Monster Mayhem - Drider Template
by Jonathan Tweet and Jeff Quick
A drider is a humanoid partially turned into a monstrous spider. The spider goddess Lolth subjects above-average 6th-level drow to a special test; those who fail become driders.
Driders are hated by drow, but often consider themselves specially blessed by their goddess and form their own expatriate cartels in which they work together sporadically under an air of intense distrust. They learn and expand their knowledge through loose information trades and temporary alliances. Thanks to these exchanges and individual experimentation, drider clerics, sorcerers, and wizards have learned how to effect the same change bestowed by their goddess on any humanoid. Though they consider their form to be a blessing, they know that changing other creatures into driders constitutes hideous torture. Drow-based driders enjoy the irony of their blessing being any other creature's bane.
Driders change not just in body, but in mind. Regardless of the base creature's former alignment, the new drider is chaotic evil. The base creature's memories and past convictions remain, but are swirled in a haze of destructive, anarchic urges that force the creature to commit chaotic evil acts. Only a wish or miracle spell can change a creature back from this new form. A polymorph other spell can change a drider's shape, but its mind continues to be trapped in the same chaotic evil haze.
Once changed, the creature is set loose to wander the Underdark alone. Other creatures, even other driders, seldom accept their company, though a drider may travel with spiders if he or she can stand to associate with the vermin. Regardless of origin, driders attack other creatures they find, normally through ambush. They greedily collect treasure from their kills.
Drow are generally amused by these rejects made in a reject's image, especially when a surface elf is made into a drider. However, drow do not suffer these aberrations to live any longer than they would a drider made from a drow. They do their laughing after the kill.
Creating a Drider
The process of change is fairly involved. It takes three days to complete, working eight hours a day, but requires no special equipment or laboratory beyond the drider's innate sorcerous abilities. The creature changed must be helpless, but does not have to be conscious.
"Drider" is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the "base creature"). The creature's type changes to "aberration" and loses all subtypes. The new drider uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size: Increase size one step over the base creature. The drider's new size determines its minimum Hit Dice, minimum natural armor, bite damage, and poison damage:
| New Size | Minimum Hit Dice | Minimum Natural Armor | Bite Damage | Poison Damage |
| Small | 3 | 3 | 1d2 | 1d3 Str |
| Medium-size | 4 | 4 | 1d3 | 1d4 Str |
| Large | 6 | 6 | 1d4 | 1d6 Str |
Hit Dice: If the base creature has fewer Hit Dice than the minimum drider Hit Dice for its size, it gains "aberration levels" until it reaches the minimum (use the "Creature advancement by type" table on page 13 of the Monster Manual). For this purpose, a fractional Hit Die counts as a whole Hit Die, so a kobold drider gains 3 Hit Dice for a total of 3-1/2, which counts as 4 Hit Dice. If the base creature already has the minimum Hit Dice, then Hit Dice are not changed.
Speed: Changes to 30 ft., climb 15 ft.
AC: Natural armor rises to minimum natural armor. If the base creature already has greater than minimum natural armor, it keeps that natural armor.
Attack: The drider gains a bite attack if it does not already have one. It uses its own base attack or the base attack of an aberration of its Hit Dice (as cleric). It can use its bite alone or as a natural secondary attack.
Damage: Bite damage depends on the drider's size. If the base creature already has a bite attack that deals more damage, it keeps that damage.
Special Attacks: A drider retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains spell-like abilities and a poisonous bite.
1/day -- dancing lights, darkness, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect magic, faerie fire, and levitate. These abilities are as the spells cast by a sorcerer of the drider's sorcerer level (save DC 10 + Cha modifier + spell level). If the drider has no sorcerer levels, the abilities are cast as a 1st-level sorcerer.
Poison DC = 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Con modifier. The listed Strength damage from poison is both initial and secondary damage.
Special Qualities: A drider retains the special qualities of the base creature and gains Spell Resistance equal to 11 + Hit Dice.
Saves: The drider retains the saves of the base creature. If it gains aberration levels, its saves increase according to multiclassing rules. (Aberrations have saves as sorcerers.)
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +4, Dex +2, Con +8, Wis +2, Cha +2. The drider also gains ability score increases as a character would, according to its total character level. That is, a 2nd-level character who gains four aberration levels is a 6th-level character and gains one more ability score point at 4th-level.
Skills: The drider retains the base creature's skills. For each aberration level it gains, it gets +2 skill ranks plus its Int mod (but at least 1 skill point per Hit Die gained). Its class skills are Climb, Concentration, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Spellcraft, and Spot. A drider receives a +4 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks.
Feats: The drider retains all feats of the base creature. It receives extra feats as a character would, according to its total character level. For example, a 2nd-level character who gains four aberration levels is a 6th-level character and gains two more feats -- one at 3rd level and one at 6th.
Climate/Terrain: Underground
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2
Treasure: Double standard
Alignment: Always chaotic evil
Advancement: By character class
Drider Characters
A drider's favored class is sorcerer, regardless of the base creature's classes. If this change in favored class causes a character to take experience penalties, then the driders appreciate the torture of a ruined life that much more.
- Sample 1: Hill Dwarf Fighter Drider.
- Sample 1: Goblin Warrior Drider.