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Primal Fury
2015-07-06, 05:26 PM
Are there any homebrew disciplines out there themed around spiders in some way? My google-fu seems to be too weak to overcome this obstacle.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-07-07, 06:52 AM
We'll help you, if you promise to play a session with Bhu and his bee caster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?425982-Immortalize-your-name-in-bees). ;)

I've never heard of such a homebrew, no. What system is this for?

I can imagine that most systems don't really go into too much detail on their moves. You can simply take the mechanics of say a power attack and put a spidery name on it. Tackling someone from a charge is now a "jumping spider", flurry of blows is "many legs of damage".

On top of that, (almost?) all spiders have paralyzing poison, so maybe put some focus on stunning strikes, like the one where you punch someone in both shoulders (on the brachial plexus) and then in the face, because they cannot raise their arms fast enough to block. So maybe play around with stunning fist a little, see if there's a way to have maybe a weaker version that you could use more often or something, in addition to the real thing. Or maybe get a very special ones per day paralyzing Vulcan nerve punch or something.

On top of the paralyzation and a focus on lots of strikes to mimic the many legs of a spider, both of which are things core monks already do to at least an extend, you could look into some forms of terrain use. It's almost impossible to try and come up with a style like this without wanting to at least be able to try a spiderman style rope swing somewhere.

To top it off maybe stock up on nets (with which a spider style monk is of course proficient, regardless of the usual rules in whatever system you're using), for your "catch the fly" move, and/or paralyzing darts (constitution poison). I don't think overall you'll really need to change or invent a lot of mechanics, there's a lot already in place, at least in d&d 3.5, you could use if you'd sell it with enough fluff.

I suppose there's probably even a real "spider style" of kung fu, karate, silat or whatever somewhere, still practiced by two old monks and three very enthusiastic fanboys/girls half the world away or something. Maybe you can find some techniques to stat up or names to tag onto existing mechanics there...

Primal Fury
2015-07-07, 09:11 AM
Oh geez. I forgot to put that prefix in the thread title.

I suppose I could make one myself, though it'll have more of an... occult bent than just being about regular spiders.

Milo v3
2015-07-07, 09:18 AM
Path of War's Steel Serpent discipline could be reflavoured to Steel Spider without any issues, it's about supernaturally attacking peoples bodies and poisoning them with a touch, and using stealth. Though, if you want an even more occult feel, maybe reflavour Veiled Moon to the Veiled Web, based around phase spiders, since it's about the ethereal plane.

Primal Fury
2015-07-07, 10:42 AM
Oh crap. I forgot all about Path of War. Thanks Milo.