DRIDER

Aberration

Created by the spider goddess Lolth from her drow worshipers who fail a special test of loyalty and power, drider are outcasts from their society and often wander the Underdark looking for allies or like-minded individuals. Drider may be an appealing choice for players who like dark elves and like playing weird monsters. Drider are good in combat, good at spellcasting, and pretty good at sneaking around, making them well-rounded creatures suitable for most any role in an adventuring party.

The difficulty in balancing the class is that a drider casts spells as a character of its Hit Dice, which means that at most levels a drider gains an automatic benefit of an increase in spellcasting, so its other strong abilities must be placed on levels where it doesn's gain a Hit Die. The drider progression increases ability scores, spellcasting, poison damage, and natural armor bonus.

Racial Traits

Starting Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha. The selection process that makes drow so powerful means that drider are powerful as well.

Speed: Drider land speed is 30 feet, climb speed 15 feet. Like any creature with a climb speed, drider have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always take 10 when making Climb checks.

Darkvision: Drider can see in the dark up to 120 feet.

Automatic Languages: Common, Elven, and Undercommon.

Favored Class: Drider.

Class Skills

The drider's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis).

On reaching Large size, a drider takes a  -4 size penalty on Hide checks.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the drider monster class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Since every drider is created from a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard, a drider has the same weapon and armor proficiencies as the spellcaster of the appropriate type. For example, a drider that was once a cleric is proficient with all simple weapons, with all armor, and with shields.

Feats: A drider receives two feats at 1st level and additional ones at 4th and 10th level. After 10th level it gains feats normally according to its character level, as shown on Table 2-5: Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits.

Bite: Starting at 2nd level, a drider has a bite attack that is a natural weapon dealing the indicated damage plus 1/2 Strength bonus.

Spell Resistance (Ex): Starting at 6th level, a drider gains spell resistance equal to 4 + class level.

Poison (Ex): The drider's bite injects a poison that deals the indicated primary and secondary damage (DC 10 + 1/2 drider's HD from class levels + drider's Con modifier).

Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day  - clairaudience/clairvoyance, dancing lights, darkness, detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law, detect magic, discern lies, dispel magic, faerie fire, levitate, and suggestion. A drider's caster level is equal to its Hit Dice 

from class levels. The DC for saving throws against these abilities is 10 + drider's Cha modifier + spell level.

Spells: All drider have the ability to cast spells either as a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard (chosen at 1st level). The drider casts spells as a character of its Hit Dice. Most drider clerics still worship Lolth and choose two domains from her list (Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and Trickery).

Table A–12: The Drider

　　  Hit　Base Attack 　Fort 　Ref　  Will　  Skill

Level  Dice   Bonus 　　　Save　Save　Save　Points 　　　　　CR 　Special

1st  　1d8 　+0 　　　　+0 　 +0 　   +2 　　(2 + Int mod) × 4 　1 　Feat, spells, +2 natural armor, spells (as Clr 1, Sor 1, or Wiz 1)

2nd　2d8 　+1 　　　　+0 　 +0 　   +3 　　2 + Int mod 　　　2 　Bite 1d4, poison (1d3 Str, 1d3 Str), +2 Str, spells (as Clr 2, Sor 2, or Wiz 2)

3rd 　2d8 　+1 　　　　+0 　 +0 　   +3　 　— 　　　　　　  2 　Spell-like abilities, +2 Wis

4th 　3d8 　+2 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +3 　　2 + Int mod 　　　2 　Feat, +4 natural armor, +2 Dex, spells (as Clr 3, Sor 3, or Wiz 3)

5th 　3d8 　+2 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +3 　　— 　　　　　　  3 　Poison (1d4 Str, 1d4 Str), +2 Con

6th 　4d8 　+3 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +4 　　2 + Int mod 　　　3 　+2 Int, +2 Wis, spell resistance, spells (as Clr 4, Sor 4, or Wiz 4)

7th 　4d8 　+3 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +4 　　— 　　　　　　  4 　+6 natural armor, +2 Con, +2 Cha

8th 　5d8 　+3 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +4 　　2 + Int mod 　　　5 　Large size (face 10 ft.), +2 Str, spells (as Clr 5, Sor 5, or Wiz 5)

9th 　5d8 　+3 　　　　+1 　 +1 　   +4 　　— 　　　　　　  6 　Poison (1d6 Str, 1d6 Str), +2 Wis

10th   6d8 　+4 　　　　+2　  +2 　   +5 　　2 + Int mod 　　　7 　Feat, +2 Con, +2 Cha, spells (as Clr 6, Sor 6, or Wiz 6)