What are some good ways to signify a monster is friendly?

Have it notice a predicament they might be in. They're foraging for food? The spider goes off and catches a few giant flies for them, hoping they'll eat it. Looking for shelter? It spins a web above them thick enough to deflect most of the rain or just to give them shade.

because the monster may not know english

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>Have the spider write a prime number in its web
>/thread

so like, in greco-roman tallies, or vertexes of rotation, or arabian numerology, or...

Have the party see it doing friendly things before it sees them. Maybe it has pets or is working on a hobby. I wouldn't blindly attack a giant spider herding goats or playing drums.

If it isn't intelligent enough for that, the easiest thing is definitely for it to help them.

Shit, spiders would be really good at making drum-based instruments, wouldn't they?
You always think strings with spiders, but drums totally work too.

Have it tap Morse code instead.

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Give it a hat

I feel like this simple solution might be universally applicable

The spider can talk and outright says it wants to be their friend. Be sure to give it a name. Giving somethnig a name makes people more likely to sympathize with it.

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have it give out candy

Prime numbers might be, but it's hard to communicate, and it's not a commonly known fact.

Easier would be having it indicate a 3 4 5 right triangle. Plus being smart doesn't necessarily mean that the players won't kill it. If anything, you'd want it do just do something for them.

Have them attacked by a giant eagle or something, then have the giant spider trap it in a web for them or something.

This. Maybe it's heard about the group's great deeds through a newspaper/bard/crier/etc, has heard they're going to be in the area, and wants to show them it's appreciation.
They stumble upon it trying to set up hammocks, streamers, and a banner that says "Welcome heroes, you guys are awesome!"

What if the giant spider follows the players and picks off goblins whenever they get in a fight that dungeon?

The party has an easier fight, the spider gets mad food for almost free

Not even the number 7 just the word "seven" , make it really obvious

That could be fun, especially if you give them the sense something is lurking.

You'd need to ensure there's 'vents' or some sort of small tunnels near the ceiling that makes it very easy for it to slip away.

Maybe if they try and rest in the dungeon, they'll find when they set out that there's a web down the hall from their room that trapped a bunch of the goblins searching for them.

That vent thing is a good idea.
Then you could have the spider be much more obvious, and still survive.

It acts in a friendly manner.

If that much is unclear, have it make a joke.

Make it cute.

>tfw arachnophobe but so many cute spiders ITT

Yeah. It lets the players discover the Spider or spot it as it snatches one of the goblins, only to scurry away.

It's doubtful they'd find it in a network of tunnels unless they tried to smoke it out, but trying to fill the cave you're in with smoke isn't gonna turn out well for them either.

I feel your pain, bro.

It's in the eyes. An evil creature has a look of anger, and resentment. A good creature has a look not a welcoming look, but curiosity, and gentleness.

Is there some proof for that factoid son?

it's quite common across science fiction that deals with first contacts?
I'm not sure what you want when you are asking for proof about a literature concept.

It's wearing a t-shirt that says, "FUCK ELVES".

That way if you're anti-elf you think it's one of your kind. If you sexualize elves you think it's one of your kind too.

I hate being reminded about how SF worships the ground mathematics walks on

Carl Sagan did it in Contact. Farscape did it. I'm sure there are other examples but none that really stick out making it an overused trope.

At least it has a basis in reality. The idea of mathematics as a common language since numbers would be the same regardless of where you are in the galaxy.

In Stargate ancient aliens used basic elements in sequence as a code to create lasting messages. I think drawing a triangle on the ground is more conventional though. Even less advanced species recognize a triangle and its importance in geometry.

"Look. It's drawing a triangle in the dirt... It's after our pointy spear tips! Quick, stab it!"

Make the monster imply that it's looking for a good time or it wants to fuck.

Alternatively, have the monster roll to seduce.

>Sitting out in the woods with a fire going
>It's cold as balls even with the fire
>Cloak ain't doing shit for me
>Suddenly hear rustling in the pushes and a brief shadow pass by
>Get my sword ready
>The bush rustles a bit and I stand up and call out to whatever is there
>The thing lifts a..Leg? Waves a flag
>Suddenly slides what looks like a sweater from the push
>It's made of silk
>See the fire reflect off it's eyes
>Waves it's pedipalps at me

And thus, I quit the adventuering life and helped my spider bro become a fashion designer.

probably the best way is to have it somehow defend them from something.

Meaning that you're dealing with a bronze-age culture at best and are probably more than a match if you're the alien landing there.

Drawing a triangle lets an alien know that you're smart. It doesn't really do more than that, just let's them know that they shouldn't shoot you with the assumption that you're some dumb animal.

They might shoot you anyway, but then that was probably going to happen no matter what you did.

>implying you won't try to befriend every new monster you encountered
How are you going to achieve world domination without various allies in all sorts of places?

Make it Psionic and have it use telepathy to repeatedly yell into their minds "I am friendly spider, whaddup fellow adventurers!?" And let it float over some bugs it caught using telekinesis to offer as snacks.

It was a joke, user. Suggesting the triangle is the universal symbol for stabbing implements.

Real talk, I fucking love spiders even though the make me nervous as fuck

Every time I see one I get all itchy and anxious, but I'm happy they're around, murdering flies and mosquitoes

Here in Aus the huntsmen get big enough to eat small mice so they also do the work my fat lazy cats should be doing

They'd probably suspect it of mind controlling them if it was psychic.

if i encountered a hideous monster telepathically whispering innocent phrases into my mind while flaunting its previous victims in my face i would immediately think it was a trap.

no-go mister DM sir.

Because if I tap a sequnce that goes like this:
1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.. No non-sentient creature could produce said sequence at random. The same could be said if I drew a right-triangle, and put 3 marks on one side, 4 marks on another, and 5 marks on the longest side. Which again, proves I know geometry, and therefore I'm at least capable of reasoning.

Or if I drew a dot, followed by 8 other dots with ovals running through them, as a little model of our solar system. Any alien seeing that would know we are aware of astronomy.

this is so hilariously simple, yet i see no reason why it wouldn't be effective even in the most serious settings.

>displays intelligence
>displays craftsmanship
>possibility for displaying cultural symbols the PCs may recognize
>makes it cuter and more anthropomorphized
>gives it instantly recognizable characterization depending on the type of hat

i like it

>1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.. No non-sentient creature could produce said sequence at random.
Sure they could! It would just be really REALLY statistically improbable. Like that fucker is probably also picking successful lotto numbers.

Not to metion that any female party members will find it hard to resist it's dashing charm, greatly improving initial contact.

Funnily enough, this technique DOES work for spiders, bears, and general beast like monsters, but does NOT work for humanoid monsters.

Because seeing a goblin in a hat will not stop you from killing said goblin.

That depends. How nice is the hat? Sunday best? Or dirty trucker style with the words "Make Elf Rape Great Again"?

I'm using a beat up stovepipe hat as my example hat for all these scenarios.
I would totally take a beat up stovepipe from a goblin, but not a spider.

Of course not. Spiders make fine silks. They should be great tailors.

Of course no doubt the adventurer spider may not have that racial aspect, having become a social outcast due to more interest in mix-maxing than needlepoint.

man, I need to include more terrifying spider towns in dungeons.

Give it an emissary/ translator.

>adventurers captured in webs
>dragged by spider warriors to spider village
>released in the local tavern to much cheering and song and drink
>heroes are toast of the town, the only price of hospitality is the return gift of stories from their exploits
>local spider wenches promise to be gentle with any adventurers wishing to partake of their nectar and not to bite any of their heads off mid-coitus
>when leaving the spider town council presents the adventurers with finely woven silk cloaks, bobble caps, and mittens because the dungeon gets very cold at night

Yes, just like that.
Except add a scene where they are physically covered in hundreds of spiders. Or maybe spider kids, if these are giant spiders.

Nah, if I was DMing I'd make it totally nice all the time. Only once they're far gone and probably no longer remember the way back to spider village do they discover the secret lining in their mittens with the note saying, "Guess which one of you has the egg sac concealed in your rectum?"

as long as there is plenty of screaming, it's all good.

"Oh, did any of you guys find the missing villagers you were sent for in the first place?"

Wouldn't spiders use base 8 or something? And wouldn't the party be too dumb to figure it out either way?

Could be worse. Could be like those wasps that lay eggs inside caterpillars and turn them into "zombies" that keep eating, never cocoon, and are eventually devoured from the inside out by wasp larva.

I'm sure there are spiders who happily lay their eggs inside of things.

I think primes are the same even in different bases?
If my math is right?

Spider-wizards should be prepared with translation spells. After all, with their rather inhuman mouths I cannot imagine they can manage even Common.

The actual value would be the same but the numbers you use to express them would change depending on the base.

There's no 3 in binary, for instance.

>There's no 3 in binary, for instance.
Or rather there IS but it would be 11.

Nah. Spiders also have those mouth-legs, so they'd have 10 digits in all.

but for the sake of tapping the numbers in sequence, it all works
pedipalps!

>Or if I drew a dot, followed by 8 other dots with ovals running through them
For approximately 75 of the last 80 years, this would be wrong. It would get progressively more wrong the further back in time you went, and could at some point in the future become wrong - possibly very wrong - again.

And that's if we're dealing with our own real solar system, and assuming that the subject creature has access to accumulated human knowledge or powerful telescopes.

Any thing that indicates that they don't consider Pluto a planet, I will kill on the spot.

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You'd be killing a lot of people if you went back in time then, as Pluto wasn't even known for much of history.

Godbless you.

>doesn't even have proper orbit
>"a planet"
LOL

Describe it as cute.
Make it colorful.
Or make it extremely obvious that it's intelligent. Maybe it makes artistic vignettes out of its webbing that depict a picnic with its children.
Have it leave gifts for the party in their path (small amounts of gold, maybe a minor magical item, other things your party might want but wouldn't make the dungeon too easy)

Jesus, it's almost like you WANT Zapp to murder these guys.

>Colorful
That's generally an indication of being highly poisonous or venomous, if you ask the ranger. The sorcerer just thinks it's pretty. The bard says both.

Q: What did the bartender say to spider when started to tell him a story?
A: Hey there lots of legs. Now that is some spinning yarn your tell me!

Give it an ally that can communicate.

They ARE spiders so even if they weren't colorful people would still be cautious. Just sayin'

don't you mean
>/web

Have it sneak up behind them unnoticed so that it would be able to easily ambush them. Then have it gently tap the shoulder of the party member at the back, and hand them an item that they recently lost. Then it leaves, turning around just before it's out of sight to wave goodbye at the party.

Most dangerous motherfucker in the planet coming through. Back off, mammal!

I know, i know. Still, i couldn't resist

Little Known Fact: Those feathers are highly poisonous to humans unless washed with water.

All that intelligence means in a monster is that I have to watch out for monster allies, traps and/or ambushes.

What's the name of the poison/toxin?

>In a dingy shop a few blocks from a city dump
>Need the flies to feed spider bro
>Wizard bro scraped together a leg ring to translate what he says
>Spider bro's name is 'Gil'
>In walks noble dude
>"My good sir, I have heard that you discovered the secret of spider silks"
>Nod. Fucker better not try to enslave Gil like the last idiot
>Gil is still feasting on his remains
>Good times.png
>"I require a full suit, in the latest styles of the court."
>"You get what Gil says you get."
>whatthefuckface.png
>He finally sees spider bro
>Starts freaking when his pedipalps rub together
>"Don't worry, he's friendly. Now stand still while he runs all over your body"
>Gil is the size of a small dog
>He finally speaks
>sounds like clicks, softly sighed vowels, and soft phlegmy constanants
>Leg ring kicks in
>"Greetings buyer! I wish to show you my skills with my butt thread!"
>facepalm.png
>"It's silk, not butt thread"
>"But is thread that comes from butt!"
>Not. Helping.
>Noble dude faints
>"Can I eat him?"
>Not sure if bad idea or good idea.

Imagine a creature that hunts sentient beings searching for sentient life. It does a brief display dance, then if the creature hasn't attacked taps a set sequence then lures them into a trap. It's not all that Byzantine as far as nature is concerned.

I played a gatormen in a setting where gatormen were rare and rightly feared.

Somehow, despite being amused by the notion that other races needed armor, weighting 300 kgs and digesting bone as well as meat, simply saying "hello" and not eating people worked. I also said I was lonely and wanted to help because my tribe exiled me. Most people just stared afraid until I showed my good will and common ground (all races hate kobolds).

I even became a honorary dwarf, proud member of the Iron Redoubt. And hero of a village so unremarkable it had no name until I showed up and it became Maul's Village. The locals started to wear green clothing with scaled patterns and feast everytime I did something worthwhile, those drunkards.

Make it friendly and willing about good conversation.

Or a great kisser

Perhaps it's very useful