Giant Poisonous Snake 5e: Stats, Poison Math and the 2024 Venomous Snake

A giant poisonous snake is a CR 1/4 Medium beast with AC 14, 11 hit points, 10-foot reach and a +6 bite that deals 6 piercing damage plus poison. In the 2014 rules the poison is a DC 11 Constitution save for 10 (3d6) damage, halved on a success. The 2024 rules (SRD 5.2.1) rename it the Giant Venomous Snake, replace the save with a flat 4 (1d8) poison damage on every hit, and raise its speed to 40 feet. The 2014 snake hits harder on average; the 2024 snake is more predictable. Both are fragile: 11 hit points is one good hit.

Table of Contents

• •Giant Poisonous Snake Stat Block (2014)
• •The Giant Venomous Snake (2024)
• •How Giant Poisonous Snakes Fight
• •Running a Giant Poisonous Snake Encounter
• •How Players Beat Giant Poisonous Snakes
• •Giant Poisonous Snake Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Giant Poisonous Snake Stat Block (2014)

Dexterity 18 does most of the work here: it drives the AC 14, the +6 to hit and the 4 points of piercing damage on the 1d4 bite. Compare the Tiny poisonous snake, CR 1/8 with 2 hit points, a +5 bite for 1 piercing and a DC 10 save against 5 (2d4) poison. The giant version is the same idea with five times the hit points, a higher save DC and 10-foot reach. Blindsight 10 feet covers its whole reach, so an invisible creature within 10 feet gets no protection from being unseen.

The Giant Venomous Snake (2024)

How Giant Poisonous Snakes Fight

The poison math, edition by edition. The bite hits AC 16 on a 10 or better: 55%.

• •2014: on a hit, the target saves against DC 11. Using the printed averages (6 piercing, 10 poison, 5 on a success): a character with Constitution +2 succeeds on a 9 or better, 60% of the time, so expected poison damage is 0.4 × 10 + 0.6 × 5 = 7 and an average hit is about 13. A fighter proficient in Constitution saves (+5) succeeds 75% of the time and takes about 6 poison per hit. Against a wizard with Constitution +0 (success on 11 or better, 50%), it's 7.5.
• •2024: every hit deals 6 piercing plus 4 poison, 10 total. A good Constitution save doesn't help at all.

Per round against AC 16, the 2014 snake deals about 7 damage and the 2024 snake about 5.5. Either one can drop a level 1 wizard in two hits. The 2014 snake has the higher ceiling: a maximum bite with a failed save is 8 piercing + 18 poison = 26 damage.

Use the 10-foot reach. Most characters have 5-foot reach. A snake can bite from 10 feet, so it can strike across a gap, out of a pool or through bars and stay out of a sword's reach. Moving within its reach doesn't provoke, but walking out of 10 feet does. A character who closes in to hit it and then retreats gets bitten again on the way out.

Water is home ground. It swims at full speed (30 feet in 2014, 40 in 2024). In a swamp or a flooded cellar it bites from the water and slips under. Underwater, characters without a swim speed have Disadvantage on melee weapon attacks unless the weapon is piercing (2024) or one of the dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear or trident (2014).

Running a Giant Poisonous Snake Encounter

Run the 2014 numbers in our encounter calculator. For a level 1 party, two or three snakes are plenty. Their damage is high for CR 1/4, and a level 1 character's hit points won't absorb more than two bites. They pair well with a lizardfolk hunting party or a snake cult's cultists.

How Players Beat Giant Poisonous Snakes

• •Kill it first. 11 hit points falls to a single Guiding Bolt or a good weapon hit. AC 14 is the obstacle, so save-based spells that skip it work well. Its Constitution save is +1 and its Wisdom save +0.
• •Resist the poison. Poison resistance halves the poison part of every bite. In 2014, a creature with Advantage on saving throws against poison also takes more half-damage results. Protection from Poison grants the resistance, but its Advantage covers saves against the Poisoned condition, which this bite never inflicts.
• •Stay out of the water. Fight it on dry ground where its swim speed doesn't matter.
• •Don't dance at the edge of its reach. Close to 5 feet and stay. Stepping back out of 10 feet gives it a free bite.
• •No condition to cure. Neither snake inflicts the Poisoned condition; the poison is damage only. Healing fixes it.

Giant Poisonous Snake Encounter Ideas

The bathhouse. An abandoned bathhouse has a sunken pool fed by a hot spring. Three giant poisonous snakes nest in the warm water. The party's quarry, a fence who owes them money, is hiding behind the pool's far wall and knows exactly why nobody follows him in.

The temple vault. Temple guardians keep two giant poisonous snakes in a pit below a narrow bridge. The snakes can reach the bridge from the pit with their 10-foot reach. Crossing it takes two rounds. Lighting the pit shows the bones of someone who tried.

The snake-oil merchant. A traveling healer sells antivenom and seems to arrive in each village a day after the first snake attacks. His wagon carries a locked crate with air holes. The party finds two more snakes inside, and a ledger of towns already "visited."

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a giant poisonous snake in 5e?

CR 1/4, worth 50 XP. The 2024 Giant Venomous Snake is also CR 1/4 (50 XP).

How much damage does a giant poisonous snake do?

In the 2014 rules, 6 (1d4 + 4) piercing plus a DC 11 Constitution save against 10 (3d6) poison damage, half on a success. In the 2024 rules, 6 piercing plus 4 (1d8) poison with no save.

Is the giant venomous snake the same as the giant poisonous snake?

It is the 2024 version of the same creature. AC, hit points, attack bonus, reach and piercing damage are identical. The poison changed from a save-for-half to flat damage, and its speed went from 30 to 40 feet.

Does the giant poisonous snake's bite poison you?

No. Neither version gives the Poisoned condition. The poison is extra damage only.

Can a druid Wild Shape into a giant poisonous snake?

In the 2014 rules from level 4, because its swim speed rules it out at level 2. In the 2024 rules, a level 2 druid can take the Giant Venomous Snake form, since only fly speeds are restricted.

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.