Deadly Spider

Deadly Spider Swarm (Swarm; CR 6)

Neutral - Diminutive - Vermin

Lore:	Know (Nature)
12		27
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

8

Perception:
20	+10
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Darkvision 60 ft.
• Tremorsense 30 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 40 ft.
• Greater Climb 40 ft.

Defense

AC

22

Man Def

22

Monster Health
162	81	9
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+9
Refl:	+9
Will:	+2

Strong Against:

• (Swarm Role) Hardened (½ damage): slashing (physical, common), piercing (physical, common)
• (Swarm Role) Immune (no effect): Critical Hits and Flanking
• (Swarm Role) Immune (no effect): Any attack that targets Maneuver Defense
• (Swarm Role) Immune (no effect): Any spell that targets a specific number of creatures, except mind-affecting spells (if this creature has an Int score).
• (Mindless) Immune (no effect): all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, fear, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)

Weak Against:

• (Swarm Role) Vulnerable (1.5x damage): area of effect spells (including Channel Divinity)

Offense

Size:	Diminutive
10 ft.		0 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+10

Man Off

+10

Action

0

Points

• (Component Creatures: 1 ft. / 0 ft.)

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Deadly Spider Bite (Swarm -- Auto-Hit) (1d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  Spider Venom

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Deadly Spider Bite (Swarm -- Auto-Hit) (1d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  Spider Venom

Standard Attack (Ranged):

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

1

STR

17

DEX

10

CON

—

INT

10

WIS

2

CHA

Skills:

• Movement: 10 (+8 when climbing)
• Perception: 10
• Stealth: 10
• All other skills: 5 (no ranks)

Languages:

Feats:

Special Abilities

Spider Venom (Ex) Automatic

Any damage inflicted by a Deadly Spider has a chance to inflict a weak poison: Spider Venom    (Injury vector; Tainted intensity) Save: Fort DC 18;     Frequency: 1/round for 3 rounds Effect: 1d3 STR Dilution and 1d8+6 points of poison (physical, uncommon) per interval Fruition: none Fruition Duration: n/a

Personal Space Issues (Ex; Swarm Role) Automatic After Damage

Any living creature that takes damage from a swarm also becomes Distracted. While sharing a space with the swarm, affected creatures cannot get rid of the Distracted condition. At the end of any of an affected creature's turn in which they are outside of the swarm's space, the Distraction condition automatically ends. However, it is re-applied if they take further damage from the swarm.

Sum of the Parts (Ex; Swarm Role) Always On

Swarms, troops, and hordes follow the squeezing rules based on their component creature size, NOT the size of the swarm, troop, or horde as a whole. This means these groups of creatures can easily move through doorways that are sized appropriately to their component creature sizes. They can even stop in such spaces without suffering squeezing penalties. In such cases, the swarm's shape is unaffected, except that its space excludes any blocked spaces. That is, its space doesn't deform into a non-square shape, it's just treated as not occupying any blocked spaces within its space. This means it cannot threaten through blocked spaces, since it isn't technically occupying them. Multiple swarms, troops, and hordes can share the same squares without squeezing or movement penalties. They can move through, and even stop on top of (or within) the spaces of other swarms, troops, or hordes. Swarms, troops, and hordes can also move over, through, and into spaces occupied by enemy creatures without provoking attacks of opportunity, even if they pass through or leave a threatened square. Furthermore, creatures inside the space of a swarm, troop, or horde are treated as flanked while they remain in that space (though this doesn't usually matter much, since swarms, troops, and hordes automatically hit with their attacks). Finally, a maximum of two swarms, troops, or hordes can attack a single given creature in a round, even if more than two swarms, troops, or hordes are threatening that creature. There simply isn't enough surface area of the enemy creature for more attacks to be inflicted.

Deadly Spider Swarm

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.

Combat Tactics

Deadly Spiders are hungry and dangerous. Despite their very small size, they are not afraid of anything, bigger or smaller than they are, and they will hunt you, eagerly and proficiently. Strong adventurers can be overrun by these tiny monstrosities, so take them seriously.

Far worse than even their normal terror, Deadly Spiders often form themselves into massive swarms. Such huge masses of dangerous, tough, and stealthy foes can be very difficult to withstand.

Deadly Spider swarms wish to engulf you. They will charge as fast as they can to get into the space of their prey. About the only 'tactic' they use is their fondness for crawling on ceilings. Whenever possible a spider swarm will crawl up to a ceiling and drop onto victims as a sudden rain of leggy creepy crawlers. Bleah.

Multiple swarms can move into, stop and occupy spaces that other swarms occupy. However, no more than two swarms can inflict damage or effects on a single target.

Out of Combat

Deadly Spiders can live nearly anywhere — in forests, shrubbery, amidst crops, basically anywhere that food is likely to pass nearby. They prey on any animals or humanoids that come too close, and only require such a meal about once a week, thought they'll always save some for later, in their rather prodigious webs.

Of special note is the fact that Deadly Spiders are very much the favorites of the lesser clades of Formians. Those tiny intelligent terrors seem to enjoy Deadly Spiders, although not as mounts. Instead, Formians will keep Deadly Spiders as pets and guardians, perhaps even some form of twisted...companions. It is not at all unusual to find Formians near Deadly Spiders, and indeed, some scholars, sages, and wizards speculate that Formians actually somehow...created...Deadly Spiders, much as humanity created dogs. Such notions are dismissed out of hand by many, but the truth of the matter is still unknown.

Lastly, it should be noted that many of the Drow seem to have a fondness for Deadly Spiders, and there have been reports of Drow warriors concealing the spiders in their clothing to provide a nasty surprise after they are slain, or of Drow Maidens that pet and lavish affection on the miniscule monsters.

Other monster clades have been known to raise nests of Deadly Spiders in chests, vases, or other containers within their lairs, to provide a nasty surprise for invaders that don't know to avoid the third barrel next to the cook pot.

In short, Deadly Spiders are depressingly common in the wild, and are very depressingly common as living booby traps in the lairs of clever monsters. The horrible little things can turn up almost anywhere.

Rewards

XP: 4,800 (Swarm role included.)

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 4,250 gp.

Weight: 120 lbs.     Volume: 4.8 cu. ft.

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)