Homebrew Anadi Species Details

Anadi are large, highly intelligent spiders, known for their curiousity and desire to achieve ever greater things. The average size of an Anadi is three feet of length from fangs to spinnerettes, and females are often larger than males. Anadi are short-lived, reaching adulthood by around the age of ten and rarely living longer than fifty years. Unlike regular spiders, Anadi grow and molt constantly throughout their lifetimes. Thus, the eldest Anadi are often the largest. When molting, an Anadi typically spins a cocoon-like structure for itself to safely cast off its outgrown exoskeleton. During the molting period, Anadi are attended by their friends, who bring food and water to their vulnerable companion. Anadi come in many different colors, and some enjoy dyeing their hairs to stand out even further. One of the keys to the Anadi's success is their ability to pass on important knowledge genetically to their offspring, leading to each generation of Anadi knowing and achieving more than the one that came before it. As a result, Anadi hatchlings are rarely cared for by their parents, and instead must quickly find a way to prove their worth if they want to survive. Anadi communicate with each other through a language of gestures and subtle vibrations. Movement of their palps convey words, and drummings of their many legs convey tone and subtext. Many other societies reject Anadi for their fearsome appearance, and thus they often live in seclusion. Anadi cities consist of large groups of trees, connected to each other by swathes of webbing. Anadi are led by a council, where groups of the wisest Anadi make decisions for their kind. Female Anadi rule almost all aspects of their society, while male Anadi are often considered lesser to females, and are treated with much less respect. The killing of a male Anadi isn't treated much more harshly than the killing of a pet in other cultures, whereas the death of a female is considered a heinous crime. Many Anadi are working for equality within the species, however. Anadi are known for their mastery of the various sciences, with them having made many discoveries in the fields of chemistry, mathematics, and architecture. 

Anadi Traits

Anadi share these traits with others of their kind.

Ability Score Increase

Anadi are incredibly acrobatic and quite intelligent. Your Anadi character's dexterity score increases by 2, and their intelligence score increases by 1.

Age

Anadi reach adulthood in their early teens and live less than fifty years.

Size

Anadi are usually 3 feet long from fangs to spinnerettes, but vary. Your size is Small.

Speed

Anadi usually walk along the ground, but are capable climbers. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed of 30 feet.

Languages

Anadi don't have the proper mouthparts to speak, but can understand the Common language and communicate with others of their kind.

Ancestral Understanding

Anadi pass knowledge to their offspring through Understandings, which grant instinctual knowledge in a certain area. Your Anadi character has received useful knowledge from this Understanding, giving you proficiency in a skill of your choice.

Darkvision

An Anadi's many eyes grant them vision far greater than that of most humanoids. You have 60 feet of darkvision.

Fangs

All Anadi have fearsome fangs they use to kill their prey. These fangs are a natural weapon that do 1d4 piercing damage on a hit, plus 1d12 poison damage on a failed CON save. The roll to hit for this attack is your DEX modifier plus your proficiency bonus, and the save DC is 8 + your DEX modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Web-Spinning

All Anadi have spinnerettes in their abdomen that can create silk webbing. They use this webbing to restrain prey and build their cities. You can cast the web spell a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. The save DC for this spell is equal to 8 + your DEX modifier + your proficiency bonus.