Homebrew Arachnae Species Details

Children of Ovid

When the Twilight War came to a close, when dawn rose upon the Sundered lands of Aephoros the toll the war wrought was evident for God and mortal alike.  The once numerous races of fantastical beings often referred to as The Childer Races were all but extinct, their places of power and life having been destroyed.  The Gods that created them mourned their children and many swore to never again create beings that they feared to lose. Such loss lead to an abstention of creation of new creatures and beings and thus the prophesied new age of becoming never came to be.  It would be many thousands of years later before another race was brought to life.

 

The Patron God of storycraft and tapestries called Ovid had removed himself from the realms of civilized beings at the close of the war, opting to spend his time among the fey forests far away reminders of what was lost.  His greatest companions were the fae spiders that would weave their webs in patterns that depicted the stories he would tell. Finding comfort in their company he began to admire the patience, dedication and essential part they played in their ecosystems, moved by their hospitality Ovid took patronage over all spiders as their patron, Arachne had fallen in the previous war.  As his aspect changed and his heart was mended by the silk his new children wove for him Ovid found his place once again and returned to the world at large with his children in tow. He tasked his adopted children with continuing the work their mother had given, to balance life and death of a world that most beings ignored. In addition a new task was given to them, their silk would bare the threads of tales, gifting spools of their finest silks to the greatest scribes and storytellers of the era caused many a follower of Ovid to hold spiders in the highest regard.

 

A Race Risen Anew

Many thousands of years later, Ovid returned to his forest refuge and found that the spiders of the fey forests had changed.  Taking on aspects of his form as he had done for them, these magical arachnids had become almost humanoid. They stood on two legs and used tools with two arms with slender dexterous hands.  Four tertiary limbs that more resembled the legs of a spider hung elegantly from their backs, two curving up and two curving down. Their faces had shifted, two large ruby like eyes with six smaller unblinking eyes upon their foreheads.  Long strands of white silk acted as hair and their mouths were now covered with thin lips that hid small pointed teeth with retractable fangs.

 

Clad in silken robes of their own making these new beings were warmly embraced by ovid and he gave to them his love for story, for weaving and a destestment of war.  Giving them a name so that they would never be without their true Mother, Ovid dubbed these new Spiderfolk Arachnae and claimed them to be Godsworn giving those gods that remained notice that a new people had risen for the first time in over a number of millennia.  

 

A Culture that Defies Expectation

Despite appearances, the Arachnae are not fearsome predators of sentient beings, savage reputations made of ignorance that claim they are maneaters simply don’t measure up when one learns that most subsist on diets of insects and other creatures with liquid based interiors.  Arachnae like most spiders have sensitive stomachs and tend to stick to liquid diets, flesh from muscles and most organs are painfully hard to digest if not first broken down in some manner. Most are surprised to learn that the Arachnae are a peaceful people and almost homogenous in their artisan lifestyles.  True to form the “Ovid” as they call themselves among their own kind are master tailors and weavers. Everything from woven tapestries to elegant silken gowns are all expertly made and almost entirely hand woven. Their economy of trade has made them very popular in the Free Trade Cities of Xao’har and it is a common sight to see elite caste clothing vendors selling clothing of the Arachnae.

 

On their homefront, Arachnae cities such Atterloppe, the Silken City are erie sights for most.  Hammock cities that are suspended several hundred feet above the ground, anchored to ancient ironwood trees that are far older than the Arachnae themselves, covered with thick canopies of silk that helps to darken their cities from the light above.  Matriarchal in nature, Arachnae are ruled from city to city by a “Silken Queen” or Silk Mistress who is appointed by the Broodmother, High Queen Anaazai, the supposed immortal Queen who shares blood of the goddess Arachne herself.

Arachnae Traits

You Arachnae character has a wide array of abilities fine tuned embody all that the Arachnae hold dear.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity Score is increased by 2 and your Charisma by 1

Age

Arachnae reach maturity around three years of age.  Males live short lifespans as their wild counterparts do, most males only live for fifteen years before succumbing to old age.  Female Arachnae can live to be just over one hundred twenty years before succumbing to old age.

Alignment

With Ovid’s distaste for war and a deceptive compassion, most Arachnae lean towards good alignments.  Their alignment actually manifests itself in some manner physically, mainly in their coloring. Arachnae who tend to be on lawful ends of the spectrum tend to have sharply defined and muted colors to their skin with stark contrasting stripes that follow ridgid geometric patterns. Neutral Arachnae tend to have blended color gradients with stripes that blend into the tapestry of their skin.  Those of chaotic alignments tend to be vibrant in color with asymmetrical high contrast markings and unlike their counterparts, Chaotic aligned Arachnae silken hair also tends to have some streaks of natural color to it.

Size

Sexually dimorphic size between males and females differs.  Males tend to be more densely built and on average a full foot to two feet shorter than females.  Most male Arachnae tend to be around five feet in height. Females tend to be slender and taller than males, most rounding out between five and a half to six and a half feet tall.  Your size is medium.

Speed

Arachnae have a walking speed of 30 feet, able to climb walls effortlessly they also enjoy a 30ft climbing.  When walking across webbed surfaces you do not consider it difficult terrain.

Tremorsense

While not gifted with darkvision as many races might be, you are granted tremorsense within 25 feet.  Any creature that makes contact with the ground can be sensed as if you could see them visually.

Natural Weavers

As a natural weavers of silk, you are counted to have proficiency with Waver’s tools though you do not require physical tools.

Spiderfolk Ancestory

Tracing their lineage back to ancient primordial spiders, Arachnae enjoy some of the qualities of their ancestors.  Arachnae can use the spell Web a number of times per long rest equal to their constitution modifier. Arachnae are considered to always be under the effects of the Spider climb spell without need for concentration, activation, or components.  With a mildly venomous bite, all unarmed bite attacks do one extra D6 poison damage.

Languages

Arachnae can read and write common and can speak it with some difficulty.  Arachnae have their own language of gestures and pheromones that enable them to speak with each other silently.