D&D 5E 5E Beast Companion Mechanics.

[Nebulous]

It doesn’t have webs? I’d have assumed it did, too! Lol

It has webwalk and websense, but no, it can't spin a web. In real life (not that real life matters in D&D) wolf spiders don't spin webs either.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It has webwalk and websense, but no, it can't spin a web. In real life (not that real life matters in D&D) wolf spiders don't spin webs either.

Huh.

 

[Weiley31]

It doesn’t have webs? I’d have assumed it did, too! Lol

The Spider's character arc is trying to gain/learn the ability to cast Web while learning basic writing skills with said webs.

 

[Nebulous]

The Spider's character arc is trying to gain/learn the ability to cast Web while learning basic writing skills with said webs.

She would actually totally be on board with that. It sits in bars at taverns and drinks beer with them. Patrons don't mind, once you've seen one giant wolf spider getting soused you've seen everything.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

I let the tiefling ranger have a wolf spider pet, and it is causing problems. Maybe it's how the pet is used (we switched from the core to the new revised ranger recently) but the pet spider is treated as a highly intelligent extension of the ranger and follows all orders beyond what an Int 3 creature would know. Such as, climb 90 feet into that tower and go in the window and retrieve the wizard's spellbook and bring it back. I tried to tell the player the beast isn't smart enough and I got argued with from several people (dogs can fetch, why can't the spider?). I wish they would just leave it as Attack/Defend, but the description is so vague it is open ended as to what the pet is actually capable of doing.

I mean if the ranger can point out the window, the spider could probably go there and bring something back. If you make a good enough Handle Animal check, it might even be some kind of book.

Another instance, someone was temporarily blinded with goop in their eyes, and the player wanted to order the spider to clean the goop away. This happens a lot, ordering the spider to do...weird things...and I cannot decide how to handle it. I don't think a ferret, dog, mule, or wolf would know what someone meant to "clean Beorn's eyes off" unless we are talking about exceptionally intelligent magical creatures, but I thought these were forest animals, albeit resurrected magically. So, cleaning the eyes is what the "character" would do, but tries to use the spider to do it instead as a remote control extension of herself.

I'd have let it do that to the best of its ability.
Of course spiders don't have tongues or hands, but their mouthparts are pretty complex. So popping out one of Beorn's eyes and nibbling the goop off it before trying to pop it back in sounds like the approach it would take. 🕷

 

[Nebulous]

I mean if the ranger can point out the window, the spider could probably go there and bring something back. If you make a good enough Handle Animal check, it might even be some kind of book.

I'd have let it do that to the best of its ability.
Of course spiders don't have tongues or hands, but their mouthparts are pretty complex. So popping out one of Beorn's eyes and nibbling the goop off it before trying to pop it back in sounds like the approach it would take. 🕷

She would have said it wipes goop away from eyes with an appendage after climbing on the person's head. Like windshield wipers. Although you bring up a good point, I could start asking for Handle Animal checks with varying DCs (a free action probably unless it's super complicated) depending on the complexity of what the PC is asking.

Remember that scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 when Groot brings back all the wrong naughty word again and again and again???