Nazgorean, Octospider

Description

The term Nazgorean refers to any of a group of monstrous otherworldly creatures believed to be from a realm or dimension called Nazgor. Little is known about this realm or its inhabitants, but all that have been encountered so far share a few common traits.

In general, a being from Nazgor has a grayish cast to its skin, which is usually wet and slimy. It suffers damage when exposed to sunlight and/or dry air. Sunlight alone causes 1d4 points of damage per hour, as does dry air; exposure to both causes 1d8 points of damage per hour unless the being can periodically wet its skin and move into areas of shadow or darkness.

Nazgoreans are truly alien, so much so that their brains are effectively immune to all forms of Sleep, charm, or hold magic. Attempting to read the mind of a Nazgorean (via Detect Thoughts (ESP), for example) causes the character who made the attempt to make a saving throw or become confused (as the spell) for 2d6 rounds. Those which are apparently sentient cannot learn any normal language, nor is it generally possible for normal characters or creatures to learn their language (if indeed they have one; none have ever been witnessed engaging in any sort of conversation). Finally, they cannot perform magic in any normal way; even magic items that normally work for any character or creature will not function in their hands.

An Octospider superficially resembles a giant spider in overall body plan, but the resemblance stops there. The main body is bulbous and fleshy, narrowing without seams to a kind of thick stalk at the bottom which then widens out into a flattened shape to which the eight legs are attached. The legs splay out to either side in a pattern very similar to that of an ordinary spider, but the legs are formed like the tentacular arms of an octopus, though shorter and thicker. The triangular pads on which they walk are covered with suction cups which allow them to climb vertical surfaces; they cannot, thankfully, cross ceilings or overhangs in this fashion. Two startlingly human-like eyes are positioned between the forelegs, with another eye between each other pair of legs including a single eye looking out from between the back legs. Finally, the octospider's beak through which it both eats and breathes is located underneath the lower body.

Generally octospiders are grayish in color, mottled with small indistinct spots of tan, and their skin is moist like that of most other Nazgorean creatures.

Octospiders possess all the features and limitations of other Nazgorean creatures, such as resistance to mind- affecting spells, weakness to sunlight and dry air, and so on. Due to their many eyes, they are hard to surprise, only being so affected on a 1 on 1d12 if their opponents are visible to them. Their vision is superior in that they can see invisible creatures 50% of the time and reduce the effects of partial invisibility or concealment by half (or double the chance of detection, depending on how the concealment is defined). Thus, individuals wearing an elven cloak are only 40% invisible to an octospider, while a halfling hiding in natural surroundings is noticed 20% of the time, or 60% when hiding in a dungeon. For Thieves, reduce the chance to hide by half. The main attack form of an octospider is a spray of noxious chemicals from a hard-to-see orifice between and just below the front pair of eyes. An individual can perform a direct spray, attacking any single target within 40 feet, or may perform a wider spray covering a cone 20 feet long and 20 feet wide at the far end. When attacking a single target, a normal attack roll is made; when spraying an area, all targets must make an appropriate saving throw.

Further, the octospider has access to three different substances which it can spray.

The first spray is a caustic liquid that inflicts damage directly, doing damage based on the monster's hit dice as shown on the table below. If a wide spray is performed, a successful saving throw reduces damage suffered by half.

The second spray is deadly poison; those subjected to a direct spray suffer a penalty on the saving throw, with the modifier given on the table below, while a wider spray delivers less poison and is thus easier to resist.

The third spray is a kind of black gooey webbing that entangles the victim or victims. A direct spray entangles just one victim, who is allowed a saving throw to avoid entanglement. A wide spray allows an unmodified saving throw instead. This webbing is wet and sticky and does not burn, but it can be removed with application of at least a quart of wine or stronger alcohol; otherwise, the webbing dissolves after 2d8 turns.

Each of these spray attacks can be used a maximum of once per day for each hit die the monster has. For example, a 4 HD octospider can use each of these attacks 4 times per day. An octospider can grapple a character and then deliver a bite, but generally does this as a last resort after spray attacks are exhausted. The bite damage is always just 1d6 points (even for the largest individuals). If the octospider hits with a grab, the victim may make a saving throw to slip free; on a failed saving throw, the octospider may bite automatically on the next round unless the victim is freed first.

Octospiders behave in a seemingly random and arbitrary fashion. Each group has a morale figure rolled as 1d6+6, for a range of 7 to 12. There is no particular or obvious reason for this fact; if adventurers escape from a group of octospiders, and then encounter them again, their morale should be re-rolled on each new encounter. All members of a group will have the same morale figure at any given moment.

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.

Back to Monster Index