Jul 14, 2012

Troll Spider - Encounter from Web of Ostigaar

The Troll Spider was first written up in the "Week of Trolls" series of postings, when this blog was integrated with Gaming with Chuck.

Those stats were written specifically for Castles and Crusades, mostly because I was running a C&C campaign at the time.  They are re-presented here, in classic OSR format, very nearly OD&D or AD&D 1st edition standard (as are almost all encounters that are presented at Valley of the Old Ones).  The description of the Troll Spider, and their proclivity to hang about with Triders was presented in the original Week of Trolls article, only the translation of the game statistics is presented here.


Troll Spider
Num Appearing: 1d12
Alignment: neutral
Movement: Run 90'/Climb 60' (climb also includes walking on vertical or inverted surfaces, such as ceilings)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 5hd (30hp)
Attacks: 1 bite, poison, web, regeneration
Damage: 1d8
Save:F5
Morale:8
Treasure: None
Special: Troll Spiders are quite aggressive, and often accompany Triders and Trolls. Troll Spiders seem to have a rudimentary understanding of commands issued from these creatures, as well as from Dark Elves.
Poison: The Troll Spider, upon biting, injects a poison that requires the victim to make a save vs. poison with a -2.  If the save is a success, no further effects occur. If the save is a failure, then the victim takes an immediate 1d6 damage, and must make a second save the next round (without the -2). If the second save is a failure, then the victim takes an additional 1d6 damage, and is paralyzed for 1d4 hours. Success in the second round means no additional damage. Some troll spiders (50%) can spit their poison up to 30 feet.
Web: The Troll Spider can create a web, as per the Web spell, up to 8x per day.
Regeneration: The Troll Spider can regenerate as per a troll, at the rate of 3HP per round. If the Troll Spider falls, it will reform in 3d6 rounds. The Troll Spider's unique physiology mean that it is immune to acid attacks, and can only be kept from regenerating or reforming by flame attacks or burning the bodily remains.



 If encountered in the wild, the Troll Spider group is likely to represent the adult warriors of a family group.  There will be a (non-combatant) queen, and several groups of warriors (at least 4) that will spread out and encounter the invaders as separate encounters, while they get closer to the queen's nest.  In such a situation, each group is only 1d8 spiders.  The nest is likely to have 2-3 thousand GP of assorted goods and treasures from consumed victims.

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