Spider-kin

Spider-kin is a catch-all for creatures of one prime world and its surrounding planes that share little beyond a spidery shape and large fanged mandibles with a dangerous, usually venomous bite. Listed sizes include outstretched legs.

A pony-sized aranea looks almost exactly like a giant web-spinner, except for a big misshapen hump behind its head that houses a large brain, and an extra pair of limbs under the mandibles with nimble digits for using simple tools. Its webs span about 40 feet, with thin strands running off through the trees as paths between canopy and ground; only the careless or those blundering in darkness get stuck.

Its bite deals 1d6 and calls for a save vs. poison. On a failure the limbs merely stiffen a little that round, then the victim takes 4 damage per round and dies after 1d4+1 rounds whatever its hit points. Every aranea is a 3rd-level wizard, working from crude bark scrolls marked in charcoal or chalk, which usually crumble if taken from the web and lie hidden in leaf litter caught in the silk, so they are easily overlooked. They prefer subtle, potent magic such as illusion, charm, haste and slow, and shun fire that could burn their webs and forests.

They wait in the branches, drop silently on a strand and lead with a spell. Against dangerous foes they often use illusions to pass as elves, rangers, druids or dryads. They wage endless war on the gliding tree-folk.

These intelligent arachnids roam the Astral and Ethereal planes and have a vast, strange civilization; some sages link them to phase spiders, without proof. Most have 5 Hit Dice, leaders up to 12. Their home is thought to be an undiscovered demiplane of the Deep Ethereal, said to hold cities lovingly spun from white, imperishable silk. Any met abroad is an experienced wanderer fluent in Common plus one or more demihuman languages. They form many nations, and the Thessik are the most often seen near this world. Usually they talk before fighting, wishing to learn a stranger's intent, though bands called the Black Thessik live as thieves and brigands.

In battle they flicker between planes for -3 on initiative; winning by 4 or more lets one strike and turn ethereal before the foe can reply. Appearing behind a target grants +4 to hit and negates its shield and Dexterity bonuses. Outmatched, they flee off-plane, but if fought in the Astral or the Ethereal their bonus falls to -1 and they may be attacked every round. Their Type F venom demands a save vs. poison at -4 or death, though they may bite without it. Each has a 30% chance, +10% per Hit Die over five, of 1d3 usable magic items, and carries 1d4 strange nonmagical items that puzzle Prime natives. Rare ones are spellcasting priests or wizards, as high as 9th level, worth +1,000 XP if they cast 1st- or 2nd-level spells and +2,000 XP for 3rd level or higher.

This mutant spider lives only in a silver-veined mountain range on the border of two nations. Its body is about as big as an orange, black and hairy, on 1d8+2 pairs of long, knobby legs. Sages call it a polyped, but locals name it for the plop! plop! of its leaping. It has the thief skills hide in shadows 28%, climb walls 91% and move silently 40%. It hunts nothing larger than rats, but startled or cornered, it attacks then flees, leaping up to 20 feet at the face or neck of bigger foes. A bite paralyzes for 1d6 turns unless the victim saves vs. poison; tiny creatures save at -4 and, failing, stay paralyzed 1d6x10 turns.

A carnivore as big as a light horse, the rhagodessa has a dark brown body, glittering black eyes, a huge yellowish head with massive mandibles, and ten legs, the foremost pair tipped with suckers. Those strike first, dealing no damage but gripping with Strength 20; next round the victim is hauled in for an automatic 2d4 bite. Harassed while eating, it lifts up to 700 pounds of prey and runs. It climbs most sheer faces that are not slick, even with a load if the rock is rough or fissured, and eats its catch as soon as it can.