CANOPY SPIDER

  Armor Class:    7
  Hit Dice:       1
  Move:           120' (40')
  Climb:          90' (30')
  Attacks:        2 or 1
  Damage:         1-2/1-4
  No. Appearing:  3-18
  Save As:        Fighter: 1
  Morale:         10
  Treasure Type:  S
  Alignment :     Neutral
  XP Value:       100

Canopy spiders look like huge, hairy tarantulas. Despite their fearsome appearance, they are very friendly and good natured: many a wanderer in forests inhabited by these creatures has awakened after a rainy night to find himself dry because of a large web spun over him by the spiders. The only exception to this friendliness is toward creatures the spiders know to be enemies. The most feared enemy of the canopy spider is the Hin, as they greatly prize canopy spider as food. canopy spider lairs are found high in trees and are well camouflaged to protect against preditors.

Combat: canopy spider are not violent creatures, preferring to run than fight. If sorely pressed, however, they can slash with their legs, inflicting 1-2 hit points of damage or bite using their small mandibles. The mandibles inflict 1d4 hit points of damage, while the weak venom from their vestigial poison sacks does an additional 2d4 (save vs poison at +2 for half).

If the lair is threatened, the spiders cut loose special thick stranded webs surrounding the lair; these drops affect a 10 foot radius and all within the area must save vs breath at -4 to avoid its effects. The penalty is due to the fact that the spiders usually have surprise when using this defense. If the victim knows what to look for and is actively looking, the penalty is negated. A strength check (at a -4 penalty) is required every round to break free. Some (10%) of these webs contain rocks and other debris, inflicting 1d4 points of damage on all who are trapped. The web drops are used to give the colony enough time to evacuate.

Canopy spiders are both agile and silent, making them 90% invisible in the forest. When they come to the ground, they always have a strand of silk with which they can quickly return to the safety of the trees.

Habitat: Giant canopy spider live in well concealed arborial colonies of up to 100 or more individuals. As was stated above, these colonies are well defended with web traps; the spiders know their teritory well and are intelligent enough to have a sound defence strategy.

It must be emphasized that these spiders are intelligent and friendly; they will often try to help other intelligent creatures in the forest. They are much like the bottlenose dolphin in this regard. canopy spider have their own songlike language which most humanoids find quite soothing (the spiders seem to know this), and they mourn their dead. The general mood of these spiders can be seen (or more accurately, heard) in the sounds they make.

Ecology: Unlike most spiders, canopy spider have mandibles instead of the sucking fangs of other species. They subsist on a diet of roots and grubs, and often come to the ground to feed. This is when they are most vulnerable.

The Hin greatly prize canopy spider meat, but it is their silk which is most valuable. It can be woven into exceptionally strong ropes, and fasioned into light, flexible armor as light as leather, but with the strength of -2 plate mail. Characters with the ability to communicate with the spiders can have them produce a wide variety of useful items, provided the character himself has the skills needed to create these items.