Homebrew Arachne Species Details
"There was a legendary weaver name Arachne. She was challenged by the gods of craft and weaving, to see whom could produce a finer tapastry. Arachne won, but in her weave she depicted the gods behaving badly and harrassing humans. This angered the gods and they cursed her: "You will never touch a loom again!" Overwhelmed and upset, Arachne fled to the woods to hang herself. But one of the goddess took pitty on her. "Do you wish to spin," asked the Goddess, "then spin!" The goddess transformed Arachne into the Arachne we know today!"
Arachne
Pure-bred arachne are born between two arachne parents or a humanoid being graced/cursed with the power of a spider goddess, while the more commonly found “hybrid” Arachne are born between an Arachne and a non-Arachne humanoid. Arachne can be some of the most honorable nobles and valiant warriors, capable of operating in a wide range of terrain but a fairly narrow climate. Their domineering presence in politics or on the battlefield is enough to intimidate the hardiest of fellows. Whether making their names as diplomats or aristocrats or as warriors, they are an ally’s greatest asset and an enemy’s worst nightmare.
Physical Description
Arachne are half-humanoid spider hybrids, with their lower body resembling that of a large eight-legged spider, belonging to their arachne parent, and the upper body resembling their non-Arachne parent, whether they be human, elf, dwarf, orc, or another. Arachne stand on at roughly 7 feet tall on average. Their spider’s half retains the attributes of the species of spider they belong to. Commonly found arachne sub-species includes wolf, jumping, black widow spiders; more uncommon are the peacock, flower crab, and poecilotheria metallica. Arachne are much more likely to be female at birth, giving the impression that all arachne are female when in reality male arachne are simply much rarer.
Society
Most arachne are solitary by nature and prefer living on their own, whether on the fringes of the city or the depths of the wilderness. Most arachne are seen with fear and disgust and have become accustomed to hostile met by strangers and travellers, developing a darker, more cynical world view. On occasion, an arachne will be met with hospitality and will live with other races in small villages serving as wilderness guides, weavers, builders, and alchemists. Most arachne worship and honor Arachne, the golden spider goddess,. Most arachne hate Lolth, the black spider goddess, and are enemies with all Driders.
Arachne Names
Arachne claim a wide variety of names, usually pertaining to the non-arachne parent they belonged to, while the pure-bred arachne usually refer to each other in their arachnid tongue, comprised of soft clicks and chirps, with no actual meaning in Common. Pure-bred arachne are thus usually given nicknames by the other races in common.
Arachne Traits
Your arachne character has a variety of natural abilities, thanks to the blessings of ArachneAbility Score Increase
Your Arachne parent grants you a +2 Dexterity. Your other parent grants you +1 to another skill.
Age
Arachne, much like spiders, mature quickly, becoming adults at the age of 2 or 3 and having lifespans comparable to humans. Though, some can live longer based on their non-spider parent's race.
Alignment
Arachne tends to be Neutral Good, but there are the best and the worst are found among them.
Size
Arachne can be up to 7-8 feet tall and almost as wide. Your size is Large.
Tauroid Build. Even though your size is Large, your upper, humanoid torso is still of similar scale to that of other humanoid races. You count as one size smaller for the purposes of wielding weapons. In addition, due to your lower body you cannot make use of mounts.
Speed
Movement Speed is 30 feet.
Spider Walk. You have a climb speed equal to your walking speed. You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, you ignore movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Darkvision
Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, 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.
Webbing
Webbing. You can cast the spell web twice. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell. Once you do so, you can't cast it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Sleep
Arachne sleep and gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep, this applies even if they have part elvish.
Bed of Web
The Bed of Web if a web you can construct to sleep on. While asleep, you will be alerted of any creatures who interact with the web. The bed of web lasts as long as you sleep. The web requires 3 points of contact, 10 square feet, and can be of any orientation (including upsidedown. This does not affect your arachne trait Webbing. Setup time is equal to pitching a tent, about one minute. Food is required to produce the web. If no food is available you may spend one of your webbing points to create the Bed of Web.
Languages
Arachne tend tp speak, read, and write Common and your choice of Undercommon or Spydric.
Undercommon was a trade language spoken by the majority of intelligent races native to the Underdark.
The spydric language is different from other languages in several ways. Firstly, the ability to speak spydric is an innate ability. A character can only gain the ability to speak spydric via a racial trait or a class feature- merely taking the linguist feat is not enough to gain the ability to speak spydric!
Secondly, spydric is the language of all spiders. All normal spiders and monstrous spider can speak spydric (whether noted in their stat block or not). A character able to speak spydric can communicate with spiders at will. It is worth noting that an ordinary spider's perceptions will be limited, but spiders could know any amount of secrets; both from other spiders and greater spydric beings from deep inside the great web.
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