For the Spider Monster design, I took inspiration from Driders within the Forgotten Realms setting. It was designed with epic characters in mind, who wanted to contend with a high level monstrosity.

Backstory:

The backstory of driders is pretty interesting. They are dark elves that have failed their goddess Lolth and are punished by being turned into monstrous aberrations. The process involves dark rituals with demons, and is described as excrutiating, often driving the victim insane. What ends up being created is a bloodthirsty crime against nature, filled hate and self loathing. I wanted to capture that horror and agony within my design.

Research and design decisions:

Like all my projects, I like to do some background research on my subject matter, looking at drider concepts and seeing the traits that stand out. And I found all driders are portrayed as dark elves with spider bodies from the waist down. But for my design, I decided to tweak this idea by giving the spider it's own head and a lethal set of mandibles. Not only does that emphasize the unholy symbiosis of two species, the bottom half is actually useful for devouring opponents now.

Spiders are naturally unsettling. Their spindly legs and multi faceted eyes have an alien quality that most people find scary. Furthermore, Driders are usually deployed as shock troopers, so I figured their actual bodies should be lethal and not just the weapons they wield. Taking the idea of a living battering ram, I decided to cover their bodies with sharp chitinous growth similar to a crustacean. Not only does this provide natural protection, each movement has a chance to rip and tear opponents who don't have enough sense to get out of their way.

Speaking of weapons, I gave the spider monster a multi headed snake whip that could inject their victims with venom. This type of weapon is commonly used by female drow and suggests that this monster was a former priestess or even matron mother that fell from grace. I've actually never heard of this punishment being applied to them but the idea of creating the first matron mother drider was appealing.

Capturing the horror:

From my research, drider bodies are often bulbous but kind of plain. To amp up the horror, I came up with the idea for making spider eggs burst out from her different parts of her abdomen. I took inspiration from the wolf spider, who carries babies on her back after birth. The image of having spider babies pop out of their birthing sacs should terrify even the most level headed opponents. Scare factor aside, it also makes the spider monster more formidable. Not only do adventurers have to contend with an angry spider monster, they have to be careful not to be tarpitted by her tiny abberations nipping at their heels.

Like all designs, I am a strong proponent that the expression and pose should capture the essence of its subject matter. Driders are monstrous abberations, a mockery against the natural order of things. They are loathed by other drow, who see them as a horrific parody of their natural elegance. And driders understand their predicament better than anyone, so they are naturally filled with shame, revulsion and madness. Therefore her pose is a seething cauldron of fury, a wild animal that rips apart her opponents like a threshing machine that has run amok if only to provide a momentary distraction from all their self loathing. Her expression complements the pose as it reflects the depth of her agony, a self aware abomination with glimpses of nobility. I find the best horror is when you can see how far a character has fallen, so it's important to keep obvious traces of elven heritage alongside the mutilation.

In conclusion:

As a shock unit for epic level campaigns, the spider monster can tear through unprepared parties, ripping bodies apart in a futile attempt to slake her bloodlust and her maw's hunger. Role players might find it interesting to write up a character that fell from grace and became such a monster. Ironically, Lolth is often portrayed as a drider so maybe your DM will even enjoy deploying it as her avatar in one of their campaigns!

3DArtGuy

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