Homebrew Ara-Na Species Details

Mysterious Origins

Recently emerging from the Underdark, not many know the origin of the Ara-Na. Most speculate they are involved with the Drow in some capacity, whether they were cursed by Lolth, or are created by cruel experiements of Drow making. Others suspect that the Ara-Na are more a more intelligent subspecies of the Ettercap. The truth is that Ara-Na come from the lowest reaches of the Underdark and were Lolth's first attempt at creating a race that would solely devote themselves to her. Ara-Na were originally unaltered spiders that were taken and transformed into their more humanoid form. 

The appearance of the Ara-Na was Lolth's attempt to create a new creature that had the imposing appearance and abilities of spiders, and the size and structure of other humanoids. Ara-Na retain their eight limbs, with two legs to support the body, two limbs becoming the dominant arms, gaining four fingers on the end of each, and the last four being slightly on the backside, primarily used for holding objects and assisting in clinging onto walls whilst climbing. The biggest change to the original spiders was the head, as it took on a more humanoid structure, with a neck leading up to the head, still containing the spider's facial features.

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Sudden Emergence

The Ara-Na's appearance is a recent development despite their ancient origin. This is because of Lolth's failure to fully subjugate her newly created people, causing her to trap the civilization deep below the ground and move on to the Drow that had began to worship her. The Ara-Na, now trapped but no longer under the control of Lolth, developed what little society they could. Once they were sufficiently secure with the civilization, they then began wondering if there was anyway out. After many generations struggled to find their way out of their subterranean prison, they were miracously found by Drow excavation teams. 

The joy felt by the Ara-Na would be short-lived however as upon learning of their origins, the Drow began to despise the humanoid spiders, as they did not share the same devotion to Lolth. Following this, the Ara-Na were forced to escape or be killed, leading to their mass emigration to the surface.

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Rebuilt Society

Following their forced exodus, Ara-Na continued their trek into the unknown surface world, avoiding civilization when they can as they do not know who they can trust. This is bolstered by the fear they unintentionally caused as explorers would spot the spider's travels and tell tales of horrific spider humans, spreading rumors of evil and treachery, which the Ara-Na simply did not possess. The Ara-Na eventually did settle, most deciding to stay in dense forests and jungles, where they could create large structures made from the materials at hand and the incredibly strong webbing they can produce when together. Some even made it to the Feywild, but were met with uneasy welcome due to their origin with Lolth. 

Despite the hate they faced from so many sources, the sheer determination of the Ara-Na inspires some of their kind to go out into the world and make a name for themselves, proving that they're not the puppet of their cruel creator, nor are they blood thirsty monsters people believe them to be.

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Life of the Ara-Na

The Ara-Na are an industrious people, crafting large cities with teamwork and the silky thread they produce from their abdomen. These cities house thousands of Ara-Na, and are structured in a way that fully lets them make use of their abilities. However, Ara-Na cities that want outsiders to visit will often create a district that accounts for their guest's lack of wall-crawling. These districts are hubs of trade, as Ara-Na trade massive amounts of their thread to other kingdoms for construction and engineering purposes, while the Ara-Na receive livestock and metals. 

Like their non-mutated counterparts, Ara-Na are predators, but do not feast on other humanoid races like their detractors would have one believe. Larger cities will have large amounts of livestock to eat, and smaller communities will hunt their game. If these communities are far away from any civilization, they will create large web structures to capture their prey, occasionally helping the unfortunate adventurers who get stuck in their webs. If a community is too close to a civilization however, they will send out certain subspecies of spiders in order to hunt prey.

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Ara-Na Names

Having been created by The Queen of Spiders, Ara-Na commonly have elven names, to surprise of many surface dwellers when they first encountered the spider people. Some however, reject this as their hatred for the Spider Queen makes them want to revoke any connection they can with her. They instead choose their own names based on attributes on have, or simply the species of spider they were before transforming. These names include Fang, Huntsman, Tarantula, Venom, Big Eyes, Eight Legs, and Widow. 

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Ara-Na Traits

Your Ara-Na gains abilities from their original spider forms.

Ability Score Improvement

Your Constitution score is increased by 2 and one stat of your choice is increased by 1.

Creature Type

You are a Fey.

Size

Your size is medium. The height and weight can vary depending on what spider the Ara-Na is based on, however, Ara-Na can be seen as being 5-7ft tall and weigh anywhere from 120-200 pounds.

Age

Because of Lolth's magic, Ara-Na can live up to 250 years, and reach physical maturity when they are 15 years old.

Darkvision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30ft.

Your climbing speed 30ft.

Venomous Bite

Even longer and deadlier than the fangs of their original spider forms, the Ara-Na use their fangs primarily in self-defense, as flashing them can often be enough of a deterrent to any would-be attacker. However, when the Ara-Na must strike, their fangs can be lethal. You have fangs that can be used as an unarmed strike. When you use them to hit a creature, they take 1d6 piercing damage and 1d4 poison damage and can use either your strength or your dexterity modifier.

Natural Armor

Ara-Na have a thick carapace and their several eyes give them incredible reflexes. When you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 13 + your Constitution modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Secondary Arms

The four back arms of the Ara-Na retain the same appearance as the arms of the original spiders. This grants the Ara-Na with several abilities that they use to help out in their every day lives, or on the battlefield. Your Secondary Arms grant you the following features:

• You can use your Secondary Arms to hold up to extra objects at once they weigh at 50 pounds or less. They cannot be used to wield weapons or shields, nor can they be used to activate magic items.
• Your Secondary Arms allow you to climb sheer vertical surfaces, and can allow you to climb on ceilings. While remaining still on a wall or ceiling, your dominant arms are free and can used to perform various actions, but you must use them to move if you are on a wall or ceiling.
• When you have creature grappled, you make your Venomous Fangs attack at advantage.

Spider's Silk

The silk of the Ara-Na is incredibly strong, and when the Ara-Na use it for combat, it can become a deadly tool. As an action, you can make a creature you see within 30 ft of you make a strength saving throw (DC 13) or be restrained as you eject silk from your abdomen. On a successful save, the creature is not restrained.

Language

You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Undercommon.