Homebrew Nephilan Species Details
Oh, the nephilan over there. No, there's no reason to worry about her. She wouldn't hurt a fly! Or, I suppose she would, she eats those I think. She's actually been renting a room here for the past few weeks. Every time I see her she's buried in that book of hers, writing all the time. She's a bit tricky to talk to, sometimes more interested in fictional characters rather than real people! But she's a mighty kind person nonetheless.
Nephilans hail from a far-off land. These spiderlike beings are often shunned for their monster-like appearance, so they tend to keep to themselves.
Some people hire or exploit Nephilans for their silk production, as they produce coveted golden silk. This silk tends to be sold at a high price but is sometimes used in clothing and embroidery. Most Nephilans, as a matter of pride, tend to refuse to sell their silk, as they see the webs they create with them as extensions of their bodies.
(Anti)-Social Creatures
Nephilans are used to distancing themselves from others. They tend to be very territorial creatures. If a Nephilan is too close to another's web, it can be considered an act of trying to steal the other's food.
Because of this, Nephilans are often relatively antisocial, and may not understand a lot of social nuances. Some Nephilans are on the opposite end of that spectrum, however. They tend to assume they do understand everything. They might pick up on social cues the wrong way, and act in ways some people would consider rude.
Whispering Weavers
The silk that the Nephilans produce comes at a price, quite literally. The acids that the Nephilans produce are capable of breaking down gold, which becomes the silk they create. Their homeland is very rich in gold ore, but people fear to mine there, because if the Nephilans find that you're stealing their food... it likely won't end well.
Adventuring Nephilans tend to take a percentage off the top as a snack, so to avoid temptation, they try to convert most gold they earn to platinum as soon as possible. Though, it is important that a Nephilan eats at least a gold piece or two a day, to avoid upsetting their stomach. They are capable of eating any other food too, in fact, they need to to survive, but gold consumption is unique to them.
Nephilans enjoy not just weaving webs, but tales as well. Some people will tell stories about being caught in a Nephilans web, only to be told a fictional story that the Nephilan had been working on. Most fear that any criticism will land them in a grave, but in fact, it's when you provide no feedback that makes Nephilans upset.
Appearance
Nephilans are spider-like through and through. They have a primary pair of eyes that are slightly larger than the average humanoid, and six smaller eyes adorning the face. The eyes tend to be black, but some Nephilans are known to have yellow irises, to compliment the yellow-gold coloring in most of their body. Most Nephilans have pincers on their mouth that certainly make them stand out.
Nephilans are also always multi-armed. Their body is mostly humanoid, but they have four humanoid arms instead of two. The secondary set is a little bit smaller than the primary arms, but functions as normal arms nonetheless. On their back, they have a pair of spider-like limbs, which they tend to use for climbing. These limbs aren't great in combat, but you are able to use them for your unarmed strikes, dealing piercing damage instead of bludgeoning damage.
Nephilan Names
Nephilan names tend to be strange, guttural, snarling sounds. However, they tend to use human names when interacting with common people, as most humanoids are incapable of pronouncing their Nephilan names.
The Nephilan names tend to consist of two parts, separated by an apostrophe. The first part is their birth name, and the second is the name they've chosen over time.
Nephilan Names: Gjyak'paghn, Khra'kih, Qijyan'kro, Gijh'kri, Nak'gjra, Rjyak'gjah
Nephilan Stories
Nephilans tend to fixate on one genre of writing, at least for a period of time. Some stick with poetry, or historical fiction, others might write a story and switch genres once they're done.
The Nephilan writing fixation table can help you decide what your character likes to create. You may even decide to roll a new result occasionally to have your character change things up, even if it means they abandon the creation they are working on at the time.
Nephilan Writing Fixations
| d8 | My writing is currently fixated on … |
|---|---|
| 1 | Poetry |
| 2 | Autobiography |
| 3 | Scientific Study |
| 4 | Fiction |
| 5 | Non-Fiction |
| 6 | Short Stories |
| 7 | Biography |
| 8 | Mysteries |
Nephilan Traits
Your nephilan character has the following racial traits.Ability Score Increase
When determining your ability scores, you increase one of those scores by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or you increase three different scores by 1. You follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
Your class’s “Quick Build” section offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You’re free to follow those suggestions or to ignore them. Whichever scores you decide to increase, none of the scores can be raised above 20.
However, most Nephilans take on the traits of their ancestry, making their Dexterity score increase by 2, and their Wisdom score increase by 1.
Age
Nephilans have a slightly longer lifespan than humans, typically living up to about 120 years.
Alignment
Nephilans are incredibly impulsive people and tend to be chaotic in nature. Some can lean on the evil side, but most tend to align with Chaotic Neutral.
Size
Nephilans have some height differences, feminine nephilids are typically larger than masculine ones, with about a foot in height difference.
If the Nephilan you're playing was born female, they're a Medium creature, ranging from about 5-6 feet tall.
If the Nephilan you're playing was born male, you can choose between Medium or Small when you select this race, and you range from between 4-5 feet tall.
Speed
You have a base walking and climbing speed of 30 feet.
Using the two spider-like limbs to grip things, you can still have your hands free to use weapons or cast spells.
Darkvision
You have the keen senses of a spider. 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.
Secondary Arms
You have two slightly smaller secondary arms below your primary pair of arms. The secondary arms function like your primary arms, with the following exceptions:
- You can use a secondary arm to wield a weapon that has the light property, but you can’t use a secondary arm to wield other kinds of weapons.
- You can’t wield a shield with a secondary arm
Tertiary Limbs
You have two spindly spider-like limbs coming out of your back. These are what grant you a climbing speed of 30 feet, allowing you to climb on most walls and ceilings.
While climbing, you can use your primary arms as normal, but you need your secondary arms to stabilize yourself.
These limbs also grant you the option of replacing your unarmed strike damage with piercing damage.
Golden Web
Nephilans are capable of quickly creating a large web in a small space.
As an action, you can create a web made of your golden silk that covers an area of 20 feet. Whenever a creature steps into your webbed space, you are immediately aware of it.
Standing in the web gives you tremorsense throughout the 20 ft. square. If a creature approaches you on the web, you have advantage on the first attack roll you make against them, but if the creature is already within melee range when you use this ability, you do not gain this benefit.
Creatures can bypass your tremorsense through many magical means, but if they touch your web in any way, you know exactly where they are.
To use this ability again, you must have completed a long rest. Additionally, you must consume 10 gp, or an amount of gold equal to that value, since you last used this ability.
Spider Bite
You have incredibly acidic saliva, which melts and burns most things it comes into contact with.
As an action, you can bite a creature, causing it to take 1d4 acid damage on a successful hit.
Additionally, if the target creature is Small or Tiny, they must succeed on a DC12 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of their next turn. If a creature succeeds on this save, they are immune to the effect for the next 24 hours.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Kraul.
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