| Dragon | - | Monsters | - | Dragon 129 |
"Your failure has proven you too weak to
represent the race of the drow. I therefore
s e n t e n c e y o u t o t h e
f o r m o f t h e d r i d e r ! "
With those final words from the demoness
Lolth, a dark elf is painfully transformed
into the hideous shape of the drider:
a
misshapen creature, half-drow, half-spider
-- the possible fate of all Lolth-worshiping
drow who fail her test, as described in the
Monster Manual II, page 60.
The first drider was created many centuries past by Lolth, queen of
the Abyssal
plane known as the Demonweb Pits. In the
first few years of the drow's existence,
Duagloth, a drow in the service of Lolth,
was bribed into stealing Lolth's platinum
egg (as detailed in AD&D® module GDQ 1-7 Queen of
the Spiders).
When Lolth learned of this treachery, she turned
Duagloth into a hideous cross between a
drow and a spider. Now, to insure a finer
racial stock of drow, Lolth tests all drow
of promising ability who worship her;
failures result in driders. Duagloth is
rumored to still survive in some remote
area of the world; and may be more powerful (and dangerous) than other
driders.
Upon reaching 6th level or thereabouts,
a promising evil drow is summoned by
Lolth to the drow homeland in the underworld, where he or she is brought
to the
Abyss. Lolth there puts the drow through
a specially devised test. Clues as to the
nature of this test may be found in GDQ
1-7 Queen of the Spiders, in the section on
the Demonweb. Those drow who fail the
test become driders and are dropped off
on the Prime Material plane in random
spots. Note that a drider?s form is permanent; nothing short of a wish
spell or
divine intervention will restore it to its
drow form.
Once a drow becomes a drider, it seeks
the seclusion of caverns and tunnels;
avoiding contact with nondriders as much
as possible out of shame, hatred, and fear.
Due to ill feelings about its failure and
bloated appearance, the drider becomes
totally self-centered. As a result, its
alignment changes to chaotic evil if it was
not so already. Once a drider has claimed
a certain area as its territory, it receives
the service of 2-12 huge spiders
(Monster
Manual, page 90) as a sort of parting gift
from Lolth. New spiders may be attracted
to replace those lost in combat later.
Many of the drow's former abilities are
greatly altered by the change to a drider
form. A brief summary of these changes
appears in Table 1. Those abilities which
are not lost include: the creature's former
knowledge and languages known; abilities
to detect secret and concealed doors
(Players
Handbook, page 16); 12" infravision;
clerical and magic-user spell-casting abilities
(6th or 7th level in the former case,
and 6th, 7th, or 8th level in the latter);
90% sleep and charm resistance; innate
drow spells as per sex and level (FIEND
FOLIO Tome, page 34; and
Monster
Manual II,
page 60); sharp senses allowing
surprise only on a roll of 1 on 1d8; abilities
to detect slopes, new construction, sliding
walls, certain traps, and depth underground
as per dwarves (Players Handbook,
page 16); +2 bonus to save
vs.
spells (as per drow); sensitivity to and
penalties from exposure to bright light
(FIEND FOLIO Tome, page
34); and knowledge
of the "silent tongue" (though the
drider cannot master this unspoken language
in its new form, it understands it
perfectly well, and can still make a few of
the gestures). A drider, like a drow, can
use a weapon in either hand, and can even
attack with weapons in both hands, making
two attacks per round so long as each
of the weapons is long sword size or
smaller. Drow (and thus driders as well) do
not have the sword and bow "to hit" bonuses
of other elves.
Unlike drow, however, driders gain
poisonous saliva and needle-sharp teeth,
making their bite dangerous (1-4 hp damage,
plus save vs. poison or victim is paralyzed
for 1-2 turns). Any psionic abilities
once possessed by a drow are lost if the
drow fails a system shock survival roll
during the transformation into drider
form. All driders are sterile.
Other changes may occur as well. A 50%
chance exists that the drider is also endowed
with the ability to spin a web. The
resultant web covers a 10'-square area
and acts as a net of entanglement. Up to
10 such webs can be spun per day, and
they can only be used by the drider who
spun them.
The drider also acquires a natural thirst
for blood, as if it were a real spider. A
drider must consume blood at least once
every four days or receive 1-6 hp damage
per day. The damage is cumulative and
only heals once a live creature's blood has
been digested. Because of this need for
blood, the drider is constantly creating
new and efficient weaponry to use on its
victims.
If attacked and harmed, a drider becomes enraged,
having only a will to kill.
Consequently, the drider never checks
morale in combat and gains a +4 save vs.
fear. The drider enjoys using its weapons
on victims and attackers, but it also has a
taste for employing traps, and prefers to
single out its victims for ambush, biting to
paralyze and then drink the victim?s blood.
With its new body structure, the drider
gains a dexterity of 18 and a +2 bonus to
strength (for a maximum of 18). The effective intelligence, wisdom,
and constitution
scores of the drider?s drow form are retained intact. As a result of
its appearance,
the drider PC receives a -8 penalty to its
charisma and comeliness (minimum score
of 1). All elves hate and fear driders.
All driders, regardless of their drow
backgrounds, gain certain skills similar to
those used by assassins, thieves, and thief-acrobats.
These skills (and those skills not
so gained) are given below and in Table 2
(see Unearthed Arcana, pages 23-25, for
most details). These skills cannot be improved
save by changes in the drider's
dexterity or strength scores. All base
chances for success are those of a 6th-level
thief-acrobat or assassin, unless the drow-turned-drider
previously had a higher skill
level in these classes.
Tightrope
walking: The drider is perfect
with this ability because of its spiderlike
structure.
Pole
vaulting: This ability is not possible
because of the size and shape of the drider.
Also, because of its jumping ability,
this skill is actually of little use to the
drider.
High
jumping: Because of the drider's leg
strength and its additional number of legs,
the drider gains an 18' bonus on this skill.
Assassination: This is one of the drider's
main abilities due to its dependence on
living organisms for sustenance. Due to a
repeated use of this skill, the drider gains
a 15% bonus for this skill.
Pick pockets: Because of its awkward
shape and height, the drider receives a
penalty when attempting this maneuver.
This skill (like the others here) is gained
even if the drow was not a thief before
being turned into a drider.
Open locks: This is similar to the thief
ability.
Find/remove traps: This is similar to the
thief ability.
Read languages: This is similar to the
thief ability (driders are easily bored and
reading passes the time between victims).
Broad
jumping: Because of its increased
leg strength, the drider gains a bonus
when broad jumping.
Tumbling
maneuvers: The increased
dexterity of the drider, along with its new
shape, provide a greater maneuverability
than that of a normal human or drow.
Move silently: The drider receives a
penalty when executing this ability due to
its increased weight and number of legs (a
lone drider can still surprise opponents on
a 1-3 on 1d6, in the manner of an elf).
Hide in shadows: The drider receives
advantages when using this skill, as a
result of the drider's adapted color and
shape.
Hear noise: The drider gains bonuses in
this ability as a result of its heightened
senses.
Climb walls: Because of its spiderlike
ability, the drider can perform this skill
flawlessly.
Stalk:
This ability is similar to the beastmaster
ability given in DRAGON Magazine,
issue #119. The drider is able to
perform this function without error because
of its familiarity with its natural
habitat. The drider uses this ability to
follow and capture its prey.
Track:
Thsi ability is similar to the beastmaster
ability given in DRAGON Magazine,
issue #119.
Table 1
Ability Changes from Drow to Drider
| Former drow ability | Present drider ability |
| Armor and dexterity determine armor class | Natural AC 7 from thick skin (AC 3 from 18 dexterity) |
| Move 12" or 15" (females) | Move 12" (either sex) |
| Hit dice as per class* | HD 6+6 |
| Drow-made armor and weapons | Weapons can be found; no armor (magical items possible) |
| 50% or better magic resistance | 15% magic resistance |
* Dark elves entering Lolth?s test are usually multiclassed, with levels
of ability
between 6th and 8th level in the highest-rated class; other classes
may have lower
scores. Acceptable classes include fighter, cleric, assassin, thief,
thief-acrobat, and
magic-user; see DRAGON issue #103 for acceptable
class combinations for drow.
| Ability | Bonus/penalty |
| Tightrope walking | 100% |
| Broad jump | - |
| Standing | +18' |
| Running | +28' |
| Pole vaulting | Not possible |
| Tumbling maneuvers | - |
| Attack | +5% |
| Evasion | +7% |
| Falling | +5% for every 10' |
| High jumping | +18' |
| Move silently | -15% |
| Assassination | +15% |
| Hide in shadows | +15% |
| Pick pockets | -15% |
| Hear noise | +5% |
| Climb walls | 100% |
| Open locks | Normal |
| Stalk | 100% |
| Find/remove traps | Normal |
| Track | 100% |
| Read languages | Normal |
As noted in the text, these bonuses and
penalties are based upon either the 6th
level of ability as a thief, thief-acrobat, or
assassin, or upon the skill level possessed
in these classes as a drow, if such levels
were over 6th level.
