Blade Spider
Blade Spider (CR 11)
| Neutral - Large - Vermin |
|---|
| Lore: | Know (Nature) | ||
| 21 | 38 | ||
| Basic DC | Full DC | ||
| Initiative |
18 |
| Perception: | |
| 31 | +21 |
| Passive | Active |
| Ambush: |
| 10+ |
| on a d20 |
Senses:
- Standard Senses
- Darkvision 60 ft.
- Tremorsense 300 ft.
- SPECAL: Tremorsense only operates through connected webs, see below.
Movement Types:
- Walk 90 ft.
- Greater Climb 90 ft.
Defense
| AC |
30 |
| Man Def |
|
30 |
| Monster Health | ||
| 242 | 121 | 19 |
| Hit Points | Bloodied | Hit Dice |
| Saving Throws | |
| Fort: | +13 |
| Refl: | +8 |
| Will: | +8 |
Strong Against:
- Immune (no effect): All effects of Razor Blade Web (See below)
Offense
| Size: | Large | ||
| 10 ft. | 5 ft. | ||
| Space | Reach | ||
| To-Hit |
+18 
|
| Man Off |
+19
|
| Action |
| 0 |
| Points |
Standard Attack (Melee):
- 1x Bladed Bite +18 (3d10+11/x2)
as piercing (physical, common)
plus: Poison
Full Attack (Melee):
Standard Attack (Ranged):
Full Attack (Ranged):
Siege Damage: Not siege capable
Statistics
| 22 |
| STR |
| 18 |
| DEX |
| 15 |
| CON |
| 3 |
| INT |
| 3 |
| WIS |
| 6 |
| CHA |
Special Abilities
| Razor Blade Web (Ex) Standard Action |
|
As a standard action, the blade spider can fling a web at an enemy creature within 100 feet (range increment 20 feet). This attack is made as a melee touch attack at 1d20 + 22 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die). If the web hits, it explodes in a silent wave of feathery webbing, affecting the target's square and all adjacent squares (if the target is size large or larger, the GM can pick which 3x3 square area is affected). If the web misses, the glob of webbing scatters per the splash weapon rules. A creature directly struck by the webbing takes no damage but is Entangled and Immobilized. Breaking free requires either a Might check or an Escape Artist check, against the Maneuver Defense (DC 30) of the attacking spider. Attempting either check, regardless of success or failure, causes the creature to take 3d6+4 points of slashing (physical, common) damage, and 3 points of Bleed, each round, at the beginning of their turns, as the razor-edged filaments cut into them. Successfully breaking free ends the Immobilized condition, though you remain Entangled until you leave the area of effect of the web (see below). Creatures who were not directly struck by the webbing (or those who have successfully broken free of the webbing), but are inside the area of effect of the webbing are Entangled. This status condition ends at the end of any creature's turn in which they are no longer inside a web's area of effect. Entering any square in which a web exists also inflicts a 3 point Bleed condition. Note that bleed conditions do not stack (instead, the worst available bleed is applied and all lesser bleeds are ignored). Webbing thrown in combat is easily spotted by onlookers, requiring no perception checks to notice. However, webbing woven in an area and left to dry is harder to spot, as it hardens and becomes transparent. The DC of a perception check to notice webbing in an adjacent square is 30. For each 5 above the base DC, the viewer can also perceive webbing at an additional 5 feet of range beyond adjacent, if any exists. Because moving through this webbing inflicts a bleed condition, this is considered a trap, so bonuses to perception to notice traps apply for this check. Blade spiders are immune to all of the harmful effects of the web, and can move over and through the web without impediment. They can even use the webbing to make use of their climb movement, allowing them to ignore rough terrain or gain some elevation if the web is in an area of trees or other vertical attach points. |
| Poison (Ex) Automatic upon successful attack |
|
Any creature successfully bitten by a blade spider also has a chance to become poisoned:
|
Blade Spider
Blade spiders are monstrous arachnids that lurk in nearly any areas with adequate hiding spaces and enough foot traffic to keep them fed. This can be forests, mines, inside wells and even along lightly-traveled roads. Blade spiders have bodies that average about 7 feet in length, and tend to keep their legs tight to their bodies. These spiders get their name from their blade-like legs, which have a razor-sharp point and a cutting edge along the length of the final joint of the leg. Blade spiders prefer fresh prey, rarely killing more than they can eat in a single meal. Humanoids, horses and cattle are their preferred food.
Another aspect of the blade spider is their webs. Blade spiders can rapidly fill an area with webbing that is full of razor-sharp strands. These webs serve to both entrap their victims as well as weaken them through blood loss. These webs are easy to see when seen from an angle, but when seen from straight on, they are nearly invisible. Blade spiders sometimes litter acres of forest with webs as a way of being alerted to activity in their territory.
A blade spider's venom acts to liquify the insides of a creature over about an hour, whereupon the spider slurps out the gooey center like a juice-box. The leftover corpse is little more than a hollow suit of skin wrapped in webs.
Combat Tactics
Blade spiders can sense prey up to 300 feet away as long as there is a continuous bit of webbing between the spider and its prey. As a result, blade spiders will sometimes fill an area with webbing, even flat areas such as roadways and fields. Once dry, the webbing becomes clear and harder to spot (DC 30 perception to notice at a range of 5 feet, +5 DC for each additional 5 feet range).
Blade spiders are both ambush predators and roving attackers. They may lay in wait in a vast area with patches of webs scattered about, and dash out on unsuspecting prey who stumble into a web. Or they may be found in roving packs, far from a web, hungrily looking for a meal. Blade spiders primarily hunt outside their webs during the day, watching from a high vantage point until prey comes in sight, then running it down and devouring it, or roving at high speed until they flush something. They rely on their prodigious speed and their webs to limit their prey's ability to escape in either case.
Note that blade spiders are INSANELY fast. They can skitter across the ground or through their webs or across walls and ceilings at a flickering, jerky, supernatural speed that has to be witnessed to be believed. They can outrun a galloping horse...while clinging to a vertical wall. They will use this speed to amaze, frighten and confound enemies.
Once prey is noticed, if the blade spiders think the prey is of adequate size to attempt to eat (and not so big that its too dangerous to approach), they will rapidly approach the prey, use web attacks to cut off escape, and then close in with melee attacks, making use of their venom as much as possible, to kill their opponents. They will use a charge attack to dash into combat from distances that seem almost surreal, especially if they have laid out webs and can dash in from above, through port holes and vents, around corners, etc.
Blade spiders will wait until all nearby prey are incapacitated or dead before feeding. Blade spiders will flee a fight if their opponents are too strong, but they are not intelligent creatures, acting largely on instinct, so the decision to flee needs to be pretty obvious before it really takes hold.
Out of Combat
Blade Spiders are powerful, dangerous, and utterly untamable, but they can be trained to nest quietly and serve as guards or attack beasts with incentives of food. As a result, it is not rare to see blade spiders set up as living traps, encouraged to spread their webs through unused tunnels at the 'back' of a more intelligent or organized monsters lair, and then used to keep out the riff-raff.
Rewards
XP: 12,800
Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 9,375 gp.
- Weight: 110 lbs. Volume: 4.4 cu. ft.
- Dried blade spider web is quite valuable for making fine cutting tools, if hard to harvest, and Bladed Venom is also valuable for...other reasons. Blade spiders also tend to have a lot of conventional treasure in their crops and around their webs.
Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.
| Table 1: Remnant(s) Found | |
|---|---|
| 1 - 10 | Nothing Found |
| 11 - 14 | 1 Languid Remnant (tier 1) |
| 15 - 17 | 1 Pale Remnant (tier 2) |
| 18 - 19 | 1 Bright Remnant (tier 3) |
| 20 | Roll on Table 2 |
| ### | Nothing to see here! |
| ### | Or here. Move along. |
| Table 2: Remnant(s) Found | |
|---|---|
| 1 - 5 | 3 Languid Remnants (tier 1) |
| 6 - 10 | 3 Pale Remnants (tier 2) |
| 11 - 14 | 1 Intense Remnant (tier 4) |
| 15 - 17 | 1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5) |
| 18 - 19 | 1 Vital Remnant (tier 6) |
| 20 | Roll on Table 3 |
| ### | Or here. Move along. |
| Table 3: Remnant(s) Found | |
|---|---|
| 1 - 5 | 3 Bright Remnants (tier 3) |
| 6 - 8 | 3 Intense Remnants (tier 4) |
| 9 - 11 | 3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5) |
| 12 - 14 | 3 Vital Remnants (tier 6) |
| 15 - 17 | 1 Prime Remnant (tier 7) |
| 18 - 19 | 1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8) |
| 20 | 1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9) |