Spyder Fiend, General Information [1763]

Commentaires : The spyder-fiends are a subrace of tanar’ri that serve the Queen of Chaos. Sages speculate that the original spyder-fiends were the spawn of the Queen of Chaos and Miska the Wolf-spider, the queen’s lover and general. Most spyder-fiends combine the worst attributes of a wolf and a spider. The smallest ones have spider bodies about the size of ponies; larger fiends may have bodies the size of heavy warhorses. All spyder-fiends have lupine heads and necks growing from the front of the body. The mouth is full of yellow, dog-like teeth, with a pair of spider fangs next to the primary canines. The spider body has eight legs, each tipped with pads and claws that allow the creature to climb vertical surfaces.
The head and neck usually are covered with matted, dirty fur. Under all the grime, the fur is gray with lighter patches around the eyes and snout. Most spyder-fiends’ bodies are covered with coarse, stiff hair, which is typically dark or sandy brown and covered with spots, stripes, or bands of another color.
Less intelligent spyder-fiends are bloodthirsty and animalistic; they have the dispositions of rabid wolves. All are cruel and wickedly cunning.
Combat : A spyder-fiend’s primary attack is its venomous bite. The poison has an onset time of 1d4 rounds, and if the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison, he collapses into a semi-conscious stupor, unable to move, think, or act. The victim can attempt a Constitution check every 2d4 hours to shake off the venom’s effects. Even if the saving throw succeeds, the victim suffers a -2 penalty to Dexterity for 2d4 rounds. Additional bites do not increase the penalty, but they extend its duration. A slow poison spell applied before the onset time expires negates the penalty. The more powerful spyder-fiends carry even more potent venom.
A spyder-fiend’s bulbous abdomen is equipped with spinnerets that can produce strands of silk. Spyder-fiends do not actually spin webs like normal or giant spiders do, but they can use their silk in various ways. Most commonly, a spyder-fiend uses its silk to suspend itself in the air, so that it can drop on unsuspecting prey. The creature also can lay a network of strands throughout an area to allow itself movement in three dimensions. A spyder-fiend can throw out silk up to 30 yards to bridge gaps.
Most spyder-fiend silk is not sticky, but the individual strands are effectively invisible unless touched. (Opponents who suspect presence of a strand can attempt a saving throw to see it, as noted in the description for the 2nd level wizard spell invisibility.) All spyder-fiends can use their silk to protect themselves from falling. A spyder-fiend suffers no falling damage if there is a surface within 30 yards that is strong enough to anchor a strand of silk. Also, if a victim is immobilized by the venom, a spyder-fiend can use its silk to bind the creature. The process takes three rounds. Bound victims who recover from the venom have one chance to break free with a successful band bars roll. For every additional round the fiend spends binding a victim in silk, there is a -10% penalty to the victim’s bend bars chance, but the chance can never be reduced by more than half.
The individual types of spyder-fiends can create additional effects with their silk.
Although powerful, spyder-fiends prefer ambush to frontal attacks. They typically lie in wait for prey or enemies, dropping from above by means of their silk or rushing the foes’ rear and flanks from concealment. When attacking from concealment or invisibility, a spyder-fiend imposes a -5 penalty to opponents’ surprise rolls.
Spyder-fiends can use a silk ability while attacking physically, but not while using a spell-like ability. The creature can fire silk in any direction.
Spyder-fiends with the ability to alter their forms are fully able to use their spell-like abilities while in assumed forms. The fiend can retain its venomous bite and silk producing abilities if it chooses, but a close examination might reveal the creature’s fangs and spinnerets. (If the fiend chooses to forgo any abilities, the assumed form can conceal the fangs or spinnerets or both.) If a chosen form does not have a bite attack, the fiend’s bite delivers only one point of damage.
As tanar’ri, all spyder-fiends have the following spell-like abilities: darkness 15’ radius, infravision (always active, range varies with type), and teleport without error. Spyder-fiends can gate in other spyder-fiends (the details vary by type) and are affected by various attack forms as noted below:












Attack FormDamage
AcidFull
ColdHalf1
Electricity (lightning)None
Fire (magical)Half1
Fire (nonmagical)None
Gas (poisonous, etc.)Half1
Iron WeaponFull2
Magic MissileFull3
PoisonNone
Silver WeaponFull4

1 The spyder-fiend suffers only half damage even if its saving throw fails. If the saving throw succeeds, the spyderfiend suffers quarter damage. A successful magic resistance roll, if applicable, negates all damage.
2 Even if the spyder-fiend is normally harmed only by magical weapons.
3 A successful magic resistance roll negates all damage.
4 Even if the spyder-fiend is normally harmed only by magical weapons; lycosidiliths and raklupises suffer only half damage.
Habitat / Société : Spyder-fiends are the primary residents of the Steaming Fen, a layer of the Abyss that consists of a vast salt marsh and a turbulent ocen. Both marsh and ocean are studded with outcroppings of rock, some covered with jungle vegetation. The whole plane is dank and smells of decay. The air is thick with biting and stinging insects, and the ground and water seethe with crawling insects and other vermin.
Spyder-fiends pay homage to the Queen of Chaos, who rules the plane. The queen sends spyder-fiends on errands throughout the multiverse, so they can be encountered almost anywhere. Less intelligent fiends sometimes accidentally stumble through a gate or conduit to another world, where they immediately take up the hunt. More intelligent spyder-fiends sometimes roam the planes on errands of their own.
Ecology: Spyder-fiends eat any living thing they can catch, but they always consume their prey live and eat only what they catch themselves. The more powerful and intelligent spyder-fiends derive more nourishment from their prey’s life force and fear, but they retain a taste for fresh meat, too. Spyder-fiends have little to fear in their home layer of the Abyss, except for occasional hunting parties of yuguloths and balors. In tanar’ri fashion, the weaker spyder-fiends also serve as prey for the more powerful ones.
Ecologie : Spyder-fiends eat any living thing they can catch, but they always consume their prey live and eat only what they catch themselves. The more powerful and intelligent spyder-fiends derive more nourishment from their prey’s life force and fear, but they retain a taste for fresh meat, too. Spyder-fiends have little to fear in their home layer of the Abyss, except for occasional hunting parties of yuguloths and balors. In tanar’ri fashion, the weaker spyder-fiends also serve as prey for the more powerful ones.