Biological Abnormality. The dragon is also treated as a monstrosity for any prerequisite or effect that requires it to be a monstrosity.
Spider Climb. The dragon 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 dragon knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Web Walker. The dragon ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Egg Sack. If the dragon's hit points are reduced to 0, the egg sack it is carrying will hatch, birthing 4d4 giant spiders within 5 feet of the dragon's corpse.
Multiattack. The dragon can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes three attacks: one with its poisonous webbing breath, and two with its bite.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 6) piercing damage, plus 7 (1d6+3) poison damage.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the dragon's choice that is within 120 feet of the dragon and aware of it must succeed on a DC16 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the dragon's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Poisonous Webbing Breath (Recharge 5-6). The dragon spews out a webbing that is dripping with toxic liquids. Each creature in a 45 foot cone must make a DC18 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 21 (6d6) poison damage and is restrained by the webbing. On a successful save, the creature takes half the damage, and is not restrained. The entire area in the breath weapon's range also becomes difficult terrain as it's coated by webs. At the start of a restrained creature's turn, the creature takes 11 (3d6) poison damage. As an action, a restrained creature can make a DC16 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 16; hp 30; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to acid, bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage).
The dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The dragon makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Poison Breath. The dragon exhales poisonous liquids in a 45-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 32 (9d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Description
An arachnid dragon is an unnatural being, not meant to have been made. It has only come to exist through dark magic, born from a hag's arcane experimentation with spiders and dragon eggs. How this is done is through a ritual where baby spiders are magically teleported inside of a newly formed dragon egg, where the baby spiders eat the dragon embryo, and magically become fused with it.
Eventually, the baby spiders eat each other while inside the egg, until one spider is remaining, now wholly fused together with the dragon hatchling. When this happens, it can take anywhere from a week to a year for the egg to hatch into an arachnid dragon. Due to how this dragon is formed, it also may be missing a few limbs upon its birthing.
An arachnid dragon tends to act just like a spider, but in a much larger body. They find dark and damp areas where prey may walk through, lay webbed traps, and wait for the food to come to them. But, rather than eating small insect, the arachnid dragon requires far larger prey, from panthers, to humans, to even minotaurs.
Lair and Lair Actions
The arachnid dragon loves to make its lair anywhere where light is dim, and moisture is plenty, from dense jungles to damp caves. As long as it can hide itself and its web, and attract prey, it will live there, and kill anything that comes through. The arachnid dragon is also fairly cowardly, however, making sure to not make its lair near another dragon's lair, as to avoid attracting competition.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the dragon takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the dragon can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Webbing erupts from the ground, attempting to latch on to any creature that it can. Each creature within the dragon's lair must make a DC16 Dexterity saving throw, becoming restrained by the webbing on a failed save. As an action, a restrained creature can make a DC12 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to acid, bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage).
- A horde of giant spiders start to pour out from every hole in the area, causing 2d6 giant spiders to appear and attack any hostile creatures within the lair.
Regional Effects
The region containing an arachnid dragon’s lair is warped by the dragon’s magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- The floor, walls, and ceiling all feel incredibly sticky, making movement difficult. For every 5 feet a creature moves, they must spend 1 extra foot of movement.
- Animals seem to avoid the lair, making creature that would be in the area become suspiciously absent. Meanwhile, tap crawlers may appear to be much more abundant in the area.
- Large amounts of spiders, giant spiders, ettercaps, and other such creatures may appear to fight whatever creatures are moving through the area. The dragon will also be able to know the location of any and all of these creatures within its lair.
The area will remain unchanged when the arachnid dragon dies, potentially turning large swaths of forests and mountain trails to become barren due to the infestation.
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