Homebrew Araushnee, Gnome-Spiders Species Details

Before the Sundering, Araushnee was a goddess of fate and craft. She built the Loom of Destiny and tending to it was one of her duties. One of her other crafts was a diminutive arachnid people who mirrored her ingenuity and who tended the Loom for her. As she became estranged from her pantheon and began her descent into becoming the goddess Lolth, she neglected her duties, and they were left to her spiderfolk. With access to the Loom their studies of divination grew, and they foresaw the result of the dark path their creator was on. They also saw their failure to prevent it. Unwilling to follow their goddess into corruption, they instead focused on a plan for preservation; Their elders deconstructed the divine Loom and consumed it. Today they call themselves the Araushnee, in reverence of the goddess that created them, if not for what she became.

Makers, All

All of the spider folk are encouraged to make something, with the assumption that most will learn to use their natural webbing to make textiles, armor, art and functional items. Most learn more than one craft though, and blend their skills into unique creations. Even those that don't learn any physical craft will typically become performance artists or writers. They are a prolific race in terms of their creations, but not in terms of their numbers, such that more people have seen Araushnee crafts or art than have seen or even heard of the spider folk themselves.

Children of Destiny

When the keepers of the Loom of Destiny took their divine charge into themselves they marked their people for all of time. Lolth now hates them for abandoning her, as she sees it, and would have destroyed them all, if not for the fact that all of the remaining Araushnee can learn to access glimpses of the future. This singular trait has kept their people from annihilation, and all of their kind receive that message as they are raised. Daily auguries are a part of the culture, and the visions of the future are dinner table discussions in Araushnee homes.

Amiable & Curious

Having regular access to information about the future gives the spider folk the feeling that everything is surmountable, and most adopt an optimistic outlook on life. Even so, there's always interesting information their visions leave out, and this leads to a fair amount of speculation and curiosity. This combines with their cultural interest in creative works to earn them a nick name they often have mixed feelings about; Gnome-Spiders.

Araushnee Names

The spiderfolk have difficulty raising their voices, and speak in a higher average register than many humanoids. This combines to give people the impression that many Araushnee sound like whispering children when they speak. Family names are typically a single syllable used as a suffix to a two-syllable personal name. Children of a couple use the mother's family name. Thus Ashnirol and Renlarol could be two members of the -rol family, and their mother's name would also end in -rol. Neither personal nor family names are gendered.

 

Araushnee, Gnome-Spiders Traits

Your Araushnee character has certain characteristics in common with all others.

Age.

 Araushnee reach maturity 20 years of age. The typically live to be about 120.

Alignment.

Typical Araushnee are curious and good-natured, leading them to be good-aligned. That same curiosity often inclines them to question authority and social structures, leading them to be chaotic more often than not.

 

Size.

Araushnee are between two and three feet tall and average around 60 pounds. Females are typically more heavily built and 5 or 10 pounds heavier. Your size is Small.

 

Web-wielders.

 

You are naturally proficient with nets and count as always being equipped with rope.

Araushnee ignore movement restrictions caused by webbing.

By taking an action to prepare Araushnee can create a web trap. The trap occupies a 5ft square, and takes a Wisdom check to notice. The DC for the check is 8 + your Proficiency Modifier + your Intelligence Modifier.

Each creature that starts its turn in the webs or that enters them during its turn must make a Dexterity saving throw, DC 8 + your Proficiency Modifier + your Intelligence Modifier. On a failed save, the creature is restrained as long as it remains in the webs or until it breaks free. A creature restrained by the webs can use its action to make a Strength check, DC as per the Dex save above. If it succeeds, it is no longer restrained.

The webs are flammable. Any space of webs exposed to fire burns away in 1 round, dealing 2d4 fire damage to any creature that starts its turn in the fire.

The Gnome-spider can create a web-trap like this once per (Con Mod + Proficiency Mod) per short rest. 

 

 

 

Fate Eaters.

 

Due to the ingestion of the Loom of Fate, by 2 level, each Araushnee can cast Augury, as a ritual, once per short rest.

 

 

Spider Climb.

Spider Folk can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

 

Awkward Bodies.

Araushnee can't wear armor intended for most humanoid races unless it is armor worn only on the chest (like a breastplate) or a limb (such as bracers). While their own armorers developed armor that they can wear, they rarely create it. Assume heavy armor is unavailible for spider folk characters unless they are specifically in the rare settlements that have them as the primary population. In heavy armor, Araushnee halve their climbing speed.

 

Ability Score Changes.

 

Add 2 to your Intelligence and 1 to your Charisma.