The spider eater is a winged insect-like creature that paralyzes victims to serve as hosts for their eggs.
Description[]
Appearance[]
Spider eaters are large, 10 feet long and 4 feet tall, and somewhat resemble a wasp or a bee, despite only having two legs. The colors of a spider eater are horribly mismatched; the head, legs and stinger are red, the central body yellow, and the wings a bluish-black. Its wings are not gauzy like those of most insects, instead being leathery, like those of a bat or dragon. The head sports eight eyes and a pair of mandibles. The legs bear pincers, and the stinger a black hook. Growing from the abdomen are short, sharp, thin spikes, and little hairs grow on the rest of the body.
Personality and alignment[]
A spider eater is always neutral.
Abilities and traits[]
Spider eaters attack by landing on prey and driving the stinger into the victim. Though they prefer giant spiders as prey, they sometimes attack humanoids as well.
Ecology[]
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Environment[]
Lair[]
Life cycle[]
A female spider eater lays eggs in the paralyzed bodies of prey, to give the newborns something to eat the moment they hatch.
Diet[]
As the name suggests, a spider eater's favorite food is giant spiders.
Society and culture[]
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Relationships and family[]
Strangely, spider eaters are sometimes valued as aerial steeds. Their eggs are stolen from the giant spider carcasses they are born in, and the creatures are raised from birth. Riding a spider eater requires an exotic saddle, and 6 weeks of training.
Organization[]
Enemies[]
Allies and minions[]
Religion[]
Language[]
Treasure[]
Harvesting[]
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History[]
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Notable spider eaters[]
For a full list of spider eaters, see Category:Spider eaters.
Related creatures[]
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Publication history[]
D&D 3rd edition[]
The spider eater first appeared in the Monster Manual (3.0) (2000) and was updated in the Monster Manual (3.5) (2003).
Creative origins[]
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Reception and influence[]
Like most D&D 3.5 monsters, the spider eater was imported into Paizo's Pathfinder role-playing game, where it appeared in Pathfinder Bestiary 3 (2011).
External links[]
- Spider Eater at the Hypertext d20 SRD