that makes the wearer resistant to cold (take 50%
damage from cold attacks, save at + 2)..
Created by Roger Moore
| Dragon | Monsters | - | Dragon 44 | 1st Edition AD&D |