Buy me a coffeeCave Fisher: The Subterranean Silken Hunter
“Meet the terrifying Cave Fisher: a monstrous predator lurking in the shadows, ready to ensnare unsuspecting adventurers with its sticky silk!”
The Cave Fisher is a terrifying predator native to the darkest depths of the underworld, blending the features of a monstrous crab and a stealthy ambush hunter. With a body stretching nearly 7 feet long and weighing 400 pounds, this creature has a hardened exoskeleton covered in jagged chitinous plates. Its eight spindly legs are equipped with sharp hooks, allowing it to cling to sheer stone surfaces with ease. The cave fisher’s bulbous body is segmented, and its rear is adorned with a specialized gland that extrudes a thin, silken filament—an appendage as deadly as it is delicate. Twin pincers jut out in front, capable of crushing bone, while its eyeless, insectoid head is crowned by a set of sharp, needle-like mandibles.
Behavior
Cave fishers are solitary, methodical hunters, driven purely by a primal instinct to hunt and feed. They are patient, lurking in darkness for days or even weeks without movement, waiting for prey to stumble into range. Despite their crab-like appearance, they are poor swimmers, preferring to traverse rugged, rocky surfaces with surprising speed and agility. They are cunning predators, able to discern the movements of creatures below and assess the size and strength of potential prey before striking.
Habitat
These creatures are exclusively found in deep, subterranean caverns—places where the light of day never penetrates. They favor high ledges, rocky ceilings, or narrow fissures that give them a tactical advantage. Bridges over chasms, ledges overlooking subterranean rivers, and treacherous drop-offs are their preferred hunting grounds, allowing them to prey on creatures passing below. Signs of a cave fisher’s presence include clusters of discarded bones and tangled remnants of its filaments, still clinging to rocks like ghostly cobwebs.
Modus Operandi
A cave fisher hunts using its signature weapon: a filament of sticky, incredibly strong silk. When a target approaches within 60 feet, the cave fisher lashes out with blinding speed, attempting to ensnare the prey in its thread. The filament, almost invisible in the gloom, is coated in a powerful adhesive that clings to anything it touches. Once a creature is caught, the cave fisher hauls it up swiftly using its powerful limbs, aiming to immobilize its prey while keeping itself at a safe distance from any threats below. The creature’s strength and natural instincts make it a relentless opponent, dragging its struggling victim closer until it can rip it apart with its massive pincers.
Motivation
The cave fisher is driven by a singular motivation: the need to feed. It is a pure predator, lacking any semblance of higher intelligence or malice. It hunts not out of cruelty but simply to survive. Yet, the sheer efficiency of its methods and the horrifying precision of its strikes give it an air of malevolent cunning. For the cave fisher, every ledge, crevice, and bridge is a potential trap, and every creature that wanders near is an opportunity for a fresh meal.
Cave Fisher 5e
Cave Fisher Pathfinder
Cave Fisher
Large Monstrosity, Unaligned
Armor Class 16 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 58 (9d10 + 9)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 (+4) | 13 (+1) | 12 (+1) | 3 (-4) | 11 (+0) | 4 (-3) |
Saving Throws Str +6
Skills Stealth +5, Perception +4, Athletics +6
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 30 ft., Passive Perception 14
Languages —
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3
Traits
- Spider Climb. It can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
- Filament. As a bonus action, the Cave Fisher can extrude a filament from a gland in its abdomen. This filament has a range of 60 feet and is nearly invisible in dim light or darkness. A creature struck by the filament is grappled (escape DC 14). Until the grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the Cave Fisher can use its Reel action to pull the creature toward it. The filament has AC 15, 10 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. A creature can sever the filament by dealing 10 slashing damage to it, which ends the grapple.
- Adhesive Filament. The filament is coated in a sticky adhesive that prevents easy escape. A creature grappled by the filament has disadvantage on checks to escape. A successful application of high alcohol content liquid (such as spirits) or a dose of universal solvent will dissolve the adhesive instantly.
- Camouflage. The Cave Fisher’s chitinous body is mottled and jagged, resembling the natural stone of the cavern. While in rocky environments, the Cave Fisher has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide.
Actions
- Multiattack. The Cave Fisher makes two Claw attacks.
- Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 14). The Cave Fisher can only grapple one creature at a time with its claws. - Filament (Recharge 5–6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 60 ft., one target.
Hit: The target is grappled (escape DC 14). The Cave Fisher can reel in the creature (see Reel) if the target is Large or smaller. - Reel. As an action, the Cave Fisher can pull one creature grappled by its Filament up to 30 feet closer to itself. If the creature is pulled within 5 feet, the Cave Fisher can use its reaction to make a Claw attack against it.
Bonus Actions
- Grappler’s Leap. If the Cave Fisher is grappling a creature with its Filament, it can leap up to 10 feet to a new location on a rock surface or ledge, maintaining the grapple. This leap does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Tactics
- Ambush Predator. It prefers to set up ambushes from high perches or ledges in dark, rocky caves, using its Camouflage to blend into the stone. It typically targets the rear of a party, focusing on isolated or vulnerable creatures. It begins by using its Filament to grapple a target from a distance, quickly reeling them in and using its Grappler’s Leap to reposition if needed.
- Reel and Tear. Once a creature is within reach, the Cave Fisher unleashes its Claw attacks, aiming to tear apart restrained prey. It will attempt to grapple multiple creatures by using its Filament and one claw attack, making it difficult for foes to escape or retaliate effectively.
- Defensive Fighter. If threatened or overwhelmed, the Cave Fisher uses its Grappler’s Leap to reposition and create distance, all while maintaining its grasp on its prey. It will scale walls or cling to ceilings to evade close-range attackers, using the terrain to its advantage.
- Opportunistic Feeder. The Cave Fisher is driven by hunger. If multiple creatures are ensnared, it will prioritize the weakest or easiest prey, often aiming to kill quickly and retreat to feed in a safer area.
Legendary Actions
The Cave Fisher can take 1 legendary action, choosing from the options below. It can only take one legendary action at the end of another creature’s turn.
- Reel In. The Cave Fisher pulls a creature grappled by its filament 10 feet closer.
- Pincer Strike. The Cave Fisher makes a single Claw attack against a creature within 5 feet.
Lair Actions
When in its lair (typically a cavern or ledge system high in the walls of a deep cave), the Cave Fisher can use the terrain to its advantage. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), it can take one of the following lair actions:
- Silken Snare. The Cave Fisher releases a coating of adhesive filament along a 10-foot section of rocky surface. Any creature touching the surface must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or become restrained. The filament dissolves after 1 minute.
- Rockfall. The Cave Fisher loosens a precariously balanced boulder or stalactite, dropping it onto a creature within 30 feet. The target must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone.
Environment & Lair
Cave Fishers inhabit dark, labyrinthine caves, often near chasms or underground rivers. They prefer locations that provide a height advantage, such as ledges overlooking steep drops or bridges where prey must pass beneath them. The rocky, uneven surfaces serve as perfect hunting grounds, allowing it to lie in wait, hidden, and strike from above with its nearly invisible Filament. Its lair is usually marked by bones, discarded prey remains, and lengths of tangled silk adhered to rocks.
When adventurers encounter a Cave Fisher in its element, they face a brutal and relentless opponent capable of pinning down and tearing apart unsuspecting prey, all while remaining out of reach of the main group.
Cave Fisher
This man-sized, crab-like monstrosity clings tenaciously to the rough stone, its enormous pincers held out menacingly before it.
Cave Fisher CR 2
XP 600
N Medium vermin
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 22 (3d8+9)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +1
Immune mind-affecting effects
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +5 (1d4+3)
Ranged filament +3 (drag)
Special Attacks pull (filament, 10 feet)
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 12, Con 17, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 4
Base Atk +2; CMB +5 (+9 with pull); CMD 16 (28 vs. trip)
Skills Climb +11
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Filament (Ex)
A cave fisher can fire a thin filament of sticky silk as a standard action. This touch attack has a range of 60 feet and no range increment. A creature struck by a cave fisher’s filament becomes attached to the sticky thread.
As a standard action, a creature can rip the filament free with a DC 20 Strength check. A caught creature can also attempt to escape a filament by making a DC 25 Escape Artist check. A filament is AC 14 (touch 12), has 5 hit points, and has DR 15/slashing. An application of liquid with high alcohol content (or a dose of universal solvent) dissolves the adhesive and releases the creature caught by the filament. A cave fisher can have only one filament active at a time.
Pull (Ex)
A cave fisher has a +4 racial bonus on CMB checks made using its pull special attack.
ECOLOGY
Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, or tangle (3–6)
Treasure none
The cave fisher is a highly specialized predator that dwells in caves. The creature’s mode of hunting is unique—it clambers up a cave wall to settle on a ledge or in a crack, typically at a height of at least 30 feet. Ledges overlooking bridges and lower ledges overlooking chasms are favored hunting grounds for the cave fisher.
The creature lies in wait until prey approaches within 60 feet, at which point it extrudes a thin cord of silk at blinding speed, lashing at the target as with a whip. The filament is incredibly sticky, and once the fisher strikes food with it, it reels in its meal to feed, trusting its position on a higher ledge to prevent any allies the meal may have from molesting it as it eats. Collections of bones and lengths of discarded filaments are sure signs of cave fisher habitation.
A cave fisher produces its filament from glands in its body; when it reels in a victim, it generally eats the filament along with its meal. It’s impossible to harvest new filaments from a dead cave fisher, but filaments harvested from living ones are incredibly light and strong, functioning as silk rope once the sticky adhesive on a length decomposes (which generally takes 3d6 minutes).
A cave fisher’s filament glands are useful in constructing sovereign glue and similar sticky magical items. A single cave fisher’s glands count as 100 gp worth of raw materials, offsetting the total cost of the item’s final creation.
Although cave fishers have many superficial similarities to crabs, they do not fare well in water and aren’t very good swimmers. Nevertheless, many cave fishers lair upon ledges overlooking swift-flowing subterranean rivers, giving them a relatively steady stream of food, especially in cases where such rivers are used as trade routes. Those who ply these rivers frequently travel with a few spare slaves or some unwanted livestock, and when they approach a known cave fisher haunt, they send down the unfortunate animal or slave on a raft to distract the monster’s hunger.
A cave fisher is 7 feet long and weighs 400 pounds.