Homebrew Arachne Species Details
Dwelling in deep caverns and abandoned mineshafts, the arachne are a race entirely familiar with hardship. Coming into being long ago as variations of the centaur race mixed with drow magic, the arachne eventually diverged from their equine brethren entirely and made their homes underground.
In the darker recesses of the world, they serve as guards, scouts, and priestesses of the dark goddess Lolth. Their strong connection to the drow makes them formidable opponents, typically equipped with their poisons and a spider's cunning.
Dualistic Forms
In the darkness, arachne look much like giant spiders. Only when they emerge in the light does their semi-humanoid appearance reveal itself. Their upper body retains every aspect of humanity, with the exception of three extra pairs of eyes on the forehead along with fangs in their mouth.
Most arachne have similar skin color to the drow, but lighter skin is not unheard of. In contrast, their imposing spider half typically denotes gender and possibly duty. Males are more hairy and similar to tarantulas, with colorations of brown, faded orange, or black. Females have more slick and hairless bodies, usually either black or muted blue. Rarely, arachne more suited for surface life have green or wood-brown colorations, fitting for camouflage.
Lurking Predators
The vast majority of arachne spend their time prowling in darkness. With their webs and cunning eyesight, they can see and then trap their prey before a victim can even tell where they are. In battle they are imposing yet elegant, moving with remarkable speed and grace, aiming more to outsmart and outmaneuver their adversary than to fight them head-on.
Their livelihoods tend to make most arachne forget the feeling of sunlight on their skin, due to them residing deep underground. Occasionally, they may become blinded following quick exposure to sunlight, but this varies with their type. Surface-born arachne typically don't know the sadistic feeling of hunting prey underground, instead opting for beasts to walk too close to their nests.
Arachnid Mannerisms
The resemblance of arachne to spiders isn’t limited to physical features. Arachne show many similarities to ordinary spiders with their mannerisms. They are meticulous and hardworking on their webs, territorial, and mostly solitary. While undisturbed, they typically wrap up their food in silk for safekeeping and improve their nests constantly, aiming to have the most elegant webs.
An arachne's speech typically has clicks and soft chirps, similar to their smaller vermin brethren. When communicating with other arachne, it isn't uncommon to see them not even use Common in the slightest, opting for their arachnid tongue. An arachne might become impatient with people who struggle to understand them, sometimes using exclusively Common when sufficiently agitated.
Impulsiveness confuses many arachne, who devote their entire livelihoods to calculated and careful planning. In the mind of an arachne, impulsive behavior is unheard of; some of their kind spend hours or even days devising a solution to a problem if the answer doesn't immediately come up. To more hostile members of the race, acting on impulse is a sign of ignorance or even inferiority, depending on how frequent it occurs.
It is very hard for an arachne to resist making a large, expansive web wherever they go to rest if not at home. Over time, some may resist this urge, but many still make at least a small resting place for the day or night.
The greatest fear of the arachne is to lose their home. What could be days, weeks, or even months of work and planning could be destroyed in far less time with fire or an especially persistent enemy. Thus, they are extremely protective of their main nest, typically resorting to violence if it means preserving their living space.
Homelands
Most arachne live deep underground or in thick, shadow-covered forests. Rarely do they get drawn out into open areas, but exclusively when they manage to befriend other, smaller races. Being in the open without a nest is quite uncommon, even for wandering arachne.
Once an arachne settles somewhere secluded or in the interests of a trustworthy ally, they start work on a nest meant to serve as a base of operations for their hunts, which very commonly occur at night. However, a rare few have managed to live life without a web, becoming nomadic and hunting whatever they can find on their journey.
Arachne Names
Arachne claim a wide variety of names, usually pertaining to the non-arachne parent they belonged to. Those with no contact to the outside world usually refer to each other in their arachnid tongue, comprised of soft clicks and chirps, with no actual meaning in Common. Wild arachne are thus usually given nicknames by the other races in Common.
Arachne Traits
As an arachne, you have certain traits in common with your people. Your ability to easily climb walls and ceilings may be useful in some situations and dangerous in others. As a result, playing an arachne requires special consideration by your DM.Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age
Arachne mature and age at about the same rate as humans, with slightly fewer years in their lifespan.
Alignment
Arachne are inclined toward neutrality when living alone, but living in close proximity to another race can alter their views. Living near dwarves may make them lean towards law and good, while living near goblins can incline an arachne to evil.
Size
Arachne are usually 7-8 feet tall, towering over most humanoids. They have large, chitinous bodies that weigh 300-350 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet. In addition, you have a climbing speed of 30 feet.
Darkvision
Your vision can easily peer into darkness, a product of your enhanced eyesight and nocturnal nature. 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.
Webweaver
Your arachnid nature grants you the following features:
- While in contact with a web, you know the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
- You ignore movement restrictions caused by webbing.
- Using your spinnerets, you are able to weave spider-silk into a web or silk-based garments. Creating a web takes one short rest per 10-foot square or one long rest per 5-foot cube. Creating garments requires proficiency with weaver's tools, but otherwise has no cost for materials (since you make the silk yourself). No matter the length of time it would normally take to make the garment of your choice, 24 hours must be added for making and processing the silk.
Arachnid Build
You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push or drag. In addition, a Medium or smaller creature can ride on your abdomen if you allow it. In such a situation, you continue to act independently, not as a controlled mount.
Due to your unusual form, armor is more costly to make for you. Armor crafted for you is at twice the normal price for armor since half of the set is more similar to barding.
Hybrid Nature
You have two creature types: humanoid and monstrosity. You can be affected by a game effect if it works on either of your creature types.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and either Undercommon or Sylvan.