Giant Spider

[HollowWorld]

[ ART CREDIT - Elz ]

- GIANT FOREST SPIDER -
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"Are they agents of Jishrim.. or creatures conquering territories for their own?"
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[ Free to be used in Events ]
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Giant Spiders have been a staple of Alteran nightmares for millennia. The more adventurous citizens of the Northern Kingdoms have learnt much about the oversized arachnids during that time, from the nature of their silk-spinning to some of the uses of their venom. The two most common and well-known variants of the giant spider are the tree (or forest) spider and the cave spider. Both are familiar to those who frequent the wilds of the world, delving into dark forests and deep cave systems. Both variants have eight legs, and eight eyes, and both can pack a venom-filled punch, but that's where most similarities end.

H A B I T A T

Under the darkest, gloomiest canopies of the deepwoods, these spiders make their homes in dead trees, or in long abandoned animal burrows. They enjoy the coolest, dampest forests they can find, and are most successful hunters during autumn, when their natural camouflage disguises them amongst the rotting leaves on the forest floor. They mostly live alone, only seeing other spiders of its kind when fighting over food or when breeding, but occasionally a mother will keep her brood close to her for weeks after their hatching. These mothers are more often than not eaten by their young.​

P H Y S I O L O G Y

Maxing out at around 40 inches tall, these are the largest of the spiders. Brown, grey and black hairs cover their thickly-built body, with a patch of urticating bristles on their abdomen. The females are a smidgen larger than the males, though the difference is subtle enough to be missed by all but the most expert spider examiner. Its venom glands secrete a paralytic toxin that renders animals under 10lbs immobile. To a humanoid, one bite creates the effect of a potion of slowness. More than six bites in a space of 24 hours can be lethal, and Halflings suffer twice the potency. It possesses many large silk glands which remain in a state of production for nearly a week after its death.​

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Diet: Small mammals and birds. It doesn't try rustling with anything that might put up much of a fight. A tusked boar, or a talon-ed falcon are both off the menu, for example. Hedgehogs, sparrows, hares and flycatchers are the sort of calibre of prey the forest spider feels up to tackling.​

Lifespan: Both males and females can live to the ripe old age of 30.​

B E H A V I O U R

It spends most of its time in its hidey-hole, only revealing itself at night to check on its webs or to lie in wait on the forest floor, camouflaged and perfectly still, waiting for the prey to come to it. If harassed by creatures it deems tougher than itself, the forest spider will either climb to safety or if cornered, fight. It doesn't offer much danger to the average weapon-wielding player character. Its usual course of action is to violently stab its opponent with its fangs mid-grapple, trying to pump as much toxin into the bloodstream as possible, and hoping that the opponent either gives up and runs away or succumbs to the venom, at which point the wrapping occurs. If it's in a spot of bother, the spider can fling severely irritant hairs from its back at the aggressor. They burn like an incredibly intense nettle rash, and if inhaled by the fistful they inflame the esophagus to the point of suffocation. They aren't known for attacking humans, just like wolves aren't known for it, but they are no less dangerous, opportunistic hunters.​

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It spins orb-webs for birds, between the upper branches of trees. They're thin and translucent, almost indiscernible unless catching the sunlight. For mammals it sets ambushes in the undergrowth, pouncing on prey if they pass too close. One bite is all it takes for most, and once it stops struggling, the spider drags it back to its nest and covers it in a shroud of silk. As it weaves silk over the body, it secretes digestive fluids from glands between the abdomen and thorax, and leaves the paralysed animal to dissolve. After a day or two, it sucks the softened tissue out from the web casing. Yum!​

A B I L I T I E S

[Web Spew]​

[Spider Climbing]​

[Web Grapple]​

[Bite]​

W E A K N E S S E S

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Y I E L D S

[Spider Silk] A single strand of giant spider silk is comparable in size to a smaller spider’s silk, however, it is nearly three times as strong. Due to the nature of its creators, giant spider silk is often harvested in smaller quantities, as webs are often disturbed or destroyed during a fight against the creatures. It is rare to have enough giant spider silk to craft anything more than a sweater, shawl, or small cloak. Gambesons and padded jackets weaved from this material offer identical resistances against attacks as steel chainmail.​

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[Venom] An ingredient for alchemy. Extracting this venom and brewing it with crimsonwort essence will create a distinct poison.​

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Original Writeup: Ced​

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[HollowWorld]

- GIANT CAVE SPIDER -
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"They come from below..."
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H A B I T A T

Far away from prying eyes, cave spiders weave great tangled nests in the bowels of mountains and hills, where tunnels and cave systems wend deeply underground. They are a communal species, living in broods, and work together to hunt food for their brood. Fighting is rare, and only occurs when one spider mistakes the other's scent for belonging to a different brood. Their nests are constructed as a hanging mass of web like an upside-down dome on a cave ceiling, which protects it from floods and most curious trespassers.​

P H Y S I O L O G Y

Smaller than their brown cousins, the cave spiders rarely grow past the height of 30 inches. They are armoured in hairless black chitin that shines with a blue-green tint. They have spindly legs and a thin frame that emphasises brutal, foot-long fangs. The females dwarf the males, that often stop growing before they reach 10 inches in any direction. Its eyes are ultra-sensitive to light and a sudden torch flare can momentarily blind them. Its venom glands are larger than those of the forest spider, and its toxin can kill a cow within five minutes. It is almost always lethal to humans, unless an antidote is immediately administered. Its silk glands are small and the silk they produce is of poor quality.​

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Diet: About 80% of the cave spider's nutrition comes from silverfish, and the rest comes from whatever they can scavenge. Adult cave spiders have been known to venture above ground to collect flowers for the nest's young. Not because they think they brighten the nest up, but because recently-hatched cave spiders can't get enough pollen. It's incredibly nutritious for them and the more they eat at a young age, the larger they're likely to grow.​

Lifespan: Females live to around 25, and males shortly after they mature, around three.​

B E H A V I O U R

When it isn't scuttling over the walls and ceilings of tunnels in search of food, it works on spinning expansions to the nest to create more space for the ever growing brood. There's very little record of cave spider brood sizes, but a severely infested cave system can be trafficked by dozens of spiders every day. They will viciously attack any living thing they find in the tunnels, even when massively outnumbered, and their usual strategy is to dive in for a bite with reckless disregard for their own safety. Their fangs pose a lethal threat to all but the most heavily armoured opponents; it only takes one bite to neutralise most enemies.​

The cave spider's hunting methods are similar to an ant colony's in that there's an almost constant 'patrol' through the tunnels surrounding the nest in search of food. When prey is discovered, the spider that finds it releases pheromones that draw others to its location. The more spiders that gather, the stronger the pheromone signalling becomes, until the poor wee beasty (usually a small cluster of silverfish) is overwhelmed by numbers and venom. The spiders drag it back to the nest, secrete digestive fluid over the body, and immediately tuck in.​

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The Broodmother is the parent of every member of the brood, her body has softer and paler chitin, her abdomen is swollen, and her legs are shorter. She can grow to be over six times as large as her daughters, with a lifespan of up to 200 years, and reproduces in a way that allows her to control the numbers of males and females in the eggs she produces. She is reclusive, staying in the depths of the web nest, fed by her daughters. No one has ever seen a Broodmother, because no one has gone that far into a spider-infested tunnel system and lived, but there's plenty of folklore of gargantuan spiders that live in the bowels of the earth, served by a multitude of ravenous, deadly offspring.​

A B I L I T I E S

[Web Spew]​

[Spider Climbing]​

[Web Grapple]​

[Bite]​

W E A K N E S S E S
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Y I E L D S

[Spider Silk] A single strand of giant spider silk is comparable in size to a smaller spider’s silk, however, it is nearly three times as strong. Due to the nature of its creators, giant spider silk is often harvested in smaller quantities, as webs are often disturbed or destroyed during a fight against the creatures. It is rare to have enough giant spider silk to craft anything more than a sweater, shawl, or small cloak. Gambesons and padded jackets weaved from this material offer identical resistances against attacks as steel chainmail.​

[Venom] An ingredient for alchemy. Extracting this venom and brewing it with crimsonwort essence will create a distinct poison.​

 

[HollowWorld]

G i a n t
S p i d e r​

Attack DC: 15
Defend DC: 18
HP: 10
Speed: 30 blocks
Max Damage: 1d3
Range: Melee
Damage Type: Physical
Armor: Leather (3)

Body	+3
Mind	+3
Soul	+0
Unarmed	16
Ranged	-
Awareness	16
Resilience	10
Athletics	15
Dexterity	13
Deception	15