Xeno-forms of Hive Sibellus

[Jephkay 0]

With a big tip of the hat to Necromunda, here is an attempt at Orb Spiders and some other beasties. I'll post more as I develop them. Comments and criticism welcome and encouraged. My intent to write up quite a lot of these things, and blast it out as a PDF.

 

Orb Spiders
Hive Sibellus is well known for its lofty intrigues, the maneuvering of the nobility, for its heretical cults as well as its industrial might. But deep under-hive, down the in dark, dripping sump-zones, an alien biosphere has taken root.

This is the realm of the Orb Spiders, an invasive life-form brought from far across the Galaxy in ancient times. Their complex life-cycle has been written of as an exercise in apocrypha, for few survive down there in the dark.

Firstly, all orb spider bites are Toxic. Even the smallest of this vile breed inflicts a grievous wound on even the most resilient of explorers. Secondly, they are expert climbers, able to scale sheer surfaces at full speed. Their eyes, prized by craftsmen, can see in the darkest of the sump-zones. They can burrow through the soft, virulent loam of the underhive, immune to the constant rain of industrial waste precipitating from the manufactoria above.

They are hunted for their jewel-like eyes as well as by those who would harvest their poison for use in vile intrigue and murder. Orb spiders range from miniscule to hulking, with some half-mad eye-hunters claiming to have seen massive spiders the size of macro-haulers. Such claims are dismissed by rational xeno-arcanists.

Their lairs are often mistaken for ordinary tunnels, but are actually funnels of sticky web material. The funnels become progressively more adhesive as one moves into them. Movement in the first few meters is easy enough, but every three meters increases the difficulty of manuevering. After three meters, one must succeed at a Challenging (+0) Strength test. Every three meters afterward, increase the difficulty by one step. The spiders themselves are immune to this effect. Dessicated bodies of their victims line the funnels, serving as a warning to those who spot the bodies (a Challenging (+0) Perception Test is required to notice the lumps of matter as having once been people). Most explorers only need to make this association once, as they never forget the sight.

Once a day, an orb spider can fire a web blast, equal in effect to a web pistol.

The Least Orb Spider travels in small packs to increase their chances of success, with the larger spiders taking on solitary hunting behavior.

Least Orb Spider
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
17 20 20 29 32 18 38 19 0
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 1
Skills: Silent Move, Tracking
Talents: Resistance (Poison)
Traits Burrower, Miniscule, Sprint, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons (fangs, 1d10+3, I or R), Natural Armor (1), Toxic
Armour: All (1)
Weapons: Fangs (1d10+SB, I), web blast (30 m, snare S/-/-)
Threat Rating: Xenos Minima

Orb Spider
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
31 30 40 41 35 14 34 24 0
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 14
Skills: Silent Move, Tracking
Talents: Resistance (Poison)
Traits: Weedy, Crawler, Burrower, Sprint, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons, Natural Armor (3)
Armour: All (3)
Weapons: Fangs (1d10+4, I)
Threat Rating: Xenos Minima

The largest of the orb spiders can fire a blast of webbing equivalent to a webber; a blast (5) attack. Vanishingly rare, the Greater Orb Spider is a terrifying opponent.

Greater Orb Spider
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
57 40 66 48 31 18 38 22 0
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 17
Skills: Silent Move, Tracking
Talents: Ambidextrous, Swift Attack, Resistance (Poison)
Traits: Crawler, Burrower, Sprint, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons, Natural Armor (5), Fear (2)
Armour: All (5)
Weapons: Fangs (1d10+4, R, Tearing), Web blast (50 m, snare, S/-/-, blast (5))
Threat Rating: Xenos Minoris

Carrion Bugs
They are not alone, these vile creatures; carrion bugs and their spawn, the sludge-spitting macro-maggots, exist in vast numbers down there as well.
The Carrion bug begins life as a larva, packed into a slimy egg pouch with thousands of its siblings. The right combination of light and heat (such as the passage of a group of Acolytes) causes the egg pouch to burst open, creating a swarm of macro-maggots.

Carrion Bug
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
12 0 13 40 23 11 38 14 0
Movement: 2/4/6/12 Wounds: 5
Skills: Silent Move, Tracking
Talents: Ambidextrous, Swift Attack, Resistance (Poison)
Traits: Crawler, Burrower, Sprint, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons, Natural Armor (2), Fear (1)
Armour: All (2)
Weapons: Claws (1d5+1, Primitive)
Threat Rating: Xenos Minima

Macro-Maggot
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
13 25 19 36 33 10 38 28 0
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 13
Skills: Climbing +20, Silent Move+10, Tracking +10
Talents: Stampede, Sturdy, Unnatural Toughness, Heighted Senses (Vibration), Frenzy*, Iron Jaw*
Traits: Crawler, Burrower, Sprint, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons, Natural Armor (2), Fear (1)
Armour: All (2)
Weapons: Sludge Stream: (5m; 1d10+6, I, S/-/-, Toxic), Claws (1d5+1,Primitive)
Threat Rating: Xenos Minima
*When reduced to 6 wounds

Tunnellers
(With apologies to Hayao Miyazaki and Gene L Coon)
Many sump-zones would be inaccessible if not for the massive tunnellers and the passageways they carve in the compressed waste of the underhive.
Tunnellers resemble vast, segmented grubs. Five to seven armored segments are typical, with a variable number of dimly-glowing eyes (usually between 12 and 15) crowding into the first two segments. Below the eyes, a large number of tearing claws jut forward, constantly in motion, even if the remainder of the beast is at rest. As they move forward, the claws tear at the waste-strata, passing any edible matter to the creature’s ever-hungry four-jawed mouth.
Travellers in the underhive frequent the tunnels left behind by these beasts
As is the case with areas such as the sump-zones, there is a persistant rumor that says somewhere down there is a Tunneller with psychic abilities and human-level intelligence. Some of the more wild variations of this meme hold that the xenos is accompanied by a human girl. Attempts to silence this heresy have failed utterly, as have efforts to find the young heretic and her xenos friend. Other rumors claim there exists a Vault of Tomorrow with billions of Tunneller eggs that will hatch any day now, releasing vast numbers of the beasts to terrorize the hive.

Tunnellers
WS BS S T AG INT PER WP FEL
63 0 53 60 34 13 39 25 0
Movement: 3/6/9/18 Wounds: 28
Skills: Tracking +10
Talents: Stampede, Sturdy, Unnatural Strength, Unnatural Toughness, Heightened Senses (Vibration), Resistance (Poison)
Traits: Crawler, Burrower, Dark Sight, Natural Weapons, Natural Armor (5), Fear (2), Sustained Life
Armour: All (5)
Weapons: Claws (1d10+10,Primitive)
Threat Rating: Xenos Minoris
 

[Argoden 0]

Interesting.  Bit of Nausicaa in the "smart tunneller" rumor, yes?

[Gregorius21778 249]

I am not that familiar with the underhives of Necromunda, but how can a "web-tunnel" (organic material) pass as a "normal tunnel" (compressed building material; marbel; rockcrete; plastec; etc.).

Otherwise, nice critters!

[Jephkay 0]

Gregorius21778 said:

I am not that familiar with the underhives of Necromunda, but how can a "web-tunnel" (organic material) pass as a "normal tunnel" (compressed building material; marbel; rockcrete; plastec; etc.).

Otherwise, nice critters!

Knee-jerk explanation from the Author: The orb spider drags debris in to the web to hide its true nature. Shadowed gaps in the debris trap intruders who don't realize they're in a spider-funnel.

[Jephkay 0]

Argoden said:

Interesting.  Bit of Nausicaa in the "smart tunneller" rumor, yes?

Just a bit.