Editing Aranea (section)

==Red Steel Writeup==
{{NotFunny Sourcebook}}
Since you can't find the official bestiary entry from [[Red Steel]] online anywhere these days, meaning only the drastically cut down version from the Mystaran Monstrous Compendium is available, /tg/ decided to get shit done and transplant the old lore here for those looking to find it.

===General Notes===
Aranea are intelligent giant [[spider]]s skilled in magic. Few people believe that they still exist, because the creatures are careful to hide their nature, and they are difficult to expose.

Aranea of the Savage Coast have two true forms - that of their ancestors (a large, intelligent spider) and that of a [[humanoid]]. They can also take on a shape that combines elements of the two. In spider form, an aranea has a body about four feet long and two feet wide. As with normal spiders, the body is divided into two segments, the abdomen and the thorax. Two spinnerets are located at the end of the aranea's abdomen, and eight hairy, segmented legs, each about four feet long, are attached to the thorax. Two more limbs, each about two feet long, sprout from the front of the thorax, beneath the mandibles and eyes. Each of these forward limbs has four many-jointed fingers, plus a single thumb with an extra joint. These digits can be used to manipulate simple tools, or to perform the motions needed to cast spells.

Aranea have a set of impressive mandibles, with large fangs. Adults can inject a damaging poison with them. Behind and above an aranea's mandibles are eight eyes. Four are small, simple eyes, used to detect motion. The other four are larger, and apear almost like humans', with a colored iris and black pupil, though set in a round, lidless socket. Two of the larger eyes face forward, and the others are positioned on either side of the creature's head. Above and behind the eyes is a large, oddly shaped lump that houses the aranea's brain.

Each aranea has one [[humanoid]] form that it can shift into. The humanoids that can be emulated are many, though some are too large or small to be imitated (see below) and others are not familiar enough to the aranea for them to be copied. Because of magical restrictions, one race in particular, the [[wallara]]s, cannot be imitated at all. Races chose can range from as small as a [[goblin]] to as large as a [[gnoll]], but those typically emulated are [[human]], [[elf]], [[half-elf]], [[dwarf]], [[lupin]], [[rakasta]] or [[shazak]]. Some few aranea choose a [[goblinoid]] form instead.

An aranea's humanoid form is chosen very soon after birth, and cannot be changed to another form later. The humanoid form must be the same gender as the aranea. Height, weight, eye color, and hair color are all appropriate to the humanoid type imitated. For aranea PCs, the choice of exact race and form is left to the players (within the guidelines listed above).

In its third, demispider form, an aranea appears as a humanoid with arachnoid elements. These always include fangs, spinnerets in the palm of each hand, and four eyes. The demispider form typically has an extra joint in each finger and thumb as well, and the two extra eyes are generally located on the temples. But no two individuals ever have exactly the same demispider form. Since aranea gain no initial Legacy from the Red Curse, aranea characters usually claim that this form is part of their Legacy. The fiction works well, considering that aranea are relatively rare and very secretive, and some Legacies give a demispider form.

Aranea have their own language, known now as Herath. All aranea know this language and a native language of the race they emulate. Most aranea are neutral in alignment, though most other people consider them to be evil.

===Combat===
Aranea prefer to avoid physical combat. In humanoid form, they battle as the race emulated. In spider form, they wait in trees for prey to pass beneath, then lower themselves silently on web strands, and attack with spells. A victim attacked in this manner suffers a penalty of -1 to surprise rolls.

If forced into physical combat, an aranea can attempt to inject venom into an opponent. This requires a successful hit with fangs, so it can be performed only by aranea in arachnid or demispider form. A victim who fails a saving throw vs. poison after being bitten feels a faint stiffness in the limbs immediately, and takes 1d4 damage per round for the 1d4 rounds. Damage for multiple bites is cumulative. Aranea venom becomes nonpoisonous upon contact with air, so it cannot be saved and used on weapons. The aranea can inject venom up to three times each day.

An aranea gains web-spinning ability at maturity (1st level for PCs). This allows the creature to descend on webs, climb them, and entangle opponents. Naturally, webs can be spun only by aranea in spider or demispider form. An aranea can produce 10 feet of webbing per level per day (half from each spinneret). It can be spun in pieces of any size, up to the maximum length. A web strand is about a quarter-inch in diameter and strong enough to suspend about 500 pounds. Aranea climb webs at a Movement Rate of 12, (again, only in spider or demispider form). They have no special abilities against a web spell, however. Using webbing to entangle a target requires a weapon attack. A strand can be severed easily (requiring only 2 hit points of cutting damage inflicted in a single blow), and can be broken by a successful "open doors" roll.

Aranea place much value on magic, and nearly all of them are spellcasters, so [[magic]] is fairly common in their lands. DMs should treat aranea NPCs as 3rd-level [[mage]]s. They can cast spells in any of their forms. Most aranea are mages or specialist [[wizard]]s. They prefer [[Illusionist|illusions]] and [[Enchanter|charms]], and avoid [[Elementalism|fire-based]] spells. Some dwelling among humanoids keep their spellcasting abilities secret, to avoid arousing suspicion. Many are multi-class [[mage]]s or single-class [[Rogue|thieves]]. Single-class [[cleric]]s or [[fighter]]s are very rare. Though aranea might seem particularly well suited to be [[bard]]s, that class is forbidden to them, for the idea of being an entertainer is foreign to their culture, and their histories are kept by "real wizards," rather than those who simply "dabble in magic". Because of their special natures, aranea who emulate [[human]]s, [[lupin]]s, or [[rakasta]] can choose to become [[Multiclassing|dual-class, and cannot be [[Multiclassing|multi-class]] characters. Dual-class aranea usually take the non[[mage]] class first, so they may advance to high levels as [[wizard]]s.

Aranea choose [[kits]] appropriate to their humanoid forms, and can take any available to their character class and the race they emulate. The Noble kit is a favorite, but no aranea ever takes the Local Hero kit, because they consider it degrading.

Aranea wear armor appropriate for their clas. Most feel they will never need to change into their arachnid forms quickly enough to take daamge from restrictive armor. If they do change into spider form while wearing armor, damage suffered equals 10 minus the AC of the armor, and the armor is ruined.

===Special Abilities===
In spider form, aranea have AC 7 and never wear armor. In humanoid or demispider form, they have the base AC of the emulated race (AC 10). Aranea have infravision with a range of 60 feet. They can take proficiency in animal handling and animal training for spiders, the ability being applied to spiders with an Intelligence of 1 or more. Because of their other abilities and their involvement with the creation of the [[Red Curse]], aranea do not receive an initial Legacy. However, when they reach maturity, they must wear [[cinnabryl]] or suffer the detrimental effects of a randomly chosen power. An aranea can gain Legacies by becoming an [[Inheritor]].

Aranea change shapes with ease. The ability is automatic, learned within a few weeks after birth, and is not limited in duration or number of uses per day. However, an aranea trying to maintain secrecy will assume demispider form no more than three times per day, as per the Legacies, and the creatures never assume spider form among non-aranea. It takes one round to change from humanoid to demispider, demispider to spider, or vice versa. Thus, changing from spider to humanoid or the reverse takes a minimum of two rounds.

An aranea in humanoid form is effectively a member of the race emulated, and has any special abilities of that race. For instance, an aranea in [[lupin]] form has excellent senses of smell and hearing. In all cases, though, the aranea follows the character class and level restrictions for aranea.

In essence, an aranea has two real identities. The creature's true race cannot be determined unless someone actually watches the change into spider form or has some way to read the character's mind (or possesses some other extraordinary means). Even a true seeing spell is generally useless, because it allows the recipient "to see all things as they actually are," and aranea of the Savage Coast actually have dual "true" forms. If a true seeing spell is used on an aranea in demispider form, it reveals either the arachnid form or the humanoid form (equal chances). Note that the identify species spell was invented by aranea, so it is useless against them. (The aranea use the spell to ferret out spies and ensure the security of special meetings.)

Though the aranea's shapechanging ability was originally gained through arcane means, neither form is magical, so a dispel magic spell cast on an aranea in humanoid form does not cause it to revert to spider form. If cast on an aranea in demispider form, dispel magic can (if a successful roll is made, using the aranea's level or Hit Dice as the value for the opposing caster) cause the aranea to change into humanoid or spider form (again, equal chances).

The shapechanging ability gives aranea partial immunity to polymorph spells, as with [[Therianthrope|lycanthropes]] and [[doppelganger]]s. (They can resume their normal form after being affected by the spell for one round.) Aranea are easier to hit and take extra damage from weapons enchanted with bonuses against shapechangers (such as a Sword +1, +3 vs. Lycanthropes & Shapechangers). Shapechanging does not heal wounds an aranea has taken. When killed, an aranea stays in the form held just before death.

===Habitat/Society===
Aranea prefer to live in forests, the natural homes of their ancestors, where they can hunt and hide. The aranea are the secret rulers of the [[Magocracy]] of Herath, where they live in cities and villages that resemble those of neighboring lands, but with an apparent mixture of several different races. Otherwise, an aranea village seems very much like any other typical of the region, with stone and wood buildings built more for practicality than artistic value.

Aranea follow the mating customs of the race they emulate, and their love can be quite deep. Aranea young are born live, and parents take good care of their children, to make sure they are given a proper background. Each aranea is taught to emulate its humanoid form from infancy. They believe the form is chosen by fate, and aranea of the same family usually have similar forms (if not, an infant might be sent away to be raised by relatives).

Aranea take great pains to conceal their dual natures, partly because many other races feel animosity toward them, due to their secretive nature and their history. Aranea are taught from birth that they have two, discrete identities, one the spider form, shown only to other aranea, and the other a humanoid form, which law demands must be used to deal with outsiders. Individuals are compelled by aranea culture to keep the two identities separate, and never to reveal the aranea's existence to other races. Those who do are considered traitors, and are dealt with harshly and quickly by other aranea.

Because of old stories and legends of their purported evil, aranea are almost universally despised as a sort of "bogeyman". Aranea who reveal what they really are suffer from a +10 penalty to reaction rolls for anyone who has heard of them. A revealed aranea will often be hunted by almost everyone in the region (especially by other aranea). However, it may be possible for the character to assume the pose of a "tame" aranea, one who has "converted to the cause of good." But even these characters would suffer from prejudice and hunts by other aranea.

Most aranea feel they are superior to other races, due to their long history and special abilities. Often, they are cold, calculating, and secretive. But few are truly evil; they simply have a different outlook on things. They also tend to be suspicious of others, expecting them to have secrets as well.

Aranea usually take the acting proficiency. This allows them to blend in perfectly in another society, appearing open and honest, if they so choose. This is not to say that aranea without the acting proficiency will automatically be discovered, but they are less able to blend, in terms of personality. An aranea without the acting proficiency will often be considered strange, but since the creature looks like a member of another race, others usually simply assume the character is an odd member of the other race.

===Ecology===
Aranea use [[magic]] to subdue their environment, shaping it to fit their desires. They are predators, and many enjoy the taste of the flesh of sentient beings, though these are the exception rather than the rule. Their culture produces art that most other sentients find disturbing. Aranea are generally good with cloth, and naturally dominate the silk market with the silk they produce. Aranean technological development is typical for the Savage Coast. They use tools and weapons common to the races they emulate, and they covet magical items.

Currently, the creatures get along reasonably well with other races.