# Shadow Asp >[!rimg]+ > ![[Placeholder2.png]] <div class="grid-container"><div class="MON">Shadow Asp</div> <div class="CR">CR 1 (400 XP)</div> <div class="SOU">Fiend Folio pg. 152</div> <div class="SYS">Dungeons & Dragons 3.5</div></div> N Tiny Magical Beast **Init** +5 **Senses** darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; **Perception** +7 #### defense **AC** 19, 17 touch, 14 flat-footed (+5 Dex, +2 natural, +2 size) **hp** 8 (1d10+2) **Fort** +4, **Refl** +7, **Will** +1 **Feint** 12, **Demoralize** 12 **Defensive Abilities** incorporeal form #### offense **Speed** 30 ft., climb 10 ft. **Melee** bite +8 (1d3-2 plus poison) or bite +8 touch (1d3 plus poison) **Space** 2 1/2 ft., **Reach** 0 ft. #### statistics **Str** 7, **Dex** 21, **Con** 15, **Int** 4, **Wis** 12, **Cha** 14 **BAB** +1, **CMB** -3, **CMD** 12, **TA** +1, **RTA** +8 **Feats** [[Alertness]], [[Weapon Finesse]]^B **Skills** Climb +10, Perception +7, Stealth +9 (+13 in dim light) **Racial Modifiers** +4 Stealth in dim light (-4 in bright light), +4 Perception #### special abilities ### Create Spawn (Su) A creature slain by a shadow asp's poison rises as a shadow in 1d2 days. Such a shadow is free-willed but it is bound to the area as a guardian, unable to stray more than 100 feet from the spot where in was first spawned. ### Incorporeal Form (Su) A shadow asp can become incorporeal for up to 1 hour per day. It can activate this ability at will (a free action), and use it in 1 minute increments. While in this form, the shadow asp's gains the incorporeal subtype. ### Poison (Ex) Bite—Injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Strength damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The DC save is Constitution-based. #### ecology **Terrain** Any tomb or underground **Organization** Solitary or clutch (3–12) **Treasure** 50% coins, 50% goods, 50% items **Advancement** 2–3 HD (Small) Shadow asps are dark versions of their more common reptilian cousins. They often guard the tombs of kings and other important members of royal families. Naturally observant, quiet, and capable of creating even more guards, they are perfectly suited to this task. The average shadow asp measures 4 feet long. Its dark, scaled body often seems nearly translucent due to the potential the creature has to become incorporeal. No pattern adorns its scales, making the creature nearly invisible in the gloomy surroundings it favors. Thought to have originated on the Plane of Shadow, shadow asps quickly found a niche on the Material Planeas “watchdogs” at the tombs of pharaohs and other great leaders, which is where they’re most often encountered. Clutches might also be found near portals to the Plane of Shadow or in out-of-the-way Underdark locales. ### Combat Shadow asps are smarter than normal snakes, and anyone observing their tactics can easily see this. They use their ability to become incorporeal to mob intruders in the tombs they’re set to guard, emerging to bite from the walls, floors, and even ceilings. They prefer to bite and then flee, instinctively aware that their venom takes time to work, then returning to strike and flee again. They are often accompanied in battle by the shadows of slain intruders of the past.