Hairy Spider (Basic Lore)

Hairy Spider (Swarm; CR 1)
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 other roles if desired. Hairy Spider is the name given to dozens of kinds of monstrous spiders that can be found all over the world. The name is not very descriptive, as 'hairy' spiders come in all sorts of varieties, and some kinds aren't even very fuzzy. But to the panicked eyes of adventurers, guards, and civilians who have stumbled upon one of these gigantic spiders, they all look alike: legs and eyes and fangs, scuttling and hairy. Now, 'gigantic' is a poor choice of words. It is possible to find spiders out in the bad parts of the world that are big enough to step over castle walls. Hairy spiders are rarely bigger than your face. But.... They are spiders...as BIG AS YOUR FACE. For many beginning adventurers, that's plenty huge to merit a scary tale at the tavern later. Assuming you survive... Hairy spiders hunt all manner of things such as bugs, mice, and squirrels. As a result, they can be found in ones and twos and six-packs almost anywhere. Far worse is when they gather together. Hairy Spiders are prone to bunch up into huge swarms, and that's even scarier than just one that you find hiding in your boot in the morning. Massive swarms of hairy spiders are occasional hazards encountered in dark and abandoned places. Individual spiders of this size are of no great threat to a prepared adventurer, although they can still give one a good startle, and bad luck can see one defeat even a doughty sort. Several thousand spiders packed atop one another in a seething mass of scuttling legs and poisonous fangs? That's enough to threaten any adventurer and startle just about anybody.