Deadly Spider (Basic Lore)

Deadly Spider (Swarm; CR 6)
Neutral - Diminutive - Vermin
This creature possesses the Swarm role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Swarm role, but may be set to different roles if desired. Deadly Spiders are small things, barely large enough to cover the (terrified) face of your average citizen. Deadly spiders, however, are truly monstrous things, empowered with supernatural vitality far beyond their diminutive size. Deadly Spiders have been speculated as some strain of beast from beyond the normal world, originally from some far more potent place, that were introduced to the Prime Material by some magical simpleton, perhaps the same sorts of folks who thought that creating Owlbears and Bulettes was a great idea. Regardless of their provenance, Deadly Spiders are terrible things indeed, covered in a tough sort of carapace that glances away blows and is remarkably strong, able to withstand heavy blows without crushing. Deadly Spiders are often found in ones and twos and small handfuls, and in such aggregations, they are terrible vermin, demanding the attention of serious adventurers, or the use of extreme measures from civil authorities to control. A house infested with deadly spiders is often bricked up (carefully and quietly) and then burned to the ground, as an example of the methods used to contain them. Many an adventuring company has been hired by frantic homeowners, trying to save their home from the cleansing flame. However, even this terrible threat is not the end of their peril. Deadly Spiders, like many of their 'normal', weaker, kin, are prone to breeding wildly and forming into great, deadly swarms. Massive swarms of these deadly spiders are occasional hazards encountered in dark and abandoned places. Individual spiders of this size are a deadly menace to courageous adventurers, and a real challenge even to heroes. Several thousand of these deadly things packed atop one another in a seething mass of scuttling legs and poisonous fangs? That's enough to threaten any hero, and startle just about anybody.