Drider
Encyclopedia
In the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game, a drider is an aberration
that was formerly a drow (dark elf). Driders are centaur-like creatures
in the game, appearing as drow from the waist up, with their lower portions replaced by the abdomen and legs of immense spiders. They are most commonly found in the Underdark
. They can be used by Dungeon Master
s as enemies or allies of the player characters.
. The transformation is typically a punishment for offending their goddess, Lolth
, or failing one of her tests
The drider first appears in the module Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980). The drider is reprinted later in the Monster Manual II (1983).
An article in Dragon
#128 (1987) further detailed the drider.
In AD&Ds 2nd edition (1989-1999), the drider appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) under the "elf, drow" entry, and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).
The drider appears in the Monster Manual for D&D 3.0 (2000).
Savage Species (2003) presented the drider as both a race and a playable class.
The drider appears in the revised Monster Manual for D&D 3.5 edition (2003).
The drider was detailed in Dragon
#312 (October 2003), in the "Ecology of the Drider".
The drider appears in the Monster Manual for D&D 4th edition (2008), including the drider fanglord and the drider shadow spinner. Unlike in other editions of the game, the 4th edition Monster Manual says that being turned into a drider is a blessing, not a curse.
, only high-level priestesses in good standing with Lolth are able to initiate the transformation of a dark elf into a drider. This transformation is very painful, and lasts at least 12 hours. Driders develop a poisonous bite. Their digestion changes and they must drink blood of living creatures for sustenance. Driders still maintain the spells and special abilities they had developed as a drow. There can exist any character class of drider. They retain intelligence and memories. This usually makes them bitter, spiteful creatures. Some hunt for magic powerful enough to undo the transformation.
In previous editions, driders appear sexless due to bloating, but able to magically reproduce. In Dungeons & Dragons edition 3.5, driders seem to retain their gender and characteristics after the transformation, but fertility is debatable.
world, driders play many roles in drow society. The dark elves both fear and are revolted by driders. After transformation, they are usually pushed to the wild area around a drow city. Driders are usually found in company with tiny, huge and giant spiders. Driders speak Common, Elvish, and Undercommon. In the first and second editions of the game, Driders spoke Drow. Driders are almost always Chaotic Evil.
In the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, becoming a drider is actually considered holy and a blessing from Lolth
.
campaign setting
, driders exist as creatures independent from the drow society. Because Vulkoor, the principle drow deity in Eberron, has an affinity for scorpions rather than spiders, the conceptual role occupied by driders in other settings is instead filled with the scorrow, a tauric race hybridizing drow with scorpions. Primary differences lie in that scorrow are not outcasts, instead they are revered by the drow, but form independent communities, rather than scavenging on the fringes of drow society as in driders. They are also a true-breeding race. Scorrow also replace the similarly centauroid scorpionfolk within the setting.
In the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, the campaign setting
used by Paizo Publishing
's Pathfinder
products, driders are not drow punished by any deity but have instead been punished by other drow through a method known as "fleshcrafting."
universe, driders come in three "breeds":
Aberration (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, aberration is a type of creature, or "creature type". Aberrations generally all have bizarre anatomies, strange abilities, alien mindsets, or any combination thereof....
that was formerly a drow (dark elf). Driders are centaur-like creatures
Hybrid (mythology)
Hybrids are mythological creatures combining body parts of more than one real species.They can be classified as partly human hybrids , and non-human hybrids combining two or more animal species...
in the game, appearing as drow from the waist up, with their lower portions replaced by the abdomen and legs of immense spiders. They are most commonly found in the Underdark
Underdark
The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns and Dungeons & Dragons-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore...
. They can be used by Dungeon Master
Dungeon Master
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...
s as enemies or allies of the player characters.
Publication history
The drider was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. In the game, they are drow which have been transformed from the waist down so they have the lower body of a spiderSpider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
. The transformation is typically a punishment for offending their goddess, Lolth
Lolth
Lolth is a fictional goddess in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Lolth , the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the chief goddess of drow elves...
, or failing one of her tests
The drider first appears in the module Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980). The drider is reprinted later in the Monster Manual II (1983).
An article in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#128 (1987) further detailed the drider.
In AD&Ds 2nd edition (1989-1999), the drider appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) under the "elf, drow" entry, and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).
The drider appears in the Monster Manual for D&D 3.0 (2000).
Savage Species (2003) presented the drider as both a race and a playable class.
The drider appears in the revised Monster Manual for D&D 3.5 edition (2003).
The drider was detailed in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#312 (October 2003), in the "Ecology of the Drider".
The drider appears in the Monster Manual for D&D 4th edition (2008), including the drider fanglord and the drider shadow spinner. Unlike in other editions of the game, the 4th edition Monster Manual says that being turned into a drider is a blessing, not a curse.
Ecology
In Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, only high-level priestesses in good standing with Lolth are able to initiate the transformation of a dark elf into a drider. This transformation is very painful, and lasts at least 12 hours. Driders develop a poisonous bite. Their digestion changes and they must drink blood of living creatures for sustenance. Driders still maintain the spells and special abilities they had developed as a drow. There can exist any character class of drider. They retain intelligence and memories. This usually makes them bitter, spiteful creatures. Some hunt for magic powerful enough to undo the transformation.
In previous editions, driders appear sexless due to bloating, but able to magically reproduce. In Dungeons & Dragons edition 3.5, driders seem to retain their gender and characteristics after the transformation, but fertility is debatable.
Society
In the Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
world, driders play many roles in drow society. The dark elves both fear and are revolted by driders. After transformation, they are usually pushed to the wild area around a drow city. Driders are usually found in company with tiny, huge and giant spiders. Driders speak Common, Elvish, and Undercommon. In the first and second editions of the game, Driders spoke Drow. Driders are almost always Chaotic Evil.
In the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, becoming a drider is actually considered holy and a blessing from Lolth
Lolth
Lolth is a fictional goddess in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Lolth , the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the chief goddess of drow elves...
.
In other campaign settings
In the EberronEberron
Eberron is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, set in a period after a vast destructive war on the continent of Khorvaire...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
, driders exist as creatures independent from the drow society. Because Vulkoor, the principle drow deity in Eberron, has an affinity for scorpions rather than spiders, the conceptual role occupied by driders in other settings is instead filled with the scorrow, a tauric race hybridizing drow with scorpions. Primary differences lie in that scorrow are not outcasts, instead they are revered by the drow, but form independent communities, rather than scavenging on the fringes of drow society as in driders. They are also a true-breeding race. Scorrow also replace the similarly centauroid scorpionfolk within the setting.
In the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, the campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
used by Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
's Pathfinder
Pathfinder (periodical)
Pathfinder products are published by Paizo Publishing and are designed to be supplements to Dungeons & Dragons and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game...
products, driders are not drow punished by any deity but have instead been punished by other drow through a method known as "fleshcrafting."
Driders in other media
In the DrowtalesDrowtales
Drowtales is a site that hosts numerous webcomics, most of which take place in the Drowtales universe; a world based on Yan "Kern" Gagné's interpretation of Drow elves—including history, cultures, world, and evolution of subspecies...
universe, driders come in three "breeds":
- Ne'kalsaider — Civilized driders that were actually born as driders. From the waist up they are attractive drow, but have 4 pairs of red eyes, and fangs.
- Waelinder — Cursed newborn driders. At birth, they are sane yet neutered. They look like drow, except they have 7 eyes (the normal 2, a large central eye, and 4 crystal sized ones, all red) and no hope. Few survive and 99% of them go mad, alone in the tunnels.
- Streekaider — Wild driders who have fallen to madness. Their simple minds still remember the cruel treatment they received. They are some of the most dangerous creatures of the Underdark. Even their upper halves become more spider-like at this stage.