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Not only have monstrous spiders been in the game since the beginning, they’ve been on every monster book we read so far. The MM3 is no exception in this case.

The Monsters

Looks like the Web Walk trait was a Monster Vault innovation. The spiders in the MM3 don’t have it, but it would make sense for them to do so. They do already use fixed math, like the other monsters in this book.

All spiders here have a climb speed equal to their ground speed, with the Spider Climb keyword to signal that they can also walk on ceilings. They also have Tremorsense 5.

Ambush Spider

Sometimes you have to go back to basics, and you can’t get any more basic than this. These Medium natural spiders behave much like mundane trapdoor spiders, using webs to camouflage their hidey-holes and charging out of them to bite and inject venom into their prey. As Level 2 Lurkers with 28 HP, they’re likely the first giant spider any group of adventures is going to face. I’m surprised something like this only showed up in the MM3. Their speed is a breezy 8.

The spider’s Camouflage trait allows it to hide when it has only partial cover or concealment. Its basic attack is a bite, but it turns into a Venomous Bite if made against a creature the spider is hidden from. This does the same damage and can be used in a charge. It also slows the target and inflicts 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends). This worsens to immobilized after the first failed save.

Spiderling

Spiderlings are immature giant spiders, merely Small in size. This is a generic stat block that can be used to represent youngsters of any of the spider species presented here or elsewhere. They’re Level 4 Minion Skirmishers with Speed 6 and a basic bite attack.

The attack deals only 2 poison damage, but it also gives poison vulnerability 5 to the target for a turn. If the target is already vulnerable to poison their vulnerability increases by 2 instead. This means that multiple spiderling bites on the same victim add up very fast, particularly if the adults join in at the end. You can vary their level based on the expected level of the adult specimens.

Feyspitter Spider

This spider native to the Feywild produces a venom laced with psychedelic fairy-tale qualities. Aside from the usual physiological damage, it also forces its victims to dance uncontrolably! Over time, feyspitter hunting grounds come to look like clearings where the vegetation has been stomped flat by all the dancers.

Feyspitters are Medium Fey Beasts and Level 7 Controllers with 80 HP and a Speed of 6. Their bite deals physical damage and inflicts 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends). Each time the victim fails a save, the spider can slide them 3 squares.

They can also use Poison Spittle to spray their venom in a Close Blast 3. This deams 10 ongoing poison damage on everyone it hits, with the same sliding effect on each failed save. Finally, if hit in melee, feyspitters can use a Fey Leap (recharge 5+) to teleport 3 squares as an interrupt. Yes, this means they can jump out of melee range and negate any damage.

Lolth’s Reaver

Another epic level spider directly associated with Lolth. These spiders don’t exist in the wild. Instead, they’re bred by Lolth’s worshippers and fed the blood of elves, eladrin and angels from an early age. Their upbringing makes them sapient and Chaotic Evil. They commonly serve as mounts for Abyssal Drow, and can also be found as pets and guardians in Lolth’s mightiest temples elsewhere in the universe.

Reavers are Large Elemental Beasts with the Mount and Spider keywords. They’re Level 25 Brutes with 287 HP. They have a ground speed of 8, but their Climb speed is only 6. Their mount trait is Web Saddle, which prevents their rider from being involuntarily dismounted by forced movement. I never even knew this was a possibility for anyone else, so I find this very interesting. Enough PCs have easy access to forced movement that staying mounted might very well be a problem for an enemy rider in most situations. Not here, though.

Reavers fight with their extremely venomous bites, which deal light physical damage and inflict 20 ongoing poison damage (save ends). They can shoot Grasping Threads at range, which deal no damage but pull the target 5 squares and restrain them (save ends). Each failed saving throw causes the reaver to pull the target an additional 5 squares. There is no hard limit on the number of targets that can be restrained in this way.

Once per encounter the reaver can perform a Web Leap, jumping 8 squares without provoking opportunity attacks and spreaying a Close Blast 3 with sticky webs when they land. This does heavy physical damage, knocks its targets prone, and prevents them from standing up (save ends).

Spider Webs

This is not a monster, but a side box with example terrain features based on spider webs. All of the spiders in this entry and most of the ones in previous books are web-spinners, so these should see heavy usage in arachnid-themed dungeons.

These hazards have variable DCs and attack rolls based on their level, which should be similar to that of the overall encounter. The more badass the spider, the more badass its webs.

Web Sheets are nearly invisible vertical webs, usually placed across passages and corridors. Spotting them requires a Perception test against the hard DC for their level. When someone enters their space, they attack the victim’s Reflex and immobilize them (save ends). A close or area fire attack destroys the whole web, a melee fire attack destroys one square of it.

Cobwebs are thick and opaque sheets of webbing covering walls, floors, and ceilings. Spiders use these for concealment, hiding behind them until it’s time to burst out and strike. They provide total concealment, and spiders can usually perceive enemies through them using tremorsense. They might also count as difficult terrain.

Final Impressions

We’re starting to repeat ourselves a bit with all these spiders, but it’s nice to see a low-level example. I also really liked the Feyspitter for its dancing venom.