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Sand Spider, Hunting
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| Large Vermin |
| Hit Dice: | 6d8 +6 (33 hp) |
| Initiative: | +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) |
| Speed: | 30 ft., burrow 10 ft. |
| AC: | 15 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 12 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +4/+12 |
| Attack: | Bite +8 melee (1d8+4 plus poison) | | Full Attack: | 2 bites +8 melee (1d8+4 plus poison) |
| Space/Reach: | 10 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Poison, pounce | | Special Qualities: | Tremorsense 60 ft. |
| Saves: | Fort 5, Ref 4, Will 2 |
| Abilities: | Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int -, Wis 12, Cha 4 |
| Skills: | Climb +9, Hide +12*, Jump +19*, Move Silently +8* | | Feats: | Improved Initiative |
| Environment: | Warm desert and underground |
| Organization: | Colony 5-20 (3d6+2) |
| Challenge Rating: | 4 |
| Treasure: | 1/10 coins; 50% goods; 50% items |
| Alignment: | Always Neutral |
| Advancement: | 6-15 (Large) |
| Level Adjustment: | - |
- Appearance
- Sand spiders have broad and low bodies that hug the ground. They are dark brown in color and have thick, black
hairs that jut from their legs and are used to detect tremors of other creatures touching the ground. Sand spiders live in
tunnels beneath the desert ground.
- Combat
- Sand Spiders attack from surprise and hunt by creating sinkholes for prey to fall through or by hiding beneath the
soft sand and leaping out to surprise their prey, depending on the desert type.
Pounce (Ex): If a sand spider leaps on a foe during the first round of
combat it can make a full attack even if it has already taken a move action.
Poison (Ex): Fortitude DC 18, primary damage 1d6 Dex, secondary damage
1d6 dex.
Tremorsense (Ex): Sand spiders have relatively poor eyesight
(normal vision and darkvision 30 ft.) and so they depend on their Tremorsense. A sand spider can automatically sense
anything in contact within 60 ft. that is in contact with the ground.
Vermin Traits: Immune to all mind-influencing effects (charms, compulsions,
phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
Skills: Sand spiders receive a +10 racial bonus to all Jump checks. They
receive a +5 racial bonus to Move Silently and Hide checks.
- Habitat/Society
- Each sand spider colony has one queen, a huge spider that lays all of the eggs for the colony and which masterminds the
activities of all in her brood. Worker sand spiders number sometimes in the hundreds and are small, web-spinning spiders
that entomb and inject their flesh preserving and mind-numbing poisons into captured victims bodies for later use as food.
Hunting sand spiders exist in the middle of the hierarchy, they are defenders of the queen and also gather food for the
colony. The center of the colony is typically underground and at the center of a maze of tunnels.
- Ecology
- Sand spiders are hunters, not hunted. Desert nomads claim that their meat is sweet and that their exoskeleton makes
for a superior armor than traditional leather. Sand spider hunters rarely travel more than tens of minutes distant from
a colony entrance. Several miles exist between one colony and another.
- History
- Sand spiders are a common hazard in the Desert of Three Winds where they build large complexes beneath the hard desert
ground and trap their prey by leaving fragile covered pit traps.
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