Lolth

I Lolth t is a truism among Lolthites that all the spiders of the realms whisper their secrets back to their Dark Mother, and thus a secret may be kept only so long as it is not spoken. The schemes of the cunning and mighty are as glass to her, and thus is her ambition often thwarted not by her contemptible rivals but by her own capricious whim, as Lolth's attention is often divided between setting deviously inexorable schemes into motion and working to untangle past plots of hers set towards ends now deemed unworthy of her ambition. Lolth Lore Nature DC 15: A single drop of the venom that drips from the fangs of Lolth is said to spell certain death to any it touches, even those immune to conventional poisons. The truth of this assertion is a matter of some debate, but it has been observed that though commonplace for the lords of the Abyss to lead their hosts into battle, when marching against Lolth they seem always to find reason to be elsewhere. Religion DC 10: Lolth, Queen of Spiders and divine patron of the drow, is a jealous and demanding god, exhorting her followers not only to great sacrifices of blood and treasure in her name, but to ever greater tests of their loyalty and devotion. Paradoxically, Lolth is bored terribly by both of these traits, and her greatest and most treasured servants are often those whose plotting against her she finds most deviously entertaining. Religion DC 15: Those worshipers who fail in the tasks Lolth assigns them are often punished with transformation into grotesque and monstrous forms, collectively called the Shunned. Capricious as the will of Lolth is, however, she has occasionally been known bestow these same mutations as rewards to those who serve her faithfully. Religion DC 20: Uniquely among the deities of the Dark Seldarine, and perhaps among the Powers as a whole, Lolth is both a greater deity unbound in time and space, and an archdemon embodied in her form as Queen of the Demonweb Pits. The archdemon Lolth is therefore the goddess Lolth, but the reverse is not true, as the archdemon is merely the perfect incarnation of Lolth's demonic aspect. Lolth Tactics Lolth begins combat by observing her foes as she uses her Bide Time repeatedly to weather their attacks and chooses her first target based on who has the strongest turn. She then goes last in initiative, attacking that creature with her multiattack, allowing one creature to take a turn, then using Spider's Embrace and taking her turn directly after that to attack the same creature again, ideally killing it. Thereafter she alternates between Lolth's Fickle Favor and her Bounding Strikes with her legendary actions so long as she has followers on hand to grant her favor to, preferring to target those who are injured, and uses her Darkfire Abyss whenever available if she can hit at least three creatures with it. With her multiattack, she uses Kiss of Lolth on any target with Extra Attack, and Insidious Embrace otherwise.

Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Huge fiend (demon), chaotic evil Armor Class 18 (Natural Armor) Hit Points 542 (35d12 + 315) Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 25 (+7) 27 (+8) 29 (+9) 25 (+7) 17 (+3) 25 (+7) Saving Throws DEX +16, CON +17, WIS +11 Skills Deception +23, History +15, Perception +11 Damage Resistances Cold, Fire, Lightning Damage Immunities Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks Condition Immunities Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Stunned, Unconscious Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 22 Languages All, Telepathy 120 ft. Challenge 27 (105,000 XP) Nexus of the Great Web. Lolth knows the location, identity, and current hit points of any creature in contact with a spider's web, and cannot be Surprised. By the Dark Mother's Design. Lolth does not roll initiative. Instead, if she has not yet taken a turn this round, Lolth may take her turn directly after any other creature's turn. Spider Climb. Lolth can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Magic Resistance. Lolth has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Legendary Resistances (5/Day). If Lolth fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead. Actions Multiattack. Lolth makes three attacks with her Impaling Legs, one of which she may replace with a use of her Kiss of Lolth or Insidious Embrace. Kiss of Lolth. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 26 (3d12 + 7) piercing damage and the target is Cursed. While Cursed in this way, a creature is Poisoned, loses any immunity to the Poisoned condition or poison damage, and takes 5 (1d10) poison damage at the end of each of its turns. This curse is suppressed for 24 hours by any effect that cures the Poisoned condition. Impaling Legs. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 20 (3d8 + 7) piercing damage and Lolth may either grapple the target (escape DC 23) or push it 10 feet away. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this damage immediately fails a death save. Insidious Embrace. One creature within 15 feet of Lolth must succeed on a DC 23 Strength saving throw or be restrained (escape DC 23) in a cocoon of silk. While restrained in this way, a creature is Blinded and has its Charisma score reduced by 5 (2d4) at the end of each of its turns, which lasts until it escapes. A creature that has its Charisma score reduced to 0 in this way immediately emerges as a Chwidencha under Lolth's control. Darkfire Abyss (9th Level Spell, Recharge 5-6). A burst of black fire erupts in a 15 foot radius centered on a point Lolth can see within 120 feet, leaving behind an area of magical darkness that lasts until dispelled. Each light in the area is extinguished, and each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw or take 70 (20d6) fire damage, or half as much on a success. At the beginning of each of Lolth's turns, if a source of Bright Light is within 15 feet of the area its radius expands by 5 feet, then each creature in the area takes 17 (5d6) fire damage. Reactions Strands of the Demonweave (5th Level Spell). As a reaction when a creature she can see within 60 feet casts a spell, Lolth weaves a portion of the expended magic into threads of binding silk. Any damage dealt by the spell is reduced by half, and the spell's caster must succeed on a DC 23 Strength saving throw or be restrained (escape DC 23) until it takes any damage. Compelled Betrayal. As a reaction when Lolth is targeted with a ranged attack, she causes the attack to swerve and instead target a creature in the attack's range affected by her Kiss of Lolth. Legendary Actions Lolth can take 4 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Bounding Strike. Lolth leaps up to 20 feet to an unoccupied space, then makes a Impaling Legs attack. Bide Time. Lolth moves up to half her speed and gains 20 temporary hit points. Lolth's Fickle Favor (Costs 2 Actions). One friendly creature Lolth can see may use its reaction to move up to its speed and make an attack. If the attack misses, the creature explodes in a torrent of venomous spiders. Each creature within 15 feet of it must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) piercing plus 14 (4d6) poison damage, or half as much on a success. Spider's Embrace (Costs 3 Actions). Lolth teleports up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space she can see, then forces one creature within 5 feet to make a DC 23 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is grappled (escape DC 23) and Lolth makes an attack against it with her kiss of Lolth.

Art Credits Lolth, Spider Queen by Jesper Ejsing Lolth, Spider Queen by Tyler Jacobsen Bisk, Goblin King by Rae Elderidge I've Got a Subreddit! Want more monsters like this? Come check out r/bettermonsters, where I post all my work. Don't see something there? Drop a request and I'll usually get it to you within a day if I've got something on hand, and I'll shoot you a message when it's ready if not. You Found the Free Books! The Part Where I Shill My Patreon Want to support the creation of content like this? I post new monsters with lore and tactics to my patreon five times a week, joining the more than 1300 already there, indexed in a big PDF along with formats for Foundry and 5eTools.