Let’s Play D&D With The Spot From Spider-Man’s Rogue’s Gallery
Across the Spiderverse introduced us to one of Spidey’s little-known foes. But I think the Spot would be perfect for your next D&D fight.
Across the Spiderverse opened last weekend, and as a massive fan of the first movie, I was really pleased with this sequel. It was everything I wanted to see more of, while also expanding on the multiverse and introducing us to much more. And part of this ‘more’ was the movie’s main villain, a relatively little-known member of Spidey’s rogue’s gallery who probably looked very new to most movie fans; the Spot. He quickly proves to be more powerful than Spider-Man is necessarily ready for. But I think in a D&D setting, the Spot can be one of those fun, challenging foes that make your players really think about their next move. This week we’re playing D&D with…
The Spot
via Sony
Sometime I make a sheet and it’s an absolute joy. I love the idea of the character or item and would actually, unironically enjoy either seeing them appear at a table or file them away to play for myself later. For example, I’m currently playing a legally distinct version of Eddie Brock in my family campaign and it’s a delight. The Spot was absolutely one of those fun sheets to make.
His powers are fun and neat but not impossible, and he’s neither so easy that most players would one-shot him nor so challenging that a party should expect a horrible loss. In fact, if your group is smart and a little creative, or even just really really persistent, this could be a very manageable-but-frustrating encounter.
He’s smart, sure. But this exact scene is why is Wisdom is so mediocre.
A few key powers make the Spot the Spot. He can teleport both through his current world and through the multiverse using his spots, he’s a pretty normal dude aside from that, he’s smart and that makes him very creative, and he takes a certain amount of joy from teasing and tormenting Spidey. As for that last part, the attitude will have to be all up to the DM’s roleplaying skills. But the rest is something we can absolutely make work in D&D.
The core thing we need is the spots. They’re big enough for a human-sized creature to jump through, and since we’re looking at D&D instead of allowing for multiverse travel, we’re looking at planes-walking. I immediately thought of the Blink Dog, and as a result, took a bit of inspiration from them and a bit from the Displacer Beast as well. After all, ‘Avoidance’ is really good for mimicking the ‘haha, you only nicked me because I was busy moving through this spot and avoided you’ feel.
I wanted to make the spots a special weapon that The Spot is very familiar with and has mapped out. But they’re also not all-powerful nor endless. Sure, he can use one to disrupt a building’s structural integrity or get you lost in a maze of spots. But eventually, they’ll run out and he’ll have to come up with another plan or flee until tomorrow.
Also, we don’t see the spots disintegrate in Spiderverse, but leaving a bunch of eternal holes-to-somewhere laying around felt irresponsible, so spots don’t stick around for terribly long. That means though, that if your party member gets lost in one, you’ll want to find them or regroup quickly.
Have you seen Across the Spiderverse yet? How did you think it compared to the first one? Which new Spidey is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
