Grey hunched humanoid miniature with multiple spiderlike eyes, large fangs, swollen abdomen and clawed hands, standing on a circular base against black.
mz4250’s Ettercap model shown as a tabletop miniature. Fan-made tabletop illustration, not official franchise artwork.
Overview
The v.3.5 ettercap is a roughly six-foot-tall aberration that speaks Common and may accompany monstrous spiders in warm forests. It relies on traps and avoids approaching opponents who can still move freely. Besides throwing webs, it constructs broad sheets that catch flying or ground-level prey. Contact with its own web gives it an exact location for a trapped creature, and it can traverse the sheet at its climbing speed. Its venom damages Dexterity under that edition's poison rules.
The 2014 Monster Manual presents a Medium monstrosity with no listed language. Spider Climb supports ceiling movement; Web Sense locates other creatures touching the same web, while Web Walker prevents the webbing from obstructing its movement. Its ranged web attack restrains a Large or smaller victim. The captive can attempt a Strength check to escape, or the web can be destroyed. A poisonous bite adds a separate Constitution save and a condition that can last a minute, with repeated opportunities to recover.
The revised 2025 profile retains climbing and web-based detection but changes how capture proceeds. Web Strand calls for a Dexterity save rather than an attack roll, and its text ends restraint when the web is destroyed without repeating the legacy Strength-check escape option. Reel then pulls a creature caught by that strand toward the ettercap as a bonus action. The revised bite imposes brief poisoning directly on a hit. Together these rules give the predator a distinct pull-and-bite sequence, rather than merely increasing the strength of the older web. Common speech in the earlier SRD is not a language entry in either selected fifth-edition profile.
First appearances & development
This comparison follows the v.3.5 System Reference Document, the legacy 2014 Monster Manual, and the revised Monster Manual published in 2025. Their classifications and action rules describe different editions of the same named D&D creature. The retained 2000 manual is historical bibliography, rather than a newly inspected witness for these differences.
Canon & continuity
The complete dedicated v.3.5 SRD entry was read through its licensed third-party reproduction. The official D&D Beyond legacy and revised stat blocks were separately inspected, including any public description. The revised page identifies Monster Manual page 115. Full commercial manual chapters and campaign-specific encounter histories were not inspected.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Monster Manual (2014)
Fifth-edition legacy lore and creature descriptions; no 2024 rules claim.
- 02
Monster Manual (2000)
Third-edition creature treatment; included for historical comparison, not as the source of fifth-edition mechanics.
- 03
Monster Manual v.3.5
Trapmaking, sheet webs, Common speech and venom; v.3.5 licensed SRD text.
- 04
Monster Manual (2025)
Revised fifth-edition dedicated stat block, page 115; compared with the legacy 2014 profile.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- OfficialEttercap (Dungeons & Dragons) — official franchise guideResearch access: 2026-10-05
- ReferenceEttercap (Dungeons & Dragons) — v.3.5 SRDResearch access: 2026-10-06
- OfficialEttercap (Dungeons & Dragons) — revised 2025 blockResearch access: 2026-10-06
Image credits
Creator-made Ettercap miniature renderGrey hunched humanoid miniature with multiple spiderlike eyes, large fangs, swollen abdomen and clawed hands, standing on a circular base against black.
mz4250’s Ettercap model shown as a tabletop miniature. Fan-made tabletop illustration, not official franchise artwork.
