Advice needed: How to slowly reveal the presence of a hive mind

So my party is currently delving into this massive spider lair. So far they've been in the upper layers and have been fighting a collection of largely stupid spiders. But what they don't know is that the lair is actually home to a massive spider hive mind led by a spider queen. The hive mind isn't evil, just different, and the deeper the PCs go, the more the hive mind is able to exert control over the individual spiders.

I want to slowly reveal the presence of this hive mind via a steady drip of clues and let my players ultimately decide whether what they are doing is wrong it not.

Anyone have any ideas on how to do this elegantly?

How aware is the queen, and the hivemind, of the PCs?

At the edges of the hive, the PCs might not come to the attention of the queen. If the population of spiders drops suddenly in an outer area, does the queen notice that? Does the queen then direct more attention, in the form of scout spiders which explore autonomously then return with a report? Does the queen direct more attention, in the form of more directly controlling spiders in the area infested with PCs?

Is the hivemind aware that it's not the only intelligence in the world? Does it worship a deity? Does it trade with other hiveminds, or with Drow, or with anything else? Has it ever had a conversation with any intelligent entity?

Does it have any goals beyond keeping the queen well fed? Does it *want* to spread out into more territory? Does it want to produce a second queen which can take some spiders in search of another lair and a separate hive?

One possible set of clues: tactical evolution. If the PCs have used fire to destroy webs in cave A, then the spiders in cave B take appropriate counter measures, such as diverting a stream to keep the webs damp. If the PCs investigate, they see that spiders spun webbing into tubes, from a spring or stream, then radiating like an irrigation system. This is evidence of intelligent opposition. They may wonder whether the spiders in cave B observed the events of cave A.

The players reach cave C. They see a few spiders, and attack. Those spiders flee. If the PCs pursue, then they will follow the fleeing spiders into a chokepoint, with LOTS of webs ready to drop onto them from above, and spiders with Prepared Actions who attack from hiding (sometimes with Advantage) as the PCs move into adjacent squares. Why did the spiders of cave C set up an ambush? How did they know the PCs were coming?

The PCs approach cave D more cautiously. Good, because now the spiders have recruited allies. As the PCs enter, a spider pulls a web so that it no longer blocks the connection to cave E... which is full of bats. Thousands of bats. The bats do no harm, but the cloud of bats obscures vision and counts as difficult terrain.

Perhaps the hive learns from the PCs. Perhaps it notices that armor is useful, and the spiders of cave F spin extra layers of webbing around their carapaces, adding 1 to their AC, also causing a chance that a melee weapon which hits will then stick to the target. The spiders of cave G then do a layer of webbing, followed by bits of carapace from dead spiders, then more webbing to hold it all in place: they have invented studded (composite) armor, and thus heavy infantry!

Perhaps the hive learns to make and use fire.

Perhaps the hive observes the party's spellcasters, and learns to cast spells! If the party includes a bard, then spiders learn that music can influence the Weave! The PCs have killed many spiders, but they have taught the hive so much!

Perhaps the hive queen learns to Animate Dead. The PCs have, by now, turned many spiders into corpses. Well, the queen can still direct those corpses, after she animates them.

The hive might try to communicate with the PCs. I ran a SF adventure in which there are animals which mostly roam autonomously, except when the hive queen takes direct control. So there are animals acting normally... then two of them walk over to a PC, sit in front of him, and stare, not moving. Then a third one joins, and sits to form an equilateral triangle. Then two more, and they form a pentagon. Then two more. Then four more. Then two more.

At this point, a player realized that the totals were 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 which are prime numbers.

And then the hive queen gave up. She had shown the PCs that she was intelligent, and they had not responded. So she released the 11 animals, and they scatter to hunt, groom, nap, and do other animal behaviors. This baffled the players and the PCs.

But if the PCs had made stacks of rocks, in the same sequence, then the hive would have noticed.

Brilliant post. Thank you for taking the time to write all that. You have given me some great ideas.

The PCs have just reached the point were the hive queen has become aware of them. As a matter of fact, she just recently kidnapped one of the PC's followers to try and learn something about them. She doesn't understand that each human is basically a mind unto itself and definitely doesn't get the severity behind stealing a human being like she did.

Last game, the PCs ran into this Bloodrager Drider who was sent down into the lair by his Drowess master to steal the spider queen's new egg sack (for some nefarious drow purpose that has not been revealed) that will one day birth a new queen and thus expand the hive. They formed an uneasy alliance with him (it's a "the enemy of enemy is my friend" type situation). He agreed to join the party, using his not insignificant power over spiders to greatly assist the party's decent so long as they give him the egg sack in the end.

I'm trying to put the party into a situation where they either have to steal from the Spider Queen (who isn't evil and is just trying to do what's best for her hive) and make an enemy of her, or betray the Drider (who is without a doubt evil) and make an enemy of him. This is why it's so important that the party eventually realize that the Hive is intelligent, benign, AND, if you think about it, a great friend to have.

My first guess as to the nefarious purpose: a drow noble wants a spiderhive which is under its control, perhaps to guard and secure a border (drow from that house can come and go through hive territory, and the hive kills all other trespassers). Or as a deniable assassin - hey, our ancient rival was killed by giant spiders, we were not involved!

Theme here: who is "us" and who is "them"? The drider is, like the PCs, an individual intelligence, which uses spoken language. The hive seems alien, Other, therefore a mutual enemy. On another claw, though, it's not evil, neither are they - so which difference matters more? Individual vs. Hive, Mammal vs. Invertebrate, Evil vs. Non-Evil?

What motivated the PCs to enter hive territory in the first place?

Do any of the PCs have Speak with Animal spell? Do the spiders each have animal intelligence, when not under direction from the queen?

There are many stories involving hive minds. I love "Angel Station" by Walter Jon Williams, which is a First Contact story between humans and non-humans, though humans have already split into divergent categories.

Speaking of which: is there a possibility of trade, does the hive have anything of value to surface society, other than lots of spider silk rope?

If you want an escalating sense of awareness about the hive mind you could escalate the displays of intelligence and cooperation. Consider these stages for instance...

Stage One: Have spiders act in ways that spiders would not normally do... perhaps in ways that aren’t in their own self interest. Examples could include a large spider watching the party for a time then scuttling away, only to be seen watching the party at a later date. Or a spider dragging an object away that a spider would clearly have no use for.

Stage Two: Have the spiders cooperate to do things spiders couldn’t do alone. For instance to bridge an underground stream, spider swarms cling to each other forming a bridge. Individual spiders tumble into the water and are swept away but as a whole the spider swarms bridge the river. Or the spiders form a living wall obscuring something the spider queen doesn’t want the PCs to see.

Stage Three: Have the spiders communicate en mass. That’s one of the surest signs of intelligence. Maybe the spiders arrange themselves into runes. Or even form a human like face that the forms sounds from rustling legs (think of the Intelligence at the end of the third matrix film forming the face from hundreds of the seeker robots)

[i love your concept by the way, I’m definitely stealing it! It could work with any swarm like intellignce]

Another possible source of inspiration: "Sandkings" by GRR Martin. One of the grimmest, most gruesome horror stories I have ever read.

Thanks again for some more great ideas. Riley37 & TheSword, you guys have really inspired me.

To answer a couple questions:

Why are the PCs there?
My campaign is a sandbox game that narratively keeps the focus on the interaction between three regular guys (the main PCs) trying to strike it rich as adventurers. Pretty classic stuff, but I'm really pleased with how well the three main PCs interact with each other. Their interactions would be at home in a Bioware RPG.

The "adventure" part of the game is loosely based around Rappan Athuk as the main focus, although to be honest, they haven't actually been in Rappan Athuk itself in almost a year now. We have a tendency to get sidetracked, but whatever, it's there when they want to go back. For the record, I put Rappan Athuk in place of the Warlock's Crypt in the Western Heartlands of Faerun.

This current event started out with a simple random encounter while the party was hex-crawling around the wilderness map. The PCs came across an overturned Seven Suns Trading Coster wagon that had been run off the road by bandits (it was traveling the Trade Way from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep). The PCs discovered that, upon escaping the bandits, the wagon broke an axle. While trying to repair their wagon, the traders were beset by large spiders and dragged off.

Upon further investigation, they found a little girl hiding in a barrel, having been put there by one of the wagon guards when the spiders attacked. She begged the party to find her father, incentivizing them by dropping numerous hints about how rich, important, and grateful her dad would be. The party, following the drag marks on the ground, searched around for a bit and found the Spider Lair a half mile to the northeast... and down they went.

Can any of the party Speak to Animals?

No and the spiders have only the most rudimentary intelligence when not being directed by the hive. But now that you mention it, its a great idea. I can drop a Speak to Animals scroll or wand on the next dead adventurer they loot. I think I'll do that. Sounds interesting. If they use this scroll for the right reasons, it might be a big clue.

Is there a possibility of trade?

Sure. The party is going to get the opportunity to start their own town in the coming months. One of the PCs is very concerned with building himself a nest egg to fall back on, realizing that he can't be an adventurer forever. Having a Hive Queen as a friend would be useful for a million reasons, trade being just the beginning. If they side with the Hive Queen, she will ultimately give them the ability to contact her by speaking to any spider. Of course they'd have to wait however long to get a message back, but think about how useful that would be as an adventurer.

solamon77 said:

Upon further investigation, they found a little girl hiding in a barrel, having been put there by one of the wagon guards when the spiders attacked.

Click to expand...

Speak with Animals, as a scroll, is excellent, because it gives them *one chance* to make peace with the hive. I recommend starting a timer, whenever a PC uses the scroll. Warn them that they get only ten minutes, in which they can RP whatever conversation ensues - and the hive will only understand the one who cast the spell, so if relaying words from another PC takes some of that time, then it takes time on the clock. (If they didn't get their story straight with each other before one of them uses the scroll, well, choices have consequences.)

Alternative: a scroll of Detect Thoughts.

Hm, the little girl, is she waiting outside? have hive spiders found her? captured her, wrapped her in webbing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B436avtEXzs

The drider plans to ditch the PCs, as soon as the drider has possession of the egg sac, right?

“You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them ing each other over for a goddamn percentage.” - Ellen Ripley

No, they took the girl to a friend who lives a day away for safety. He's this disgraced knight who raises prize horses out of this run-down mansion on the edge of the woods. He owed the party a favor so they have him watching over the girl.

As for the Drider, he will stick to the terms of his bargain. He told the party that he'd help them in their fight so long as he got the egg sack after it was all over with. Assuming they don't screw him, he won't screw them. But yes, once he gets the egg sack, he moves on.