D&D Spiderfolk Race

The Spi­der­folk live in the mys­te­ri­ous Egypt­ian-inspired land of دارجلا (Al-Jarad), a region shared with oth­er insec­toid races such as the Thri-kreen (grasshop­per-like beings) and intel­li­gent ants. In this unique world, insects and arach­nids share the land and live in a frag­ile har­mo­ny.

Appearance

Spi­der­folk are a hybrid race whose upper bod­ies close­ly resem­ble those of dark elves, while their low­er bod­ies con­sist of eight pow­er­ful spi­der legs and a large abdomen. From this abdomen, they can pro­duce and launch webs, which they use to cap­ture ene­mies, restrain prey, or assist them in move­ment and climb­ing.

They pos­sess two pow­er­ful che­licer­ae, which can con­tain ven­om and func­tion much like a spi­der’s fangs. These che­licer­ae can retract and are often hid­den inside their mouths, allow­ing Spi­der­folk to appear more humanoid and mak­ing it eas­i­er for them to blend in with oth­er races.

How­ev­er, not all Spi­der­folk are born with the same char­ac­ter­is­tics. Some are born with more dis­tinct­ly spi­der-like fea­tures, such as six eyes and promi­nent exter­nal che­licer­ae that resem­ble those of ordi­nary spi­ders. These indi­vid­u­als may have a more intim­i­dat­ing and unmis­tak­ably arach­nid appear­ance.

Spi­der­folk also pos­sess four arms on their humanoid upper body, giv­ing them excep­tion­al dex­ter­i­ty and allow­ing them to wield mul­ti­ple weapons or per­form sev­er­al tasks simul­ta­ne­ous­ly. Their com­bi­na­tion of humanoid and arach­nid traits makes them a high­ly adapt­able and unusu­al race.

Al-Jarad

The land of Al-Jarad is a vast and diverse region filled with sprawl­ing swamps, tow­er­ing moun­tains, and mys­te­ri­ous under­ground caves. To the east, the land­scape grad­u­al­ly trans­forms into a vast, arid desert, dom­i­nat­ed by enor­mous pyra­mids that have stood for cen­turies.

Al-Jarad is known for its ancient tem­ples, sacred tombs, and for­got­ten ruins, many of which hold secrets from civ­i­liza­tions long past. Reli­gion plays a major role in the region, with its peo­ple main­tain­ing deep con­nec­tions to their ancient Egypt­ian-inspired gods.

Among the most revered deities are Bralm, the god of agri­cul­ture and insects, and miska, the god­dess of spi­ders. Their influ­ence can be found through­out Al-Jarad, from tem­ples and reli­gious cer­e­monies to the dai­ly lives of its inhab­i­tants. Ancient depic­tions of these gods can often be found carved into tem­ple walls, tombs, and mon­u­ments scat­tered across the land.

Pharaohs

Soci­ety in Al-Jarad is ruled by sev­en pharaohs, each rep­re­sent­ing a dif­fer­ent insec­toid race:

• The Spi­der Pharaoh, leader of the Spi­der­folk.
  
  
• The Grasshop­per Pharaoh, ruler of the Thri-kreen.
  
  
• The Ant Pharaoh, rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the ant-like Thri-kreen.
  
  
• The Bee Pharaoh, leader of the Vespoids, a bee-like peo­ple.
  
  
• The Bee­tle Pharaoh, leader of the Bee­tle folk.
  
  
• the drag­on­fly Pharaoh, leader of the drag­on­fly folk.
  
  
• the moth Pharaoh, leader of the moth­man.
  
  
• the abu daqiq Pharaoh , leader of the abu daqiq.

These sev­en pharaohs gov­ern togeth­er in har­mo­ny. When a new pharaoh is cho­sen, it is cus­tom­ary for the old pharaoh to be cer­e­mo­ni­al­ly sac­ri­ficed and eat­en start­ing with the head, fol­lowed by the rest of the body.

Transportation

Inhab­i­tants of Al-Jarad use giant insects as mounts: bee­tles for land trav­el, wasps and oth­er fly­ing crea­tures for air trav­el. While many insects are gigan­tic and intel­li­gent, small­er species such as mos­qui­toes and crane flies are also present.

The Gods of Al-Jarad

The peo­ple who live in the land of Al-Jarad believe in sev­en ancient gods. These gods take the forms of insects and spi­ders, and each one rules over a dif­fer­ent kind of insect or insect-like crea­ture.

• Bralm: God of Agri­cul­ture and Insects Bralm is the god of agri­cul­ture, nature, and insects. He is close­ly con­nect­ed to the growth of crops and the fer­til­i­ty of the land. Farm­ers pray to Bralm for healthy har­vests and pro­tec­tion from pests that could destroy their crops.
  
  
• Kil­Moth: God of the Moth­man Kil­Moth is the mys­te­ri­ous god of the Moth­man. He is asso­ci­at­ed with dark­ness, secrets, omens, and the crea­tures that emerge dur­ing the night. His fol­low­ers believe that see­ing a Moth­man is a sign that some­thing impor­tant or dan­ger­ous is about to hap­pen.
  
  
• Bee­gawueen: God­dess of Hon­ey, Bees, and Vespoids Bee­gawueen is the god­dess of hon­ey, bees, and the Vespoids. She rep­re­sents com­mu­ni­ty, hard work, and the pro­tec­tion of the hive. Her fol­low­ers believe that every mem­ber of a com­mu­ni­ty has an impor­tant role to play, just as every bee has a pur­pose with­in its hive.
  
  
• Obox-ob: God of Bee­tles and Beetle­folk Obox-ob is the god of bee­tles and the Beetle­folk. He rep­re­sents strength, endurance, and the abil­i­ty to sur­vive even in the harsh­est envi­ron­ments. Bee­tles are con­sid­ered sacred to him because of their resilience and their con­nec­tion to the earth.
  
  
• Drakon­flyr: God of Drag­on­flies and Drag­on­fly­folk Drakon­flyr is the god of drag­on­flies and the Drag­on­fly­folk. He is asso­ci­at­ed with speed, free­dom, and the waters of Al-Jarad. His fol­low­ers see the drag­on­fly as a sym­bol of change and trans­for­ma­tion.
  
  
• Beaut Abu: God of Abu Daqiq and But­ter­flies Beaut Abu is the god of the Abu Daqiq and but­ter­flies. He rep­re­sents beau­ty, trans­for­ma­tion, and the cycle of life. But­ter­flies are sacred to his fol­low­ers because they sym­bol­ize the jour­ney from one form of exis­tence into anoth­er.
  
  
• Miska: God­dess of Spi­ders and Spi­der­folk Miska is the god­dess of spi­ders and the Spi­der­folk. She rep­re­sents webs, patience, cun­ning, and secrets. Her fol­low­ers believe that every­thing in the world is con­nect­ed, just like the strands of a spi­der’s web.

Miska once had a daugh­ter named Lolth. How­ev­er, Lolth was stripped of her divine title and pow­er after com­mit­ting an unknown crime or betray­al. She was cast out of the realm of the insects and ban­ished from the land of Al-Jarad.

Even today, the peo­ple of Al-Jarad remem­ber Lolth’s fall. Some fear her, while oth­ers secret­ly wor­ship her, believ­ing that one day she may return and reclaim what was tak­en from her.

Stats

• Age. Spi­der­folk can live to be up to 130 years old.
  
  
• Crea­ture Type: Humanoid
  
  
• Size: Medi­um (about 5–6 feet tall)
  
  
• Speed: 30 feet, Climb Speed equal to your Speed As a Silk­born, you have these spe­cial traits.
  
  
• Bejew­eled­Cara­pace. When you are hit with an attack roll, you can take a Reac­tion toadd your Pro­fi­cien­cy Bonus to your AC again­st­that attack, poten­tial­ly caus­ing it to miss. Oncey­ou use this trait, you can’t do so again until you fin­ish a Short or Long Rest. You have Dark­vi­sion with a range of 60 feet.
  
  
• Silken Lega­cy. You know the Thau­matur­gy cantrip. Start­ing at char­ac­ter lev­el 3, you always have the Find Famil­iar spell (the famil­iar takes the form of a jew­eled insect or arach­nid) pre­pared, and start­ing at char­ac­ter lev­el 5, you always have the Web spell pre­pared. You can cast each spell once with­out a spell slot or Mate­r­i­al com­po­nents. You regain the abil­i­ty to cast them in that way when you fin­ish a Long Rest. You can also cast either spell using any spell slots you have of the appro­pri­ate lev­el. Intel­li­gence, Wis­dom, or Charis­ma is your spell­cast­ing abil­i­ty for the spells you cast with this trait (choose the abil­i­ty when you select this species).
  
  
• Spi­der Climb. You can climb dif­fi­cult sur­faces, includ­ing along ceil­ings, with­out need­ing an abil­i­ty check and while leav­ing your hands free.
  
  
• Spi­der­web: at lev­el 5 you get Spi­der­web you throw down a web of 15 diam­e­ter with­in 60 feet of you. Any crea­ture that enters this area has to make a sav­ing throw. On a fail they get stuck, mak­ing them unable to move for a turn, and suf­fer­ing ‑1 penal­ties to actions.
  
  
• Lan­guages: Your char­ac­ter can speak, read, and write. Com­mon, Wid­ow and the lan­guage of your coun­try Al and one oth­er lan­guage of your choice.