I don't particularly care about this. It makes for an interesting and unique encounter. Also, the implications are that the phase spider matriarch is a high elf worshipper of Lloth that transformed herself into a unique monster, so plenty of explanation there.
Well, I do, I'd like to get the impression I'm actually playing in the Forgotten Realms, rather than on some memetic "Poorly disguised Rivellon".
I also wasn't complaining about the Matriarch to begin with, given that I implicitly considered her as an aberration/one-time special occurrence.
There's a reason if I specifically mentioned the ordinary phase spiders and not her.
Because the recurring ordinariness of the "special exceptions" is precisely what becomes grating fairly quickly here.
Incidentally, canonical fidelity aside, I also think that the fight against the spiders/ettercaps would actually be A LOT more fun with:
- proper phase spiders attacking in melee. If difficulty would need to be tuned, increasing or decreasing their numbers would do the job.
- Ready actions for your party to reach to the surprise.
- A proper reaction system for, well, some extra reaction, really.
- less fucking surfaces all over the place? Pretty please?
