Ettercap

Ettercaps were a race of bestial, spider-like aberrations located throughout Faerûn. They were primitive, hunting aberrations that had an affinity with spiders.

Description
An adult ettercap stood tall and weighed. Ettercaps resembled hunched, grey-purplish humanoids with distended white underbellies, spider-like faces (fangs and eyes and such), and two sharp, black chitinous claws instead of hands and feet.

Personality
They were not particularly intelligent. They were cowardly and vicious, preferring to set traps to ensnare their enemies. Much like spiders, ettercaps tended to be solitary creatures, only gathering to mate. When ettercaps did socialize, it was with monstrous spiders, which they kept as pets and guards.

Abilities
Ettercaps possessed the capability to shoot sticky webs. Like spiders, they used webs as traps to capture prey, which was then injected with paralytic venom from the ettercap’s bite.

History
It was suggested that ettercaps were the descendants of a group of mad druids, tainted and transmogrified by their association with a powerful demon into a form resembling the predatory arachnids their cult once revered. While the vast majority had completely reverted to pure animal instinct, a rare few claimed to demonstrate the intellect and capacities of an insane human.

Society
Ettercaps were very fond of spiders and other arachnids and often kept them as others kept bees. From time to time, however, an ettercap had a number of monstrous spiders as pets, which were as loyal to it as a dog to a human master.

Language
Ettercaps possessed their a fairly simple, spider-derived language of their own. It was focused around basic and real-world concepts, not equipped for the discussion of abstract ideas. They were capable of understanding other languages, such as elven, but could not speak them due to lacking the right vocal cords.

Usages
A crafting recipe for a wand of lightning found in the arcane Imaskarran Tome of Resonance included ettercap's silk gland, fenberries, and the spell of lightning bolt.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #29, "Nymph's Reward" • Scepter Tower of Spellgard • Hoard of the Dragon Queen • The Rise of Tiamat • Storm King's Thunder
 * Novels
 * Baldur's Gate
 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate • Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Neverwinter Nights • Baldur's Gate III
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards
 * Board Games
 * Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins