This is going to be fairly short as the real world is eating into my free time again unfortunately. (Which is why I wasn’t able to put up a Cortex Friday post last week.)

As I mentioned in last week’s Monday Monster post, I’m going to try something different with the monsters going forward: monthly themes. May’s theme is giant arachnids. I had planned on doing just one at first, but as I statted up the jumping spider and orb-weaver spider from last week, I realized I could make several different kinds of spiders by setting different approaches as the lead approach. The giant trapdoor and huntsman spider below are the results.

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Trapdoor Spider

High Concept: Large Trapdoor Spider
Motivation: I Must Wait in Ambush for Prey
Aspect: Sensitive Web of Tripwires

Approaches:

• Careful: Fair (+2)
• Clever: Average (+1)
• Flashy: Mediocre (+0)
• Forceful: Average (+1)
• Quick: Fair (+2)
• Sneaky: Good (+3)

Stunts:

• Camouflage: Because I am nearly undetectable when the lid to my burrow is closed, I get +2 to Sneakily defend against attacks and to oppose creating an advantage as long as I am benefitting from an aspect related to concealment, such as Burrowed, Concealed, or Out of Sight.

Weight: 2 (Large)
Role: Enemy: Mediocre Hitter
Stress: ▢ ▢ ▢
Consequences:

• Mild (2):

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Huntsman Spider

High Concept: Huge Huntsman Spider
Motivation: I Must Investigate Anything Caught in My Webs
Aspect: Acute Sense of Touch
Aspect: Excellent Vision

Approaches:

• Careful: Average (+1)
• Clever: Average (+1)
• Flashy: Mediocre (+0)
• Forceful: Good (+3)
• Quick: Fair (+2)
• Sneaky: Fair (+2)

Stunts:

• Nauseating Poison: Because I inject a potent poison with my bite, whenever I succeed with style on a Sneaky attack, I may give my opponent a Sickened aspect with a free invoke instead of gaining a boost.
• Robust Hunter: Because I have a thick exoskeleton, I get +2 to Forcefully defend against physical attacks.

Weight: 4 (Huge)
Role: Enemy: Mediocre Threat
Stress: ▢ ▢ ▢
Consequences:

• Mild (2):
• Mild (2):