Spider-Gwen
The Gwen Stacy that was best known for decades – the Gwen from Earth-616 – died tragically during a fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. The death haunted Peter for years. It haunted readers as well, because Gwen's famous death seemed like it followed in the vein of Uncle Ben and Bucky Barnes (at the time). Everyone in comics comes back to life, except then.
After the successful introduction of Miles Morales, the question of "what is Spider-Man?" became a lot more open-ended. Now, one of the most well-known pieces of Spider-Man history, and even Marvel history, is the "Spider-Verse".
It was during the 2014 launch of the Spider-Verse story that the idea of an alternate universe Gwen Stacy becoming Spider-Woman was formed. The character, known widely as Spider-Gwen or Ghost Spider, was an immediate sensation.
It was a different kind of introduction than Miles, who was a new character outright. Fans had knowledge of Gwen, and the characters around her. This made it possible to play on that knowledge to make this version of Gwen stand-out while being familiar. Earth-65 Gwen's best friend, Peter Parker, tragically becomes the Lizard. Her dad, George Stacy, blames Spider-Woman for the death, and vows to capture her at all costs. She plays in a band with Mary Jane. It's all there, just different, new and cool.
What characters have made such a big immediate impact as Spider-Gwen? It's only been since 2014 since she was introduced – no time at all in comic years.
So how do we build her in Pathfinder 2e?
Keys to the Character
Dance Like Nobody's Webbing
Years of dance practice has given Spider-Gwen an even more graceful agility, among a cadre of incredible graceful and agile peers.
Web and Flow
Like nearly all Spider-People, Gwen uses webs as part of her super-heroics. That could mean getting around, stopping foes, and nearly everything else.
Last Dance for Mary Jane
On Earth-65, Gwen is the drummer for the Mary Janes – a rock band featuring MJ Watson, Betty Brant, Glory Grant and sometimes Felicia Hardy. It's a who's who of Spider-Man 616 diary entries.
She Saw That Coming
Like Peter, Miles and the other members of the Spider-Verse, Gwen possesses a spider-sense – a precognitive sixth sense alerting her to danger. Perhaps in a nod to "female intuition", Gwen's has been shown to be somewhat stronger than others.
Our Spider-Man build set the template for how other Spider-Verse characters can be brought onto the tabletop. Now, it is about taking that example and changing it to suit the different character traits, alternate powers and personalities of the individual Spider-People.
So here's the question, what makes Spider-Gwen unique among the Spider-Verse?
First off, she's a trained dancer. Next, she's a drummer in a band. Lastly, her suit features a throwback to the old "webbed arms" of the 60's Spider-Man, letting her glide. Check, check, check. Sounds like an Adaptive Anadi Battledancer Swashbuckler with a Bard dedication. Let's go.
On the battlefield, Spider-Gwen is a supremely graceful skirmisher. She is always tumbling and vaulting around foes, looking for the best opportunities to deal out damage without getting hit. This movement boosts her damage by giving her panache, which she uses to power up the crane strikes from her Martial Artist dedication.
Our Spider-Man build focused primarily on webbing things up as much as possible, and using his spider-sense to know whether he can make a hard strike each round. Gwen does things differently – she is more focused on being a nimble damage-dealer.
However, her drummer background comes into play with a Bard dedication, which gives her just enough spellcasting to inspire allies from time to time, as well as use her spidey sense and webs.
Outside of battle, Gwen's spider-strength and agility can be the difference in helping the team get the things they need to the places they need them. She also has a little experience in being stealthy, if that becomes helpful.
Build OVERVIEW
- Keeps the team on-beat
- Hard to hit cause she's always moving
- Always something to do
- Less webs than Peter and damage than Miles
- Too many actions to choose from each turn
- Hard to remember the right name
Ancestry
Adaptive Anadi - Human
As with our Peter Parker build, the Anadi ancestry stands in for being bit by a spider very well. Especially with the Adaptive heritage giving us access to Human feats as well.
The key feat is Hybrid Shape at level 5, making it possible for Gwen to be a bit less freakish and a bit more Gwenish. Beyond that, nearly every Anadi feat helps become Gwen fit the Ghost-Spider theme better.
Plus, that Human adaptation let's us grab a Bard dedication to show off that drumming ability.
Background
Entertainer
As drummer for the Mary Janes, Gwen knows how to put on a show. Not only that, but she has a dancing history. Those things combine to make a very entertaining background.
The Theatre: Lore skill will probably never, ever come up. But if it does, she's got the team set.
More useful is the Dexterity bonus, which is Spider-Gwen's key ability as a Swashbuckler.
Class
Battledancer Swashbuckler
The build and spend gameplay loop of Swashbucklers doesn't fit every playstyle, but giving Spider-Gwen a reason to tumble around the battlefield, being nimbly annoying is perfect.
Tumble Through grants panache by default, which is great already, but the Battledancer style adds performing to the list of builders. While Gwen doesn't want to spend too many skill upgrades on Performance, the Acrobatic Performance feat lets her fascinate foes with her daring displays of dancrobatics, and earn panache for doing so.
To spend that panache, Ghost Spider uses crane wing attacks from a Martial Dedication she picks up early. These strikes are fairly straightforward as far as stance strikes go, but the stance also improves her high jump and long jump, which are very Spider-People actions.
The other benefit of Crane Stance, of course, is Crane Flutter – which acts as a kind of spidey sense dodge. The reaction offers a huge +3 bonus to AC against an incoming attack, and allows Gwen to strike back immediately if that strike misses.
The potential downside of Crane Stance is that it requires Ghost Spider to be unarmored. But with the added AC from Crane Stance, as well as the high AC reactions like Nimble Dodge and Crane Flutter, she will often be able to avoid damage despite this drawback.
The final piece of the spider-puzzle is a Bard Dedication through Multitalented. This represents Gwen's dummership as part of the Mary Janes, but really what we use it for is her web abilities. The Basic and Expert Bard Spellcasting from the Occult tradition is just enough to add some web and (more likely) spidey-sense flavored spells.
Skills & General Feats
Like most Spider-Verse adjacent people. Gwen is legendary in both Acrobatics and Athletics. The Acrobatics skill is especially important, as she makes up for her low Performance using Acrobatic Performance, for another way to gain panache.
Outside of those, Gwen is master in Occultism – necessary for her Expert Bard Spellcasting. Finally, she is somewhat practiced in Stealth, for the "ghost" part of Ghost Spider.
Legendary: Acrobatics, Athletics
Master: Occultism
Expert: Stealth
Attribute Increases
Equipment
Suggested Starting Equipment
Key Spells
Changelog
Related Builds
