ENCOUNTER OF THE WEEK: “Eight Legs Good, Two Eyes Petrified”

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A cheeky encounter for a party of 4–5 mid-level adventurers (BECMI level 5–7 / 5e level 5)

SET-UP (read aloud to players)

You tiptoe through the clammy cavern, your boots making that mortifying squelch that suggests your socks died heroically hours ago. The ceiling is a nightmare of cobwebs, not the cute seasonal décor kind, but the sort strung by a grumpy arachnid with no understanding of minimalist chic.

A serpentine hiss slithers through the darkness. Then THUMP! Something heavy drops, like an ogre falling asleep on a piano.

A basilisk lumbers forward, wearing an expression that screams “Your taste in fashion will soon be rock solid.”

Above you, dangling like a smug chandelier that needs dusting, hangs a giant spider the size of a carriage horse, glaring at you with eight hungry eyes. You now regret not buying that scroll of ‘Don’t Go In The Creepy Cave’.


CREATURES

Giant Spider

  • BECMI:

    • AC: 5

    • HD: 4+4 (20 hp)

    • THAC0: 17

    • Move: 180’ (60’)

    • Attacks: Bite (1d8) + poison (save vs Poison or dramatically keel over).

    • XP: 125 XP

  • 5e:

    • AC: 14

    • HP: 26 (4d10+4)

    • Speed: 40 ft, climb 40 ft

    • Bite: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft, 1d8+3 piercing + DC 11 Con save or 2d8 poison (half on save)

    • Web (Recharge 5–6): ranged +5, restrains on hit

    • XP: 200 XP (CR 1)

Basilisk

  • BECMI:

    • AC: 4

    • HD: 6+1 (28 hp)

    • THAC0: 15

    • Move: 60’ (20’)

    • Bite: 1d10

    • Gaze: save vs Petrification or become a chic limestone ornament.

    • XP: 275 XP

  • 5e:

    • AC: 15

    • HP: 52 (8d8+16)

    • Speed: 20 ft

    • Bite: +5 to hit, 2d6+3 piercing + DC 12 Con save vs 2d6 poison

    • Petrifying Gaze: DC 12 Con save or restrained → fail again = petrified

    • XP: 700 XP (CR 3)

TACTICS (and Petty Bickering)

The spider and basilisk have the working relationship of two soap-opera divas sharing a dressing room. They both want you for lunch but refuse to share.

  • Round 1: The spider webs the loudest or most heavily armoured party member. The basilisk glares at whoever looks most likely to taste like chicken.

  • Round 2+: If either drops below half HP, it may turn on the other in a hissy fit worthy of a late-night talk show meltdown.

TERRAIN FEATURES

  • Sticky Webbing: 10-ft squares count as difficult terrain; Dex save (BECMI: save vs Paralysis; 5e: DC 12 Dex) or restrained, thrashing like a bad interpretive dancer.

  • Stone Garden: 1d4 petrified adventurers frozen in heroic poses, a dwarf mid-sneeze, a bard eternally strumming the wrong chord.

TREASURE

  • A half-digested pouch wrapped in web:

    • 250 gp, three potions of questionable smell (one is actually lukewarm tea),

    • A scroll of Remove Petrification (faint scent of burnt toast).

  • XP for Treasure (BECMI): 1 XP per gp value = 250 XP

THREE POSSIBLE CONCLUSIONS

1. “Winner, Winner, Basilisk Dinner”

You play the two beasts off against each other, watching them fight like toddlers over the last biscuit. You mop up what’s left and pocket the loot.

  • XP Awards:

    • BECMI: 125 (Spider) + 275 (Basilisk) + 250 (Treasure) = 650 XP total to divide among the party.

    • 5e: 900 XP total (200 + 700) plus treasure as DM sees fit.

2. “The Statue Formerly Known as You”

You fail your save vs gaze and become part of the cavern’s stylish but chilly décor. Your companions debate whether to spend 50 gp to haul you back to town, or simply leave you as “Exhibit A: Adventurer in Natural Habitat”.

  • XP Awards:

    • Surviving party members earn monster XP as above, but you get none, you’re too busy being granite.

3. “Leg It!”

You decide that living to run away another day is preferable to being an eight-legged lunch special. You sprint for the exit while the spider hisses in frustration and the basilisk sulks, having only petrified your backpack.

  • XP Awards:

    • BECMI & 5e: Usually no monster XP unless significant damage inflicted; DM may award up to 100 XP for survival and creative cowardice.

DM NOTES

  • The spider whines about “bloody web-rent increases” in a Cockney accent.

  • The basilisk complains about being “stone-cold under-appreciated in the reptile community”.

  • Encourage creative insults, reward them with advantage or bonus XP for making the creatures lose their cool.

  • Keep narration in second person so the players feel they’re really in the webbed-up thick of it.


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