Demon, Arachnea
- Armor Class
- 4 [15] (m) (9 [10] (m))
- Hit Dice
- 6
- Attacks
- Bite (1d6)
- Special
- magic weapons to hit, poison (1d6+2/round for 6 rounds), web, spells, teleportation, hold/grab, charm, kiss drain (1d6/round), silver weapons to hit
- Move
- 18
- HDE/XP
- 7/600
Description
Infernal beings are monstrosities with otherworldly or extra-dimensional origins. These beings are universally vile and at odds with the powers of goodness. There are several distinct races or groups of infernal beings, generally grouped by their origin. They might be called demons, devils, or other related terms. If reduced to 0 Hit Points in the mortal world, an infernal is not destroyed but disappears in a pall of greasy black smoke and terrifying scream, banished back to its home dimension or plane. Once banished, it cannot return to the mortal world for an entire year. To truly destroy one it must be reduced to 0 Hit Points while in its home dimension.
The Arachnea are an exclusively female type of infernal that can appear as either a beautiful, often elegantly- dressed young woman, or a gigantic black widow spider. They are very intelligent, and can cast spells in either form. An arachnea's favorite tactic is to seduce or cast Charm Person on her victim to lure them in for a kiss (if she is in her human form) or to bite them (if she is in her spider form).
Arachnea are highly magical in nature and can use the following spell-like abilities at will, in either form: web, Charm Person, teleport, Hold Person, Light (Dark) (Dark only) 15' radius, Detect Thoughts (ESP), and Crystal Ball (Clairaudience only) (as the potion), and can only be hit by magical or silvered weapons. It takes one full round for an arachnea to change forms. She also has the ability to summon 1d6 giant spiders of any sort.
When in spider form, she has AC 4 [15] and her bite delivers a poison that does 1d6+2 points of damage per round for 6 rounds (saving throw against poison to avoid).
In her human form she has AC 9 [10], and generally avoids combat, preferring to use charm and seduction to bend others to her will. In this form, her kiss drains 1d6 HP per round; these hit points drained by a kiss will heal her an equal amount and can even give her additional temporary hit points over and above her normal maximum (lasts up to 1 hour after draining). If she is unable to avoid a fight, arachneas favor a dagger poisoned with her own venom, however when used this way the venom is weakened, only causing 2 points of damage for 3 rounds (saving throw against poison to avoid).
As with most infernals the arachnea is underneath it all quite cowardly; after losing more than half her hit points, she will try to cast Teleport on her next round to escape.
See Also
Other creatures in the Demon category: Demon, Balor, Demon, Imp, Demon, Lemure, Demon, Succubus, Demon, Agares, Demon, Barbed Devil, Demon, Baubas, Demon, Bone Devil, Demon, Creoboros, Demon, Dread Horseman, Demon, Eldri, Demon, Erinyes, Demon, Fiend, Demon, Glabrezu, Demon, Hezrou, Demon, Ice Devil, Demon, Larva, Demon, Malacoda, Demon, Malebranche, Demon, Manes, Demon, Marilith, Demon, Nalfeshni, Demon, Night Hag, Demon, Nightmare, Demon, Pazzu, Demon, Quasit, Demon, Rubicante, Demon, Shadow Fiend, Demon, Spined Devil, Demon, Vega, Demon, Vrock.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.