3.5 Psychic Aranea (based on the species from Mother of Learning)

[paddyfool]

An attempt at making vaguely balanced psychic spiders, based on the species from the Mother of Learning webnovel (https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/21220/mother-of-learning):

Beneath the cities of men, you may find the Aranea. Few that do remember the experience. They live in small communities or Webs, often of about 50 to 100 females (only the females are truly sentient), and they excel at Telepathy.

+2 Dex, -2 Str
Small
Magical Beast
Base land speed 30 ft, climb 20 ft
Aranea speak common and Aranea
Naturally Psionic: Aranea gain 1 bonus power point at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
Psi-like ability: 1/day Mind Thrust (may augment with power points if desired)
+2 to Will saves vs Psionics
+4 racial bonus on Hide, Spot, Climb, Balance and Jump checks
+2 bonus to craft anything made out of webbing
May produce up to 2 pounds of webbing per day if well fed
-4 penalty to craft anything not made out of webbing
-8 penalty to use any tools or weapons designed to be used by creatures with hands
Bite, 1d4 with poison [DC 10+Con, 1d3 Wis damage]
Tremorsense 60′, low light vision
LA +0

This is probably a bit buff overall, particularly with the climb speed and tremorsense, but having significant difficulty in using most loot would of course be its own challenge. Any feedback?

EDIT: Renamed to Psychic Aranea as it's been pointed out that there's already an Aranea species.

[redmordred]

It's been awhile since I've worked with 3.5 but looking at this I couldn't help but rebuild it in Pathfinder. It would be considered an advanced race, which would just mean a DM would avoid putting it a party without the other characters being members of an advanced race probably. It does have a lot things though in both versions, could maybe have some consolidation, but it's not broken or anything by any margin. I hope this at least somewhat helps.


Aranea (16RP)

Stats: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Str (0RP)
Size: Small (0RP)
Type: Magical Beast (3RP)
Base Speed: 30ft land, 20ft climb with +8 to climbing checks (2RP)
Darkvision 60ft (0RP)
Tremorsense 30ft (4RP)
Naturally Psionic: Aranea gain the Wild Talent feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If a aranea takes levels in a psionic class, he instead gains the Psionic Talent feat. (1RP)
Mind Thrust: Can cast Mind Thrust 1/Day (1RP)
Webcrawler: +2 racial bonus to Acrobatics and Stealth checks (4RP)
Webmaker: Aranea gain +2 racial bonus to all craft or profession checks involving webs. They produce upto 2lbs per day or approximatley 25ft worth. (1RP)
Toxic Bite: 1d2 Bite with Poison (2RP)
Inhumanoid: -8 penalty to use any tools or weapons designed to be used by creatures with hands (-2RP)

[Morphic tide]

The first thing is that Aranea is already used in D&D, for a variety of innate-sorcerer-casting Medium-sized Magical Beast (Shapechanger)s (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aranea.htm). So you're going to need either a rename or some fluff-welding explaining the relation between the two. Notably, the D&D Aranea actually does have hands in its natural form (alongside the fake-being-Humanoid ability), so if you go with fluff-welding them as a variant, then the manipulator issues can be left to a Strength penalty (maybe 7 to start with) and the combined downsides of being Small and non-human-shaped.

My own suggestion would be following that same sort of mold, but more balanced for a PC instead of the rather blunt and quite impressive superiority over a full caster that is Sorcerer casting on d10 HD and full BAB. Could make the thing be 2 RHD and 2nd-level Lurk/Psychic Rogue or Psychic Warrior Manifesting, or 1st-level Wilder, with Mindlink as the augmentable Psi-like instead of Mind Thrust and the web more crunched out as a Con-scaling utility pool to make up for the losses in skill points and class features, with time and weight needed for given lengths of rope and areas of web (both for bridges and difficult terrain making needs), alongside Break DCs and object HP therein, and possibly the process for crafting regular gear from it from it since you're literally making the source material so paying 3.333 GP in the process of making Padded Armor (1/3rd for crafting, 2x for non-human-shape) for an extra point of AC isn't exactly the most sensible.

[paddyfool]

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestions - they look fab.

I particularly like the idea of racial HD with manifester levels. I'd reckon probably not psychic warrior levels, since the mind magic (https://motheroflearninguniverse.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/disciplines-of-magic/) that Mother of Learning's Aranea are naturally gifted in doesn't do direct physical augmentation, but mainly covers just the Telepathy discipline of psychic powers. Actually, if they could manifest as a level 2 Psion or Wilder but only take Telepathy powers with their racial hit dice (Empathy, Mind Thrust, Conceal Thoughts, Call to Mind, Daze, Missive, Telempathic Projection, Charm, Mindlink etc), I think that would fit rather well.

EDIT: Now I'm tempted to make two versions. A slimmed down Lesser Aranea along the lines of what I put in the OP that has no LA, no RHD and just has the basics needed to evoke this concept, and a version with RHD that double as manifesting levels. To be really true to the concept, of course, they should be capable of natural telepathic communication but not vocalisation...