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Message: <blockquote data-quote="schnee" data-source="post: 7332579" data-attributes="member: 16728">There are a lot of people here that are making up all sorts of stuff to nerf something that's incredibly useful in some situations and worthless in others.For scouting a cave system? A spider is great, and they will be able to see and do a lot and will either be not seen at all - due to Disadvantage on Perception from dim light, good Stealth bonus, really weird and uneven surfaces that give plenty of hiding places, the spider being the same color as the surroundings, and a high probability that the monsters in the cave have far worse things to worry about than a spider.For scouting the hut of a Green Hag? They are familiar with woodland creatures, sly fey, and (probably) Druids, so expect a bunch of alert pets that will be the type to attempt to eat a spider or mouse or bird - if they find them and can catch them. But, a Hag will have a crazy, fanciful home full of stuff that gives plenty of places to hide. So, this one might be fraught with peril, and if the Hag sees an odd creature that isn't familiar to it, it may use it's at-will Detect Magic to see what kind of thing it is. So, the scouting Druid has to be smart, and if they go in with further counter-measures - i.e. Pass Without Trace running - they're much more likely to succeed, but it's still potentially bad.For scouting the royal palace? That's going to have smooth clean surfaces, colorful paint, excellent lighting,  and extremely alert guards with missile weapons at critical junctures trained to shoot first and ask questions later. I mean, a spider as big as your foot running around would be killed on sight just for the 'eewww gross' factor. This isn't even covering things like Glyphs of Warding in critical places and airtight doorways that were probably designed after the king's planners consulted with high level mages.So my advice is to think of the world in 'what would these creatures/people do' terms, and consider their abilities, personalities, amount of experience with magic, and levels of smarts and alertness, then it will all play out well. The player will not feel cheated if they are clearly given enough narration and world-building.I mean, it might be *fun* if the 'guard in a cave full of Kobolds' rolls really high, sees the spider, rubs it's belly and says 'ooooh, I know whats we eats tonight, SPIDER STEW!' and starts walking over to the javelins - giving the Druid time to escape. That makes sense, and isn't killing them just because you can. But stuff like 'paste that's bad for spiders'? Maybe use that for a paranoid alchemist, but everyone else, that's way too specific and will seem like the DM is just being unfair.</blockquote>

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