One player keeps feeling watched, but Perception checks find nothing. After a depleting fight, a Phase Spider emerges, poisons the weakened character, vanishes with its meal. They hunt from the Ethereal Plane, studying patterns, striking when you're vulnerable. Battlefield control spells mean nothing when the spider doesn't exist on your plane. Use them as warnings of planar collapse, ghost predators threatening spirit mediums, or necromancer security systems. Just remember: Phase Spiders let DMs conceal information in ways that feel unfair even when technically legal. Signal the danger. Be fair about the madness.
low-CR threats
The Spider Problem: Giant Wolf Spiders in Urban Settings
Your city has a spider problem. Not web-spinners waiting for prey - hunters. Giant Wolf Spiders that coordinate like wolves, funnel victims into alleys, and scuttle across building exteriors at night. The wealthy buy wards. The poor lock their doors after dark. The City Guard can kill individuals, but the pack adapts. This entry explores urban spider infestations as environmental horror: where they came from, how the city responds, and what happens when your players exterminate the hunters keeping something worse at bay.
Encounter Every Enemy 