Large Beast, Unaligned
- AC
- 14
- Initiative
- +3 (13)
- HP
- 26 (4d10+4)
- Speed
- 30 ft., Climb 30 ft.
| Score | Mod | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 14 | +2 | +2 |
| DEX | 16 | +3 | +3 |
| CON | 12 | +1 | +1 |
| INT | 2 | -4 | -4 |
| WIS | 11 | +0 | +0 |
| CHA | 4 | -3 | -3 |
Traits
Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including along ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webs, and it knows the location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Actions
Bite. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) Piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.
Web (Recharge 5-6). Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 13, one creature the spider can see within 60 feet. Failure: The target has the Restrained condition until the web is destroyed (AC 10; HP 5; Vulnerability to Fire damage; Immunity to Poison and Psychic damage).
How to run Giant Spider
A giant spider on the party's side works as a druid wild shape, a drow mount, a warlock familiar, or a temple guardian. Whoever controls the spider speaks for it. The spider has Intelligence 2 and no language.
Use the climb speed for scouts and infiltration. The spider scales a tower, walks a ceiling, navigates through chimneys and crevices. Stealth +7, Darkvision 60 feet, 30 feet of climb speed makes it the best scout at this CR level. It can't pick locks or read, but it can cross a guarded chamber no humanoid scout would attempt and report back what it saw.
In combat the spider is a one-attack disruption. Drop it from a ceiling onto an enemy caster, Bite once for 1d8+3 plus 2d6 poison and a Concentration save, then accept that the spider won't last more than one round of focused fire. Treat it like an expensive tactical tool, not a durable combatant. If the party bonds with it, give them a chance to retrieve the body afterward rather than just replacing it.
The spider won't improvise without its handler. If the handler falls or leaves, the spider climbs to the highest point and waits. No independent retreat, no instinctive attacks. Without commands, it simply stops working.
A giant spider is a CR 1 ambush predator with 26 HP, AC 14, Spider Climb, and Web Walker. It has a Bite at +5 for 1d8+3 piercing plus 2d6 poison, and Web at DC 13 Dex save that Restrains on failure. The climb speed is everything. On flat ground the spider is a two-round kill. On a ceiling, it becomes a positioning problem.
Stage the fight in three dimensions. A webbed cavern with high ceiling, barn rafters, a forest canopy. The spider uses Spider Climb to move freely on any surface, including on the ceiling above the party's heads. Stealth +7 and Darkvision 60 feet mean the spider has watched the party for a round before combat. On initiative, have it drop from above onto a trailing PC, Bite once, and force the party to react to an attack from above.
Once combat starts, the spider's low Intelligence means it bites the closest target and stays there. It doesn't disengage, doesn't reposition, doesn't break grapples. A party that can pin it on the ground kills it in two focused rounds. A spider running across the ceiling between turns forces melee characters to either climb or just swing at empty air.
Once the spider drops below half HP on a web-covered surface, it climbs to a hole in the ceiling and hides. Beasts don't die for territory. The spider eats today if it can, rests if it can't, and hunts again tomorrow. Hang a wrapped cocoon from the ceiling where the party can see it. Don't explain what's inside. They will figure it out.
Stat block from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 © Wizards of the Coast LLC, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.