Homebrew Arachnea Species Details

Arachnea are a race of magical arachnids that have slowly evolved into an almost humanoid form. The stand on two legs and use tools with two arms with slender dexterous hands.  Four tertiary limbs that more resembled the legs of a spider hang elegantly from their backs, two curving up and two curving down. Their faces are like fair humans, but with two large ruby like eyes with six smaller unblinking eyes upon their foreheads. Their hair hangs in long silken strands and their thin lips that hide small pointed teeth with retractable fangs. The wear silken robes that they weave themselves with great skill.

Despite appearances, the Arachnea are not fearsome predators of sentient beings. Savage reputations made of ignorance that claim they are man-eaters simply don’t measure up when one learns that most subsist on diets of insects and other creatures with liquid based interiors.  Arachnea 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 Arachnea are a peaceful people and almost homogenous in their artisan lifestyles. They 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 Arachnea.

 

On their home-front, Arachnea cities such Atterloppe, the Silken City are eerie 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 Arachnea themselves, covered with thick canopies of silk that helps to darken their cities from the light above.  Matriarchal in nature, Arachnea 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.

Arachnea Traits

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

Ability Score Increase

Arachnea are a dexterous race and excel in crafts that require finesse, especially weaving, while their polite manners and graceful movements give them an otherworldly charm. Your Dexterity Score is increased by 2 and your Charisma by 1

Age

Arachnea age similar to humans, though their magical ancestry gives them a slightly longer lifespan. Arachnea children reach adulthood at 15 and can live for slightly over 100 years. The females tend to live longer than the males, with the largest and strongest ones reaching 200 on rare occasions.

Alignment

Most Arachnea lean towards good alignments. Their alignment actually manifests itself in some manner physically, mainly in their coloring. Arachnea 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 rigid geometric patterns. Neutral Arachnea 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 Arachnea silken hair also tends to have some streaks of natural color to it.

Size

Most male Arachnea are around 5 to 6ft tall. Females are larger, though more slender, and tend to be around 5 and a half to almost 7ft tall. Your size is medium.

Spiderlike Agility.

Arachnea have a movement speed of 30ft. They have a climbing speed equal to their walking speed, and can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving their hands free as though using the Spider Climb spell.

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 natural weavers of silk, you have proficiency with Weaver's tools, and can use your hands and tertiary limbs as a set of Weaver's Tools.

Spider Web

 Arachnea can use the spell Web once per long rest without expending a spell slot.

Spider Bite

You can make an attack with your fangs as a natural weapon dealing 1d6 poison damage

Languages

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