• Actions
• Hairy Spider
• Large Spider
• Huge Spider
• Giant Spider
• Giant trapdoor spider
• Phase Spider
• Sword Spider
• Gargantuan Spider
• Whisper Spider
• Giant Trap Door Spider
• Dark Spider
• Mountain Spider
• Silt Spiders

Spider

Tiny beast, unaligned

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 1 (1d4 − 1)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

Skills Stealth +4
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages --
Challenge 0 (10 XP)

Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Actions

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 1 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 9 Constitution saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage.

Spiders are aggressive predators, dwelling both above and below ground. Most listed here are poisonous and bite prey first, because unconscious victims are easier to carry to a lair.

Spiders have eight legs and eight eyes. They usually fit into two categories: web-spinners, which have bulbous abdomens and thin, sleek legs; and hunting spiders, which have smaller bodies, larger heads and fangs, and hairy bodies and legs.

Hairy Spider

These are the vicious, black, hunting spiders that are found in jungles, tombs, caverns, and throughout the Underdark. Though spin no webs, they can move readily in the webs of other spiders, and they are immune to all known spider venoms.

Hairy spiders hunt in groups, swarming over victims to bite. Up to 40 hairy spiders can swarm a human-sized victim, and bite with a +5 bonus to attack rolls once they are attached. Hairy spiders are remarkably resistant to crushing damage; rolling or crashing into walls is ineffective at removing or destroying hairy spiders. They must be individually struck or torn away.

Hairy spiders are sometimes used as familiars, especially by drow wizards. They can carry small items and walk on walls and ceilings; they have 60-foot infravision and are not afraid of fire. Some (40%) of these spiders can detect invisibility; they have a 4 in 6 chance, once per round. These familiars are sometimes given treasure by their masters.

Victims receive a +2 bonus to saving throws vs. the hairy spiders’ weak poison. If the saving throw fails, the victim’s AC and attack rolls are penalized by 1, and Dexterity is penalized by -3 with respect to Dexterity checks. These effects begin one round after the bite and last for 1d4+1 rounds.

Large Spider

Large spiders are web-spinners that build strong, sticky webs, and often lurk nearby waiting for victims to get stuck while examining the beautiful constructions of their own spinning. A being with Strength 19 or more is unaffected by the webs. For each point of Strength less than 19, it takes one round to break free of the webs (for example, a PC with Strength 15 can break free in four rounds). As many spiders as possible will attack the defenseless victim during its struggle to free itself. Entangled characters can be attacked with a +4 bonus to hit, and lose all Armor Class adjustments due to Dexterity.

The large spider’s poison is Type A, the onset time is 15 minutes. Victims take 15 points of damage, or no damage if a saving throw vs. poison (with a +2 to the roll) is successful.

Huge Spider

Huge spiders are hunting spiders that prefer to hide in camouflaged tunnels and holes and wait to leap as much as 30 feet through the air at unsuspecting victims. Their opponents suffer a -6 to surprise rolls when attacked in this manner.

Huge spiders also posses Type A poison, with the same effects as that of a large spider. Victims receive a +1 to saving throws vs. the poison of the huge spider.

The watch spider is a specially bred, huge spider used as a guard animal in cellars, warehouses, and some drow homes. It has Low Intelligence (5-7) and can be trained to obey a master, not attack beings designated by the master, and to disable spellcasters. Their venom has an onset time of 1-2 rounds and causes paralysis for 2d4 turns, unless the victim makes a successful saving throw vs. poison (with a +1 on the roll). If starved for long periods, they often eat paralyzed prey.

Giant Spider

Most giant spiders are simply much bigger versions of the web-spinning large spiders. Their poison is Type F, which causes immediate death if the victim fails the saving throw.

The giant water spider is a small version (8-foot diameter, 3+3 HD) of the giant spider. It lives in a burrow in a body of fresh water, and fills its burrow with bubbles of air. These spiders drag prey underwater to their lairs, where they can safely wrap it in cocoons for later repasts. It is faster than a normal giant spider (movement rate 15), but cannot travel through webs. It is only semi-intelligent (2-4) and has treasure as a huge spider; its bite causes only 1d4 damage plus poison.

The flying spider, sometimes just called a hunting spider, is a giant, winged, hunting spider. They are sometimes trained as guard animals, especially by the drow. They are 10 feet in diameter and have 3+3 Hit Dice. Its normal movement rate is 9, and its great gossamer wings allow it to fly at the same rate (MC: D). These spiders can also leap up to 70 feet, and fall any distance without harm upon landing, as long as they use their wings. Hunting spiders have Type A poison, just as a large spider, with the same damage and saving throw adjustment.

Giant trapdoor spider

is a hunting spider which builds tunnels and surprises prey like a huge spider; it is brown or golden, with red strips around its legs. On a successful attack roll, the spider can grab a victim and attempt to drag it into its lair. A victim can get free by making a successful Strength check, with a -2 penalty, or be freed by companions, if their Strength totals 20 or more. The victim can make no attacks.

A giant trapdoor spider has 4+4 Hit Dice and causes 2d4 damage per bite. Its poison causes an additional 1d6 points of damage if the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison. Though it does not build webs, it can travel through webs of other spiders, and it can shoot web strands up to 3 feet. The web strands require normal attack rolls to hit; they cause no damage, but entangle a victim for 1d4 rounds.

The steeder is a giant hunting spider with tarantula markings, 4+4 Hit Dice, and a movement rate of 12. It does not spin webs and cannot move in them, but its feet exude a sticky substance which allows it to cling to precarious surfaces, even if only one foot is touching the surface. The steeder also uses the secretions (50% of the time) to cling to prey; this requires an attack roll from the steeder, against AC 10 for the victim, adjusted only for magic and Dexterity. A victim can escape by making a successful Strength or Dexterity roll with a -10 penalty. While held, the victim suffers a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls and is automatically bitten once per round.

Duergar dwarves use steeders as mounts, fitting the spiders with complex saddles and control straps. A steeder can leap 240 feet, even with a rider. Leaps are considered charging attacks. A steeder moves on walls and ceilings at half its normal rate; duergar saddles are built for this kind of motion.

Phase Spider

Phase spiders are web-spinners with a raised thorax and a human-like head; they are often confused with neogi or driders. They have a unique ability to phase in and out of the Prime material plane. They phase in, attack, and phase out, all in a single round. This gives them a -3 modifier on initiative rolls; if a phase spider wins initiative by more than 4, it attacks and phases out before its opponent has a chance to strike back. Then too, a phase spider usually phases into existence behind its chosen victim, so they get a +4 modifier for attacking from behind. Phase spiders flee to the Ethereal plane when outmatched; there, they gain only a -1 modifier to initiative and can be attacked every round, regardless of the initiative result. Phase spiders have Type F poison, and victims receive a -2 penalty on saving throws against it.

Sword Spider

This giant hunting spider is native to jungles, but has been introduced into the Underdark by drow traders. It has a sleek, hairy, black body with brown stripes. Its legs have bony plates with sharp, raised ridges that cut like sword blades.

Against formidable prey, a sword spider leaps horizontally as far as 30 feet, and lands legs forward, impaling its prey. Only one attack roll is made for the creature. If the attack is successful, the victim is struck by a number of legs based on its size: size S, three legs; size M, four legs; size L, five legs; size H, six legs; size G, all eight legs. If the spider’s leap is greater than 20 feet, each leg receives a +1 bonus to damage. Any upward attack against the leaping spider receives a -4 to the attack roll, due to the impaling blades which protect the spider.

Gargantuan Spider

The gargantuan spider, also called a whisper spider, is a hunting spider with red eyes, a black body, and two gray stripes along its abdomen. They usually live in huge webs in a forest or a cave, keeping treasure from prey in a small hole, or in the bole of a tree. The whisper spider has 8+8 Hit Dice. It can flatten itself to become 80% undetectable; it is so silent that opponents suffer a -5 penalty to surprise rolls.

Using its webbing, it can make a false spider, a flapping banner, a filmy veil, or any shape it has ever seen; it uses these to mislead prey. The spider can make a web net to trap prey, or it can shoot web strands up to 2 feet to bind a foe. Either attack treats the spider’s opponent as AC 10 and prevents the spider from making a melee attack that round. A victim caught by webbing is treated as if caught in a web spell. When bitten, a victim must make a successful saving throw vs. poison, with a penalty of -2, or fall into a coma for 2d4 turns.

Giant marine spiders are gargantuan spiders with 7+7 Hit Dice, which live in burrows near bodies of saltwater. Like their freshwater cousins, they carry prey to their lairs; though they collect no treasure, their lairs may contain incidental items from victims. They have type F poison, and do not share the whisper spider’s special abilities.

Whisper Spider

The whisper spider has a plump abdomen, multiple eyes, and four pairs of segmented legs. Its body is covered with short, black bristles. Two gray stripes run the length of its back. Its eyes are bright red. The whisper spider moves quite rapidly on its webs and can also make six-foot leaps in any direction.

Combat: The whisper spider uses lures and misdirection to capture prey. It can create a false spider, a flapping banner, a filmy barrier to hide behind, or any other shape it has seen. It creates ten-foot-square web sheets to trap prey and gain a better chance to inflict a killing bite. It also shoots web strands up to two feet away to bind foes (treat as if the target is AC 10), though it cannot make a melee attack in the same round it shoots webbing. A victim in contact with a web must roll a saving throw vs. wand; if he fails, he is stuck fast as if caught in a web spell.

If a whisper spider makes a successful bite attack, the victim must roll a saving throw vs. poison with a -2 penalty. If the roll fails, the victim tails into a stupor for 2d4 turns, the victim can take no actions until the poison wears off.

A whisper spider can flatten itself against the ground and become 80% undetectable. It moves so silently that opponents have a -5 penalty to their surprise rolls.

Habitat/Society: The whisper spider’s lair is a large web, usually concealed in tree branches or inside a cave. It keeps treasure items taken from consumed victims in a hole in the ground near its web, or in hollow trees.

The females of both species eat their mates 50% of the time; the more fortunate males are able to scramble to safety. Females lay about 100 eggs at once, but fewer than 20% actually hatch. The whisper spider keeps her babies on her back until they mature, a period of about three to four months.

Ecology: Most predators avoid these dangerous spiders, though spider babies are eaten by birds, frogs, bats, and small mammals. Giant snakes sometimes eat adult spiders.

Both spider species eat any warm-blooded creature they can ensnare. Favorites include monkeys, wild boars, herd animals and humans.

Giant Trap Door Spider

Like the whisper spider, the trap door spider has a plump abdomen, multiple eyes, and four pairs of segmented legs. Its body is covered with long, silky hairs, either brown or gold in color. Its legs are banded with red stripes.

Combat: The trap door spider lives at the bottom of a deep tunnel. It covers the entrance to the tunnel with a door of sticks, weeds, webbing, and mud, then waits at the bottom for victims. The spider can detect the vibrations of approaching creatures up to 50 yards away. When a victim comes within ten feet of the trap door, the spider scrambles out of the tunnel and attacks. Because the spider moves quickly and silently, the intended victim has a -5 penalty to his surprise roll. The spider attempts to grab its victim by making a normal attack roll; if successful, the spider drags the victim back into the tunnel and starts to eat him. A grabbed victim can free himself with a successful Strength check (with a -2 penalty). At least two characters whose Strength totals 20 or more can wrench a companion loose. While the spider has a hold on a victim, it can make no other attacks.

If a trap door spider makes a successful bite attack, the victim must roll a successful saving throw vs. poison or suffer an additional 1d6 points of damage. The trap door spider can shoot web strands up to three feet away.

Habitat/Society: Trap door spiders live in their underground tunnels. A tunnel is usually about ten feet in diameter and can be as much as 100 feet deep. The bottom of the tunnel sometimes contains two chambers, the second used to store treasure items.

The female trap door spider creates a silken web sack on the side of the tunnel to hold her eggs. When the eggs hatch, the young spiders crawl from the tunnel to make their own way in the world.

Dark Spider

Psionics Summary (Psionicist)

Clairsentience – Sciences: clairaudience, clairvoyance; Devotions: danger sense, feel sound, know direction, radial navigation, know location.

Telepathy – Science: mind link; Devotions: contact, ego whip, false sensory input, mind thrust, psionic crush.

Psionics Summary (Queen)

Clairsentience – Sciences: clairaudience, clairvoyance; Devotions: danger sense, feel sound, know direction, radial navigation, know location.

Telepathy – Science: mind link; Devotions: contact, ego whip, false sensory input, mind thrust, psionic crush.

Psychometabolism – Science: life draining; Devotion: expansion.

Dark spiders are intelligent, subterranean arachnids that live in small tribal units. Their race is divided among various functions – some have psionic powers and some can use defiler magic. Tribes are ruled by a powerful queen who is both a 6th-level psionicist and a 6th-level defiler.

Dark spiders are huge, disgusting spiders with oily black skin mottled with deep purple or red. They have somewhat humanoid faces and the more intelligent ones can actually speak the common tongue of merchants.

Combat: In melee, dark spiders attack with two forelegs and a poison bite The forelegs cause 1-10 (1d10) points of damage and the bite causes 1-6 (1d6) points of damage, plus poison. Their poison (type F) is deadly if the victim does not immediately successfully save vs. poison. A successful save prevents any damage to the victim, while a failed save causes immediate death.

The spiders often lay snares made from their webs to entrap their foes. They then descend upon their victims in one group attack. Their psionicists often lure potential victims into their webs.

The psionicists and defilers among them sometimes lead hunting parties of warrior dark spiders. They often sneak up on living creatures that are asleep. They usually attempt to bind them with their webbing and bring them back alive for their queen, but victims are poisoned and fed upon immediately if they put up a struggle.

Habitat/Society: There seem to be three types of spiders in a tribe. The first, and most common, is the warrior spider. One in five dark spiders is slightly more intelligent and has limited psionic powers. The second type of dark spider is the mage spider. These spiders also have slightly greater intelligence than other dark spiders. Defiler dark spiders are known to use as high as 6th-level defiler magic and 20% of them have psionics. These spiders share an elite position with the defiler dark spiders and act as leaders of warrior dark spiders. The last and most feared dark spider is the queen spider. The queen spider is an extremely powerful and skilled psionicist/defiler. She is considered a 7th-level defiler and a 6th-level psionicist. Her poison (type E) is even more deadly than that of other dark spiders and causes death if the victim does not make a successful save and 20 points of damage even if the save was successful.

Ecology: Dark spiders have no natural enemies, but often make enemies of beings living near their lairs. Their young are born in web sacks, located in the lair’s hatchery.

The poison is highly prized by assassins. In rare cases, the spiders have been known to trade silk for live food. A number of merchant houses are rumored to trade slaves as food in exchange for valuable silk.

Mountain Spider

Psionics Summary

Telepathy – Sciences: domination, mass domination, psionic blast, mind link; Devotions: attraction, awe, contact, ego whip, empathy, id insinuation, invincible foes, mind thrust.

Psychometabolism – Sciences: nil; Devotions: body weaponry, catfall.

Clairsentience – Sciences: nil; Devotions: danger sense, sensitivity to observation.

There is a 10% chance that a mountain spider has psionic powers. Body weaponry: the weapons produced resemble insect parts

Mountain spiders are large creatures that resemble most other spiders except for their size and color. They blend in well with their surroundings, taking on the coloration of the rocks within the area shortly after birth.

They make their dens in small caves on cliff walls and mountain sides. They often prey upon birds and other creatures that get too close to then caves.

Combat: Mountain spiders prefer to attack by surprise. They attack by biting their opponents for 1-8 (1d8) points of damage and their bite carries with it a strong venom (type 0) that causes paralysis in a victim in 2-24 (2d12) minutes unless the victim makes a successful save vs. poison.

Habitat/Society: Mountain spiders are highly intelligent creatures and they use many tricks to lure in prey. They often place shiny metal objects just inside the entrances of their caves where the sun will shine on them, hoping the glare will attract the interest of travelers.

It is believed that many of their tunnels link together and that the mountain spiders have an almost tribal society composed of various smaller packs. Because no intelligent creature has crawled through the tunnels of these creatures, the truth remains unknown.

Ecology: Mountain spiders consume living flesh and blood, and they are especially fond of wounded rocs.

The venom of mountain spiders is highly prized by assassins. A skilled priest, defiler, or preserver can transform it into a potion to cure paralysis.

Silt Spiders

Silt spiders are small spiders that easily blend into silt-filled areas. They can swim through silt easily and often attack unseen, deep within the silt. They swarm all over anything that comes within their area. Worse than their bites is their poison. The poison causes no damage, but unless a victim makes a successful save vs. poison at +2, he becomes paralyzed and cannot move. Paralyzed victims are easily preyed upon by the swarming silt spiders. While the poison’s effects wear off in 2-12 (2d6) rounds, most victims are bitten so many times they become food for the spiders long before the paralysis wears off.