Crystal Spider

At first glance a crystal spider is lovely. Its whole body is clear crystal, and by day sunlight breaks through it into rainbows that shift with every step. After dark it merely mirrors the lanterns and torches of its foes, colorful yet much less dazzling, and in true darkness it tends to dim surrounding light with its psionics to catch prey off guard. It makes no sound at all, speaking to its own kind in pulses of controlled light.

The spider strings its glass webs across trails and valleys at good ambush points. At night they are nearly invisible and a party may blunder straight in, but the spider prefers to hunt by day, when its intricate web and light control let it turn the sun into a weapon.

With one round of preparation, it can focus a beam of light at one target, rolling to hit at +4. A hit deals 3d6 heat damage and forces a save vs. wands to avoid blindness. Anyone who walks into a web unawares (a failed surprise roll) is slashed for 4d6. The strands are not sticky but are very strong, and a trapped creature must make a Dexterity roll or take another 3d6 cutting itself loose.

Up close it slashes with two sharp forelegs for 2d4 each and bites for 1d4. A bitten victim must save vs. poison at -2 against Type E venom: failure means death, while success still costs 20 hit points. When both forelegs hit with natural rolls of 18 or more, the spider seizes its foe, inflicting 4d6 every round and biting at +4 thereafter. It cannot grab anything more than four feet wide, though it can still attack it. A shatter spell is especially effective, dealing 3d6 damage (save for half).

Psionics: psychokinetic devotions control light and inertial barrier.

Crystal spiders live alone in the most remote parts of the desert world. They feed on sunlight but need a drink now and then, preferably human blood, and a recently fed spider glows faintly red for several days. They move freely over their own webs without harm, yet rather than hanging in them they stay on the ground. Many weave gems into the strands, judging only by sparkle, so a bright bit of colored glass may win a place over a dull but valuable ruby.

A crystal spider lives about 150 years. Near the end, it builds one large web purely for breeding and lays its eggs at the center; up to 200 young can hatch from one clutch.

It has no natural predators but plenty of human ones, since its web makes superb edges for spears and knives. An intact 12-inch length fetches 2 cp in a market, or 3 cp from a weaponsmith. A spider produces 12 feet of web a day, and most webs span about 20 feet. Tavern stories tell of webs 100 feet wide, but whether that means a breeding web, a giant spider or pure fiction, no one can say.