Homebrew Ettercap Species Details
Ettercaps are humanoid spiders that tend, feed, and watch over spiders the way a shepherd oversees a flock of sheep. They lair deep in remote forests.
Find strands of silk stream from glands in an ettercap's abdomen, letting it shoot sticky strands of webbing to bind, entrap, or strangle its victims. It can also use its webbing to fashion elaborate snares and nets, which often festoon their homes.
Quiet Killers. Ettercap communities tend to take a stealthy approach when hunting for food. They prefer to set elaborate traps of webbing to ensnare their prey, rather than charging in like a rabid barbarian. This does not mean they are inept at direct combat, however. The ettercaps are known to fashion makeshift garrotes out of their webbing, which they can use to strangle their opponents.
Sylvan Despoilers. While not always ill-intentioned, ettercaps tend to have a negative effect on the natural environments they inhabit. Forests occupied by ettercaps tend to become infested with giant insects, and covered in countless strands of webbing which hold the half-eaten remains of their prey. They do not necessarily mean to do this; rather, it is simply a consequence of their way of life. Their spider-like hunting practices and cultivation of giant spiders tends to leave wherever they settle inhospitable to many other forms of life.
Enemies of the Fey. Ettercaps have a long-standing grudge against fey creatures, for reasons not fully understood. At best, fey are met with mild revulsion by ettercap tribes. At worst, they are captured and eaten, like a spider catching a butterfly in its web. Most ettercaps that live alongside other humanoids usually learn to tolerate the presence of fey - a necessity, due to how commonplace elves are in much of the world.
Ettercap Traits
Ettercaps can create webs, climb walls and ceilings, and are proficient at interacting with other spiderkind.Darkvision
You can see within dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of grey.
Web
As an action, you can fire a line of webbing at an enemy. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity save or become restrained. The can reattempt the saving throw as an action on their turn, becoming free of the webbing on a successful save. The amount of webbing used for this attack is equal to the distance between you and the target. Alternatively, you may spend an action to build a web trap, which requires a DC 16 Dexterity save, and the target has disadvantage if they weren't aware of the trap in advance. The amount of webbing used for a trap is equal to the amount of space you attempt to cover with the trap. Any webbing created has an AC of 7, and is weak to fire damage.
There are many other potential uses for webbing that aren't listed here, such as an adhesive, tripwire, or for binding captives. Be creative!
The amount of webbing you can use is equal to (10 x your proficiency bonus) feet. Once you have used all of your available webbing, you cannot create more until you complete a short rest.
Spider Kin
You have advantage on all rolls related to taming, controlling, or landing hits on spiders and spider-kind.
It is understandable that players and dungeon masters may have difficulty deciding if certain creatures fall under the class of "spider-kind." Generally, it is recommended that DM's follow the following guidelines when determining if a creature is a spider:
A creature qualifies as a spider if it fulfills at least 1 of the following criteria:
1. It has exactly 8 legs, as well as mandibles
2. It has "spider" in its name
3. It has a direct biological relation to either spiders or Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders.
Certain creatures that do not fulfill any of these criteria may be considered "spider-kind" at the DM's discretion.
Spider Climb
You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb any surfaces, including upside down or on ceilings.
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