Pit Demon Spider (3.5e Monster)
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There exist bigger spiders, stronger spiders, quicker spiders and more poisonous spiders, but in terms of sheer deviousness and cunning, no arachnids can hope to match the Pit Demon Spider.
The pit demon spider looks an unassuming, mottled black, completely lacking the dangerous luster and colourful patterns commonly associated with poisonous creatures. Unlike most spiders which make large webs that can be spotted from afar, the pit demon spider prefers not to be noticed and largely uses its silk only to cover the ground, restrain nearby threats, and lay traps. True to its name, the pit demon spider digs holes and burrows through the ground to hide from enemies and ambush prey. The body of a fully grown pit demon spider is roughly 6 feet, with barbed, blade-like black legs that can reach a total length of over 20 feet.
The statistics above are for female pit demon spiders. Male pit demon spiders use the statistics of a medium monstrous spider, and are generally devoured upon fertilizing the female pit demon spider's eggs.
Combat
The pit demon spider has powerful offensive abilities, but prefers to subdue any threats and prey from a distance or through ambush tactics. Given the opportunity, it will use its sticky, swiftly hardening silk to cover the ground above its burrow and restrict creatures' movements and then use its sharp array of senses to pin-point any desirable targets and draw them underground. To that end, the tough hairs at the very tip of its eight legs give it the ability to pinpoint vibrations through solid earth. The pit demon spider's burrowing leaves tunnels that can be traversed by other creatures.
A pit demon spider has a high level of intelligence and can understand spoken language.
The pit demon spider's natural weapons and any attacks it makes are treated as magical for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction.
Spider Legs: The pit demon spider's legs are long and powerful, increasing its effective reach by 10 feet when attacking. Sharp barbs lining the four front limbs emulate a wounding effect, dealing 1 point of Constitution damage on each successful hit.
Burrow Strike (Ex): The pit demon spider can attack while burrowed. Maneuvering underneath a ground bound creature with the help of its tremorsense, it may attack with its spider legs. The target creature counts as flat-footed unless supernaturally aware of the spider's location somehow. If a burrow strike is successful, the pit demon spider may instantly attempt a grapple check in order to drag the creature underground.
Poison (Ex): The pit demon spider's bite carries a nefarious poison that instills potent hallucinations within any affected creature. Commonly, when pushed into melee the pit demon spider will attempt to poison as many members of an adventuring party as it can and then retreat to let the poison do maximum damage.
The poison's initial effect is the sickened condition and a confusion effect (as per the spell). The secondary effect is an insanity effect. As such, if the poison isn't neutralized within a minute, its effects will be permanent until removed by any effect that removes insanity. Immunity to mind-affecting effects will protect against the confusion effect, but not the sickened condition. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Spell-Like Abilities: At will—quickened grease, major image (of itself only) (DC 19); 3/day—invisibility, silence. Caster level 12th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.
The following abilities are always active on a pit demon spider, as the spells (caster level 12th)
nondetection, see invisibility, spider climb.
Skills: A pit demon spider has a +8 racial bonus to Climb, Jump and Spot checks due to its various movement speeds and its eight eyes respectively.
Nest: A pit demon spider is a cunning hunter and has a human-like intelligence. It has its nest around 100 feet underground, with 1d4+2 tunnels big enough for Medium creatures to traverse unimpaired, leading up to exits within a maximum of 500 feet. The entrances to these tunnels are usually camouflaged, requiring a DC 25 Search check to find. The first fifty feet down from the entrances of these tunnels is usually a sheer drop, resulting in a 50-foot deep pit trap designed to claim the lives of any creatures unfortunate enough to fall in. The inside of the tunnels may or may not be covered by spider silk, creating difficult terrain.
Within the central nest is usually a clutch of 2d6+3 pit demon spider eggs valued at 500 gp each, as well as a small hoard of items and treaure collected from killed adventurers. An infant female pit demon spider may be trained by characters that can influence magical beasts.
Web Mastery (Su)
The pit demon spider has access to a number of supernatural abilities that involve its spider silk. It has a 'web pool' with a number of charges equal to its Hit Dice, which replenish naturally at a rate of 1 per round. The pit demon spider may expend a standard action to instantly replenish 1d4+1 web charges, or a full-round action to instantly replenish 2d4 web charges. These web charges may be used in order to channel the following abilities. The save DC for any web mastery abilities is Dexterity based. A pit demon spider's web has vulnerability to fire.
The pit demon spider's silk does not keep infinitely replenishing. After expending a sum total of web charges equal to three times its HD in one day, it must wait until the next day to mold new silk.
Jagged Silk Barrier: The pit demon spider has exemplary control over its silk, allowing it to spit silk at any time and manipulate its movements, flexibility and hardness in a myriad of ways. When met with a life threatening offensive, the pit demon spider may activate its silk barrier as an immediate action. The silk barrier acts as a reactive personal shield that absorbs up to 15 points of damage per web charge. The silk barrier will break when the spider runs out of web charges. Fire deals double damage to the Jagged Silk Barrier.
Jagged Silk Hook Shot: The pit demon spider may fire a thick, tough strand of web at any object or surface within 60 feet. In case of a immobile surface, structure, or a creature or object weighing more than 1,000 pounds, the pit demon spider is instantly pulled towards the target and stops its movement adjacent to it or in the closest available space near it. In case of a smaller object or creature, the object or creature is instead pulled towards the pit demon spider. To hit a creature with the jagged silk hook shot, the spider must make a ranged touch attack, and a creature may make a DC 24 Reflex save to prevent being pulled in. Stability bonuses apply. Using this ability requires 3 web charges as a standard action, 5 charges as a move action, or 8 charges as a swift action.
Jagged Silk Restraint: At a cost of 4 web charges, the pit demon spider may fire a ball of condensed spider silk as an attack action. In a full attack, the spider may exchange two of its four limb attacks or its bite with one instance of jagged silk restraint, to a maximum of 3 instances in one turn. The jagged silk restraint is a ranged touch attack.
This ball of spider silk will explode in an intended location within 120 feet, creating a widened web effect. Any creature struck directly by the ball (a successful ranged touch attack roll) may not save against the initial entanglement and is completely immobilized for 1 round, no save.
Jagged Silk Terrain: At a cost of 1 web charge per 10-foot square, the pit demon spider may coat any floor or surface with sticky, uneven webbing. All terrain covered in this web becomes difficult terrain to any ground-bound creature other than a pit demon spider, and whenever a creature attempts to make a move action or any other action involving the legs and feet, it must make a DC 10 Strength check or lose the action. The jagged silk terrain isn't as restraining as an actual web, but its duration is effectively permanent until burnt away or otherwise removed. The pit demon spider generally uses this ability over long periods to cover its entire lair within difficult to traverse spider silk.
Webshaping: The pit demon spider can create web in virtually any shape. As a standard action, it may create a shape of hardened web within the limits of stone shape. It may make a maximum of 1 cubic feet of hardened web per HD per web charge expended.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Monsters
| Alignment | Usually neutral evil + |
| Author | Sulacu + |
| Challenge Rating | 12 + |
| Environment | Forests and jungles + |
| Identifier | 3.5e Monster + |
| Level Adjustment | — + |
| Rated By | Undead Knave + |
| Rating | Rating Pending + |
| Size | Large + |
| Title | Pit Demon Spider + |
| Type | Magical Beast + |
