Flying Snake 5e: Stats, Flyby Tactics and the 2024 Snake

A flying snake is a CR 1/8 Tiny creature with AC 14, 5 hit points, a 60-foot fly speed and a bite that deals 1 piercing plus 7 (3d4) poison damage with no saving throw. That's twice the damage of a CR 1/8 bandit's scimitar (4), and Flyby means it never takes an opportunity attack for biting and flying off. The 2024 rules turn it from a Beast into a Monstrosity and cut the bite to +4 to hit for 1 plus 5 (2d4) poison.

Table of Contents

• •Flying Snake Stat Block (2014)
• •The Flying Snake in the 2024 Rules
• •How Flying Snakes Fight
• •How Many Flying Snakes for a Level 1 Party?
• •How Players Beat Flying Snakes
• •Flying Snake Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Flying Snake Stat Block (2014)

Dexterity 18 does most of the work: AC 14 with no armor and +6 to hit. The bite averages 8.5 damage on a hit (printed as 1 + 7), all but 1 of it poison, and there's no save to reduce it. A level 1 wizard with 6 to 8 hit points goes down to one good bite and a scratch.

Its other numbers point to how it plays. Speed 30, fly 60, swim 30 means there's almost nowhere it can't follow. Blindsight 10 feet lets it bite an invisible or hidden target next to it. Passive Perception 11 means it's easy to sneak past.

SRD 5.1 describes flying snakes as brightly colored winged serpents from remote jungles, sometimes kept by tribespeople and cultists as messengers that carry scrolls wrapped in their coils. That's the most useful line in its entry for a DM.

The Flying Snake in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 snake's AC stays at 14 even though its Dexterity dropped to 15, but its offense drops on both axes: 2 points less to hit and 2.5 less damage per hit (6 instead of 8.5). Against AC 16 that's about 2.7 damage per attack instead of 4.7.

The type change matters more for players than the numbers. Spells and features that need a Beast can't touch the 2024 snake. Dominate Beast can't target it, Polymorph can't turn anyone into one (the new form must be a Beast), and a 2024 druid can't Wild Shape into one. The 2014 snake is a Beast, so all of those work, though Wild Shape still waits until druid level 8 because of the fly speed.

How Flying Snakes Fight

The flying snake fights like a wasp. It flies in, bites, and flies out.

Flyby. A flying snake doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach. It has 60 feet of flying movement, so it can start its turn 30 feet away, fly to a target, bite and fly 25 feet back up. The fighter never gets a swing unless they Ready an attack.

Hit the soft targets. With no reason to fear melee characters, the snake should go for whoever has the fewest hit points. Damage against a level 1 party:

Four 2014 snakes focused on the wizard average about 25 damage a round, three times a level 1 wizard's hit points.

Use height. A flying snake that ends its turn 30 feet up is out of reach of every melee weapon and most thrown ones. Characters have to use ranged attacks against AC 14, and its 5 hit points still die to one hit.

Use water. Swim 30 lets the snake drop into a river or pool and come up somewhere else. A jungle fight near water gives it a place to hide that the party can't easily search.

Flee when hurt. Nobody in the snake's stat block is going to make it stay. One hit kills it, so the second snake that sees the first one die should probably leave.

How Many Flying Snakes for a Level 1 Party?

A flying snake is worth 25 XP. Using the 2024 SRD 5.2.1 budget for four level 1 characters:

That budget badly underrates the 2014 snake. Eight 2014 flying snakes focused on the AC 12 wizard deal about 50 damage a round (37 against AC 16), enough to kill any level 1 character outright. Start with 3 or 4.

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines in our encounter difficulty calculator are closer to the truth. Four snakes are 100 XP, doubled for a group of 3 to 6 to 200: a Medium encounter for four level 1 characters. Six snakes come to 300 after the multiplier, which is Hard.

At level 3 and up, flying snakes work better as support. A cult priest with two pet snakes gets a pair of fast skirmishers that keep the party's archer busy. A cultist band in a jungle shrine is the natural fit.

How Players Beat Flying Snakes

• •One hit kills. 5 hit points dies to almost any weapon hit or cantrip. The challenge is hitting AC 14 as it flies away.
• •Ready attacks. Since Flyby removes opportunity attacks, a readied attack is the only way a melee character gets a swing. Ready to attack when the snake comes within reach.
• •Area spells. Snakes cluster around the target they're biting. Thunderwave or Burning Hands kills them on a failed save and sometimes on a success, since half of 9 or 10.5 is still close to 5.
• •Poison resistance. All but 1 point of each bite is poison. A character with resistance to poison damage takes half of that.
• •Bait. Snakes go for the weakest target. Put the cleric with the shield where the wizard was and let them miss.
• •Use Beast magic on 2014 snakes only. Dominate Beast on a 2014 snake gives you a 60-foot flying scout that bites at +6. It won't work on a 2024 snake.

Flying Snake Encounter Ideas

The intercepted messenger. A flying snake lands at the party's camp, exhausted, with a scroll wrapped in its coils. The scroll is cult correspondence meant for someone else. The cult will send more snakes to find it, and the next ones won't be tired.

The river temple. A jungle shrine stands on a rock in a fast river. Flying snakes nest in its eaves. When anyone crosses the rope bridge, they attack the bridge crossers from above and dive into the river when hurt. The party can find another way across or burn the nests from the bank.

The pet shop. A merchant in the city sells exotic animals, including a cage of flying snakes "for messages." One got loose in a rich district and has bitten two people. The guard wants it caught alive, because the merchant's buyer was a noble who shouldn't have wanted one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a flying snake in 5e?

A flying snake is CR 1/8 (25 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 14 and 5 hit points.

How much damage does a flying snake do?

The 2014 bite is +6 to hit for 1 piercing plus 7 (3d4) poison damage, 8 on average. The 2024 bite is +4 to hit for 1 piercing plus 5 (2d4) poison. Neither version allows a saving throw against the poison.

Can a flying snake be a familiar?

Not under Find Familiar. The 2014 spell lists the poisonous snake but not the flying snake. The 2024 spell allows its listed forms or another CR 0 Beast, and the flying snake is CR 1/8 and a Monstrosity.

What does Flyby do?

A creature with Flyby doesn't provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an enemy's reach. The snake can fly in, bite and fly away without giving anyone a free attack.

Is a flying snake a beast or a monstrosity?

The 2014 flying snake is a Beast. The 2024 flying snake is a Monstrosity, so Dominate Beast can't target it, Polymorph can't turn a creature into one, and druids can't Wild Shape into it.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.