Retriever 5e: Stats and Guide for Players & DMs

Last Updated on November 2, 2023

“Retriever” is neither a famous name nor a name that strikes fear into the heart. It’s not a name like hydra, dragon, mind flayer, or purple worm.

Nevertheless, these enormous mechanical spiders (technically large, taking up a 10-foot square on the classic battle map) are powerful, resistant to a slew of damage types and conditions, and perfectly designed for retrieving people.

These constructs are not an encounter for the faint of heart or low in level. With a challenge rating of 14, only high-level parties have a good shot of defeating these creatures.

Retriever Abilities and Actions

In combat, a retriever’s Multiattack allows it to make two Foreleg attacks and use either its Force Beam or, if available, its Paralyzing Beam.

If it does use Paralyzing Beam and the paralyzed creature is Medium or smaller, the retriever can pick it up as part of the retriever’s move.  It can walk and climb with the creature it’s carrying at full speed.

Weirdly, the official rules don’t specify whether the retriever can carry more than one creature without penalty. However, I would recommend not allowing the retriever to carry more than one medium creature or two small creatures at a time without penalty.

Remember that the retriever can still only Plane Shift one other incapacitated creature.

Notably, the Paralyzing Beam must be recharged. Once a retriever uses this ability, it cannot do so again unless, at the start of its turn, it rolls a 5 or a 6 on a d6.

Lore

Retrievers have been around in some form since 1st edition, so their lore can be a little complex. I’ll, of course, cover the highlights here, but if you want to run these constructs and don’t find the lore to your liking, remember that reflavoring the retrievers is always an option.

Retrievers are mechanical constructs — not just metallic but wholly artificial. They were created by the drow. In D&D 5e, they were used specifically for capturing Abyssal demons for the drow to use in eldritch rituals, but they were so effective at this that they are now used for a variety of purposes.

The retrievers are almost always found in the service of the drow, who are paranoid that the constructs might be used against them. 

Nevertheless, in some rare cases, a party might come across retrievers directed by a master or masters unknown. 

Drow are hesitant to the extreme to sell or trade a retriever away to non-drow, but someone clever enough to rewire the constructs and strong enough to capture one might steal a retriever for themselves.

However, players who desire a retriever for themselves should beware, for the constructs hold within themselves the spirit of a bebilith. 

Bebiliths are powerful and strange spider demons, and they are a significant magical threat on their own. The spirit of these demons has been infused into the metal and magic of the retriever, so trying to mess with the construct’s construction could be dangerous for players.

Tactics

Retrievers are not intelligent creatures, but they do make use of stealth tactics and target priority. Their intelligence, or lack of it, is not the same as an animal’s. 

Instead, it is the intelligence of a machine and of programming, the intelligence given to a construct by a creator, and of course, the cruel instincts given to the retriever by the spirit of the bebilith it is infused with.

This means that a retriever is capable of using advanced tactics, though it is likely to repeat the same methods in the same situation.

Before we look at how a retriever uses its abilities, we should take a look at a retriever’s goals.

Combat Goals

A retriever is not an agent of random chaos. While the bebilith spirit within can drive it to cruelty, this is not why it ventures beyond the lands of the drow. Instead, it is meant to retrieve some creature or object, and it will focus on that goal single-mindedly.

Because retrievers are Faultless Trackers, their ideal mission involves traveling to the desired creature or object, picking it up, and returning. Of course, you don’t send a retriever if you aren’t expecting resistance.

That’s why all retrievers have access to Plane Shift. Once a retriever has physically grabbed the creature or object it has been sent to retrieve, it is very likely to simply Plane Shift away, putting it entirely out of the reach of any resistance.

A retriever’s sole goal is to acquire its target, though sometimes that may involve defeating its enemies. Once it has done so, the construct will flee by any means necessary.

Retriever General Strategies – DM Help

A retriever’s general strategy will revolve around these goals.

For a retriever, with its natural skills tending toward stealth, speed, and mobility, ambush is the way to go. Ambush allows the retriever a surprise round, making it much easier for the retriever to grab its target and flee.

If the retriever has been sent to grab an object that is unattended, the retriever can likely grab the object and flee (probably via Plane Shift). 

If the object is held, or the retriever is after a creature, a surprise round grants the retriever the opportunity to attack, possibly drop any guards, paralyze its target, and scoop them up. 

Admittedly, that does not leave an action for Plane Shifting out, but it is an excellent start.

An excellent first move in a combat encounter, whether or not the retriever gets its surprise round, is strategically casting Web.

For example, if a room has one door and one window, a retriever might burst through the window (a large window to fit the construct) and start combat off by layering the exit door in webbing to prevent the retriever’s prey from fleeing.

Remember that the retriever always knows the direction and distance to its quarry, so if the construct realizes it might fail to overcome resistance, it may decide to retreat until it can return later. 

The constructs are not bound to fight to the death — just to never give up until they have successfully retrieved their quarry.

Fighting Against A Retriever – Player Tactics

Should you have an opportunity to prepare, there are a few tactics that can greatly increase your odds against the construct. 

For example, should you succeed in driving off a retriever and deny it its quarry, you can be sure it will return.

The key to facing a retriever is knowing what it desires. Knowing what the retriever desires will make its actions somewhat predictable and allow you to potentially direct the retriever into traps or disadvantageous positions.

However, should the retriever successfully retrieve its quarry, the party’s goal will shift. Now the challenge is preventing the creature from getting away. 

For this, I recommend either:

• Dimensional Shackles (a Rare wondrous item)
• Forcecage (a 7th level Evocation spell)

The shackles can be placed on a creature that has been incapacitated, which is best accomplished by stunning the retriever. 

The shackles also prevent extra-dimensional movement of all kinds, though beware that the retriever can still escape on its many legs.

Forcecage is a high-level spell but is extremely effective as it imprisons the retriever both physically and extra-dimensionally. 

A Charisma save can allow the retriever to escape via Plane Shift, but a retriever’s Charisma is so low that the likelihood of success is small.

Trying to prevent a retriever from escaping is less than desirable, however, since if the retriever manages to slip away there is little that can be done to track the retriever down.  

The key to fighting a retriever is to prevent it from grabbing its quarry, to confuse it, to make it unsure of what you’re trying to accomplish.

Try your best to prevent it from escaping before you destroy it entirely since it will always come back.