Black Mamba
Dendroaspis polylepis · Reptile
The black mamba is the most feared snake in Africa, living in savanna, light woodland, scrub, rocky slopes and riverine and lowland forest from Eritrea to South Africa and Namibia, hiding in hollow trees, termite mounds and rock piles. It hunts by day and basks at the same spot morning and afternoon. Cornered, it rears high, spreads a narrow hood and gapes, then strikes again and again; symptoms of its venom show within ten minutes, and before a working antivenom 15 of 35 people bitten in one South African survey died.
- Danger
- Man-killer
- How it is met
- Alone, by day
- Size
- Medium
- In winter
- Active in winter
Where it lives
Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Dry Forest, Savanna
Gives
Stat blocks (D&D 5e)
Venomous Snake
Tiny Beast, Unaligned
AC 12 · Initiative +2 (12)
HP 5 (2d4)
Speed 30 ft., Swim 30 ft.
| Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (−4), save −4 | 15 (+2), save +2 | 11 (+0), save +0 | 1 (−5), save −5 | 10 (+0), save +0 | 3 (−4), save −4 |
Senses Blindsight 10 ft.; Passive Perception 10
Languages None
CR 1/8 (XP 25; PB +2)
Actions
Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) Piercing damage plus 3 (1d6) Poison damage.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Sources
- Randy Schott, Dendroaspis polylepis (black mamba). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2005.
- Black mamba. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
- Mamba noir. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.
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