Clockwork Spyder (Patreon)

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This brass mechanical spider can fold its legs inward, allowing it to be worn as a brooch, hair pin, or similar. While being worn in this way, the spider appears as a normal pin. You can use a bonus action to speak the spider's command word followed by a single word instruction, such as "unlock" or "disarm." The spider then springs to life and carries out the task to the best of its ability, using its numerous legs as thieves' tools. The spider has a +7 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks, as well as any ability check it makes using thieves' tools. The spider can remain animated for up to 10 minutes. Each time it's given a new spoken command, it uses a minimum of 1 minute from the duration. When you give the spider an instruction, and again on each of your turns as a bonus action while it remains animated, you can mentally command the spider to move up to 20 feet.

Other than using its legs as thieves' tools, the spider can perform two unique tasks:

Record. The spider can record audio, up to its remaining animation time, for later playback. You can cause previously recorded audio to play from a small speaker on the spider by tapping it twice. Tapping it twice again stops the recording. Any recording the spider has is lost when it's commanded to record again.

Tripwire. The spider creates a tripwire up to 10 feet in length using a spool of thread from its mechanical abdomen, connecting either end of the tripwire to a solid surface. The tripwire is nearly invisible, requiring a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 17 or higher to notice it, and it gives no resistance when broken. While you're within 1,000 feet of a tripwire created in this way, you are magically made aware of it when it's broken, such as if a creature walks through it. When this happens, you only know which wire is broken, but not what caused it to break. You can have up to three tripwires at a time, which remain for up to 8 hours. Creating a fourth tripwire causes the first one to break.

You can mentally deactivate the spider early using a bonus action. The spider regains all its used animation time daily at dawn.

The spider is considered a magical object and is not a creature. It has AC 15, 10 hit points, a walking and climbing speed of 20 feet, and has resistance to all damage. If the mending spell is cast on the spider while it has at least 1 hit point, it regains 2d6 hit points. If the spider drops to 0 hit points, it can’t be used again for 24 hours, at which point it regains all its hit points.

The elf introduced herself as Thirteen-finger Thala, bowing deeply enough so her cloak could expose the empty sleeve underneath. The party had their doubts, but couldn’t ignore the rumors that preceded her—that somehow, this one-armed rogue could break down a lock in half the time of others.

After a handshake, half the gold owed, and a half day’s walk to the old mines’ gate, the party's eyes widened as the elf's cloak fell to the floor. The clasp that held it together sprang to life as a miraculous brass spider. It skittered down her outstretched arm toward the impenetrable lock: its metal working in tandem with her hand to release the old tumblers and pins. The tiny scrapings of the spider’s legs were only broken by the soft words the elf muttered to her mechanical friend, and finally, the rolling clicks of the lock as it opened.

The elf turned around with her hand extended—all thirteen digits reaching for the rest of their payment.