If you’re looking for a more distinct and overpowered species to use inDungeons & Dragons, look no further than the Yuan-Ti. Former Humans descendants from an ancient empire, they are a common enemy type to fight against, seen as evil creatures who perform rituals to evil Gods and commit cannibalism in these rituals. They’re perfect for an evil character or someone who wants to fight the disturbed system they created by serving the wrong Gods.
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Amazing gameplay mechanics and a heavy plot about their origins make the Yuan-Ti a compelling choice. So, let’s talk about what you may do to your character in terms of backstory, classes, and overall roleplay.
All lore explanation will be based on official D&D lore. If you’re playing a homebrew scenario, these lore details may not apply.
5Know The Difference Between Pureblood And Abomination
The Yuan-Ti belonged to an ancient society that devote themselves to serpent Gods. That made them see serpent-like figures as superior beings, and that makes a difference in their society. The more serpent features you possess, the higher you are in terms of hierarchy. That separates their people into a few categories, but the main three are Pureblood, Malison, and Abomination, with Pureblood being closer to Human, Abomination being closer to a serpent, and Malison being around fifty-fifty.
Though the book used to only allow players to be Pureblood, the term was removed. And let’s face it, you can play with any of them as long as your DM gives you the green light. That gives you interesting roleplaying options to go with, creating powerful backstories and motivations, especially if the campaign has many Yuan-Ti NPCs involved.
For example, Pureblood is marginalized in their society, so a character who fights their group is easy to make. They are also notorious spies for their empire, in case you want to stick with being evil. Malison and Abominations will have the peculiar plot of making NPCs trust you, as you are a famous - and dangerous - type of enemy in most worlds, and people will likely fear you. You’ll also have more respect among fellow Yuan-Ti, allowing you to solve encounters with them without fighting. In any case, you can still rebel against your own empire, giving yourself a beautiful redemption plot.
4There Are Two Versions Of The Playable Yuan-Ti
There are two versions of the playable Yuan-Ti; one comes from Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and the other comes from Monsters of the Multiverse. Though Multiverse made most species in it stronger, the Yuan-Ti there are actually weaker compared to Volo’s because the species was notorious for being overpowered.
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Both versions increase ability scores, grants Darkvision, and gives you a few spells as you level up - Poison Spray, Animal Friendship, and Suggestion, to be more precise. Volo’s version specifies that you are a Pureblood, gives you fixed ability score increases, and dictates that your spells are done through your Charisma. But what makes them overpowered is their Magical resistance, giving you an advantage against any saving throw that involves a spell or other magical effect, and poison immunity, which does exactly what it says. Having immunity as a player is very powerful, especially considering that most monster-like creatures have poison.
Multiverse lets you choose which ability scores will be increased and which ability score you want to use for your spells. But it swapspoison immunity for resistance only,and your magical resistance only works on spells instead of any magical effect. Thus, when creating your character, it’s important to think if it’s worth swapping an immunity for resistance to get the power to choose where your ability scores go - assuming your DM is okay with you choosing which Yuan-Ti you want to use.
3Roleplay Pragmatic Behavior
Lore-wise, their transformation into reptilian creatures made them behave less like people. That means they have no emotions, making choices based on logic and survival,similar to how Lizardfolk are portrayed, but a bit more evil. Still, it is up to you how you want to roleplay your character.
Regardless, that gives you the opportunity of playing a character who behaves, for lack of a better term, like a machine; focus on logical choices to save yourself. Apply that to allies because keeping them alive also increases your survivability.
You can also make a character who wishes to understand these lost emotions, making them want to be around the party, and maybe even find out that these emotions were never lost, and your behavior comes from how you were educated. Whether you embrace your serpent side or despise it, you have many backstories and motivation opportunities to create from there and create a character that works like a fish out of water, trying to understand how other societies work, all the while scaring the common folk in the process.
2Choose Charisma-Based Classes
Thanks to the Charisma boost, any classes that rely on it will benefit from a Yuan-Ti. Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks are all fun choices. The extra spells are more of a plus, and the resistances — or resistance plus immunity — will work more as a method of defense rather than make you more dangerous.
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Regardless, that makes Yuan-Ti a surprisingly good character to be in the frontline since you can ignore a whole damage type, and it’ll be more difficult for any spell to affect you, decreasing your chances of being mind-controlled, for instance. That makes Paladins a curious choice here, though you could do a good Fighter or Barbarian; the Multiverse version allows you to choose an ability score other than Charisma to boost, and you still get to keep two resistances.
Warlocks are even better since it works either way. you’re able to be a true menace in the frontline with a Hexblade Warlock, or you can stay in the back casting spells as more traditional Warlocks do, and still be successful regardless of the build. Yuan-Ti just works well with a pact.
1Be The Party’s Face
As expected from high Charisma characters, your Yuan-Ti willexcel at being the party’s face.You can represent the party during social encounters, and give a nice clash of perspectives, where the creature that is more pragmatic and emotionless is also the one who interacts well due to its natural charisma. Talking your way out of a fight is the most pragmatic choice, after all.
You’ll also excel at manipulation and performance, so choosing these skills for your character is a good way to go. This may also help convince people to trust you more, as Yuan-Ti are seen as monsters in most situations. As a plus, Inspiring Leader is an amazing feat for you, as you can use your Charisma bonus to give allies temporary hit points for an upcoming fight.
