Buy me a coffeePhase Spider
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 a move 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.
Phase Spider
Large monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 32 (5d10 + 5)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 6 (-2) | 10 (+0) | 6 (-2) |
Skills Stealth +6
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Special Traits
- Ethereal Jaunt: As a bonus action, the spider can magically shift from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane, or vice versa.
- Spider Climb: The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
- Web Walker: The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Actions
- Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way.
About
A phase spider possesses the magical ability to phase in and out of the Ethereal Plane. It seems to appear out of nowhere and quickly vanishes after attacking. Its movement on the Ethereal Plane before coming back to the Material Plane makes it seem like it can teleport.
Phase Spider, Giant
Huge monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 76 (6d12 + 24)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 6 (-2) | 10 (+0) | 6 (-2) |
Note: The ability scores shown above were copied from the base, non-giant phase spider because no ability scores were provided in the source material for this page.
Skills Perception +4. Stealth +10
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Senses truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages –
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
SPECIAL TRAITS
- Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
- Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
- Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.
ACTIONS
- Multiattack. The spider makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite attack.
- Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (1d10 + 4) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 18 (4d8) poison damage and becomes poisoned for 1 minute. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and isn’t poisoned. While poisoned this way, a creature must roll a d20 at the start of each of its turns. On a 11 or higher, unless it’s already on the ethereal plane, vanishes from its current plane of existence and appears in the ethereal plane. A creature moved to the ethereal plane in this way returns once it rolls a 10 or lower on the d20 at the start of its turn, or when the effect ends. When the creature returns, it reappears in the space it vanished from, or the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied. A creature can repeat its saving throw at the start of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
- Ethereal Web (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit. range 30/60 ?., one creature. Hit: The target is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained target can make a DC 14 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 12: hp 10: vulnerability to fire damage; resistance to piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage). The spider’s webbing can target and affect creatures on the ethereal plane.
BONUS ACTIONS
- Ethereal Jaunt. The spider can magically shift from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane, or vice versa.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition Monstrous Menagerie. Copyright 2021, EN Publishing. www.levelup5e.com
Phase Spider CR 5
XP 1,600
N Large magical beast
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +5 natural, –1 size)
hp 51 (6d10+18)
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +3
Defensive Abilities ethereal jaunt
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee bite +10 (2d6+7 plus poison and grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks ethereal ambush
STATISTICS
Str 20, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +6; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 25 (37 vs. trip)
Feats Ability Focus (poison), Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills Climb +18, Perception +6, Stealth +7
Languages Aklo
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ethereal Ambush (Ex)
A phase spider that attacks foes on the Material Plane in a surprise round can take a full round of actions if it begins the combat by phasing into the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane.
Ethereal Jaunt (Su)
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 (or as part of a move action). The ability is otherwise identical to ethereal jaunt (CL 15th).
Poison (Ex)
Bite—injury; save Fort DC 18; frequency 1/round for 8 rounds; effect1d2 Constitution damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.
ECOLOGY
Environment warm hills
Organization solitary, pair, or cluster (3–6)
Treasure none
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.