Ettercaps were a race of bestial, spider-like aberrations located throughout Faerûn. They were primitive, hunting aberrations that had an affinity with spiders.[citation needed]
Description
An adult ettercap stood 6 ft (1.8 m) tall and weighed 200 lb (91 kg). 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.[7]
Personality
They were not particularly intelligent. They were cowardly and vicious, preferring to set traps to ensnare their enemies.[7] 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.[citation needed]
Abilities
Ettercaps possessed the capability to shoot sticky webs.[7] Like spiders, they used webs as traps to capture prey, which was then injected with paralytic venom from the ettercap’s bite.[citation needed]
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.[7]
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.[7]
Appendix
Gallery
Appearances
- Adventures
- Hoard of the Dragon Queen • Nymph's Reward • Storm King's Thunder • The Rise of Tiamat
- Card Games
- AD&D Trading Cards
- Novels
- Baldur's Gate
- Video Games
- Baldur's Gate • Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Neverwinter Nights
Further Reading
- Paul Leach and Russell Brown (May 2006). “The Ecology of the Ettercap”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #343 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 66–71.
External Links
Ettercap article at the Baldur's Gate Wiki, a wiki for the Baldur's Gate games.- Ettercap article at the NWNWiki, a wiki for the Neverwinter Nights games.
References
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014-11-7). Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Online Supplement (PDF). WOTC. p. 8. Retrieved on 2015-10-14.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 131. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 107. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 106. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 114. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
- ↑ Don Turnbull (1981). Fiend Folio. (TSR Hobbies), p. 35. ISBN 0-9356-9621-0.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 David "Zeb" Cook, et al. (1989). Monstrous Compendium Volume Two. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-8803-8753-X.
Connections
Magical spiders: Bloodsilk • Electric • Glass • Gaze • Goblin • Pet of Kalistes • Spellgaunt • Steeder
Planar spiders: Demonweb terror • Fire • Myrlochar • Phase • Shadow • Tomb • Vortex
Constructs: Arachnar • Bone spider • Jade spider • Retriever • Spiderwalker • Stone spider
Outsiders: Bebilith • Darkweaver • Greelox • Inferno spider • Red widow • Yochlol
Creations of Lolth: Abyssal widow • Chwidencha • Drider (Vampire) • Shunned
Humanoids: Aranea • Chitine • Choldrith • Ettercap • Werespider
Miscellaneous: Kitthix • Neogi • Rhylfang • Susurrus
Undead spiders: Wraith spider