Giant Constrictor Snake 5e: Grapple, Restrain and Crush

A giant constrictor snake is a CR 2 Huge Beast with AC 12, 60 hit points, a 30-foot walk and swim speed, and one job: grab a creature and squeeze it. In the 2014 rules its Constrict is an attack roll that grapples and restrains the target (escape DC 16), but the snake only gets one action a turn, so it either bites or squeezes. The 2024 rules flip both halves. Constrict becomes a DC 14 Strength save that only grapples (escape DC 14), and the snake now bites and constricts every turn. The 2014 snake locks one character down harder; the 2024 snake deals more damage.

Table of Contents

• •Giant Constrictor Snake Stat Block (2014)
• •The 2024 Giant Constrictor Snake
• •How Giant Constrictor Snakes Fight
• •Running a Giant Constrictor Snake Encounter
• •How Players Beat Giant Constrictor Snakes
• •Polymorph, Conjure Animals and Wild Shape
• •Giant Constrictor Snake Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Giant Constrictor Snake Stat Block (2014)

This is the 2014 giant constrictor snake from SRD 5.1.

Notice what's missing: a Multiattack. Each turn the 2014 snake chooses between a Bite (+6, reach 10 feet, 11 piercing) and a Constrict (+6, reach 5 feet, 13 bludgeoning plus the grapple). Once it has someone, it usually keeps squeezing that one creature.

The grapple is what makes it a CR 2 threat. A creature caught in the 2014 Constrict is Grappled (Speed 0) and Restrained until it escapes: its attacks have Disadvantage, every attack against it has Advantage, and it has Disadvantage on Dexterity saves. Breaking free takes its action and a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against DC 16.

Note the 2014 text says "one creature," with no size limit. A Huge snake can coil around a Huge or bigger target if you allow it.

The 2024 Giant Constrictor Snake

The 2024 snake (SRD 5.2.1) has the same AC, hit points, speeds, senses, ability scores, CR and XP. Its actions are rebuilt.

Three things change at the table:

• •Armor doesn't help. A 2024 Constrict ignores AC. The plate-armored paladin is just as easy to grab as the wizard if their Strength saves are similar, and the wizard's Strength save is usually much worse.
• •The victim can fight back. A 2024 Grappled character attacks the snake at no penalty. Only attacks against other targets have Disadvantage. In 2014, the Restrained victim attacks the snake at Disadvantage and gets hit by everything at Advantage.
• •One coil at a time. The 2024 grappling rules say a creature grappling with a body part can hold only one creature with it, and can't use that part on another target unless it lets go. The snake can release its victim at any time with no action, so it can drop a nearly-free fighter and coil around the cleric instead.

How Giant Constrictor Snakes Fight

A giant constrictor snake is an ambush hunter. It waits in water or overhead, grabs the first creature that comes within reach, and drags it somewhere the rest of the party can't easily follow.

The 2014 crush, turn by turn. Against AC 16, the snake's +6 hits on a 10 or higher (55%).

1. •Turn 1: Constrict. 55% to hit for 13 damage and a grab.
2. •Turn 2 onward: Constrict the same target again. It's Restrained, so the snake has Advantage: 1 − (0.45 × 0.45) = about 80% to hit, for about 10 damage a round.
3. •Meanwhile: the victim attacks at Disadvantage or spends its action rolling against DC 16.

The 2024 crush. The snake makes a Bite (55% vs AC 16, about 6 damage) and a Constrict save every turn. A creature that's already grappled must save again against the next Constrict, and takes 13 on each failure.

Against a wizard, that's roughly 15 damage a round from a CR 2 creature. A level 3 wizard with 14 Constitution has 20 hit points.

Escape odds. Breaking free is an action and a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check:

Every failed attempt costs the whole action. A wizard is often better off casting a spell than trying to wriggle free.

Bite one, squeeze another (2024). The Bite has 10-foot reach and Constrict reaches 10 feet too. The snake can hold the wizard and bite the fighter coming to help in the same turn.

Drag and swim. A Huge snake can move a Medium victim at full speed in both editions, because the victim is two sizes smaller. With a 30-foot swim speed, the snake pulls its prey underwater and away. A held breath lasts 1 + Constitution modifier minutes (at least 30 seconds), so drowning isn't immediate, but now the rescuers are fighting underwater. Creatures without a swim speed have Disadvantage on melee weapon attacks there unless the weapon deals piercing damage (2024; the 2014 rule lists specific weapons like spears and daggers instead), and ranged weapon attacks automatically miss beyond normal range.

Fight in the dark. Blindsight 10 feet matches Constrict's 10-foot range in 2024. In magical darkness or a black cistern, the snake still sees, and grabs, everything next to it.

Running a Giant Constrictor Snake Encounter

A giant constrictor snake is 450 XP. With the 2024 per-character budgets, for four characters:

Our encounter difficulty calculator uses the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines: one snake is Easy for four level 3 characters (450 XP against a 600 Medium threshold), and two snakes come to 1,350 adjusted XP, which is Hard.

The snake's real difficulty depends on terrain far more than on XP:

• •On dry, open ground it's a 60-hit-point bag with AC 12, and four characters kill it in two or three rounds while one of them is stuck.
• •Next to deep water it's much worse. It grabs someone and swims off, and the fight moves to where the party is weakest.
• •With other threats it shines. A snake that pins the party's healer while bandits or crocodiles attack turns a Low fight into a hard one.

How Players Beat Giant Constrictor Snakes

The snake's saves have no proficiencies: Strength +4, Dexterity +2, Constitution +1, Intelligence −5, Wisdom +0, Charisma −4. It has no resistances or immunities.

• •Kill it fast. AC 12 and 60 hit points is soft for CR 2. Everyone who isn't grabbed should attack the snake, not try to pull their friend loose. Ending the snake ends the grapple.
• •Incapacitate it. A grapple ends when the grappler is Incapacitated. Hold Monster (not Hold Person, which needs a Humanoid) does it on a failed Wisdom save.
• •Teleport or shove out. A grapple also ends if the victim ends up out of the snake's reach. Dimension Door gets a caster out. The 2014 SRD's own example of this is Thunderwave, which can push creatures out of a grappler's reach.
• •Charm the beast. It has Intelligence 1, so Animal Friendship works in both editions (the 2014 version fails on beasts with Intelligence 4 or higher; this one has 1). Its Wisdom save is +0. A charmed snake can't attack the caster, and the spell ends if the caster or their allies hurt it. Dominate Beast turns it on its friends.
• •Help the victim break free. Enlarge/Reduce on the grabbed ally gives Advantage on Strength checks, which turns a 60% Athletics escape into about 84%.
• •In 2014, don't bother attacking from inside the coils. A Restrained character attacks at Disadvantage. Spend the action on the escape check or a spell that doesn't need an attack roll. In 2024 the victim attacks normally, so swinging at the snake is a fine choice.
• •Stay away from the water's edge. Fighting 15 feet back from the bank costs nothing and takes away its best trick.

Polymorph, Conjure Animals and Wild Shape

The giant constrictor snake is a Beast in both editions, which makes it a legal target for some shape-changing and summoning magic:

• •Polymorph. The new form must be a Beast with a CR equal to or less than the target's level or CR, so any creature of level 2 or higher can become one. In 2014 the target takes the snake's 60 hit points. In 2024 it keeps its own hit points and gains 60 temporary hit points instead. A polymorphed ally becomes a useful grappler, especially in 2014, where a successful Constrict also restrains.
• •Conjure Animals (2014 only). The 2014 spell's "one beast of challenge rating 2 or lower" option can bring one giant constrictor snake. The 2024 Conjure Animals summons a spectral pack with no stat block, so no snake.
• •Wild Shape. At CR 2 it's above the maximum CR in the base druid's Beast Shapes table in both SRDs (CR 1 at druid level 8), so a druid without a subclass feature that raises that cap can't use it.

Giant Constrictor Snake Encounter Ideas

The flooded temple. The lower floor of a jungle temple is under four feet of black water. The snake lives in a collapsed side chamber and grabs the first character who wades past, then pulls them into a submerged passage. Blindsight means the dark doesn't bother it at all. The temple's treasure sits on a dry altar the snake never leaves for long.

The barge's cargo. A river barge ran aground with a menagerie crate on board. The crate is split open and empty. The crew are hiding on the roof of the cabin and won't say what was in the crate, because they were smuggling it. The snake is in the reeds next to the gangplank.

The guardian in the rafters. A wizard's tower keeps a giant constrictor snake coiled in the rafters of its entry hall as a doorman. It drops on anyone who doesn't speak the password, and it's been trained to grab and hold, not crush. Whoever it catches dangles 15 feet up while the tower's other guardians arrive. If the party never learns the password, a session later someone will ask "what was that word the apprentice said?" Loreify can record your sessions and keep notes so the answer is in the recap.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a giant constrictor snake in 5e?

A giant constrictor snake is CR 2 and worth 450 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 12, 60 hit points, and 30 feet of walking and swimming speed.

How do you escape a giant constrictor snake?

Use your action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against DC 16 (2014) or DC 14 (2024). The grapple also ends if the snake is Incapacitated, dies, or you're moved out of its reach.

Does a giant constrictor snake restrain you?

In the 2014 rules, yes: a hit from Constrict grapples you, and you're Restrained until the grapple ends. In the 2024 rules, no: a failed save against Constrict leaves you Grappled only, so you can still attack the snake normally.

How much damage does a giant constrictor snake do?

Its Bite deals 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage and its Constrict deals 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. A 2014 snake uses one of them per turn. A 2024 snake uses both every turn, for up to 24.

Can a druid wild shape into a giant constrictor snake?

Not with the base Wild Shape feature in either SRD. The snake is CR 2, and the base Beast Shapes table tops out at CR 1. Polymorph can turn a creature of level 2 or higher into one.

What's the difference between a constrictor snake and a giant constrictor snake?

The constrictor snake is a Large CR 1/4 beast with 13 hit points whose constrict deals 6 (2014) or 7 (2024) and has an escape DC of 14 (2014) or 12 (2024). The giant version is Huge, CR 2, with 60 hit points, 13-damage constricts and harder escapes.

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.