| Notes |
This large spider-like monster has an eerie, humanoid face surrounded by a shaggy mane of fur.
Phase spiders are voracious predators from the Ethereal Plane who hunt on the Material Plane. When prey is located, the spider shifts to the Ethereal Plane to prepare an ambush. Against a lone victim, the spider shifts to the Material Plane, bites the victim, then retreats back to the Ethereal Plane to wait for the poison to take effect. Against multiple foes, a phase spider follows these same tactics, and on each round a foe remains in reach at the start of its turn, it repeats this gambit. If no foes are in reach, it moves while ethereal to prepare an attack on an available target, but unless it feels safe in spending an entire round on the Material, it won’t phase back to attack unless it can do so while saving an action for an escape.
Phase spiders are the natural enemy of another denizen of the Ethereal Plane—the xill. The two races have long fought a bloody war with no real prospect of a resolution anytime soon. Were phase spiders less horrifying and alien in appearance, they might find the allies they need to defeat the sinister xill among other races, but their monstrous forms and often overwhelming hunger make diplomacy difficult.
On the Ethereal Plane, phase spiders can manipulate the raw smoky ether in a manner similar to how a spider manipulates webs. Vast, complex nests of semisolid ether float idly through the eddies of the Ethereal Plane, each supporting numerous phase spiders. The creatures enjoy each other’s company, but have no real concept of family—a newborn phase spider is fully capable of fending for itself and is treated no differently by its parents or siblings than any other.
The typical phase spider is 8 feet long and weighs about 700 pounds.
TACTICS
During Combat The phase spiders wait on the Ethereal Plane to ambush intruders. When targets enter the hallway, the spiders move to each end of the tunnel to block escape. They then shift to the Material Plane to attack and retreat back to the Ethereal Plane, being careful to keep victims in reach in order to repeat the tactic the following round. Barring this, the spiders move while ethereal to prepare an attack on an available target, reserving an action for an escape. The spiders avoid area G21, where they can’t shift to the Ethereal Plane.
Morale The phase spiders retreat to the Ethereal Plane if both are reduced to serous wounds on vital areas.
Ethereal Ambush
A phase spider that attacks foes on the Material Plane gains surprise if it begins the combat by phasing into the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane.
Ethereal Jaunt
A phase spider can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as a free action, and shift back again as a move action. An ethereal creature is invisible, insubstantial, and capable of moving in any direction, even up or down, albeit at half normal speed. As an insubstantial creature, you can move through solid objects, including living creatures. An ethereal creature can see and hear on the Material Plane, but everything looks grey and ephemeral. Sight and hearing onto the Material Plane are limited to 60 feet.
Phase Spider Poison
Application: Injection, requires only a small cut
Potency: END of spider
Resistance: Endurance
Onset time: 1 turn
Duration: 8 rounds
Conditions: If not resisted, the victim takes 1d2 point loss to CON per round. After 4 rounds the victim suffers whole body paralysis. If CON falls to zero the character dies as their internal organs turn to soup.
Treatment: Antivenom or magical treatment only.
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