OSR, Giant Snakes, and a DM’s Dilemma

 [Earl Otus' giant snake in Moldvay Basic]

A giant snake’s a horror in old school DnD, and Appendix N writers from 2000 years back. Let's look at Virgil’s Aeneid, when Aeneas encounters a giant snake at his father’s tomb.

                                           …At his [Aeneas] last words

a serpent slithered up from the shrine’s depths,

drawing its seven huge coils, seven rolling coils

calmly enfolding the tomb, gliding through the altars:

his back blazed with a maze of sea-blue flecks, his scales

with a sheen of gold, shimmering as a rainbow showers

iridescent sunlight arcing through the clouds. Aeneas

stopped, struck by the sight. The snake, slowly sweeping

along his length among the bowls and polished goblets,

tasted the feast, then back he slid below the tomb,

harmless, slipping away from altars where he’d fed.

Here, in Robert Fagle’s translation, Aeneas is awed by the “seven rolling coils” of the giant snake and its beautifully dangerous “back blazed with a maze of sea-blue flecks." As a DM, I am crazy about the idea of a giant snake signaling safety. However, as a DM, learning to use Old School rules, the danger of giant snakes is more often a massive danger than a signal of safety. My dilemma is this type of danger is so frequent, it takes-up much of my time to plan a game.

Frequently, the random monsters, the situations, and the modules I know suggest monsters so dangerous that I’d wipe-out my players in the first hour we finally all collected ourselves to play. For example, look at Moldvay for first-level wandering monsters. If I roll a 15, my party will encounter 1d6 3-foot cobras that, on a hit, cause blindness. That’s exciting stuff, but I know from hours playing solo, it's more dangerous than my party can handle. 

I'm not sure monster reactions and character saving throws are enough. For now, I'll hedge and protect the players.

Thanks for reading.