What medieval weapons would SNAKE PEOPLE really use? (Naga) FANTASY RE-ARMED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
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The half snake half human creature, naga, is a popular medieval fantasy monster but has anyone really considered what weapons would suit them best based on their physical characteristics?
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*engages in fight with a snake person*
"I'm 6-7 meters away I'm still safe"
*Famous last words*
Almost as famous as "Hold my beer and watch this."
*slithers behind you*
"Youre talking mad shit for someone in striking distance"
YOU DIED
The idea of using constriction in combat would really make the traditional overly spiky rpg armour actually practical
That's what I would do to counter it ^_^
Finally an in world excuse to design whatever stupid looking armour i would want!! yay!!
IntoBeyond well unless your regularly at war with snake people, spike armor would still be a specialty armor aside from Maybe spiked and even then they would be rather mild. Short and fat pauldrons and greaves
Chaos warriors from warhammer would be unbeatable
ayy blue its better than no excuse and with how overpowered these snake people seem to be it would be very likely everyone would be living in fear of fighting one of these behemoths.
Shad: i suspect they have curved swords due to some middle eastern influence Actually: SNAKES CURVY SO SWORD CURVY
EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT!!
They,ve got curved swords. CURVED SWORDS!
I think the snake people prefer the term Thicc.
real snake swords have curves
IT JUST WORKS!
alternative title: australian man living in australia talks about how lucky he is to have small snakes
Lol
Australia is one of the only countries that has native snakes longer than an anaconda
ya
They have giant ass spiders and other arachnid
@@jamesluckhurst8792 true, but anacondas are more renowned for how *THICC* they are rather than how long they are. (But they are one of the longest snakes in the world)
One other advantage snake people have is they'll never take an arrow to the knee.
zaqzilla1 😂🤣😂
It's a Skyrim reference.
Does that mean they have no guards?
This made me feel old and sick
I want to like but it has exactly 100
The reason why Naga, Llamia, etc. are never depicted with armor on the snake part of their bodies, is because they would be unable to move. Snakes use their belly scales to catch onto a surface, and push them forward, which is why they are excellent tree climbers. You put armor on it, then they can't move forward naturally; they'll have to find a different way to move. You could put mail armor on some of the snake body, maybe the first two-three feet, but after that, it would actually be impairing their natural speed and movement.
Edit: A friend just thought of a way to negate the belly scale issue, instead of armor all the way around the snake part, use straps to hold the armor onto the body. The back would still be protected, but their belly scales would no longer be hampered, and movement would not be impaired.
interesting.. but have you considered snake scales actually being armor in a sense? xD a very good mail armor, if we think of much huger naga
What if steel plate strips were put at the belly, mimicking the belly scales giving grip?
they won't move correctly and would require master level armorers to even come close, so highly expensive and impractical
Maybe snakes should be wearing metal scale armour
Why not just reinforce the belly scales instead?
Now I need to make a new D&D character and name him Snakespear. He'll write poems of his battles.
A Bard Lamia with college of valor. That would be nuts
In d&d there called yuan-ti not the naga they are a separate thing.
@NHK
Lol yes!
Snakeman: *uses constriction*
Human: *stabs at tail*
Snakeman: *wears mail tail armor*
Human: *wears spiky armor*
Snakeman: *wears plated spiky tail armor*
Chain would be worse imo. Like a meat grinder or shredder scrapping as it wraps around you.
But it might have the possibility of stabbing itself. And it the whole movement problem
Unless the mail is able to scratch the ground. But the mail could still limit flexibility because the mail can't stretch
The straps would wear off and still impair their movement
pickle rick exactly!!! 😂
As a DM I thank you...
My players will curse you with their last breath....
Underrated comment right here
Scott Whatever snakes normally have multiple eggs so maybe the snake humanoid would rarely be caught solo.
@Scott Whatever I imagine a tail whip from one of these things and he does adress the problem of having multiple opponents
Think of the centrifugal force it could generate while throwing a boulder. It could use its whole body to lob boulders like a catapult.
I was kinda thinking about how to make the coil into lunge work in DND, for a monster. Like maybe use a full round action/move action, to coil and allow a single reach attack with advantage or something?
In the movie Jet Li _Hero,_ we see Qin soldiers using oversized bows which they would operate sitting down, holding the bow up with their feet while pulling the string back with both hands. I don't know if this is actually something that was ever done in China, but I can imagine a giant snake man doing that with a much larger bow with thousands of pounds of draw weight, pulling it back with their tail.
Yo that was my first thought after the first weapon lol-
That would probably be a smaller fucking howitzer artillery piece
Possibly but it might be a bit tricky since the tail is so bulky. They could have a hook or something to pull the string with
I guess I'm kind of randomly asking but does anyone know of a good place to watch newly released tv shows online?
@Andy Shepherd thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service =) I appreciate it!
I don't know if a snake person would want to wear mail. It would be constantly rubbing on the ground, getting caught on things and would wear out really fast. They would probably want some kind of segmented plate armor, at least on the part that contacts the ground. Also, that mail would put them at a disadvantage against a guy wearing armor completely covered in spikes designed to discourage constriction.
Wouldn’t the wearing out be something that affects all armor?
dr shaym is here aa
But most people wouldn’t wear armor covered in spikes for other obvious reasons, like added weight or things getting caught on them other than snakes. In other words, spiked armor is extremely situational...
probably padded wool for the underside like a gambeson and then some steel on top, in segments of course.
Mr possum!
What about if they cultivated their venom(due to having easy access to a reliable supply) and stored it(possible in their shields) to dip their spear in. This would mean even non-lethal wounds would be fatal without an antidote. It isn’t really a viable weapon in itself, but more of just an addition that can only help the snake person.
I was thinking that while watching the video
It depends. If I remember correctly, most constrictors don't have vemon. So would it be fair to give them all snake abilities, or just a class of snake abilities.
@@lightningpenguin8937 obviously there's different subraces with different abilities. Like different snakes
@@lightningpenguin8937 maybe even a snake class with hypnotizing abilities? Reference to the snake charmer in the desert trope.
@@lightningpenguin8937 btw I kinda half stole this from Lego Ninjago lol 🤣
Here’s an idea: snake people harvesting their own venom to coat their weapons and arrows with them. Successful arrow volleys would be much more crippling than normal.
Erdenesaikhan Amarsaikhan constrictors generlly don't have venom, it's an either/or, but there's no reason that viper-types couldn't trade it
Please note that the largest species of snake are all "constrictors" not a single drop of venom among them. So the likelihood that human sized Snake people would have venom themselves is fairly slim if not non-existent.
Yuan-Ti of D&D were venomous. AND terrifying.
That snake people exist would mean that something more than natural evolution is occurring. A race of "Snake People" would surely encompass all varieties of snakes. You may even have snake people with supernaturally accentuated effects, such as hypnotic eyes and acid sprays.
gekolvr0734 most snakes have at least an anticoagulant in their saliva. That would still increase the lethality of all of their weapons.
I'm fairly familiar with snakes, as I've raised a number of them myself, from common garter snakes to pythons. So I'll just add my two bits here.
I disagree with you on the strike range, for one important reason. The average snake can strike a target from a coiled position roughly one third of its body length away (some species can go farther, but this is average). The upright portion of a snake person, (the part that's not slithering on the ground) is just about that third of the body, in most art. So, it the humanoid portion is roughly equal in size to a human, the upright portion is about two meters, They might be able to squeeze another meter of range out of it, but it's going to be pretty close to the same range as for a human who commits to a maximum distance lunge. And their retreat speed is fast, but not nearly as fast as the strike, so figure that to happen at basically the speed of a running human.
Here's where they have the advantage though. With that long body trailing behind them, they aren't off balance and exposed like a human would be after such a lunge. They are still supported and stable, and need not stretch their arms out to achieve that range, so they still have the ability to guard against attack. And they can likely retreat just a little quicker than their enemy can react and pursue them. So they lunge roughly the same distance as a human, but much faster, and with better balance and defense, and retreat too quickly to be efficiently counterattacked. Add a spear, and their strike range could go up to 4-4.5 meters, but it would be a far faster and more accurate strike than a lunging human with a spear in hand.
In any case I am very much enjoying this (as yet) un-named series, and hope to see more of it in future. Thanks for all your hard work and deep thought into these interesting subjects.
Auntie Inari I have a question about that mail thing, by what shad suggested the mail should cover the entire body of the snake person, but don't snakes need their belly uncovered to move around?
Not really. Snakes don't use their "belly" to move. While some do have specialized belly scales to give traction on the kind of terrain they regularly navigate (nearly) all snakes actually 'walk' on their ribs. If you see an x-ray of a snake slithering, it looks like a centipede walking. It's a bit hard to explain without actually seeing it, but with the exception of a few sidewinder species (who have unique locomotion due to the unstable nature of their sandy environments) Snakes rest on several pairs of ribs, while lifting the others and moving them forward a bit, each new set then comes to rest while the ones that had been on the ground are lifted and moved forward. The skin actually touching the ground is unimportant. Mail would provide as much traction. It's the ribs that do the work of moving the animal. The side to side motion really just takes advantage of bumps in the terrain to let them get an extra little push, and go faster, like a runner off a set of starting blocks.
Do some research and see if you can find good footage or CG animation of this, it's a really neat looking way of getting around.
Where do the scales come into play? are they used in climbing, or beyond skin are they more camouflage and/or protection
That depends on the snake. Most snakes have smooth scales that really just serve as skin, and maybe camouflage depending on the colors and patterns. but, some snakes that live in specific environments or terrains, have specialized scales to help them with traction. Look at the ones with the diamond shaped scales... those are great for traction and grip when climbing bark, and several arboreal species have that kind of scales. But large snakes like constrictors, even when they hunt from trees, have smooth scales, because those tiny points wouldn't really help an animal that big with gripping a branch. Mostly smaller species benefit from textured scales because they don't weigh enough to tear their scales if they use them for grip.
Hope this helps,
I have to agree with Agustin, wouldn't mail just catch everything on the ground and not only generate lots of friction, but be damaged or destroyed in short order? Like say chains on wheels would be if you tried to ride winter setup in summer? I'd imagine back would be armoured in chain, yes, but the front touching the ground would need to be leather or some sort of scale armour...
You overlooked snakes ability to sense infrared light. This would allow them to detect enemies in the dark, and in some cases, behind cover
James Butler oh. Oh? OH!!
Yeah, basically a heat sensor but with a limited range of several meters only in normal snakes. I'm not sure about snake people. Maybe not all snake people have them too since not all snakes have them.
@@TheAscael snake people would have greater range than a normal snake, due to size and robustness
But some snake people have human eyes
@@mistymink4606 Has nothing to do with their eyes. They see infrared because of pit organs.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/The_Pit_Organs_of_Two_Different_Snakes.jpg
one thing I like about snake people is that they give a reason for spiked armor to exist - its constriction protection
Finally spiked armour isn’t idiotic.
Ironic how both the constrictor and the constrictee could benefit from wearing spiked armour. Think there would be an arms race between the snake people and everybody else to make armour with the longest spikes?
Snakes with venom could make their weapons venomous
@@michaelcherokee8906 not really, if you are the constrictor you cant make them to long or you risk harming yourself, it might also impair your movement, having blades you pull across might be better.
Peasant Doors will never be safe again in these fantasy, First the Minotaur, Then the Naga.
Doormaker would be propably the best profession - there's always a customer
Imagined Advertising. Come one come all! All doors fit for battle, every door half off! Fit for a Minotaur!
HAHAHA I'd love to see medieval advertising for doors.
-Selling points for Doors-
-Hard
-Sturdy
-Reinforced with Iron frame
-Battle ready!
Local Door Seller-
Here Ye Here Ye!
Come on come all! To Johnathan's Door Emporium!
We have Doors! Doors of all shapes and sizes!
You can fight with it!
You can secure your hove All at the same time! Come on down to Johnathan's Door Emporium!
All doors tested by Magnar our local Minotaur! So every door has our Minotaur grade approval!
But thats not all! Come on by today and we can install a handle designed for your personal use on the battlefield and an additional one for entrance into your thatched domicile!
Snake people and Minotaurs welcome!
So Come on Down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is your village constantly being raided? Tired of getting hacked and slashed at because you are shield less? Buy our doors and you can use them for recreational and for battle use! Protection Guaranteed or you get a second one free! *Offer is not offered in all nations, Guarantee does not apply if you are killed in battle. May be occasionally stolen by monsters.*
Averakair may be occasionally stolen by a minotaur*
A few points:
1) Snakes depend on the friction between their scales and the ground for forward motion. They can articulate those scales to enhance that friction. Mail would interfere with that function, and greatly reduce their ability to move and strike. Plate would be even worse, as would be linen armour. Therefore, IMO, snake people would rely on their natural armour (the scales) in their lower torso in nearly all circumstances. They might reinforce that armour by riveting (or gluing) small metal sheets to the scales, or the fringes of the scales, but almost exclusively on the exposed upper portion of the body rather than the belly.
2) Snakes can strike up to two thirds of their body length. (Some pythons strike further by wrapping their tail around a branch to give a firm anchor, but that would not be an available resource on the battle field.) That means a thirty meter naga could strike forward around 18 meters (once we exclude the human portion of the anatomy, which does not lie laterally, and hence would not contribute to strike length). That assumes the naga could get enough traction so as to avoid the strike being reduced and slowed by the rear of the body slipping backwards. While the initial acceleration of a snakes strike is high (around 20 G for rattlesnakes), the actual forward velocity generated is quite slow (around 2.5 meters per second measured over half a foot). A longer strike presumably accelerates for longer, and thus generates higher speeds, but very much faster. For snakes this is not a problem because they strike over small distances. For a naga striking over 18 meters, it would be. The velocity of the strike would not be much faster than a human fencer, and would be slower than charging cavalry.
On top of that, a snake striking to its full length is no longer coiled, and is vulnerable. Its regular motion is typically slower than humans.
Naga's could compensate for both of these problems by retaining the coiled posture, and only doing short strikes - no greater than the distance of a human lunge (1-2 meters). Over that distance, the strike rate would be very fast, and the body would remain coiled, so the ready position could be rapidly assumed.
3) Snakes need a significant portion of their body width for forward motion, and if coiled to strike, need around a sixth of their body width. Thus, 30 meter nagas in ranks would be separated by 3-4 meters, if not coiled; and by around 10 meters. They could not in any meaningful sense form a shield wall.
Wow, I didn't even consider half of what you brought up. Well said, friend! I would love to see Shad's reply. ^^
A couple points to add. First if they were using a tower shield. The air resistance would slow whatever momentum they could muster exponentially. On that note, you mentioned the human part not contributing to the velocity it would also increase friction.
Second, wouldn't smoke grenades be a better weapon for them in general it would blind their human opponents and (if memory serves) smoke wouldn't interfere with their tongue.
Another point to be made is that it is a bit erroneous to think that the human arms of a snake person would have similar endurance to snake body. After all, constrictors have a very specialized musculature along with the fact that, for snakes, are quite beefy. The human bits of a snake person would be mechanically identical to a human, where arm muscles would be attached mostly to the arm and rib bones rather than snake muscles would be bound solely to the spine and ribs, the core of the body. I mean he essentially equating because our back and abdominal muscles, which have the strength and endurance to keep us upright all day we should have the ability to to hold a bow at full draw for about as long. Completely ignoring the mechanics of anatomy there, Shad.
This also goes with the assumption that snake people would have a constrictor body as the base, granted constrictors are the largest snakes so it makes sense. But snakes can vary so much by body and behavior and locomotive patterns.
Tom Curtis
I think you overestimate how much of a role scale articulation plays in their locomotion: www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~brm2286/locomotn.htm I'm not sure that chain mail would be that much of a hindrance given how they use their bodies to move. I know it's metal, but it's not necessarily mirror polishes and smooth. You could possible even add studs to the mail , like very short cleats, to make up for the loss of traction from the scales being covered.
As for striking distances, you said 18 meters would be about the max, but that they would be better served by doing 1-2 meter lunges, which is basically human scale. But what about a distance somewhere in between? A strike of, say, 4 meters would be double the distance any human could achieve, but still less than a third of their full capability. Even a slight distance advantage is still seems pretty good in melee fighting.
I totally agree about the problems with a shield wall. Battle in an open field would be pretty problematic for these guys.
Air resistance would not be such a big factor, a snake strike is very quick in terms of acceleration, but in terms of absolute speed they are not that quick, and air resistance correlate with speed. Also, the force a creature like this would need to generate in order to lunge like a snake would be so bi that the air resistance of the shield would be a very minor problem for them.
If they have venom (or can make poison), they can also tip their spears with it. No need to aim super directly if you have deadly venom that'll finish the job no matter where you hit; the snake people just have to escape or hold their ground until the venom takes effect.
When it comes to venom, maybe leaving the spear for a more suitable weapon like a trident, a dangpa, or even a Langxian, because these weapons have more cutting opportunities while being quite long-ranged.
If they have venom they wouldnt constrict. In nature its one or the other not both.
That venom weapons happen in the Witcher.
So they could travel in a shield wall, shoot or spit venom out or stab with poisoned steel and then quickly return to formation and wait.
Shane McCausland you make it sound as if these snake people have no intelligence, constrictors don’t use venom because it’s not available, vipers don’t constrict not because they can’t but because they don’t have to. I imagine with sentient intelligence only a moron wouldn’t use that size to squeeze
If they're fighting in their home turf (I'm thinking of the Yuanti of DnD in their dilapidated temples but any structure or environment they could alter), they could make access holes only they could slither through.
If the fight goes badly for them in one room, they could slither out through a hole no human could (or would want to) follow them through and wait for a better opportunity, maybe to isolate and constrict one person. They could also use this tactic to sneak up, bite, then retreat while the venom takes effect.
I remember the Monster Manual talking about how beholder lairs are often shaped so creatures without flight can't get anywhere important, and I'm wondering why other monsters didn't get that kind of consideration.
Time to pour poison, flaming liquids and other unpleasant fluids down these holes...
@@theonpointheavy4401 easy to defend against, install a draining system
A couple thoughts on bows that you didn't mention:
1) wouldn't their ability to raise up for height also be pretty useful for bows? Combine that with their muscle-tension ability, and they would probably be pretty good at raising up over the field and shooting at specific targets, such as officers.
2) Their lunge-strike would probably also benefit bows. they wouldn't be able to aim very well doing it, but If they lunged upwards and forwards and released the arrow at the end of the lunge, they should get substantially more range and power. You're basically adding a heavy spring to the force of the arrow.
3) When snakes move, they don't have a gait the same way that humans do - they move much more smoothly, so they should be able to fire while moving with far better accuracy than a human could. Further, depending on their flexibility, they might be able to do this while moving backwards.
Why not use a sling or boulder? It's not as effective for humans because we can only use our arms, but a snake person could generate the throwing force with their whole body. This would essentially make them living, highly mobile catapults.
what about pulling the bow with your tail? might that be better for range vs height
Man, if snake men have the power in their tails to move well over 100 pounds of equipment plus their body weight 7 or 8 meters, then they should have no problem drawing a bow designed for naga
@@propheinx2250 Snakes are not that flexible, they don't have much vertebrae
@@propheinx2250 Javelins would be better for this, mobile insanely accurate Ballista bolts.
Your mail suggestion is good as armor goes, but the problem you end up with is that snakes rely on friction with the ground for locomotion. Experiments have shown that if you remove that friction (say, by wrapping the snake up like an adorable burrito), they're unable to move. Full-body mail would afford them minimal mobility, insomuch as they'd only be able to pull themselves forward with their arms.
Chainmail over the body and leather belts to hold the mail tight and provide traction.
@@rattttooooo that is likely a option, and it would probely become pure mail further up.
I knew this would be a problem
@@rattttooooo no my dude. Snakes use those bottom scales on their belly (scute scales) in the same way a caterpillar uses legs. If they are covered, snake cant move
My biggest disagreement to using chain mail on a snake body would be that the chain might irritate and catch on their scales. It might be like a snake wearing a full body fishscaler.
I do agree with Shad that armor on the snake body makes a kind of sense. Maybe some thing spiky that would make the constriction more deadly. Though something spiky may take away from the mobility as well.
Snake people would be amazing guerilla/ambush fighters in jungle or forest setting. Snakes are great climbers, so they could use ranged weapons from pretty much any angle, not just the ground, and their natural coloring would let them blend in to a degree. Imagine a party of adventures walking a trail and suddenly a group of Naga come rushing out of the brush to either side. So long as the Naga have equal or superior numbers, the humans are almost certainly doomed. They're also sometimes depicted as being very skilled poison makers/users (probably because snake=venom=poison), which would just add to the nastiness.
Also, Shad, on the subject of tower shields, are you perhaps suffering from the same assumptions of a Naga's posture in combat as your hypothetical Naga victims? A tower shield makes sense if they're as tall or taller than a human when "reared up" all the way. but there's no reason they couldn't fight with their human torso much lower to the ground, making a normal shield or even possibly a buckler reasonable choices. In fact, during a rush or lunge, I feel like the torso would be lowered to the point of almost being parallel to the ground, with them thrusting up with the spear or rearing up at the last second to come in for the constriction kill. Just a thought.
Shardalon
The problem is Humans could just burn down the forests with their Napalm, your Snake-nam is no good.
Shardalon their opponent would be able to lob ranged attacks at their tails unless the shield was large.
zombieLISKlizard what if they dig tunnels? It worked for the Viet-Cong and Viet-Mihn guerrillas
I came here to say the same thing. They would be godtier ambushes, being able rain death from above or snatching people and pulling them into the canopy. Terrifying.
That's not viable at all. In a fantasy settling they likely don't have napalm that's a modern invention. Even Greek fire was unique to the Byzantines. Also its ridiculous hard to burn down a tropical rain forest. You would also give away your position and most likely destroy the very thing you want from the forest.
This was really well done and relevant to my own worldbuilding. To expand: in my own research on how the very human looking naga would work, based on a reticulated python, I noticed two thing:
snakes are cold blooded and larger ones tend to be ambush predators.
This lead to questions of how naga would avoid overheating, especially while constricting all their muscles. Thus, if you are looking for a way to even out fights with naga, like I am, think about how naga can only fight/hunt/do athletics while hungry. If they have fed, or in a temerature that is too hot/cold and thus reducing appatite, naga are significantly slower and have to end fights quickly,
before they expire of heatstroke etc.
There's a SERIOUS problem with snake people using mail: it would remove a crucial method of movement. You know the horizontal scales on a snake's belly? Those are basically its "feet". If those are covered, snakes can only move through flexing and sidewinding. If I recall, being unable to move in this manner (say, due to getting caught in something or having their belly burned) can be life threatening. This would also seriously hinder their ability to constrict opponents, as it would cause remove their primary method of adjusting their grip on people.
Although, snake people could still propel themselves forward by hand, as if they were crawling. They'd move like a 2 legged dog in that manner.
Ha, I want to face of proud yuan-ti who is being told to crawl just to move.
morelstrike
Depends on how much pride they have. Some people have no pride and will resort to the lowest of low in order to have the greatest effectiveness. I wouldn't be surprise to see that there may be one, or a faction, of Yuan-ti, that take pride in the fact that they have no pride, and will resort to everything and anything in order to win. They are an intellectual and pure logic race after all, and not necessarily given over to passions such as vanity.
you could still armor the upper side of it while leaving the belly close to the ground that way it's protected better.
Constricting considering their absurd size would be a very quick race, can the victim kill it before the pressure makes it pass out in agonizing pain?
Even then I imagine snake people will engineer some form of very specialized armor that allows them to move while offering some protection.
Would slide around and fall off their round bottom half.
Two significant problems with snake armor: one, they would not only need articulation, but they would probably need their underbelly scales to remain exposed for locomotion. Two, serpents the size of a snake person are likely to experience gigantothermia-that is, a state where a creature has such a high volume that it's more difficult for them to dissipate heat than retain it. This means that, especially if you experiment with adding adaptations like warm blood (depending on how complex you want to get), it might severely impede temperature regulation.
I would suggest a far better method of armoring would be a fitted line of articulated plates over the top and extending over the sides, almost like the roof of a house, with the belly exposed and straps around it at key points. It would, even then, be awkward (if possible at all) for the weilder to use, and would likely impede movement and constriction to some degree. However, with the sheer muscular power that a fully armored serpent would be able to employ, I would suppose that one might be a formidable force in those terms alone, being able to quite probably knock and toss about even well-protected opponents from a position of leverage. Granted, this would be the style of a front-line shock trooper more than a general purpose fighter or common cultist, but it's something to consider.
As for primary weapons, I would say polearms in general would be favored. Spears, of course, but I would also suggest that their large size and probably strong leverage would also be ideal for a cutting weapon like a glaive or halberd. They could probably manage much heavier weapons, and I might even suggest a large-headed glaive with a counterweight at the opposite end to steady it; basically, coil-up and pivot the blade around the weight, which might be steadied in the serpent's coils or rested on the ground.
I tried to say the same thing but you said it better!
I trust your judgment, you clearly know more about snakes than me.
Tight fit mail with a open underbelly separated by leather straps would be optimal, the space between plates will increase when the snake curls, and the plate would rub against it underbelly when smashing a prey.
I'd say, because of the momentum the body could create, snake people would probably use slings or some kind of bladed disc. Hell, if they were good with their angles they may be able to hit you on a wall and in cover with a disc.
@Scott Whatever a round shield would be sufficient. Snake people could keep themselves lower to the ground, reducing the available area to hit. They'd probably be able to get more cover from a round shield than a human could from a tower shield.
"It's over. Snake people have the high ground!"
One thing Shad overlooked is the tail. Many weapons could be easily adapted to being held in or strapped to a tail tip. I imagine this would not affect the primary weapons and techniques but doas add a secondary/back up weapon to their arsenal.
Conclusion: snake people are outrageously OP
snakes are cold blooded which would be a major hindrance to their endurance in a fight and would be a reason why they may not wear armor for the most part. also animal attributes would not automatically scale up with a human sized version because of Square cubed law.
maybe, but what about dragons?
darkblood626 square cube law? The law that deals with weight in scalar multiplicity? How would that matter to their lethality.
Strength of muscles does not scale up with size, a snake 8 times the size only has 4 times the strength (which means they now have half the strength:mass ratio)
All these fantasy species are.
If they all existed in the same fantasy world it is safe to say that Humans would be doomed to second class status forever at best, or worse. In the Centaur episode the suggestion was made that humans would be taken and/or bred to become slave soldiers, riding on the backs of centaurs so that each battlefield unit could wield a whole other set of weapons against an enemy.
Mail covering their whole body would prevent them from moving along the ground. Snakes have specialized muscular scales on their bellies that grip the ground and propel them forward. Covering that with armor would be like binding a human's legs.
You’d think as an Australian he would be a snake expert
Straps
Chainmail would work
How about metal plates that was designed like snake scales and it could be worn like a cloak
Maybe scale male on the top part with single chain straps holding it to the body? I imagine there will be other factors at play there to. I'm just grasping at fantasy straws here.
1:40 omg Shad! Only snake people can call other snake people the N-word!
Waffle Spankz ...You know don't mean to be racist but all those snakes look the same...
I have to wait 90 days to change my profile name how dare you! Snake lives matter too!
Yo waddup mah nagas
Did you seriously just call them "snake people"? That's so insensitive! They would appreciate you referring to them as "people of scales".
Zach Smith Dude I just had to admit it! What it's not like I'm Jim Eagle doing a Snake-Tail back in the 1900s!
I feel like a wickedly spiked tower shield would be very good for the strategies you’re describing, so when they dash they could impale the person they’re striking at. They could also sweep the legs out from someone if they slash their feet with their tail, and maybe equip blades to end of their tail
I can imagine a long line of snake warriors spring ing forward with tower shields and just going on top of the humans, crushing them with the shield then stabbing with the spear to finish them off
Game Designer here. Typically snake people are given curved swords because they are reminiscent of fangs, reinforcing the predatory nature of the race.
Interesting. They may be predatory, but they are not conquerors. Their environment and their need for it seriously inhibits any designs that would reach beyond the borders of their swampy home.
snakes live in deserts too
True, I admit my only meetings with Nagas took place in the swamps of Zangarmarsh.
greyomen
I want to become game designer too and that choice seems logical.
christopher snedeker
Tropical regions would south east Asia, central Africa and south America.
The Inka lived in south America and there is also the legend of golden city of Eldorado.
These cultures would fit well with the snake people, because of the gold wich would fit gold scaled snakes and the exotic feeling of the Inka culture.
Africans had some extra ordinary weapon designs, wich would fit well in the predator weapon concept.
I dont want to play dnd with u Shad. I think that gonna be a "Dark Souls" one-hit-death style of roleplaying...
“The ‘Dark Souls’ of RPGs”-
Me
The snake people in dark souls are weak as hell though. It's human legs and snake head. They don't even poison you. They have one job and they still manage to fail at that.
@@quanahriddle3065 they are dragonkin, not snakes
@@ВижуЖижу but snakes are said to be imperfect dragons. So we're both correct.
@@quanahriddle3065 it will be more correct to refer to ds 1 snakemen
Imagine the drawstrength you could achieve with a massive constrictor's tail, They could fire SPEARS from those things!
Elves have been out-bowed
And there it is, that's what I'm using for my Yuan Ti military commander for a siege encounter. Thank you very much!
I suppose that would depend on how finely they can control the tips of their tails
I'm a bit late to this party but still gonna lay down my thoughts in bullet fashion.
- I think the air resistance on a swiftly accelerating tower shield would mitigate it's use in _(especially precision)_ lunging techniques.
- As far as ranged weaponry, I think it's worth mentioning how strong a ~5-metre, fully-aligned, whole-body lunge into a spear/javelin toss would be.
- The belly of the snake is _essentially_ the sole of it's foot, covering it with armour might severely impact its ability to grip, making it difficult to move and especially to lunge with strength.
- Having mail on the belly during constriction would likely destroy or distort the rings in that area.
- Having the armour open down the belly _(at least below the "waist")_ fixes the last two problems but opens up a weak point when constricting or rising to a height advantage.
All I've got for now, great vid though, love this series.
Another thing about the Naga would be if they _did_ decide to go into a full pitched battle and fight rank and file:
With no worry about balance and a lot of space to spread their weight evenly _(their muscular snake bodies also being pretty resistant to crushing, i.e being able to constrict without damaging themselves)_ you could easily get two times as many Naga into a battle-line as you could humans _(think using an S shape to spread their weight over the lower bodies of the two to either side, allowing another man up between the shoulders of each front pair)_
Such a battle line would be extremely dense and hard to combat as it would be nigh impossible to break, shift or push due simply to the amount of body in contact with the ground.
The Naga in the next line back could be standing tall with less body on the ground and shooting arrows or using/throwing spears directly over the top of their front-line peers.
Let's be honest, a snake would just stay extremely far away and use that lunge that they have to apply extra force to their spear throw. We're talking throws up to some insane numbers as In snakes throwing spears would be siege weapon levels of power.
Or use a rig on their tail to hold a over sized bow, and use two arms to pull the string, letting them basically have a mini balista.
MrZriael
Thats awesome!
I never considered weaponizing the mating ball!
Thats genius!
A few points on snake venom: The reason why it takes a while for snake venom to kill a person is because it isn't adapted for humans. It's intended to drop rodents, birds, and smaller reptiles. For these animals, snake venom can incapacitate in only a few seconds. A snake person's venom, however, would be adapted to take on much larger prey, and would likely be potent enough to drop a human pretty quickly. Moreover, a snake's teeth would be devastatingly effective against all kinds of armor. They could puncture cloth and chain armor, as well as slide in the gaps between plate armor. In fact, it's not uncommon for venomous snakes in captivity to bite their handlers through the seams in "snake-proof" gloves. Although, the breed of snake matters. Most species of venomous colubrids (boomslangs, Rhabdophids, etc...) and elapids (cobras, mambas, kraits, etc...) have shorter teeth, and are generally unable to penetrate the handler's gear unless they can get a lucky strike on the seam (though exceptions do exist). On the other end of the spectrum, viperids (rattlesnakes, pit vipers, adders, etc...) have much longer teeth, and the only real defense against them is to not get bit in the first place. HOWEVER, biting would likely only be a desperation maneuver for snake people. Snake teeth are VERY fragile, and the presence of armor would make the risk of a break much greater. It wouldn't be a good maneuver to use if the snake person has other options for dispatching an enemy, as they would likely lose a tooth or two during a bite. It would be much smarter to save it for a sticky situation instead of using it as a main tactic. Spitters, however, would be IMMENSELY effective at utilizing venom. They can use it to blind their enemies (snake venom actually dissolves the viscous membrane that lubricates your eyes, so every little eye movement would feel like rubbing sandpaper over your eyeballs). They could also spit on enemies with superficial injuries, turning the "flesh wound" into an easy exploit for a quick kill.
or they just coat their weapons in their own poison and make poisoned traps why fight like animals when you could be deadly as rouges and assassins
And we shall not forget that snakevenom is not a "bottomless well". How many bites could a snakeperson do before venom runs out? 3-4? Obviously this can't be a main tactic.
gabor - killing 3-4 people with poison would still be a very very viable tactic. Even if a snakeperson gets mortally wounded and has no weapons, he would still be capable of killing people just by biting into their legs.
Gabor Szabo also viper teeth are somewhat delicate
Which is why they coat their weapons in it. perhaps keep arrows in a quiver with a pool of it at the bottom before each battle.
You used... a Yuan-Ti as the opening "snake people" image.
Instant like.
Im in love with these videos. As a writer this gives me so much context in how to build such creatures in the world they live in.
What if the tail had armor and something like a stinger on the tip of the tail? I think it could be very effective
Exactly what I was going to suggest. Why risk your head and all of your vital organs when you have a natural 20' reach with your tail? Sure it'll still hurt if someone cuts your tail, but it won't be fatal like a head wound.
Gauntlet-Sword?
Then the Snake People wouldn't be able to move
@@mikeh2850 I disagreed. Naga (and other relatable) snake's part will become smaller as it reaches the tip of the tail. If you were to put a stinger, how would it stick on to the tail in the first place? You can try to put some strap on, the moment they swing their tail that stinger is going to fly away. If you want it to stay in place your going to need to strap at least half the length of their snake part which is a waste of recourses and time.
Remember, their tail also have nerves in them. As it reaches to the tip, the sensitivity increases. Meaning, the tip is very sensitive to everything. Imagine swinging a stick with your hand to a pole bar has hard as you can. Hurt like hell. But in their case, that's ten time more. If you want to add anime logic into it, I say they can even get aroused by this which is very bad if you are in combat.
So stinger on the tip of the tail? Not a good idea.
@@ranaoblivious2122 "If you want to add anime logic into it, I say they can even get aroused by this which is very bad if you are in combat."
Excuse me? I see this as an absolute win!
Once you've got through every conceivable fantasy creature I think you should do a Versus series!
gladiatorscoops that whold be awsome
XD
gladiatorscoops Dwarf Vs Snake person lol
Dwarf: Aim for the le- ah, shite!
[crunching bones]
SciVoid no he mean standerd fantasy creatures and human animal hybrids like angles,mermaid and so on there is a limit to thies types of fantasy creatures so he will stop eventully also he can do the vs series along with this one theres no need to do one before or after the other
This video is really well thought out. On a snake's strength and use of long-range weapons specifically. I would also assume that Nagas would know of their strength and would probably create bows with much higher tension that that of a human's so it would equal to the snake only being able to hold onto this "super bow" for a little bit, but when they did. OOHHH it'd be like a ballista punching through a human. Now imagine the sky being blotted out by these arrows.
Lost faith in humanity yet?
*Human?*
CARNAGE ENDERMAN Is there species transplant surgery? I think I just wanna be a pigeon... There aren't any flying snake people, are there?
CARNAGE ENDERMAN its interesting you say that because in real archery you use muscles in your back to hold the drawn arrow, interestingly those same muscles are rarely used which makes the archery form unnatural. Snakes given their completely different anatomy may use other muscles or in a snake person may use the same ones which would put them on a similar level as people because just like real people they would have to work out those muscles through archery before they could wield stronger bows.
I think the point isn't that they are stronger, but that they can hold their strength for a longer time without tiring ^^
CARNAGE ENDERMAN then they could lift up really high first and then shoot
Perhaps the DragonFolk?
Few other snake abilities you didn’t mention:
Gliding, maybe not the most useful for combat, but for movement, would be insane, especially if a snake could coil, jump straight up instead of forward, and glide around.
King cobra venom spit: extremely effective ranged attack- can blind enemies, perhaps permanently, and can be used very quickly.
Stealth/detection abilities: considering that these snakes are human-sized and far easier to spot, stealth would not be as effective, but patterns/camouflage could definitely be effective in a forest or desert setting. Now bear with me, I don’t exactly remember how their thermal “vision” works, but I know snakes can “see” in the dark and detect heat signatures very effectively. I think these abilities would allow snake people to fight as guerilla warriors, striking at the dead of night and catching their targets off-guard.
Also, I had another idea about venom. Say a snake managed to figure out how to milk their own venom. That venom is now coated on every blade, arrow, and spear they have. Now, the venom’s usefulness varies, but if it’s a fast acting neurotoxin, the paralyzed victim is an easy target.
Vemon is debatable because they probably would be constrictors, but gliding I most likely a no.
The amount of weight they would have would be insane. It would be hilariously ridiculous. That itself might make the idea great though.
King cobras don't spit their venom
@@jdmangrich Yes, they do. If you’re trying to say they don’t spit the venom, but rather “spray” it, then I’d direct you to this (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitting_cobra) link describing the several species that spit venom. Even though spraying might be a more accurate term, spitting is widely used and accepted.
@@nobro6971 that's a *spitting* cobra. Not a *king* cobra.
I found it far more interesting to consider what their SOCIETIES would be like. What would highly intelligent, cold blooded animals that are typically depicted as living in the dark be like? They would worship fire. Fire would be central to their culture and perhaps their cities (or whatever equivalent they have). Everything they did would require extensive calculation, as energy is a far more pertinent factor to the cold-blooded. Their leaders, Shaman, whatever, would spend years at a time, unmoving, with heart rates dropped to a crawl, pondering in moments that last for decades, only to be called upon when they are needed, at which point they would instinctively strike and devour anything in front of them. What types of houses would they build, and besides fire, what would they worship? What would they value, covet, and what would they despise?
Calen Timms im thinking of the heated floors like they build in ancient rome... and lots of hour long basking
Actually energy is less important to cold blooded animals than to warm blooded ones, since their metabolisms use up very little energy comparatively. They tend not to move around much not necessarily because they lack energy to do so but because they have no need to do so (admittedly if forced to move they do tire out more quickly than a warm blooded animal). Snakes in particular being mostly solitary and not territorial tend to not have to do much other than keep their bodies at a comfortable temperature, eat when hungry, find shelter depending on the weather, avoid predators, and find a mate at the proper time. As such they can afford to just lay around much of the time, but if they have reason to be then they can be quite active.
Also certain cold blooded animals, namely monitor lizards, have developed various "cheats" in their bodies that enable them to operate at metabolic levels similar to some mammals for extended periods. Even the very notion of cold/warm blooded is being found to be too simplistic, as many animals seem to be in a gray area between them, or to even shift from one to another depending on circumstances. My point being our hypothetical snake people could have a wider range of options for culture and behavior than might be expected, one has to account for how their humanoid aspects would alter their snake aspects for instance.
You just said energy is less important and then they tire out more quickly. You're going to have to choose one of those stances before I can address the first part. I must admit, I did just assume they would be social creatures and you could very well argue they might be isolationists, but they're certainly territorial. They attack anyone on sight who enters their territory in most instances.
That is certainly true for half monitor lizard people, but these people are half snake, so I generally think the rules for snakes should apply. If you could have any biology you wanted, they could just have some sort of pilot light like a dragon and produce their own internal heat. I HAD considered the such and mentioned it briefly, but since they're snake people and not dragon people, I stuck with snake biology.
The main reason I noted they would need to be "Careful" with their energy is because they're presumably intelligent, and with intelligence comes boredom. Sure, a snake with a simple brain can do nothing for days at a time. An intelligent being probably couldn't unless they were hibernating. They may also have social obligations, so the being careful with their energy was mostly pertaining to the way in which they would fight. Why use all the energy required to constrict when you can just strike with a weapon was my main point there. Brains, especially intelligent ones, use a remarkable amount of energy. Any prolonged period of study will leave you physically drained without you having moved very much at all. These are the sorts of issues they would need to consider, not knowing when their next meal might wander into the dungeon.
Of course, they could also farm and breed other animals, and if they were omnivorous, things would be a lot easier. I mostly see them as being carnivores, myself, but that is also open to interpretations and could be written that way in your campaigns. It's fun to think about, at least.
I forgot the part about the human bits interacting with the snake bits.
In general, and solely from my experience in DnD, Half-humanoid creatures are usually the such only in a cosmetic manner. Arachne, for example, follow all the typical rules of Spiders. DnD also has Gods who play an active role in the world, so it was my understanding that this was simply to allow an interface with humanity and the humanoid races, who are the dominant species in most iterations where the dragons are solitary, sleeping or on the brink of extinction. I have always assumed that Arachne were originally just fairly intelligent spiders, and when they found a God to call their own, that God then changed them to resemble a species that is stronger than they are. No matter how smart a spider is, human words won't fit in it's mouth. Their biology is largely unchanged, but their appearance and level of intelligence has been raised to that of the humanoid races.
This is obviously open to interpretation and when writing your own campaigns in your own worlds, that doesn't really matter all that much.
And there are also demons and dark magic that could, say, curse a human to have the bottom half of a spider. This creature would probably have most of the biological makeup of a human. It really depends on how you approach the story in that case. I approached it as though they evolved "naturally" within the constraints of the worlds presented that I've participated in. It's probably anecdotal at best.
"Large SCALE Combat" I see what you did there
Give them hooked spears. Stabing and pulling them in for a quick crush!!!
bilhook!
luscious 1 THIS
That's badass. You should write action movies.
That hurts my phlanax strategy.
Did that shield just stab me with a spear?
Shad: "That was a Snake Person."
did you consider the snake people spitting there venom like a spitting cobra
Spitting cobra's spitting action is not a attack at all, it can temporarily blind opponents at best. So unless the snake man spit corrosive poison, it won't do much aside from distracting the opponent
In XCOM 2, the Viper unit does that. It's why when you see a Viper it's a good idea to keep your troops separated. Vipers rea;;y cause a lot of pain to XCOM 2 players.
Victor Millen being temporarily blind while fighting with a giant snake wielding a sword means you will almost certainly become permanently blind.
@@Shaun_Jones hmm good point lol
Given that the mythological ones were cobra people, then I'd think that would be an option. And with the accuracy to spit into the eyeslits or breaths of even a bascinet - they could be pretty lethal against full- plate armour
(1) The choice of scimitars is largely stylistic, since a curvy sword looks good with a curly, curvy snake body.
(2) Snakes don't crush when they constrict - they simply tighten and don't loosen. So, you breathe out and then can't breathe back in - but they don't press the air out of the lungs if held. Also, many snakes (poisonous) don't constrict and many are weak constrictors who only use a coil or two to hold living prey while they begin to swallow it (rat snakes are a common example of this).
Grappling would be devastating against unarmed opponents, but, as mentioned, would only be useful against single opponents without friends to chop you up while you squeeze. Ambush tactics would be a must. Almost moreso than the strike is the flail (a favored tactic of the indigo snake) where size is used to life prey high from the ground and then beat it back and forth against the ground.
(3) Their huge, long bodies are a HUGE liability. There is a reason why, in nature, snakes are common prey for almost everything that eats meat. Concealment, camo, and poison (or poison mimicry) are all necessary.
(4) Snake folk could never protect themselves well against archery - even if they coiled up under a large shield.
(5) Therefore, snake folk would NEVER take to a field of battle. That would be death. They will always stay in environments (thick forests and swamps, where their body type helps - being good for arborial and aquatic movement) with deep cover and movement advantages.
Even in an urban area, a snake folk up to no good would instinctively also look for opportunities for ambush, ranged attacks (as strikes and spitting are range or range like attacks), or places where physical advantages matter.
(6) Another REAL advantage they would have is the snake like ability to be an opportunistic feeder (being cold blooded and majority stomach). A 6' rat snake in a chicken barn might eat two dozen eggs - enough to go an entire YEAR without eating again if necessary. The bigger the snake, they greater this ability is (small snakes have to eat more often - large constrictors are often only fed 2-3 times a year).
Rather than go to war, a snake folk group could simply raid for resources (livestock and often people themselves) and then disappear into harsh wilderness (thick forest or swamp) and wait for the humans to drop their guard again in the months to follow. If they are tracked back, then they are already set up in the best situation for ambush tactics.
Oakspar Oakspar doesnt make sense. Why would a shield protect a human that cant hide its entire body as effectively as a snake, but not a snake that can coil up entirely behind it?
@@MFinGonzo because snakes are MASSIVE, even if you coil you're still exposed by a lot compared to a person who just has these two sticks for legs as opposed to a ten foot sausage meat body.
@@isaacargesmith8217 yeah but I imagine they make equipment with their size in mind.
Most of what you say applies to almost any race, unless they are warmongering berserkers. Going to battle is not generally conducive to good health. If the snake folk feel that war is necessary, they will go to war.
@@danielskrivan6921 I think their point was more that an open battlefield is a bad environment for a snake person to fight in. An open battlefield has no tall vegetation to sneak in, no trees or structures to climb, and nothing to hide behind. Their physical attributes would be much more suited to ambushing and fighting in forests, jungles or urban environments where their dexterity and mobility could be used to their advantage.
@Oakspar Oakspar About the constriction: you're correct that snakes don't crush their prey when constricting, but given the size (and, consequentially, strength) of a typical snake person, I could very well imagine they'd have the strength to crush a constricted enemy if they wanted to - at the very least, enough to break ribs.
You've created a Dark Souls boss
Quick, get the jester and burn the Windmill!
You guys know the man serpents ,their leap forward attack was already huge. Thank god they had human legs, also think of how much force and momentum with any weapon slamming down with that move, frightening
*Papa Waffles*
Dark Souls? I think this is gonna be a mod for Kingdom come: Delivenrence. xD
Would be really nice to have a fantasy game with mechanics similar to kingdom come with opponents such as these. Might be somewhat difficult though.
Speaking of which, what if the snake person had the same design as Gwyndolin, where instead of a single snake tail, the legs are a writhing mass of snakes or tentacles?
Food for thought.
Finally , my love for Monster Girls and Weaponry overlaps .
Go back to making episodes of Little Wars
fully armoured roman snakemen coming to my next dnd session.
constrict one pc while fighting another with its human half.
Also, Naga-Slavers are allways fun.
Don't kill them, just rob them the air till they pass out, or use non-lethal poison to temporarly paralise them.
And Romans love to take prisoners as slaves.
Random Minion oooh nice. yea ill definitely use that
Those snakemen are called Yuan-Ti in DnD. They are shapeshifters that can transform into pretty much any combination of human and snake parts imaginable.
The Naga is the human-headed snake shown towards the beginning of the video.
Is it only me that finds the image of a snake photoshopped into full lorica segmentata humorous?
20:10
Actually I think snake people would need to consider their civilization's environment, depending on their biology
If they're cold-blooded like snakes, they are restricted to where they can live. This means no living in shadowy dungeons, by the way. We're talking tropical ranges like Mayan/Incan/Aztec, Saharan, Indian, Arabic, Indonesian, that kind of warm stuff. (At the same time, they also need lots of shade to prevent overheating, so they might have dungeons after all for cooldown periods between work shifts)
If they're warm-blooded like humans, I am predicting they have MASSIVE caloric intake. This means small civilizations, because an army marches on its stomach, and apex predators get HUNGRY. They could live anywhere in isolation, but their city-states can't group up or they're going to war over food
which brings up what food they can eat. Are they obligate carnivores like snakes, or omnivorous like humans? If carnivorous, can they eat pieces of meat, or does it need to be whole? This would have major effects on what kind of civilization they have as it dictates their agriculture and food supply.
Bow use would TREMENDOUSLY advantage a criature with HUGE constant muscle force. Why? Bigger and sturdier bows and arrows. With higher clearence of the ground and flexible pivot stand... "Stand", they could charge a 200L extralongbow with ease. With giant arrows that are more like small feathered spears. That translates in to more range, damage and pircing power against any human bowman.
Let's be honest, a snake would just stay extremely far away and use that lunge that they have to apply extra force to their spear throw. We're talking throws up to some insane numbers as In snakes throwing spears would be siege weapon levels of power.
I imagine an army employing sneople as ballistae
Also if they can hold on drawn bow for 20 min. it makes them perfect for ambush. In forest, hang up high in branches, green, with poisoning arrows. Deadly
Their muscle strength is not in their arms though
@@tawatikata9530 snake bowmen could hide behind a shield wall to reload while spear throwing snakes couldn't. alone thay would throw spears but in formations they would use bows.
22:30 if they did have a lethal venom I could easily imagine them collecting it for poisoned weapons/arrows rather than actually trying to bite people
The only problem with a snake person wearing full mail, is that the way they move is bu the belly scales grip and pull on the ground. The mail would their movement very difficult.
I was thinking the same thing and it also affects their ability to strike out as they need the friction of the belly scales to help anchor them as they shoot forward. Chain would just slide across a stone or tile floor with very little friction so movement would be hampered like crazy.
what about a kinda cleated scale on the belly
What about a GIANT bow that they draw back with their snake body?
Like the grab the front with their arms , and grab the string with their tail, and then pull back a bow as large as a ballista, if not larger. Or maybe not even a ballista bolt, since they would have much more accurate aiming than a ballista can do they could fire something like a twelve-foot spear with about the same precision as human archery, and that could end that fight real quick.
Or what about tying some weights to the end of their tail, and then they just whip that around? Hell, if they can whip their tails fast enough they don't even need a weight, they could just whip a chain or a thick wire with enough force to cut an adventurer in half. THAT would be REALLY effective in group fighting because you could take down the whole group in one single blow.
I saw ballista and yes
There were some Brazilian tribes that did something similar (lay back pur the bow on the feet, raise it and use the full body to pull it), so the image fell quite clear for me
Just imagine, since snake heads are more flat than humans, they would but both arms forwards, have like a armor piece in the tip of the tail (maybe to hold the mail armour) with a hook to pull the bow, resting the "arrow" above head and body, nearly a living ballista
The problem with snakes wearing mail is because the way snakes move. This is by the specialized scales on the underside of the snake. Those scales are made to grasp and pull the snake across the ground. If mail was on the entire snake person then he wouldn’t be able to move very easily.
Mythguard Whatever else I'll try to do. What about making the underside out of cloth? Like a gambeson.
lluch13 sadly that still wouldn’t work since the scales on the snake man’s underbelly still wouldn’t have direct contact with the ground for movement
also the mail would be dragged along the bottom with the full weight of the snake person on it. That would destroy the mail really quickly. And it would be a horrible, deafening sound.
Maybe they'd develop a special type of armor for the underbelly.
Justin Thompson maybe and that makes sense but that doesn’t really fall under the category of historical arms and armor.
Following your picks here, I gave a four-armed snake person in a tabletop encounter a full-length pike in both right hands, a spiked pavise in its upper left hand, and its lower left hand is concealing a cinquedea behind its back or behind its shield. It also armored itself with an extra long chainmail tunic to maintain omnidirectional freedom of movement.
Their actually is a reason humans are on top. 3 reasons.
1: Our numbers. We repopulate at the speed of orcs. Even though our life is double as long. We outnumber all other races in the world.
2: Our adaptability. While races are fine tune to one environment. For example, the race you talk of, Naga. Would only be in the desert. Put them in a cold ice land and they won’t last 2 hours. We adapt to any environment. We can also be anything, a spellcaster, a barbarian, a gunslinger. We can be whatever we want.
3: Our shear willpower and stupidity. We can’t take NO as an answer. Tell us we are weaker than someone and we will come back stronger punching that said someone in the face. Then you may ask “WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS!?!?!” Well then, tell us we can’t kill a dragon, we can’t. But then we will build the biggest ballista imaginable and shoot it down. Look at history, we survived the ice age, hunted beast with spears that we are terrified to fight with guns today. We will prevail, no matter what.
There’s a quote I Love from a noble tiefling known as Markus Velafi.
“Humans were meant to be weak. But it’s like they didn’t get the memo and became insanely strong.”
BTW, I love you shad, you improve my knowledge and I love your work. Keep it up!!!
I know this comment is mostly a joke, but if you read the Upanshads and Puranas, the original Hindu literature that Naga come from, you will learn that humans don't have any advantages over Naga:
"1: Our numbers. We repopulate at the speed of orcs. Even though our life is double as long. We outnumber all other races in the world."
The Naga also reproduce super quickly; in fact, they lay 1,000 eggs in every clutch. Also, they are immortal and never age, or stop bearing children.
"2: Our adaptability. While races are fine tune to one environment. For example, the race you talk of, Naga. Would only be in the desert. Put them in a cold ice land and they won’t last 2 hours. We adapt to any environment. We can also be anything, a spellcaster, a barbarian, a gunslinger. We can be whatever we want."
Naga aren't susceptible to the cold, they are warm blooded. In fact, Nagaloka, the realm where Naga normally live, is eternally dark and very cold.
EnderDragonFire I wasn’t just talking about naga, I was talking about all fantasy races overall in a fantasy world and not the original historical Naga. And in all fantasy’s I’ve rarely ever seen naga be a HUGE race. Their numbers are usually small in a fantasy world. And same with the second point. Actually, while yes they can survive in the cold. We can thrive in it and build massive empires in it. While they just survive.
And no, it isn’t a joke, I’m serious.
You forgot 1 more humans "superpower" its our endurance. The early peoples chase their wounded prey for days! Dont let it rest or something. Just following, slowely but surely. And our regenerate and recovery from wounds ability is insane (compare to animals in real life). That "superpower" make early humans survive the evolution.
I think its possibly endurance. Humans are remarkably durable and even able to employ pursuit hunting. Where other's may be exhausted a human could go on. Then it could just be $$$, being willing to die/be ruled, and discipline.
All humans need to do is be really good craftsmen, merchants or farmers. If a human farm can produce more crops per acre then a orc farm that is a advantage. Say a orc farmer require more food to feed making them less productive or humans ingenuity allow them to be better. Being more profitable you can just hire mercenaries or form a elite warrior class. Take samurai for example. So you have a human king who has a noble caste of orcs who serve as soldiers (samurai). When the humans march to war they can use combined arms tactics to deliver the elite spear head.
All you need to do is be united and they will be strong. If other's like orcs kept competing and overthrowing it will be harder to unite them. Plus resources will be spent on keeping them self in power. But if humans are more willing to be subjects their kingdoms can be much more stable. So one orc village may be a formidable force. But a combined resources of a empire will allow a stronger army to be available.
Lets just say humans keep formation better then other's. Kind of your third point really. A trained human infantry formation employing long weapons could hold off these fantasy creatures. When a snake person approaches the wall dozens of pikes can be brought down to drive them off. The enemy being less courageous may hold back as its dangerous to charge forward. Then formation's like troop rotation from being disciplined. Say human's pikemen wear down the enemy they could then break formation and quickly the fresh reserves can come in. Or if you see how heavy cavalry charged you cannot have a random horde doing it as good. Such a tight formation that just plows through the enemy.
Imagine a enemy formation trying to fight a human army. Just a massed formation of mostly infantry with some elite non human cavalry. You don't need the best archers you just need the most to rain death onto the enemy. The non human knights would be pretty beastly. Imagine a orc raised from birth to fight, not malnourished, with the best equipment, and not exhausted when he engages. He could have any weapon he wanted for the situation just have his sword bearer hand it to him. With thousands behind him ready to back him up. Imagine you are a orc warchief trying to take on say a hundred of those guys. Or just have a ton of heavy cavalry ready to plow into you. I don't think many fantasy creatures hold up to a cavalry charge.
This just raises the question what would be the best human ally? Would their be a permanent fixture all human kingdoms share or would it vary by region. Could it be a animal or semi sentient domesticated by humans. Because humans have proven them self good at domestication. In a region with orcs they would ally with orcs. Or it could be a human population is always found with ogres. They could probably subjugate them but if the human majority is large enough they won't.
"And no, it isn’t a joke, I’m serious." My mistake. The internet makes it hard to tell sometimes, what is serious, and what is merely jest. Also, I do understand that your original comment was about fantasy setting with a multitude of fantasy races, I was just adding a topically-relevant (to the video) bit of information about how insanely advantages the original, mythical Naga were. The ones in most D&D style fantasy are watered down.
As for the original comment you made, I think that It's likely that most civilized humanoid species would have similar birth rates and adaptability to humans, and would have survived similar trials and tribulations.
I'd also like to add a bit on speed and snake behavior. I think snake people would favor ambush and deception over direct combat. Snakes are opportunistic creatures who prefer to avoid confrontation (though exceptions do exist, such as the equatorial spitting cobra). I think snake people would prefer to hide off to the side (perhaps utilizing camouflage skills) and use their immense speed and range to surprise enemies before they can mount a counterattack. My mind also goes to specimens from the Bitis genus, particularly rhino vipers and gaboon vipers. These things are tricky to handle because they are DECEPTIVELY fast. They're very bulky and they appear at first to be very slow and lethargic. However, they're just as fast as any zippy colubrid or elapid. Sometimes more so. If you get your hand in their strike envelope, you're pretty much done. I wonder if snake people could use this to their advantage as well. They could close in with slow, lethargic movements to lull less-experienced adventurers into a false sense of security, only to switch to a lighting-fast strike when there's a gap in the enemy's guard. Even against experienced fighters, the snake's ability to seamlessly switch from slow and deliberate to blindingly fast could be used to confuse and trick a snake person's opponents.
Richard Bayfield with a jungle setting, they could use their large tale and arms to hang and swing from trees almost in an ambush style
Humans already do this. İt is not unique to snakes
Oh wow, they would be good with bows. Almost like basically every race in this series has been good with bows or something.
Because bows are amazing weapons.
Bows, spears and shields. A bit predictable
How about a sling, or better yet a bladed disc? Think of the momentum a snake body would produce. Humans can only use our arms, a snake person could use its whole body. They'd be able to throw stupidly further than a human, and if the throwable is a disc, you can get it to curve around corners. Being behind cover may not be good enough if the snake person is skilled with a disc.
@@propheinx2250 Or even better, a rock
@@ls200076 well, that comes back to the sling. However good they could throw a rock, a sling would give it even more momentum.
a sickle like glaive could be really useful by jumping out suddenly then returning quickly with the hook serving as a safety net if you miss on the way out
If yall want heres my take on weapon and armor.
ARMOR: there key feature is their mobility so scale armor running along 1/3 or less of its body to cover vitals. So think of conventional plate armor along the front torso and scale armor acting as a sort of cape.
WEAPON: If they are intelligent enough to create armor then the weapon variety on offer is as extensive as humans. With their superior strength maces or war hammers would be substantially more effective against human plate armor. Perhaps something more fantasy as blades attached to vambraces, as they slither around the battle fields at incredible speeds.
Imagine a snake person doing the classic barbarian whirlwind attack with a warhammer.
Also they could use their venom to make venomous weapons
I feel like a spear is the perfect weapon with tueir ability to coil and spring forward, although i suppose it would he kinda risky, maybe spear and shield
They could wear a spikey helmet and turn their head into a mace. Think of the power behind that headbutt
@@myscreen2urs I like the way you think!
I really loved this video! But there is one point where I disagree and it's about the armor. I don't think mail armor around the snake body would be used for the simple reason that it would handicap them greatly one there movement ability. They need their smooth scales in contact with the ground to crawl efficiently. In addition, snakes are very sensitive to ground shakes, it's one of their main sense, so it seems logical to me that they keep this part naked. I guess it would be their main weakness: opponents trying to reach them from behind, but it suits their ambush combat style :)
I don't believe the suggestion meant the entire bottom half, but at least the exposed part, scale mail could accomplish this very easily, the tip of the tail would be enclosed so that the tail slid into it and the rest was locking into place at the torso
Imagine a spear carrying snake person lying in ambush in some tall grass. You wouldn't stand a chance.
Finally a reason for armor with spikes. When you figth against giant snakes. And what about a spearhead or something similar for the tailtip of the snake? A good tactic for snake people can also be to duck behind a wall or a cover come a few meters up and shoot a few arrows and duck again.
Russian Bear Armor
"So what do you do for a living?" "I work in constriction. You got to hang out with other people and see a lot of different places so it's fun!"
So excessive hugging?
I think that snake-people are often depicted with curved swords because it's representative of the body/movement of a snake being curvy. I've also seen them with katanas (Elder Scrolls), flamberges, and whips quite often. The theme is more focused on the curve or fluidity of the weapon than on a particular geographic region.
Ok what? Where in the world are nagas in TES? I don't ever recall seeing them in any of the games I've played.
Raven Døden
The akiviri are said to be snakelike. I’m not sure how close to naga they are as I don’t remember actually seeing any in official pictures.
Javelins or other throwing weapons would be pretty insane as well combined with their lunge speed and force.
Yes I thought a large Speer and tower shield would get in the way of constricting but a javelin or throwing knives and tomahawk could do massive damage, and if they miss then it served as a great distraction to slow for the lunge.
A tower shield could not protect the whole body from an arrow volley any way.
Constriction would be more a secondary weapon not really primary. Primary against solo opponents.
BIkaloss your profil pic made me desperatly trying to wipe my screen because I thought its a hair
I was thinking the same thing. They would turn themselves into living spring loaded harpoons.
3:20 in and I'm thinking "its spears isn't it..."
There would be a 4th attack. The snake people have such a long tail, so they could do a long sweep and have amazing croud control
Yea but i dont think it would be good in battle, they can only use Mail and if they hit a spear tvey woll impale them self
So, after reading the comments, and including my own considerations, I'm thinking:
Natural armor- a large snake would have thick scales, thicker than most hides, so armour would be only vitally necessary on the human-esque portion for protection, and only a hindrance on the movement body portion.
Close combat- serpent-people would lunge from just out of range into close quarters combat, bypassing mid-range. Daggers, Claws, and Punch Weapons(Katar) would be used at this range, to take advantage over the mid-range swords other races would employ, as well as take advantage of a sinuous back and forth strike style of movement and deflect pole-arm counters.
Lunge Combat- Using a shield and disposable spear, serpent-people would make an initial lunge into attack range from just out of pole-arm length. A spiked shield (round or square) would also serve here. Their large size would impart a devastating force of strike, as a lance from a cavalry charge would.
Cavalry Combat- A lunge-style, on-the-move, sinusoidal combat style could be effected with a mid-range slashing weapon like a scimitar. This would be for breaking through enemy lines and effecting a rout. Just plow right through heedless of injury, and banking around.
Long Range combat- crossbows, to conserve precious energy in a cold-blooded creature. Slings and staff-slings would also be used to hurl rocks and combustibles.
Short-Range Combat- A sinusoidal motion could effect a longer range or more powerful throw to thrown projectiles such as darts and knives. Many of these could be carried on belts along the serpent-person's body. (Hooked to the shoulders to prevent them from sliding off).
3-D Movement- as a snake, and with sinuous motion, a serpent-people could use 3-D space to their advantage, lunging at legs-level and between combatants, to come up with strikes from behind, or to the side, and at combatants several lines into the opposing formation and then slam or thrash with the rest of their long bodies at the combatants they passed by, to shake them up and break the formation.
Tactics- Almost always a hit and hide, guerrilla style skirmish combat, involving lots of rigged traps, ranged combat, and deceptive maneuvers. Even in line combat, it would involve more elements of cavalry warfare than infantry, the intent always to cause a rout.
Blitzkrieg or die- a cold-blooded Serpent-people, forced into open warfare, would have to rely almost entirely upon causing any early rout, and would devise scare tactics to achieve it. If the battle rages on, except in open sunlight, the serpent-people would unavoidably lose any sizeable battle of attrition.
In for the Long Haul- Any cold-blooded serpent-people would always be in for the long haul, owing to their long life-spans. Victory not achieved solely by success in battle, but mostly through diplomacy, secrecy, fear-tactics, and working behind the scenes to win considerations before any sort of battle force even has the thought to fight against them. Either they would be active diplomats, or secluded isolationists. They would most likely have long-ago already built a neigh-impregnable bastion fortress, with as many tricks and traps as exist in the minds of men, to protect them from every possible foe of which they could have knowledge.
I have a hard time imagining a snake-people cavalry though. It would be difficult for them not only finding a suitable mount, considering their size and weight that would definitely exclude the faster and most agile mounts but also staying on it, since they would have to coil their body around their mount to provide stability, and that would be very disconforting for the mount itself, especially when the cavalier has to brace himself to resist an impact. I can imagine them using elphants or other very big animals with a palanquin, so they can shot arrows and use long spears for devastating charges, but a highly mobile cavalry seems unlikely. Also, regarding their natural armor a can still see them use the armor on the back of their snake bodies. It would improve their protection significantly and the loss of mobility would be negligible, if it doesn't cover their bellies. Except for that i love your analysis, especially how you took in consideration the advantages and disadvantages of a cold-blooded race.
Kinglion62, thank you for your kind words. I read a lot of comments before I put mine together, which helped in my thoroughness.
As it relates to snake-people cavalry... Dragons!
But more seriously, I was considering the serpent-people as the cavalry themselves (man ride on snake is man-snake), and enacting battle tactics from the perspective of a cavalry unit, rather than solely an infantry unit. As I mentioned under "Tactics."
Certainly they would not be as fast as humans riding a horse, but the point was that they could perform all the battle forms and functions of a regular cavalry unit all on their own. Being much heavier than humans for their tale-end, they have essentially the mass of a horse to impart to lances (just lunge through the air when they come into range, no need to run up to the enemy), and for basically running over and through the enemy (just keep on slithering over the fallen men in front to reach the lines further back). And if they choose their battlefield terrain well, they would still be able to perform all the maneuvers a cavalry unit could perform, such as flanking, hit and run, etc. Unlike most types of cavalry however, that perform best on open flat and level plains and fields, Serpent-people would have their best Cavalry terrain on the nastiest terrains on the planet, such as bogs, forests, dense jungle, rocky mountains, even possibly on water, depending on certain other factors. etc. Not because it's terrible terrain for the enemy (that's just an added benefit), but because that just so happens to be where their snake-form would be able to maneuver the most effectively.
On open fields, yes, they would not be near as effective for flanking and other such cavalry maneuvers that require speed (except along boarder areas of bad terrain where they could lie in wait instead), but they could still battle as if they were a cavalry, being highly mobile (albeit not fast), and in charging into the enemy formations and breaking them up with their mass to cause a rout. It wouldn't be a fast rout, it would be more deliberate and methodical and after the attacking force clashed at the front lines, but they could still effect one.
As to armor, many comments here made mention that armor on the top side of their snake portion would just slide off without some manner of fastening, but securing such armor from sliding would either, interfere with their ability to move, or be impractical in the first place.
Trevor H how about giant shield gauntlets that can close and encase the human upper half to form something of a spear tip, effectively making them spears when lunging, these gauntlets can also open up to the sides to function as arm blades, have little holes to shoot pre-prepared arrows dipped in venom in close to medium range and be spring loaded to pack an extra punch when used as gauntlets. They can also have little sphere that they toss like a grenade to cover their opponents in gooey venom, which also serves to slow them down. They can also have hooks on near the ends of their tails that can be retracted, these can provide better holding during lunges, along with being very handy in hooking victims and dragging them about, slamming them, constructing, and using stuff like trees as an improve weapon. Their armor on their snake half can form a natural shield when in a coiled position, with the human half being safely in the middle. I also think that the females would make complete use of their good looks to lure poor fools and to distract the enemy.
Andres Marrero
I'm sure all of that looks a lot cooler in your head than it does to me on paper. It sounds to me like a lot of space-age or steampunk tech, rather than medieval.
i beliebe that gauntlets are from... childish imagination.. Think simpler boy
I think if a Snakeperson would have a huge shield to close the distance it would also have a viable effect on groups.
go in with a jump - shieldram everybody away - grab dude in the same movement with tail - curl up - constrict him while protecting with shield - *snap* after 3 seconds hes dead - pull out.
seeing how quickly an anaconda can put on pressure wich is basically in just one two seconds, I assume the whole execution of that technique would only take 5 seconds.
executed quickly, there is no reaction time for the unlucky one. and his friends maybee even got their head bashed in by such a strong shield bash. because a snake can use its body contraction to make super quick leaps forward, giving them a jet-jump PLUS their insane muscle strength.
now imagine they would fight in a group, smashing into a line of humans, each grabbing one, then pulling up the shields as a shielwall and then you hear dozens of spines snapping while the other men still recover from the insane impact.
and now imagine a seond line of snake people behind the first, towering up over the first line to shoot their bows unto the stunned people, killing and pinning them down.
it would be terrifying .... and insanely effective
if the humans dont have spears and ranged weapons, they could be taken out in minutes.
Let's be honest, a snake would just stay extremely far away and use that lunge that they have to apply extra force to their spear throw. We're talking throws up to some insane numbers as In snakes throwing spears would be siege weapon levels of power.
Personally I think 500lb of muscle with a shield moving at 50mph would just be able to railroad someone flat. That's with a use discount in speed as a standard snake strikes close to 3 meters per second.
Demon Linus well they have plenty of dead humans to eat! No mass graves here just giant feasts after the battle.
Imagine boulder hurling snake people. Using their entire body to lobe a boulder at you. They could damn near be highly mobile catapults.
@Demon Linus not necessarily. If the snake person was cold blooded, its metabolic needs would be vastly reduced. Cold blooded animals can go multiple times longer without food than mammals. This means they'd inherently require less food than us to sustain themselves. Komodo dragons operate by biting something, leaving an agent that prevents healing, then proceeds to stalking the unlucky animal for the rest of the week, until it looses its energy and the komodo comes in to finish the weakened creature... It commonly goes days without eating, and all cold blooded animals can go the same amounts of time without food and commonly do. Being sieged by snake people would be a death sentence.
I'm not convinced a riveted mail armour would work for snakes. When they would try to slither with it, the mail would have more friction with the ground than the snake and they would either slither out of it or have straps pull very hard on their bodies.
I really think scale mail is better
Ah yes, another great episode of “ideas for monsters to be added into my campaigns to make my players hate me” XD
If memory serves, you have liked one of my comments suggesting a parallel series talking about the best weapons to fight these creatures. I was just wondering if you had any plans to do that?
Definitely.
Can't wait! Nice to have confirmation. =D
Shadiversity any ideas on putting some of the "races" against eachother eventually? Snake person vs minotaur anyone?
Zak James the answer would always be a bow crossbow ballista or any other raged weapons except maybe snakes because hard to hit a thinn target.
Be hard to hit a single human, too, at range. But if you get even 5 guys trained to hit the same general area at an officer or knight's command, and you have a much better chance of at least hitting.
In theory, I agree about the ranged weapon superiority. There is a reason it has been, and still is, used so often in real warfare.
So the benifits of snake people would depend on if it is a constrictor or a viper.
Constrictors would have heavy weapons and shields and excel at long range and short range. A heavy war hammer would create chaos to allow for the archers to pick off targets and the "death grip" to hit its mark.
Vipers would be faster, lighter fighters with a spear and or scyth. They would also have a venom attack either shooting it out of their fangs to disorientate enemies or coating their weapon for extra lethality. They would have the strike ability instead of constriction.
Shad, what do you think of the series idea "Medieval Melee"? I think the first video should be Minotaur VS Centaur or Angel VS Mermaid (if you would like to do it).
This sounds awesome! I would love this! Good idea friend!
Jack yes please
That would be awesome. A dragon vs angel/demon or dragon vs Hydra (in case an angel or demon is too weak for a dragon)
GIANTS vs DRAGONS!!!
This needs to happen!
In a setting of my creation, there are 4 species of snake people, and two of them are like you described here, having a snake body with a humanoid torso added on. However, their hands are greatly different, with the leatherbacks effectively having forking tails for arms, and the orochi having human-like arms and hands. Orochi are such a dominant force in their environment that they were the ruling lifeforms on their land for the majority of recorded history, only surrendering some political power when The Revelation happened. On the other side of the world, leatherbacks, named for the distinct magic-proof leather they make and wear, are content with having a monopoly on trade routes through the desert. Orochi wear ornate armor with dazzling shields, while leatherbacks wear layers of leather with vented masks and wide-brimmed hats (a style they picked up from humanoids as a status symbol). Orochi use piercing polearms, while leatherbacks mainly learned how to manipulate easy-to-use ranged weapons, such as crossbows and rifles, because the one desert in this setting is exceptionally deadly and getting the first hit in to damage enemy protections from said desert is more important than anything else. What makes orochi such a dominant force on their island is simply that they're the biggest, fastest, and most intelligent predator on said island, with the only threat they ever had to worry about being dragons from the mainland, which The Revelation solved.
The other two species of snake people are more purely monstrous: flailmouths and horrors, with the former being hyper-intelligent colossal psionic sea snakes with tentacles surrounding their mouths, and the latter being a black mess of tendrils that move through the forest above other animals with such elegance that you'd think they're floating, neither of which have any need for weapons. The only time any snake people encounter other snake people of a different species, is when the young of the flailmouths wander inland before they're too large to survive out of the water, and die to orochi. Of the 4, only horrors are venomous, with their venom acting quick enough to keep their prey from screaming.
They would use MACHICOLATIOOOOOOONS
Blackheart MVs yes. The ultimate weapons
Ironically, machicolations would be the last thing you'd probably want to hold them back, as I am betting they'd just scale (ha!) the wall, grab onto the hole, and use it to hoist themselves over it.
But what about dragons?!
What is machicolations? Google only talks about a castle design.
Blackheart MVs they would use Ballista's
Snakes are cold-blooded, Shad. That's the first thing you needed to mention. Is it cold blooded or warm blooded?
Cold blooded animals can't constrict for 20 minutes, and if they do, it's not the way you describe. Their body doesn't hold energy like that and their muscles rely on explosive energy. In fact, anacondas can very rarely actually kill people because you can just keep slipping it off until it's too exhausted to constrict anymore. You can look up videos of people wrestling them and the snake is exhausted in two to three minutes. A small boa constrictor can remain constricted for considerably longer periods of time, with far smaller bodies to provide energy to, but it's not with their full strength. They don't NEED to apply their full strength to a rat. You've applied false equivalency to two very different animals. Once they're constricted, they are no longer exerting any effort. It's not like holding a dumbbell up at all. It's like holding your hand over someone else's and getting them to try to open their hand. Working inward, crushing, always takes less energy than trying to push against the same motion, especially if your shape evolved to accommodate that. Circles are inherently strong shapes. One plus the other equals minimal energy expended to maintain constriction once the animal has been subdued. If it's warm blooded, it follows the same rules as a human. It would need to eat tonnes of food at that size in order to sustain it's body and they would be the dominant species on earth. Humans would have never evolved. That's why dragons and the like are often said to be cold-blooded. To allow long periods of inactivity where no food is required so that they wouldn't have eaten everything before humans even got a chance to climb out of the trees.
All of this would determine their combat style. They would only move to eat and would be very careful with energy expenditure if they were intelligent. They would be slow, dull and quiet in the dark, but jittery, fast and less "Tired" in sunlight, especially if they had been basking.
Their scales are armour. I don't know how you missed that. They have to protect the human bits because they don't have scales there. There is literally a type of armour called "Scale mail" and it works very well. It's quite likely scale mail was designed after examining a snake. Chain Mail doesn't accommodate for articulation. When you form a circle, the inner circumference would be much smaller than the outer and the shape needs to stretch and compress on each side. The mail would need to shrink on the inside and stretch on the outside, which is of course, impossible. But what can do that is natural armour and skin. A snake that is twice the size has scales twice as thick. It could even develop keratin spines to the scales or any number of other ways to reinforce the structure, naturally, without requiring armour. It would be resistant to slashing and would glance thrusts, especially with a bodily twist, which a snake can easily do, and if it was intelligent, would likely be integral in it's combat training. Twist the body to deflect thrusts. You can spin your stomache 360 degrees and have it face the front again, as an exaggeration.
They use curved swords because of the third thing you said. Think about it. What shape is a cavalry saber? When the snake lunges, a curved sword allows for the cut to be clean and not jar the weapon out of the user's hand. I'm surprised you didn't mention disposable cavalry spears and lances at this point. Basically, any equipment relevant for a mounted knight would be relevant here. You would have a primary, first-charge weapon that you know will explode, your lance. You might even carry several if you were a snake. I agree with the spear, but I think a large shield would require far too much energy because of the above mentioned, and a round shield would be sufficient. Constriction wouldn't be a primary combat concept the same way that knights didn't just charge at each other and start wrestling, because wrestling is a very effective way to combat armour. Why put yourself in danger when you can attack with weapons? Constriction would be purely situational. It takes a lot of energy when you could poke the person in the face with a spear and then eat them.
You went on to talk about bows after that, but it's based off the false equivalency you drew to small constrictors and large ones. And then you applied that false equivalency to the human parts of it's body and totally lost me. They've still got bones and arms and human structure there, and they don't even have the advantage of warm blood and muscles to hold the energy. They would be remarkably less proficient at archery than humans are. They would fire two arrows and then be too exhausted to continue fighting unless it was a very warm day and they were in direct sunlight, in which case, they would be equivalent in ability. They would use crossbows to minimize energy expenditure in my opinion.
Psst... snake-people aren't real.
Shad does this for fun.
Your wall of text charms no one.
Have a nice day!
Excellent points. I was wondering about the cold blooded factor. It seems to be a basic consideration.
Wow. Thanks a lot for this information. It is fascinating how something simple as being coold blooded can change your combat style significantly.
Randomguy Username agreed!
I know he makes the videos for fun. That's also why I made the comment. If you wrote all of this video down, it would be six times as long as that little thing I wrote up there.
Look, I'm a Roleplayer. I don't often comment on Shad's videos because I think he has a lot of knowledge. Particularly, his castle breakdowns are particularly informative and I thoroughly enjoy watching them. In this case, I happen to have a small amount of knowledge in the topic of reptiles, so I had a little fun myself. Who knows? Maybe another roleplayer will pick it up and make situations based around that. I don't really mind. I would be happy if it got anyone's gears grinding, thinking about campaigns they could run or encounters with Gorgons and their kin. Perhaps the way I said it was harsh? I'm not sure.
This is what roleplayers do, from my experience. We sit around discussing things, general knowledge and interesting tidbits to make campaigns more interesting. Make different puzzles or have a new and interesting way of dealing with particular threats from a roleplaying perspective. For example, there's no use trying to use trip traps on a snake beast. Maybe thrusting attacks would be less effective because of what I said in the mind of a particular DM. It doesn't really matter. The information is there.
I don't really see much reason for the video in the first place based on the comment; "snake-people aren't real".
I love how Skallagrim described the Vikings in this game as being about as historically accurate as a "pagan crusader in samurai armor dual-wielding MP5's"
I'd play the hell out of THAT game.
Sounds like shadowrun... sans the magic.
Mortvent Now that you mention it, it DOES sound like a _Shadowrun_ Street Samurai
I love how he came up with so many melee advantages a snake person would have in combat without even resorting the powerhouse of tail whip these things could throw.
Like bruh, if a human doing a simple round kick can reach 1 ton of force, I don't even want to know how much force is generated by hundreds pounds of body weight using whip physics.
What about weapons SPIDER PEOPLE would use?
...Do they have a specific name?
yes, "dreidres"
one word
traps.
Driders. Yea, I would really love to hear his opinion on weaponry for them.
There is also the Chitine, from Faerun which are much more different than what you are probably thinking. Also Jurogumo is the japanese version. (Hey YuGiOh did name some of their cards correctly....ish)
Well, in Dark Souls, Quelaag uses the spider body itself as a weapon, as well as her sword.
You look like the chicken man in toy story according to my step sister
bob 112 A much younger chicken man, but yeah.
He's been collecting for years then I see.
Loren Garms ouch
yep
Funnily enough, Im pretty sure Naga in the Persona series has a shield and spear
(Though, sadly no chain mail)
Yup
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080704183935/megamitensei/images/3/35/Naga.png
meh but they don't have to even lift a finger because of ZIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
lord sirlionheart i'm trying very hard to be funny
Don't forget that in other SMT games they also are depicted taking advantage of the hight ground.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/4/46/Naga2.JPG
In wow they have Lances and Shields. it is a huge advantage cant believe I didnt think about why.
Okay. I just had a brilliant idea. An anime about fantasy gladiators and they're all using the stuff from this series. Doubtful I'm the first to have this idea, but it's too good to not say again.
I know this is an old comment, but I play a game called "Ai dungeon", effectively a graphic novel that you & an Ai create in a back and forth.
Might have just given me an idea, Ngl
That is about the mic quality a viking would have. Also dont disregard having two or three hearts.
I don't think they could wear that much armour on the snake part of the body. Snakes need their scales to have contact with the ground in order to move. So while covering their entire body in chainmail would offer great protection, it would also severely limit their ability to move around. Also, what are you going to attach the armour too? Just belts around the body and hope it doesn't fall off?
That said, I agree that they could very well wear some kind of chainmail skirt or something to protect the snake part that is above ground. A human would want something to protect their groin and legs if they were going to wear body on the upper part of their body., So a snake person wouldn't go unarmoured from the waist down either. So definitely, add some kind or armoured skirt.
I'm kind of late to comment but their scales are their armor for they can have thicker scales
Damn, I think this could be used on a fantasy story, I have read plenty of fantasy novel with snake people but I don't think they use any of the advantage stated in the video
someone gets to it!
and this is just one example, what if an author did a critical analysis of most if not all fantasy creature he/she use on his/her novel, like orc, goblin, etc etc
that would be sick! the human would lose miserably if they don't have any advantage that is deliberately given by the author, like magic or some shit
What about guns? Im working on one know with a like late 17th century setting, your typical medieval races, But the humans got ze technology of arquebuses and gunpowder. So knights still exist cuz i love me knights, but formations of pikes are now a thing, as well as the idea of the soldier, along with combat lines and artillery being deployed in land battles. So yeah, snake people, centaurs minotaurs orcs and goblins and all that exist, but the humans are fighting them on equal terms with these newfound techniques and weaponry, even though individually theyd get slaughtered.And then eaten.
MeowAlien にゃあエイリアン berserk did this
I currently have works submitted for possible publication which take a lot of the considerations mentioned here into account...
MeowAlien にゃあエイリアン already eorking on it. I would love if he would do a forest spirit/wood elven analysis though,they're common but still kinda nonsensical
Radolf, Officer in hjalmars Guard Yea, but that might be a bit difficult since they are basically human but rather quirky, like having affinity with nature, blessed with magic and stuff
It would be difficult to analyze since it would depend heavily on how magic system work on that particular novel ;/
Still it would be interesting to do it anyway for fun
I feel that all this just emphasizes that these creatures would be amazing assassin's. Silent, fast striking, constriction attacks; potentially more accurate archery... Definitely great assassins.
Yes, though of course smaler snake people would be way more suited for this role than larger ones.
It also fits well from a storytelling perspective. One of the reasons many people fear snakes IRL is because they come out of nowhere and attack. Snake-people assassins would play to this fear, thus making the most of the "snake" archetype from a literary as well as a practical perspective.
Too big to pass unnoticed on citys tho
BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGON SNAKES?
The proper term is "wyrm," thank you very much.
ah yes but you see that doesn't sound nearly as good when you shout it.
You mean like Najarala or Dalamadur from Monster Hunter?
Jörmungandr, Matteus. The original wyrm.
sorry matteus but I've never played monster hunter, yes a crime I know, but from what google images tells me they could definitely fit the requirements
I think caltrops would be really useful against Naga since most of their body is in contact with the floor. And if they are wearing chain mail then it could potentially get tangled in it and slow their movement even more.
The problem with mail armor is walking. Er, slithering. Snakes live on their bellies. Try putting on mail and crawling on your stomach. Your full body weight is pressing down on small, pokey pieces of metal. I certainly don't want to walk with mail soles on my shoes and I wager a snake wouldn't, either. Then try squeezing the life out of an unlucky adventurer through your own mail. It would be digging into your own skin with as much force as is being applied to the victim. Ouch!
Hence they'd only wear armor on the the part of the body they are not using for moving or constricting. Gambison might make sense for that, but not mail.
I also don't know why the spear is needed. Just put spikes on the shield and it becomes your spear. From the point of view of the poor human, the snake is 5 meters away and suddenly they're hit in the face with a wall of spikes traveling at 30 mph. If the spikes don't kill them the blunt force impact of being hit with a car would.
Larry Garfield What if you are wearing a kind of a sock under the mail. Or you have the bottom section of the mail substituted with leather.
1. why not gambeson and mail? ( I think Shad thought this too but just didnt explicitly say)
2. Yeah these guys have pretty great reach of their own but why not increase it to insane level with a spear? Spear is lighter then a spiked tower shield and thus longer. its onlt better.
Well there are 4 ways a snake can move about:
1. Serpentine method which it slithers sideways, but it's worth noting that it's only some parts of the body that are pushed towards the ground, it changes the body-weight just like human does in this way to get around faster.
2.Concertina method, lowering the front portion of the body to a place, lifting up the rest and getting it up close, lowering the bottom one, extending the front one and so on, like taking 1 step at a time, where the front and back part of the body is our two feet.
3. Sidewinding method, which would work really well since they got half human torso, so they suddenly got a grip on the ground, they can very easily use the hands to move around in the world :P I don't see why not they wouldn't be able to, basically the sidewinding method is throwing the front portion a place, and then "sliding" the rest of the body over to it, while keep throwing the front portion. (good in slippery surfaces.)
4.Rectilinear method, this is the creeping motion where scales would be needed, but then keep in mind we do have hands at play too, but there would still need to be some kind of brake so to speak :P as scales serve that function.
Liva, Thanks for the info! I had been wondering how mail would affect snake movement, because for some reason I had been thinking that all snake movement used the rectilinear method. So, from what I can gather, armor might slightly get in the way of the first three, and would practically make the fourth method impossible. What if the snakes only had armor on their topside, with some sort of leather straps to keep it on? Better yet, what if the very rich snakes people could afford to gild some of their scales???
Larry Garfield I agree with the point on mail.
As for weapons I think a rapier and buckler would be better suited, maybe outfit his tail out with a mace, club, or flail. His ability to dart in and out seems perfectly tailored for a rappier, maybe poisoned tipped.
And every video I've seen of spear and shield vs x in individual combat seems to favor x (for context: th-cam.com/video/ni-h8SH1yUw/w-d-xo.html ). A tower shield and spear is just to unwieldy.
And the larger the shield the greater the drag, a buckler with a metal boss is better.
Edit: if I did go spear I'd rather have a two handed spread and no shield, especially if you have armor.
I would personally like to see something like a thagomizer, or a blunt weapon on the tip of it's tail. It would make tail-swipe so much more deadly.
but having armor, a war bow, a tower shield, and a spear is already a big load to carry. they are strong but i feel like adding a big heavy blunt object is a bit much even for them. also snakes are amazing swimmers and like to hide in trees so they could go the opposite and hiide in water or trees and snatch people up and pull them into there cover of darkness with lighting speed and then crush them in an instant. instant silent sneak attacks would be super deadly and make them insane assassins. they really just need poison arrows for a war bow and a spear because they can use there insane range and stealth to sneak attack people silently from above and when they get caught they can fall back on using a bow at super long range and a spear for that classic 10 meter thrust of instant death
I don't think snake can move if they are completely cover in mail, if I remember correctly, they need their belly to tough the ground for the right muscles to pull them forward.
T2266 you're right. It would be very difficult to armour the back of the body and still use the belly scales.
Exactly, the shield would also get in the way of their movement because they woud move faster laying close to the ground, and they could also climb very well, but the shield would just get in the way.
Their constriction attack also wouldn't be used that much on conventional combat because is not that easy to wrap around their foe with them knowing, constrictor snakes usually sneak their victims and attack before they can defend themselves, and imagine you wrap aroun your foe and he manages to get one of his arms free and get a dagger, you're pretty much screwed. I see them using a constricion attack, but as a sort of martial art, they would need to close in, disarm the enemy, imobilizate their arms first, and then do the cosntriction... They could also make some sort of constricion attack with the tip of their tails on the enemy ankle to knock it down, but to use the constriction attack on someone armed with a blade is just suicide.
Best weapons for snake people I think would be those used to disarm the enemy, swords and daggers with disarming hooks, like the main gauche, or polearms like faulchards and tridents.
Another problem is shad is assuming a giant snake would be just as agile as a small one, this isn't true, a heavy organism can't move at the same relative speed than a small one, it has to dedicate a lot of his body mass for structural cohesion, so it looses agility and (relative) strength.
Proof of this is anacondas themselves, there are people who just hunt them with their barehands, human being is way more agile than they are. I think snake people would have a snake like body, but not one incredubly long one, it would be much broad and strong to give the needed agility to move around against bipeds, but being no so long as normal snakes it would lose a lot of that coiling ability... but it would still retain some...
One more problem with his analisys...
Such a big snake wouldn't manage to get vetical and elevate itself several meters above the groung, as I stated earlier, a small organism moves different than a big one, there are a lot of thing to consider regarding structural strength, relative strength, even blood pressure, a big snake definetely do not moves like a naja.
Just use again the anaconda as an example of this, they don't get vertical, they are too heavy for this.
Sidewinders could move in full mail.
I was also thinking they could use their lunging abilities to launch javelins at terrifying speeds. Imagine being on the receiving end of that.
yes i was thinking the same thing aswell. esspecially with the hight advantage.
Thats a good idea
if they're venomous, then they could also be used to justify that "psycho licks blade" trope, via application of poison.
Look up the atlatl. it's like a sling for small spears. even better!
Spears, tower shields. OMG snakes are Romans!
Tower shields are overkill for a snake person. If it uses coil strikes, then it's sitting low and wouldn't need any more than a round shield, or similar sized shield.
Funny laugh time
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@@propheinx2250 Wouldn't say it's overkill, while it is possible to armor the snake body, it'd only be able to do so with mail, which can be pierced. And it's got a far larger body that needs protecting
One thing I think you missed with this one Shad is their heat receptors, snakes have a form of thermal vision which allows them to detect the warm bodies of mammals. Like the range it’s not a huge game changer, but it does make them deadly in night or low visibility combat.