Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

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Driders are another classic D&D monster, about as old as the drow they’re thematically attached to. Mechanics-wise, these drow-spider beings still do pretty much what you would expect them to, but their background has changed significantly.

The Lore

In past editions, driders were the result of a curse inflicted by Lolth on drow that displeased her. Driders would he hated and shunned by other drow and would either live in isolation or form communities of their own.

In 4e, driders are instead the result of a blessing bestowed by Lolth on drow that please her. There’s a formal ritual named the Test of Lolth that turns the worthy into driders (and kills the unworthy). Driders can often be found as leaders or prestigious champions in drow communities!

I think this makes more sense than the old background, as driders were always quite a bit more powerful than run-of-the-mill drow.

The MV splits the difference by adding that driders make their own caste in the drow hierarchy, above most others but still subservient to the priestesses of Lolth. Some of them resent this, and some grow to have more empathy towards spiders than towards their fellow dark elves, so you can still meet the odd drider hermit out in the wilds of the Underdark.

The Numbers

Driders usually retain all the abilities they had as drow, including their racial powers, and add to this the increased movement speed, climbing, and web-spinning abilities granted by their spider halves. They’re Large Fey Humanoids with the Spider keyword, which means they count as spiders where that’s important.

The Drider Fanglord is a Level 14 Brute with 172 HP, present in both books. It has trained Perception and Darkvision, with the MM version additionally being trained in Stealth and Dungeoneering. It scuttles at speed 8 and climbs at the same speed with Spider Climb.

This warrior wears leather in its drow half and fights with a greatsword. It can also launch a web as a Ranged 5 attack targetting Reflex, which restrains the target on a hit until they escape using the rules for escaping grabs. The DC for this is quite a bit lower on the MV, which also specifies the target can automatically escape by teleporting. The web recharges on a 4-6.

As a minor action, the fanglord can bite someone against whom it has combat advantage, dealing a piddly 1d4 physical damage and a nice 10 ongoing poison damage (save ends). It also has the Darkfire encounter power we saw in the Drow entry.

The Drider Shadowspinner is a level 14 Skirmisher with 134 HP. It also wears leather, and fights with a shortsword and magic. It has trained Perception, Dungeoneering and Stealth, as well as darkvision. The shortsword does damage as usual and allows slightly different skirmisher shenanigans in each book: in the MM, the drider can shift 1 square before or after the attack; in the MV, it can only shift on a hit, but that shift also ends any mark on it.

The shadowspinner’s ranged attack is a Slashing Darkness spell that has a range of 5, targets Reflex, and does necrotic damage. It can also use the same Web as the Fanglord.

The MM version has the Cloud of Darkness encounter power, which we saw in the Drow entry. The MV version retains the cloud and also gains Darkfire.

As passive traits, the shadowspinner gains concealment from Shifting Shadows if it ends the turn 3 or more squares away from its initial position, and it also gains a sneak attack bonus against targets granting it CA.

Finally we have the plain old Drider, which only appears in the MV. This Level 14 Soldier has 138 HP and Darkvision, but the stat block shows no trained skills. It wields a scimitar and also wears leather.

The scimitar has Reach 2 (unlike the other weapons we saw), and the drider has Threatening Reach with it. Scimitar attacks also mark targets for a turn on a hit. Targets who ignore the mark take 15 necrotic and poison damage if they’re within 10 squares of the drider. Finally, it can use Darkfire.

Sample Encounters

There are two:

  • Level 12: a drider fanglord, a drow arachnomancer, and 3 drow warriors. Here’s some of that “favored champion” action.

  • Level 14: 2 fanglords, 1 shadowspinner, and a demonweb terror spider. This all-spider group could be an elite unit in a drow settlement, or an unhinged hermit family.

Final Impressions

I like the new take on driders as the favored of Lolth. As I say above, it makes more sense than the previous backstory for them, because I never thought that “oh no, I have been cursed with awesome power” made much sense. I mean, yeah, you’re now a horrible half-spider monster, but for Lolth worshippers that should be a plus.

Mechanically they pair really well with drow: the drow stat blocks lack any heavy frontliners, and both the standard Drider and the Fanglord fit neatly into that gap. The web powers from the Shadowspinner and Fanglord also do much to benefit drow warriors or other lurkers, granting them easy and potentially long-lasting combat advantage.