Medium monstrosity, neutral evil
Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +4 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 (+2) | 15 (+2) | 13 (+1) | 7 (-2) | 12 (+1) | 8 (-1) |
Saving Throws Con +4
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4, Survival +3
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Spider Climb. The ettercap 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 ettercap knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The ettercap ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.
ACTIONS
- Multiattack. The ettercap makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
- Multiattack (suggested). The ettercap makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws.
- Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
- Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) slashing damage.
- Claws (suggested). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage.
- Web (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 30/60 ft., one large or smaller creature. The creature is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained creature can make a DC 11 Strength check, escaping from the webbing on a success. The effect also ends if the webbing is destroyed. The webbing has AC 10, 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage.
5th Edition Advanced Mode
Limiting the power of a character and making the overall difficulty of the game harder, does not reduce the creativity, indeed it does quite the opposite.
The Game Master has the option to use any and all of the instances proposed in this guide, or just some of them according to their preference.
It is the lack of something that move and motivate characters, not the abundance of it
DESCRIPTION
An ettercap is a monstrous creature that resembles a humanoid spider. It has a hunched, grey-purplish body with a white underbelly, a spider-like face with fangs and multiple eyes, and two sharp claws instead of hands and feet. Many ettercaps also have two additional legs that are adapted from their arms, which have become elongated and end in sharp claws. These extra legs make them more agile and spider-like, and allow them to climb on walls and ceilings with ease. It is about 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. It can climb on walls and ceilings, spin webs, and poison its prey with its bite. It is not very intelligent, but it has a keen sense of survival and an affinity for spiders. It often keeps spiders as pets or allies, and sometimes even worships them as gods.
COMBAT
An ettercap prefers to ambush its enemies with traps and webs, rather than engaging in direct combat. It uses its web ability to ensnare its foes from a distance, then closes in to bite them with its venomous fangs. The ettercap’s poison can weaken its victims, making them easier to kill or capture. The ettercap can also use its claws to slash at its enemies, but it usually relies on its bite as its primary weapon. An ettercap is cowardly and vicious, and will flee if it faces a superior foe or if its web is destroyed by fire or acid.
If caught in a battle, an ettercap first strikes with its claws. The creature then tries to bite its opponent, inflicting damage with its teeth and powerful jaws. A successful bite attack by an ettercap enables the monster to inject its victim with a powerful poison from the glands above the ettercap’s fangs.
Many adventurers never get the chance to raise a sword against ettercaps because of the devious traps they use for protection. Ettercaps prefer to ambush unwary travelers and lead them into traps rather than fight them face to face.
Like spiders, ettercaps have silk glands located in their abdomen. The thin, strong strands of silvery silk-like material these glands secrete are used by ettercaps to construct elaborate traps made up of nets, trip wires, garottes, and anything else the monsters can make out of the strands.
The traps are designed so that they often immobilize the adventurer who stumbles into it. If this is the case, ettercaps never hesitate to attack that character first, trying to poison the victim before he escapes. Different ettercaps prefer different trap designs, so encounters with different ettercaps should expose the adventurer to new traps each time.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
Ettercaps dwell in the deepest parts of forests, near paths that are frequented by game or travelers. They build their nests out of webbing, often high up in the trees away from other ground-based predators. They use their webs to create elaborate traps and snares, which they check regularly for prey. Ettercaps are very fond of spiders and other arachnids, and often keep them as others keep bees. They can communicate with spiders through a form of empathy, and sometimes form alliances with monstrous spiders such as phase spiders or giant spiders. Ettercaps are solitary creatures and rarely group with others of their kind, even to mate. When they do group, they tend to form a strange collective of ettercaps and arachnids.
Though usually only one ettercap is encountered at any time, on rare occasions a pair of ettercaps can be found together. The pairs encountered are always mated couples, though the female and male appear to be identical. Ettercap young are abandoned as soon as they are born, so adults are never encountered with young.
ECOLOGY
Ettercaps are carnivorous creatures that feed on any living thing they can catch in their webs. They prefer fresh meat, but will also eat carrion or rotting flesh if they are hungry enough. They have no natural predators, except for those that can resist or destroy their webs, such as fire-breathing dragons or acid-spitting oozes. Ettercaps have a low reproductive rate, and usually mate only once in their lifetime. The female lays a clutch of eggs in a secluded spot, then abandons them to fend for themselves. The eggs hatch after a few months, and the young ettercaps must survive on their own until they are mature enough to build their own webs. Ettercaps have a lifespan of about 20 years.
Ettercap poison is highly valued, partly because of its extreme toxicity and partly because it is rather difficult to obtain. An ettercap’s poison glands hold only one ounce of poison at any time, but this ounce is worth up to 1,000 gp on the open market.
Ettercap is employed as material component to empower the following spells: