Driders
Cursed by their demon-goddess, abandoned by their house, family and friends, deformed and in agony, alone in the dark; Driders are bitter and lonely creatures. Their solitude makes them quick to aspire to find companions, but their tortured past keeps them distrustful of strangers.
Survivalists
When a Drider is created, it is cursed, not only to have it's once beautiful, Elven body malformed and twisted by demonic magic, but also to be exiled from the opulent and grand cities it once throved in. In order to survive in the grueling and torturous conditions of the Underdark alone, Driders learn to fend for themselves and become some of the deadliest and most intelligent predators in the depths. These skills are often invaluable to adventuring parties lost below and in search of food or shelter. It is in these circumstances that the usually suspicious Drider earns a bargaining chip, and a potential cast of allies.
Hatred of the Drow
Driders are formed when a Dark Elf is tested personally by their Demon-Goddess "Loth" and found wanting. In order to catch one of this baleful creature's many arachnid-like eyes, an Elf is likely to need to be beautiful, deceptive, cunning and a member of the cut-throat high society that Drow relish. To be stripped of all of this luxury, thrown into the cold embrace of the Underdark alone, tortured and deformed is enough to drive any creature to the brink of insanity. Those who keep their wits are usually filled with rage at the Goddess who punished them and the society or former allies and "friends" who turned their backs on them in their most vulnerable moments. It is for this reason that most Driders either fear or dispise the Drow and will do anything in their power to seek vengeance upon them.
Drider Traits
Your Drider character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom increases by 1.
Age. You still mature and age at the same rate as your Elvish kin, regardless of when your transformation occured. Driders consider themselves an adult if they are 100 years old or beyond, and can live to be 750 or beyond if the Underdark does not claim their life.
Alignment. The Drow people thrive on betrayal, politics and scandal which causes you to lean more towards an evil alignment, and your abandonment at the hends of this society and your skills in the wild caverns beneath the world have seen you favour chaos.
Size. You stand at an impressive 7-8 feet tall with your arachnid lower-half reaching about 4 feet at the withers. Your size is Medium.
Adhesive Limbs. You have the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free. You also have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
Arachnid Abdomen. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push or drag.
Eight Eyes. Your mutation is not without its advantages. Your additional eyes grant you proficiency in the Perception skill.
Fey Ancestry. Despite your demonic mutation, your Elven body is still tied to the Fey. Due to your connection, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Mandibles and Fangs. Your once beautiful face is now home to an impressive set of mandibles eqipped with some rather sharp-looking fangs. You may make a bite attack with your fangs dealing 1D4 piercing damage + your Dexterity modifier. Targets struck by this attack must pass a Constitution saving throw who's DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. On a failed save they also take poison damage equal to half your level rounded down (minimum of 1). If you critically hit with this attack, the target also gains the Poisoned condition until the end of your next turn. Once you use this ability, you cannot do so again until you have completed a long or short rest.
Superior Darkvision. You have crystal-clear Darkvision up to 120 feet.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Underdark Survivor. You have Proficiency in the Survival skill.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet.
Languages. You can speak, read and write common as well as Elvish and Undercommon.
Credit: Arcane Forge
The Homebrewery
Although I consider myself an illustrator, I am by no means a graphic designer and would have no clue on how to priduce a booklet by myself that looked this wonderful. This homebrew was presented due to the hard work of the people at homebrewery.naturalcrit.com and I would highly recommend looking at their work and using this fantastic homebrewing tool if you'd like to make monsters of your own or anything else for 5e!
Shameless Self Plug
If somehow, this creature has made it's way to you and you are not a viewer of my videos over on Youtube, I would hate to miss the opportunity to share my work with you. You can find my videos over on youtube.com/arcaneforge where I draw at least one monster per week and talk about their lore, history and mythology as well as all of their real world influences, a pinch of biology and a smattering of linguistics. There's even a timelapse of me drawing and talking about this particular creature, so I hope you'll check it out.
Thanks so much for reading!