I don't like the weird Binding advantage that Snake totems get, so I thought up an alternative. I think it works better in general, as snakes/serpents generally seem to be symbols of knowledge, rather than, um, Binding. So:


Mentor Spirit: Serpent

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
which the Lord God has made," -Genesis 3:1

Serpent is wise and cunning, a symbol of knowledge. Sometimes
a deceiver, sometimes a councilor, sometimes a seducer,
Serpent is always knowledgeable about what she counsels. An
avatar of truth whether counseling or even misleading, she
never tells an outright lie, instead using the truth creatively
to accomplish her aims.
Snake characters are obsessed with finding the truth, often
taking great risks to do so. They abhor lies and liars alike,
preferring instead to, "massage" the truth when deception is
necessary.

Advantages: +2 dice for Detection spells, +2 to Data Search Tests.
Disadvantages: –1 die on Con tests.
(Or, maybe even better: -1 die on all tests when telling or substantiating
a known, deliberate lie, until the falsehood is revealed or the lie is
no longer relevant. Note that half-truths are often not considered lies,
but can deceive nonetheless.)

How's that sound?

Heh, that's why I had the alternative in there. It's somewhat closer to what I was thinking, though it's more complicated; -1 to Con just seemed easier to write and implement.

there's also the serpent at Delphi. speaks truths, but twists them into riddles.

Just an aesthetic note:

Traditionally, the "snakes" of literature with which I am most familiar, insofar as the liars and keepers of knowledge you guys are referencing, have mostly been male. I am completely down with the gender-balancing aspect many of the Shadowrun publications emphasize, but hey, if you're going to go for traditional representational accuracy, you should go the entire distance. I would definitely pin snake as a male. Even in popular terminology, most people referred to as "snakes" are men, with women generally reverred to as Cats or other more feminine-aspected symbols of nature.

Hm. How about -1 die to Illusions instead then? Again, I like the alternative ida better, but I can see that one being a bit more complicated to apply in-game, so the Con test was basically the "easier" choice, for dumbing-dow- I mean streamlinning purposes..

I guess I just saw Con as ability to lie and Negotiations as the skill used when trying to persuade without outright lying, but I guess there's other ways that can work too.

(Edit): And yeah, I didn't really think about gender. Snake in the SR4 book (and the SR3 book for that matter) was female, so that's what I made Serpent. Plus my Snake-mentored character's particular manifestation is decidedly female (and a really snarky one at that) so it just seemed natural to me.

Snake is both female and male, but snakes being untrustworthy were mainly in Europe. I can't remember Egypts position on snakes at the moment, but I believe they were in the same boat, with Set being a snake god if I recall correctly.

However, in Asia and the Americas both, Snake was wise and knowledgeable, and often a healer.

I don't recall snake being forced to be truthful though. Don't know about what another modifier could be though.

Some versions of the real-world mythos say that Seth was reincarnated as a giant snake.

Er, no Set is not the god of darkness. He is the Egyptian desert god. And his form is a wholely unique animalish form that looks like a bit like a long snouted jackel.

P.S. The Conan world had a Set god that was a multiheaded snake/hydra.

you're all right. Set was not originally a snake-related god, but over time, he became associated with his former enemy, Apep, who was a snake-god.

Which Is why Mythology is such a fun Subject! You are never wrong, only interpreting differently!

So who was the god depicted with the snake head?

Lol, sometimes it seems like all my knowledge of ancient cultures is gleaned from Stargate and The Ghostbusters animated series.

Heh. My geekery did in fact give me a leg up in the four years of anthropology classes: "Ohhh, so that's where they got that monster from."

So any other ideas for the disadvantage? At the moment I'm going for -1 to illusions, but I'm not sure that's all that wonderful. After all, illusions in the main book are far more useful than detection spells; the detections in the main book other than clairvoyance aren't all that wonderful.

illusions are just another form of deciet or trickery.