Arachne

Arachne are a species of communalist, spider-like humanoids structured into three distinct physical and mental castes that are chosen and developed during adolescence.

Arachne communities, often called nests, vary from a few dozen members to a few thousand members, and are usually led by a queen (often a Jorogumo themselves, but queens from other castes are not unheard of) that oversees nest development and fosters adolescent development of arachne into the various castes. Though nests can be of any alignment or temperament, individual arachne - and the nests that they come from - tend to be within one step of the alignment of their queen. Arachne that fall outside of this alignment range are usually ostracized, exiled, or in extreme cases, killed if discovered.

Arachne adventurers most often come from individuals whose ideals diverged from the hive, or who left their hive to deal with a larger threat.  As intelligent individuals, however, arachne adventurers can be from any walk of life.

## Standard Racial Traits

* **Type:** Arachne are humanoids with the arachne subtype.
* **Base Speed:** Arachne have a base speed of 30 feet.
* **Languages:** Arachne begin play speaking Common and Undercommon. Arachne with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Draconic, Elvaan, Lalafellan, Vieran, Terran, and Umbran. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

### Defense Racial Traits

* **Octoped:** Arachne have two arms and eight legs, granting them unsurpassed stability when moving along the ground or walls.  They gain a +8 racial bonus to CMD against trip attempts, and count as quadrupeds for the purpose of carry capacity.

### Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Silk-Producing:** Arachne are skilled artisans, and gain a +2 racial bonus on craft and profession skill checks involving tailoring or cloth.

### Magical Racial Traits

* **Arachne "Telepathy":** Through a combination of pheromones and subsonic vibrations, arachne can wordlessly communicate with other members of their race within 30’.

### Offense Racial Traits

* **Spinnerets:** Once per day, an arachne may make a web attack as a standard action.  This functions as the web spell (except that it is not magical), using the arachne’s character level as the caster level. The DC for this ability is equal to 10 + ½ the arachne’s level + their Constitution modifier.

### Other Racial Traits

* **Undersized Weaponry:** No matter their size, arachne wield weapons and wear armor as if they were one size category smaller than their actual size (see subraces, below).

### Subrace Traits

* **Subrace:** Select one subrace from the list of castes (or uncasted) below. You gain all of the racial traits of that subrace in addition to the racial traits above.

## Subraces

### Bookbinders

Bookbinders are the scholars and bureaucrats of the arachne, and help keep the nests running - as well as learning from past mistakes.

#### Standard Racial Traits:

* **Ability Score Racial Traits:** Bookbinders are agile and clever, but the slightness of their humanoid half hinders their overall strength. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Strength.
* **Size:** Bookbinders are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

#### Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Written Subterfuge:** Bookbinders tend to be spies or clerks and gain always treat linguistics and stealth as class skills.

#### Magical Racial Traits

* **Magic of Words:** Bookbinders gain a +1 bonus to the DC of spells and abilities that are language-dependent or that create glyphs, symbols, or other magical writings. They also gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against such abilities. Bookbinders with an Intelligence score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities, usable once per day each (the caster level is equal to the Bookbinder's character level): arcane mark, comprehend languages, message, read magic.

#### Movement Racial Traits

* **Climb Speed:** Bookbinders gain a 20 ft climb speed, and gain the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks that a climb speed normally grants.

#### Offense Racial Traits

* **Lithe Precision:** Bookbinders gain +1 racial bonus to attack rolls and take a -1 penalty to combat maneuver checks.
* **Toxic (Ex):** A number of times per day equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1), the bookbinder can envenom a weapon that it wields with its toxic saliva or blood (using blood requires the bookbinder to be injured when they use this ability). Applying venom in this way is a swift action that does not risk poisoning the bookbinder.
	+ *Weakening Venom*: Injury; save Fort DC 10 + 1/2 the user’s Hit Dice + the user’s Constitution modifier; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Str; cure 1 save.

### Jorogumo

Bookbinders are the scholars and bureaucrats of the arachne, and help keep the nests running - as well as learning from past mistakes.

#### Standard Racial Traits:

* **Ability Score Racial Traits:** Jorogumo are hardy and willful, but their size hinders their reflexes. They gain +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and -2 Dexterity.
* **Size:** Jorogumo are large creatures and take a –1 size penalty to their AC, a –1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a –4 size penalty on Stealth checks. Jorogumo take up a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet and have a reach of 5 feet. Unlike most large creatures, they do not gain a +2 size bonus to Strength, nor do they take a -2 size penalty to Dexterity.

#### Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Nest Leader:** Jorogumo tend to be priests or politicians, and always treat Diplomacy and Knowledge (Religion) as class skills.
* **Sociable:** When a Jorogumo attempts to change a creature’s attitude with a Diplomacy check and fails by 5 or more,

#### Movement Racial Traits

* **Swift Runner: Jorogumo gain a +10 foot bonus to their land speed.**

### Nestweaver

Nestweavers are the most common caste of arachne in most nests, and in many ways are the lifeblood of the nests to which they belong.

#### Standard Racial Traits:

* **Ability Score Racial Traits:** Bookbinders are agile and clever, but the slightness of their humanoid half hinders their overall strength. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Strength.
* **Size:** Bookbinders are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

#### Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Citybuilders:** Nestweavers tend to be engineers or craftspeople and always treat Knowledge (Engineering) and Repair as class skills.

#### Offense Racial Traits

* **Silk Reserves:** Nestweavers gain one additional daily use of their Spinnerets ability.
* **Tether Construction (Ex):** Instead of simply attacking other creatures with their web attack, Nestweavers have a specialized set of spinnerets that can be used to launch a long, rope-like strand. By using one of their daily uses of Spinnerets, they can attach a silken rope from any adjacent square to another square up to 50 feet away, holding firm at both locations.  This rope has the statistics of a spider’s silk rope, except that it lasts 1 hour per character level before deteriorating to dust. Nestweavers can move along this rope at their base movement speed without needing to make acrobatics or climb checks, but other creatures may move along it as if it was a normal rope.

### Casteless

Rarely, an arachne reaches adulthood without choosing or being assigned a caste.  Sometimes called tsuchigumo, casteless arachne are ostracized and pushed to the edges of their nests, but without developing into a caste these arachne are able to lean on their own strengths and nothing else.

#### Standard Racial Traits:

* **Ability Score Racial Traits:** Without the nest guiding their development, casteless arachne gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their freedom of development.
* **Size:** Casteless arachne are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

#### Feat and Skill Racial Traits

* **Sneaky:** Casteless arachne gain a +4 racial bonus to stealth checks.
* **Stubborn Resolve:** Casteless arachne gain Iron Will as a bonus feat.

#### Offense Racial Traits

* **Lithe Precision:** Casteless arachne gain +1 racial bonus to attack rolls and take a -1 penalty to combat maneuver checks.

#### Weakness Racial Traits

* **Outcast:** Casteless arachne take a -2 penalty to all diplomacy checks regarding casted arachne, and the starting attitude of these NPCs towards one of the casteless starts one degree worse.

## Alternate Racial Traits

The following alternate racial traits may be selected in place of one or more of the standard racial traits above.

#### Replaces Arachne "Telepathy"

* Arachne that grow up outside of a nest have a knack for language.  They gain a +1 racial bonus to Linguistics checks, and learn one additional language each time they put a rank into linguistics.  This racial trait replaces Arachne ‘Telepathy’.

##### Replaces a Class Skill

* Some casted arachne develop a more monstrous outward appearance during adolescence, and lean into that physique for one reason or another. These arachne gain a +1 racial bonus to intimidate checks and always gain intimidate as a class skill, but take a -2 penalty to diplomacy checks.  This racial trait replaces one of the two class skills that casted arachne gain (their choice).

##### Replaces Silk-Producing

* Though their natural weaving technique may have more wide applications, arachne crafters that focus on other tasks still exist and set a high bar for quality. Arachne with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus to any one craft skill. This ability replaces Silk-Producing.

##### Modifies Spinnerets

* Arachne with this racial trait do not gain the ability to use a web attack with their Spinnerets ability.  Instead, once per day with a minute worth of work, they may make a Craft(Weaving) check to produce a complete set of clothing. This clothing is magical in nature, and lasts until the arachne uses Spinnerets to produce another set of clothing.  This ability modifies, but otherwise counts as Spinnerets.

## Age, Height and Weight

Table: Arachne Starting Ages:

 20

Table: Aging Effects:

 60 years

Table: Height and Weight

\*Arachne sexual dimorphism, as it relates to height and weight, is negligible. ~~Based.~~

## Racial Feats

The following feats are available to an arachne character who meets the prerequisites.

* **Arachnid Fang**
	+ **Prerequisites:** arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain a 1d4 bite attack (1d3 if you’re medium) as a primary natural weapon.

* **Arachnid Venom**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Arachnid Fang, arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** When you successfully bite a target using your natural bite attack, you may attempt to inflict the poisoned effect on the target for 1 round per 2 character levels (minimum 1). The DC of this ability is 10 + ½ your character level + your Constitution modifier. Once a target saves or is afflicted with Arachnid Venom, they may not be affected by it again for 24 hours.
	+ **Special:** Bookbinder arachne with this feat may instead attempt to poison their target with their Weakening Venom on a successful natural bite attack.

* **Cocooner**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Improved Grapple, Ropemaker, Ropewrapper, Craft (weaving) 7 ranks, spinnerets racial ability arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain 1 additional daily use of your Spinnerets racial ability. With 1 minute worth of work, you can spend one use of your spinnerets racial ability on a target already tied up using your silk to increase the DC of escape attempts by 10.

* **Extra Spinnerets**
	+ **Prerequisite:** spinnerets racial ability, arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain two additional daily uses of your spinnerets racial ability.
	+ **Special:** You may select this feat a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier.  Its effect stacks.

* **Ropemaker**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Craft (Weaving) 1 rank, spinnerets racial ability, arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain 1 additional daily use of your Spinnerets racial ability.  In addition, you may use your Spinnerets ability to produce 50’ of spider’s silk rope with a minute’s work, or enough rope to tie up a single target as part of a grapple attempt to tie up.  This rope lasts for 1 hour per character level, at which point it deteriorates into dust.

* **Ropewrapper**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Improved Grapple, Ropemaker, Craft (weaving) 5 ranks, spinnerets racial ability, arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain 1 additional daily use of your Spinnerets racial ability.  In addition, you may use your ranks of craft (weaving) for grapple checks in place of your base attack bonus, and attempts to escape the ropes you produce take twice as long.

* **Natural Jouster\***
	+ **Prerequisites:** Centaur or arachne (or any tauric creature at the GM’s discretion).
	+ **Benefit**: You gain proficiency with the lance. You can wield a lance one-handed as if you were mounted, and you deal double damage with a lance while charging.
	+ *\*This feat was originally printed in Pathfinder #69: Maiden, Mother, Crone pg. 91.  It is included here for reference.*

* **Trapweaver**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Craft (Weaving) 3 ranks, spinnerets racial ability, arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain 1 additional daily use of your Spinnerets racial ability. With 1 round worth of work, you can spend one use of your spinnerets racial ability in order to produce a makeshift trap. This acts as a Snare Trap, except you cannot produce a leash with it.  The DC of this trap is equal to 10 + ½ your character level + your Constitution modifier.

* **Websense**
	+ **Prerequisites:** Arachne.
	+ **Benefit:** If you are adjacent to or touching a square that you or another arachne have laid web on, you gain tremorsense out to 60’, as long as the target is touching a web that is contiguous to the web you’re touching.

* **Wolfeye**
	+ **Prerequisites:** arachne, must be taken at level 1.
	+ **Benefit:** You gain darkvision out to 60 feet.

## Favored Class Options

The following favored class options are available to all characters of this race who have the listed favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the favored class reward.

* **Any:** Add 1/4 of an additional daily use of Spinnerets.
* **Bard:** Add +1 to the bard’s total number of bardic performance rounds per day.
* **Berserker:** Add +1 to the berserker’s total number of rage rounds per day.
* **Black Mage:** Add a +1 bonus on Concentration checks made due to taking damage while casting black mage spells.
* **Cleric:** Add +1/6 to the cleric’s aura of resolve.
* **Dark Knight:** Add +1/2 hit point to the dark knight’s harm touch ability (whether using it to heal or harm).
* **Fighter:** Add +1/2 to damage dealt on a charge attack. This damage is not multiplied on a critical hit.
* **Freelancer:** Add +1/2 to the bonus granted by inspired dilettante when used to provide a bonus on one of the class skills granted by your caste. Casteless arachne instead add +1/2 of an insight point. The first and tenth time castless arachne take this reward, add +1 insight point instead.
* **Geomancer:** Add +1/2 to the bonus on initiative checks the geomancer gains based on favored terrain.
* **Illusionist:** Add +1 bonus on concentration checks when casting illusion spells.
* **Ninja:** Add a +1/3 bonus on damage rolls to sneak attack.
* **Red Mage:** Add a +1/2 bonus on concentration checks made to cast defensively.
* **Samurai:** Add +1 to Knowledge (Religion) checks to identify deities and their followers.
* **Scholar:** Gain a +1 bonus on concentration checks made due to taking damage while casting spells.
* **Thief:** The thief gains +1/6 of a new thief talent.
* **Time Mage:** Add +1/6 of an additional d4 to one skill check or ability check when you spend a mote to boost such a check.
* **White Mage:** Add a +1/2 bonus on checks made to craft magic items.