What is a Marilith? What is a Drider? WTF?

[Bristowe]

What is a drider? Marilith? Yochlol? And why are there none of the first two in the game? They're a big part of the underdark Drows are'nt they?? I'm just curious cos' mariliths supposed to be cool, ditto with the driders... mmhm...

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Yes indeed...

[Memnoch]

Here's some info about marilith. They are a type of tanar'ri.


Tanar'ri

Balor Marilith
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: The Abyss The Abyss
FREQUENCY: Very rare Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any Any
DIET: Carnivore Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius(19-20) Genius (17-18)
TREASURE: Hx3 C, F
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil Chaotic evil
NO. APPEARING: 1 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: -8 -9
MOVEMENT: 15, Fl 36 (B) 15
HIT DICE: 13 12
THAC0: 7 9
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 or 2 7
DAMAGE/ATTACK: by weapon or 2-12 4-24 and 6 by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Terror, body flames, Magical weapons,
death throes, explosion constriction
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +3 or better weapons to hit +2 or better weapon to hit,
never surprised, spell immunity
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 70% 70%
SIZE: L (12' tall) L (7' tall)
MORALE: Fanatic (17-18) Fanatic (17-18)
XP VALUE: 46,000 45,000


Tanar'ri are, in the broadest terms, chaos and evil defined. The less intelligent often attack without question and fight until slain. True and greater tanar'ri often roam the Astral and Ethereal Planes -- their attention is attracted by those in an ethereal state.

Combat: In addition to the separate abilities of each sort of tanar'ri, they all share the following magical powers:


Attack Damage Attack Damage
acid full gas (poisonous, etc.) half
cold half iron weapon full
electricity (lightning) none magic missile full
fire (magical) half poison none
fire (nonmagical) none silver weapon full*

* greater tanar'ri suffer half damage from silver weapons.

All tanar'ri with average or above average intelligence have a form of telepathy that enables them to communicate with any intelligent life form, regardless of any language barriers.
Frequently, the Abyss-forged, magical weapons of the tanar'ri dissolve upon the death of the creature. When one doesn't, it is likely that the weapon in question originated somewhere else.

Habitat/Society: There are five classifications of tanar'ri, listed in ascending order of power, and with species, below:

Least: dretch, manes, rutterkin
Lesser: alu-fiend, bar-lgura, cambion, succubus
Greater: babau, chasme, nabassu
True: balor, glabrezu, hezrou, marilith, nalfeshnee, vrock
Guardian: molydeus

Balor (True Tanar'ri): The greatest and most terrible of the true tanar'ri, the balors are the undisputed terrors of the Abyss. They are the very motivation behind the tanar'ri involvement in the Blood War. In every sense of the word, balors are the quintessential tanar'ri. They derive great pleasure from the suffering of others and go out of their way to torment lesser beings and cause them pain.
Balors are repulsive and loathsome to behold. They are towering humanoids with deep, dark red skin. They have huge wings that propel them with unnatural speed and agility. They have long, wicked claws and grotesque fangs that drip with venom. Balors are commonly surrounded by searing flames.

Combat: Balors attack with their great fists for 2-12 points of damage. Anyone struck by a balor's fists must roll a saving throw vs. spells with a -6 penalty or flee in terror for 1-6 turns.
Balors much prefer weapons to fists in combat. Each carries a great sword that looks like a bolt of lightning. In the hands of a balor, these swords are vorpal and can detect evil/good in a 30 foot radius. Any creature that picks up a balor's sword, regardless of whether its skin actually touches it, immediately suffers 10-60 points of damage and must roll a saving throw vs. spells, or die immediately.
Balors also use a great whip with many tails. These whips will inflict but 1-4 points of damage per hit. However, they magically wrap the victim, allowing the balor to draw the victim into his ever-present bodily flames. Once dragged into the flames, the victim suffers 4-24 points of damage per round. Escaping the whip requires a successful one-half strength check. When the whip holds a victim, it cannot be used in other attacks.
Balors may use one of the following additional magical powers at the 20th level of spell use per round at will: detect invisibility (always active), detect magic (always active), dispel magic, fear, pyrotechnics, read magic, suggestion, symbol (any type), telekinesis, and tongues.
They may also gate 1-8 least, 1-6 lesser, 1-4 greater, or 1 true tanar'ri to their location. The gate is always successful but may only be used once per hour.
Balors are completely immune to gas. If a balor is slain in the Abyss, it explodes in a blinding flash of light, inflicting 50 points of damage to everything in a 100-foot radius around the creature (saving throw vs. spell for half damage).

Habitat/Society: Balors exist for one purpose only: to wage the Blood War. They are driven by the strongest primal desire to fight and will command whole legions of beings into battle.
Balors also recognize a subtle but important aspect of the War: the prime material plane. They will often make pacts with mortals to perform services for the purpose of gaining power in the prime material plane. Balors know that the more followers or allies they can gain in the prime material, the more power they will have there.
There are at least 24 balors known to exist. The creatures do not inhabit any particular area of the Abyss, but wander about forming armies for battle with the baatezu (q.v.).

Ecology: There is nothing more important in the Abyss than the Blood War. The balor, in a sense, are the Blood War from a tanar'ri perspective, the ecology of the Abyss, driving the creation of new beings and mandating their survival.

Marilith (True Tanar'ri): Bold and cunning, marilith are the generals and tacticians for the Blood War. Where the balors are the influence and energy behind the war effort, the marilith are the brains and tactics.
Terrible to behold, these creatures have the bodies of giant snakes, with huge, green, scaly coils. From the waist up, they are beautiful, comely females. Besides her obvious snake body, the feature that reveals the true nature of this tanar'ri is her six arms. They are commonly adorned with precious jewelry and highly decorated weapons -- marilith most often carry a different weapon in each of their six hands.

Combat: Although marilith are strategists and tacticians, they love to join combat and do so whenever the opportunity presents itself. They can attack with each of their six arms and constrict a victim with their snaky tails as well.
Marilith always carry a different weapon in each hand, favoring exotic swords and axes. The DM should assign specific weapons; 90% of them should be enchanted versions of the common variety, and 15% of those should be a special weapon. Marilith favor their weapons highly. If one should ever be lost or stolen, marilith go to great lengths to see that the weapon is recovered.
A marilith can also constrict with her deadly tail. If the tail hits in combat, it wraps around a victim, automatically inflicting 4-24 points of crushing damage each round. Additionally, due to the constriction of air, the victim must roll a successful Constitution check every round or fall unconscious. No opponent with less than a 15 Strength score can even hope to break free of the marilith's coils. There is a 10% chance per round, per point of Strength over 14, that the victim can escape. Marilith have the following additional magical powers that they can use once per round, one at a time, at will: animate dead, cause serious wounds, cloudkill, comprehend languages, curse, detect evil, detect magic, detect invisibility, polymorph self (7 times per day), project image, pyrotechnics, and telekinesis.
They may also attempt to gate in 2-20 least tanar'ri, 1-6 lesser tanar'ri, 1-4 greater tanar'ri, or 1 true tanar'ri once per hour with a 35% chance of success.
Weapons of +1 or less magical enchantment cannot harm a marilith. These creatures are never surprised. They cannot be fooled by illusions and are immune to mind-affecting spells.

Habitat/Society: As noted, marilith are the strategists of the Blood War. They are in charge of devising all tactics to be used during the battles and coordinate the activities of all true tanar'ri (save the mighty balors, of course). Due to the chaotic nature of the tanar'ri, it is not really possible to coordinate their activities, but the marilith are charged with it, nonetheless.
These stunningly powerful creatures have a hatred for the glabrezu. They feel that the subtle warfare of the glabrezu is a children's game and inferior to proper warfare. A marilith will attempt to discredit the workings of the glabrezu any chance it gets. They would completely destroy the subtle beasts, but the all powerful balors favor the glabrezus' tactics and would have them continue their ways.

Ecology: Marilith are true tanar'ri, which makes them a part of the driving force behind the Blood War. Moreover, they are the coordinators and generals of the war effort. Marilith feel that they are the true force behind the war. Secretly, they feel that the balors have their place only because of their great power, but are not absolutely necessary. They may be right in their belief, but the power of the balors remains unchallenged.



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Memnoch - Custodian of the Order of the Holy Flame

[Memnoch]

And here's some about driders.


Elf, Drow

Drow Drider
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Subterranean caves & cities Subterranean caves & cities
FREQUENCY: Very rare Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clans, bands Bands
ACTIVITY CYCLE: -------Any underground, night aboveground-------
DIET: Omnivorous See below
INTELLIGENCE: High to Supra- (13-14) High (14-20)
TREASURE: Nx5, Qx2 Nx2, Q
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil Chaotic evil
NO.APPEARING: 50 1 or 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 4 (10) 3
MOVEMENT: 12 12
HIT DICE: 2 6+6
THAC0: 19 13
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 or 2 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon 1-4 or by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below 15%
SIZE: M (5' tall) L (9' tall)
MORALE: Elite (14) Elite (14)
XP VALUE: Priests: 975 Transformed mages: 3,000
Others: 650 Transformed priests: 5,000

Driders
These strange creatures have the head and torso of a drow and the legs and lower body of a giant spider. Driders are created by the drow's dark goddess. When a dark elf of above-average ability reaches 6th level, the goddess may put him or her through a special test. Failures become driders.
Driders are able to cast all spells a normal drow can use once per day. They also retain any magical or clerical skills they had before transformation. A majority of driders (60%) were priests of 6th or 7th level before they were changed, all other driders were mages of 6th, 7th, or 8th level.
Driders always fight as 7 Hit Die monsters. They often use swords or axes, though many carry bows. Driders can bite for ld4 points of damage, and those bitten must save vs. poison with a -2 penalty or be paralyzed for 1-2 turns.
Because they have failed their goddess's test, driders are outcasts from their own communities. Driders are usually found alone or with 2d6 huge spiders (10% chance), rather than with drow or other driders. They are violent, aggressive creatures that favor blood over all types of food. They stalk their victims tirelessly, waiting for the right chance to strike.



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Memnoch - Custodian of the Order of the Holy Flame

[Bristowe]

Memnoch, you rock dude, heh, din 'spect a reply from you... very intersting stuff...funny though, i sortof had an image that mariliths had six arms with the lower body of a serpent or some such rubbish... Ha! oh well... thanks for your ... rapid response

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Yes indeed...

[Bristowe]

ooops, didn't fully rread it before posting my peply... hehe sorry..

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Yes indeed...

For a simpler summary. Mariliths are 6-armed demons, half-woman, half-snake. Driders are half-spider,half-male drow, Yochlols are the 'Handmaidens of Lolth'. They usually appear as drow, but their normal form is like a Roper