This information is intended for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Aranea, from the WotC Monster Manual 3.5 Art Gallery... click on the image for the link.
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The aranea in this campaign are superficially different from those described in the MM, as noted below.
At a Glance
A shapechanging magical beast.
Where To Find Them
Individual adventurers may be found throughout the Realms, but the only aranea communities of note are found in Khopet-Dag.
The Xaeyruudh Campaign
I’ve modified the aranea for this campaign. In particular, their hybrid form has a human upper body and an arachnid lower body, looking like a human version of a drider or a spider version of a centaur. Since their lower halves are arachnoid instead of humanoid, they keep their quick movement rate in hybrid form, while also having arms with which to cast spells.
In human or hybrid form, an aranea has the features of one of the common (or once-common) human subraces in the region: Imaskari, Mulan, Shou, or Tuigan. Their arachnoid features strongly resemble those of various other types of spiders.
Aranea form matriarchal communities, but the males are not abused or ignored as they are in drow cities. Female aranea are simply afforded more respect due to their importance in reproduction and their role in structuring family units and communities.
Speaking of reproduction, aranea do lay eggs, but not thousands of them at a time like other types of spiders; the typical birth is 5-8. The young are raised communally, but most form strong bonds with their biological mother.
If a community expects attack, males will be in spider form, and the females will be in hybrid form. When the enemy appears, males will rush to attack and form phalanxes to block access to the females, who cast spells or seek parley as appropriate from defensible positions. If the community is caught unawares, 75% of each gender will be in hybrid form guarding the community, attending to daily tasks, or studying; the other 25% will be relaxing in human form.
Like many other shapeshifters, aranea tend to wear armor or other clothing only when they’re expecting peaceful civilized visitors. They prefer spells over mundane weapons, but those who have magical weapons tend to avoid spider form so that they’ll be able to use their weapons.
Sources
- Monster Manual [17755] page 15
- Isle of Dread [X1/9043] (1e) page 30
- WotC Monster Index
- The FR Wiki — I disregard the History section here, especially since no source is cited for it… the picture is nice, even though it looks like it’s establishing a link to bloodsilk spiders, which I don’t think is accurate.
- Original material. With the exception of the info drawn from the Monster Manual, I made up most of the details on this page, notably including where they’re found. As noted, this version rejects the one found on the FR Wiki
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