Post/Author/DateTime	Post
EvilVegan 01-17-08, 01:37 PM	Greetings! I got an idea for a healer race that arises from a strange source. Spiders. Spiders naturally have several abilities that make them good at being surgeons. Spider silk is naturally anti-bacterial, making excellent bandaging material. Spider silk is not only anti-bacterial, it is strong, so it makes excellent bracing for splints and can also be used to secure a patient who might otherwise struggle and damage themselves. Spider poison isn't always deadly, some have highly paralytic poisons that (in small doses) could function as natural anesthetic. Spiders have multiple, highly-dextrous limbs. Useful for detail work and surgery. Spiders drink blood. This may sound gross, but there is plenty of blood in surgery that typically get's vacuumed out anyway. Why waste it? So, unusually, we have a beneficial healing race that was created from a beneficial hunting arachnid. The Arenai The arenai (also known as "weavers") are a race of spider-creatures that were magically created by a spider-obsessed mage-lord to function as servants and medics in the many military campaigns he undertook. His empire has long since crumbled, but many of the arenai escaped the many attempts to annihilate their race. The arenai are monstrous to behold for those races who do not know of their innate benevolence, and as such they tend to stick to the shadows. Often a severly injured individual will awaken to find his wounds tended and bound with a sticky silk. Physiology Arenai resemble 3' tall spiders with enlarged front and back legs. Their front legs have well developed hands with long, graceful fingers. Their back legs have thickened and formed stable feet which lets them stand and walk upright. Their two middle pairs of legs are still small, spindly, and lack hands, but are capable of aiding manipulating their webbing and helping in minor tasks. Their heads are almost identical to that of a standard poisionous spider, but they have two large blue eyes that are identical to a mammal's eyes. Their mouths are smaller and less menacing. They vary in color from off-white to browns, with a very few being black. Arenai drink blood, but have the ability to consume solid foods as well. They typically eat giant insects. They weigh about 40 pounds, give or take 10 pounds. The females lay dozens of eggs in secluded places. They carry their young with them after hatching. Personality Arenai are innately compassionate and most suffer intense sympathetic pain when they see other creatures in pain. It is for this reason that they tend to avoid being around people. This leads them to be xenophobic loners. There are some few Arenai who experience intense joy when they see others in pain. These aberrations are hunted by down by other "normal" arenai for the greater good. Religion Some pay homage to various gods, but all are highly aware that they were created through magic and they have no creation mythos. There are some small mystery cults that have gained in popularity in recent times. These cults question the non-divine nature of their history. Alignment They tend towards neutral good. Language Arenai speak common. As a created race, they have no language of their own, but they are known to speak a strange dialect that they have created in their isolation. Racial Traits Ability Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma. Arenai are agile, but weak and have an alien mindset that is off-putting to others. Type: Aberration. Size: Small Speed: 4 Squares (20 feet) Low-Light Vision: Arenai ignore concealment (but not total concealment) caused by darkness. Natural Healers: Arenai gain a +2 bonus to Heal checks and +1 to caster level when casting spells of the Conjuration (Healing) school. Web-Climber: Arenai can move through areas of webbing without problem. Spell like abilities: Status 1/day. Caster level equal to class levels. Exotic Form: Arenai must pay twice as much for armor and rarely find suits of it randomly. Anesthetic Bite: The bite of an Arenai causes no pain and induces a state of euphoria and unconsciousness. During this state the subject cannot feel pain. Administering this bite takes 1d4+1 rounds and requires the subject not move. Produce Silk: The Arenai can produce silk. They produce approximately 2/3 of a gold's worth of raw silk per day, This lets them produce about 10' feet of high quality silk rope (DC 15) per day. Weavers: Arenai get a +8 bonus on Craft (Weaving or Tailoring) when weaving with their own silk. Favored Class: Healer. Any comments would be helpful. I also need serious work getting the poison/bite more functional and I think my conversion on the rope/silk sheets is off. Also, this race would be more useful in a world without magical healing and mundane healing skills. I would like to use the d20/SWSE surgery rules for these guys. I was thinking of giving them more mundane healing abilities, or maybe an empathic transfer psion ability. Also, I'm trying to keep it low LA, but if I did make it +1 LA I'd just up the poison to an actual bite, with less poison damage and give them +2 Int +4 Dex. I don't like LA races though. I have a lot of ideas for societies of these guys, from agriculture/husbandry of insects to cities made in tree-tops using their silk. Crank dat spider man?
EvilVegan 01-18-08, 11:43 AM	Come on, nothing?! It's a neutral good spider-healer! :bump:
EvilVegan 01-18-08, 03:53 PM	I can drew pic. http://evilvegan.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/arenai2.jpg Their opisthosoma is thrust forward and his lower legs are bowed behind/under it, unlike other spiders where the opisthosoma rests between the legs. This lets them rest their arms on what would be the hind portion of a standard spider and grants easier access to their spinnerets. They wear flowing robes or cloaks, mostly to hide their forms from humanoids who don't like spiders.
EvilVegan 01-20-08, 04:14 PM	UPDATED THE ABOVE POST WITH A BETTER PICTURE! FINAL :bump:!
Soel Griffin 01-21-08, 02:18 AM	I like them. I could see them having a once a day heal (1 hp/char lvl) as well. Their appearance probably removes them from most campaigns, though, but you knew that anyways... And yes, please do crank dat spida-man (if you make an animated gif with this happening, I will proclaim you as the new god!)
jaw4ever 01-21-08, 06:19 AM	Looks like a cool race to have in a mass combat campaign. Beside the evil spider races as been done to death. ..And yes, crank dat spider man.:dancin:
thorofasgard13 01-21-08, 10:45 AM	I really Like them! I hope you don't mind if I use them in a campaign.
EvilVegan 01-21-08, 12:02 PM	I really Like them! I hope you don't mind if I use them in a campaign. Feel free! Keep in mind that the picture above is of an angry Arenai, because he dropped his ice-cream cone at the fair. They normally look very benign (for a spider face!) She's also naked. They normally wear robes. If you have any suggestions or playtest results please provide them! :)