Jorogumo 女郎蜘蛛

Large monstrosity (shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points 88 (10d10 + 30)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.

STR 16 (+3) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 14 (+2) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +6

Skills Deception +6, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +9

Damage Vulnerabilities fire

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Sylvan; telepathy 60 ft. with spiders

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Traits

Shapechanger. As a bonus action the jorogumo can magically polymorph into a Medium humanoid woman or back into her true spider form. While in humanoid form she can’t use Bite, Web, or Acid Spit.

Spider Climb. The jorogumo can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the jorogumo knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walker. The jorogumo ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Summon Spiderlings (1/Day). As a bonus action, the jorogumo calls tiny allies. 1d4 swarms of insects (spiders) appear in unoccupied spaces within 30 feet and act on the jorogumo’s initiative (after her turn). The swarms remain for 1 minute, until she dismisses them (no action), or until they drop to 0 hit points.

Actions

Multiattack (Spider Form Only). The jorogumo makes two attacks: one Silk Lash and one Bite.

Silk Lash. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the jorogumo can’t Silk Lash a different target.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn. A poisoned creature can’t take reactions. While the jorogumo has a creature grappled, it makes Bite attacks against that creature with advantage.

Web (Recharge 5–6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one Large or smaller creature. Hit: The target is restrained by webbing (escape DC 15). Until the web is destroyed (AC 10; hp 10; vulnerability to fire; immunity to poison and psychic damage), the target is restrained.

Acid Spit (Recharge 5–6). The jorogumo spits acid in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. A non-magical rope, chain, or similar object fully inside the cone automatically takes 40 acid damage.

Reactions

Reposition. When a creature the jorogumo can see misses her with an attack, she can move up to 20 feet along a surface without provoking opportunity attacks.

Lore

The spider-woman who turns into a beauty to lure victims into her web.

Jorogumo ranks among the most treacherous yokai in Japanese folklore; its name 女郎蜘蛛 literally means “woman-spider.” By tradition, an ordinary Nephila joro-spider that survives for roughly four hundred years undergoes a magical metamorphosis: it gains intellect, the power to change shape, and shifts its diet from insects to human beings.

The creature appears in two guises. Its true form is a colossal orb-weaver with feminine features—eight muscular limbs, venomous fangs, silk glands that spin webbing tougher than steel, and, according to some tales, a telepathic link that lets it direct lesser spiders. Its human disguise is that of an extraordinarily beautiful young woman of about twenty. Beauty, hypnotic charm, and uncanny social manipulation make this guise the yokai’s primary hunting tool.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, Book Two, p. 46 · Fern Flower Press