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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8743938" data-attributes="member: 6915329">You know what annoys me about most arctic monsters in D&D? The fact that most of them use cold-based attacks. Everything that lives in the fantasy arctic is immune or at least resistant to cold damage, so why is it that so many arctic monsters use cold to attack? Seriously. Yeti: chilling gaze; white dragon and winter wolf: cold breath; winter hag: cold-based spells. Of all the energy-attack-using arctic monsters, really the only unusual one is the heat-using remorhaz. I guess arctic monsters just attack each other with tooth and claw.Anyhow, the final spider is the polar spider, which at least relies on its venomous bite and nasty spurs. This is actually going to be a combination of two monsters: the polar spider from this article and the snow spider from Dragon Magazine Annual #2 (which I just made bigger). A third version appeared in 3x’s Frostburn, and very similar to the one from issue #118. I don’t know if it was based on that spider or if there’s only so much you can do with an artic spider, however.Polar SpiderThe Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine 118, and The Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine Annual #2Created by K.L. Campbell and Belinda G. AshleyThe polar spider, or snow spider, is an enormous beast found only in the coldest and most remote arctic forests and mountains. They don’t build webs and instead are roaming hunters. They live in small packs, and while they mostly hunt alone, they will sometimes gang together to bring down larger prey.Despite appearances, snow spiders are warm-blooded mammal-arachnid hybrids. Their fur is silvery white with pale brown banding on their legs, and their eyes are pale blue. They have both toothy jaws and chelicerae, which are ivory white and overly long. Although they are not very intelligent, polar spiders have their own language, a combination of clicking noises and gestures. They can learn to understand other languages, but not speak them.Feared Hunters. Polar spiders have a potent venom so deadly that it’s even a danger to much larger creatures such as giants and dragons. They are smart enough to avoid healthy individuals, but a giant or dragon that has been weakened in some manner is fair game to them. Their favored attack isn’t their venom, though, but the sharp, retractable, bone spur sheathed within each of their legs. Fortunately for other creatures, polar spiders spend the warmer months of the year hibernating.Pack-Minded. These creatures live in small packs consisting of mostly males and one “queen,” the sole breeding female. She never leaves the lair—usually an icy cavern—and spends her time enlarging it. Twice each year, she births one or two kits, with the rarely-produced female kits usually being destroyed. If the pack becomes too large or the queen begins to grow too old, however, the queen will raise a female to adulthood and send her and a few males forth to forth to found a new pack, or allow her to take over the pack—at which point the young queen will kill and eat the older one. Despite all this, the members of a pack are dedicated to one another and will choose to die if captured and kept separated from its pack.Legends and LoreWith an Arcana or Nature check, the characters can learn the following:DC 10. Polar spiders are vicious, pack-oriented predators that live in remote arctic forests. Despite their name, they are not actually spiders and do not spin webs.DC 15. Polar spiders are known for their corrosive bites and very potent venom that is difficult to treat.DC 20. Although they look and act like animals, they are fairly intelligent and have a language of their own.Polar Spider EncountersTerrain: forests, tundraCR 3-4 polar spiderCR 5-10 2-3 polar spidersCR 11-16 4-5 polar spidersSigns1. A shed bone leg spike.2. A dead (female) kit.3. The half-eaten remains of a moose. With a DC 13 Nature check, puncture wounds surrounded by acid-burned flesh.4. With a DC 15 Perception check, a soft chittering noise.Behavior1. Hunting; will attack on sight.2. Hibernating (summer months only)3. Devouring the corpse of a young frost giant or white dragon4. A young queen and her entourage, out looking for new territory..Polar SpiderLarge monstrosityChallenge 3 (700 XP)AC 16 (natural armor)HP 57 (6d10+24; bloodied 28)Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.STR 16 (+3) DEX 14 (+2) CON 18 (+4)INT 6 (-2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 8 (-1)Proficiency +2Maneuver DC 15Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4Damage Immunities coldSenses passive Perception 13Languages Polar SpiderCold Mastery. The polar spider’s movement and vision is not hindered by cold, icy surfaces, snow, wind, or storms. Additionally, the spider can choose to burrow through snow, but not solid ice, without leaving a trace.Camouflage. The polar spider has advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in snowy terrain.Fire Weakness. If the polar spider takes at least 10 points of fire damage, it takes 3 (1d6) ongoing fire damage until it uses an action to put itself out. While it takes fire damage, its speed is reduced by 10 feet.Jumper. The polar spider can jump up to 10 feet horizontally and 15 feet vertically without a running start.Keen Sight. The polar spider has advantage on Perception checks that rely on sight.Pack Tactics. The polar spider has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the polar spider’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitatedSpider Climb. The polar spider can climb even on difficult surfaces and upside down on ceilings.ActionsMultiattack. The polar spider makes two leg spike attacks.Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 11 (2d10) poison damage plus 5 (1d10) acid damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. A creature that fails its save is also poisoned and takes 3 (1d6) ongoing poison damage for 1 minute, or until a creature makes a DC 14 Medicine check to treat the wound. Attempts to treat the ongoing poison damage through nonmagical means are rolled at disadvantage.Leg Spike. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8+5) piercing damage.CombatThe polar spider prefers to start off combat by biting, then using its spikes while the target is still suffering from corrosive venom.</blockquote>

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