Phalangi
I thought I was dead. Surrounded by so many driders, I
grasped Bahamut's claw at my chest and prayed hard. Then one of them came up and tapped me on the head with one of those creepy legs, asking me in broken Common if I was sick. Turns out not all spiderfolk are driders. Who knew?
Living in caverns deep beneath the surface, the phalangi roam and hunt. Tall, many-legged, and broad shouldered, their size combined with tales of the Underdark's Spider Queen lead many to be frightened of the phalangi, though the spiderfolk rarely hunt those who speak and walk on two legs.
Intimidating Arachnids
Phalangi bodies have parallels with those of the centaurs who dwell on the surface. From the torso up they resemble humanoids with broad shoulders, light skin tones, and hair colors such as milky-white, silver, and lavender. The most notable difference is the extra pairs of eyes the phalangi sport—one pair where most humanoids have them, another pair on their "foreheads," and two others set further out on their cheekbones. To support these extra eyes, phalangi heads are noticeably larger and wider than other humanoids'.
Around the hips, phalangi's bodies transition into wide arachnid abdomens with four spidery legs that arch outward before bending toward the ground at the knee. The chitin of their lower bodies is a darker version of their mammalian skin: dark purple chitin for lavender skin, deep grey chitin for silver skin, and so on.
Phalangi females are slightly larger than males. Rumors that phalangi females eat the males after mating are grossly overstated and offensive to phalangi. That said, phalangi are exclusively carnivorous, though they prefer to hunt and eat beasts, and can also digest some varieties of fungi if necessary.
Nomadic Hunters
Instead of cities, phalangi wander the Underdark freely with no permanent structures or agriculture. Phalangi typically keep to small family groups of no more than ten, meeting up with other groups on occasion to find mates and share information and resources. These meetings happen at landmarks called "pumbi," which are often places of religious or cultural significance.
Underdark Wanderers
Since encountering the phalangi, scholars have tried to trace their origins in comparison to the spider-worshipping Underdark denizens known as the drow. Some scholars have hypothesized that phalangi are the origin of drow spider worship, a religion and admiration developed out of awe and fear for their larger wandering rivals. The drow claim that the phalangi were the first children of Lolth, cast away from her favor for apostasy and lack of reverence. The phalangi have oral traditions referencing great battles with the drow in the past, but have little reference to Lolth herself, leaving the matter as an unsolved mystery.
Aside from the drow, with whom they have hostile, skirmishing relations, phalangi are amicable, if uninterested, in other humanoids. Phalangi groups occasionally trade or camp with
duergar, deep gnomes, dwarves, and other subterranean civilizations, as well as surface dwellers who wander below. Some groups of phalangi have made excursions to the surface, though many find the smaller, weaker creatures of the surface to be unsatisfying prey that need to be hunted too often to be worth the effort.
Phalangi Names
Phalangi have two-name naming conventions, with the first being a personal name and the second being a family name used to identify which family group they belong to.
Phalangi Traits
Your phalangi character has the following traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Strength score increases by 1.
Age. Phalangi mature at the same rate as humans and have lifespans similar in length to theirs.
Alignment. Phalangi don't typically adhere to large social structures, preferring to change their behaviors based on the needs of their close-knit group. This leads many phalangi to be chaotic in alignment.
Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.
Size. Your arachnid abdomen ends at about 4 feet tall, transitioning into your humanoid torso. Phalangi are tall and broad for humanoids, often more than six and a half feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.
To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:
Size modifier = 2d10
Height = 4 feet + (2 x your size modifier) inches
Weight in pounds = 280 + (8 × your size modifier)
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness as shades of gray.
Multitudinous Legs. Your many legs help you keep your balance. You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks made to remain upright, provided you have sufficient space to splay out your legs.
Web Walker. You ignore movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Terrain-Fighting Master. You have advantage on attack rolls made against creatures in difficult terrain if the target's movement would be slowed by that terrain.
Bite. Your fangs are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Spinning Glands. You have web-secreting glands that allow you to ensnare foes. As an action, you can make a special ranged weapon attack with proficiency against a creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1 bludgeoning damage and must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier) or become restrained until the end of your next turn.
You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon.
Design Credits
- Created by Reddit user /u/livingstone_library
- This document was created using GM Binder
Art Credits
- Page 1: "Drider," ©Wizards of the Coast LLC
- Page 2: "Swamp" by Piotr Dura
Special Thanks
- We'd like to especially thank our "Hero" tier patrons on patreon.com/livingstonelibrary: Harrison Miller, Ryan Willey, and Charlie!
"Phalangi" is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.