Spider-Horse

Mostly horse, this magical crossbreed carries a spider's abdomen, spinnerets and all, at its rear. It stands on four hoofed legs, with four longer spider legs sprouting from its flanks, set between fore and hind legs. Its head is a horse's, but with eight compound eyes.

It strikes with whichever front pair it isn't standing on: hooves for 1-4 bludgeoning damage each, or clawed spider legs for 1-3 each. It can instead fire a web strand at one target and haul the victim in with its front spider legs, handled like a roper's strand minus the strength drain.

Its hooves can be shod with magic, for instance horseshoes of speed or of a zephyr, but these only work while it moves on its horse legs, not when it climbs on its spider legs. Ordinary barding won't fit around its body and free-moving spider legs; altered or custom barding costs at least three times the usual price.

The magic that fuses the two creatures leaves the result sterile, for reasons wizards still don't understand, so spider-horses live alone. Normal horses are nervous around them, which tends to bind them more closely to their owners, a side effect wizards welcome. Some are trying to fix the sterility so the creatures can breed true.

Wizards in rugged mountains build them as mounts. On level ground a spider-horse gallops on its hooves with the spider legs folded beneath it; on sheer cliffs it climbs up or down on the spider legs while a complex buckled saddle holds the rider on. Riding one takes its own proficiency, land-based riding with spider-horse as the chosen creature; a rider trained only on normal horses manages on flat ground but is likely to be thrown at the first steep climb or drop.

Its silk is just as prized. A single line can lower horse and rider down a slope, and it can weave full spider webs, including a sticky shelter around its sleeping master. Unable to shut its compound eyes, it stays dimly aware of its surroundings while asleep and wakes instantly to raise an alarm. It is strictly a plant-eater and ignores anything its webs catch, and wizards are content not to know why it lacks the giant spider's venom.