Dungeons & Dragons: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Lolth (2024)

The Spider Queen. The Demon Lord. Goddess of the Drow. Lolth is one of the most powerful creatures in along with one of the most evil, with intelligence that is only matched by her malice. She rules over the Drow in a society that is significantly worse than it could be, thanks to her, and angering her could be the last mistake your character will ever make.

Still, not all players know her story and the details that come with it, especially because she's not the type of character you'll get a chance to talk to for hours in a D&D campaign. What little secrets does the spider hide?

5 Lolth's Conception

From Demon To Demon Goddess

As D&D veterans may have expected, Lolth was created by Gary Gygax, who is responsible for essentially creating Dungeons & Dragons itself. And Lolth was there, with her first ever mention taking place in Descent Into The Depths Of The Earth, which culminated in a battle against her in Queen Of The Demonweb Pits, both from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, first edition.

It's also notable that she used to be a 'simple' demon with Drow followers but quickly became a Goddess and had the Drow as their worshipers. She is now one of the most powerful deities in D&D, and her impact on the multiverse is notorious.

4 Lolth's Family

Worst Mom Ever

Araushnee, who we now know as Lolth, used to be part of the Elven deities, the Seldarine, where she was Corellon's wife (the biggest Elven deity). From this relationship, they had a son, Vhaeraun (who later had a son, Selvetarm), and a daughter, Eilistraee. After the fight between her and Corellon, the family got divided between the Seldarine and the Dark Seldarine, which are the gods worshiped by the Drow.

The relationship between Lolth and her children (and grandson) tends to change from time to time, but Vhaeraun tends to hate her and desires to be an evil god without her meddling (though he's been an ally to her as well); Selvetarm is surprisingly loyal to Lolth, being an example of a 'good male Drow' in her society (though he hates Lolth); and Eilistraee is her big foil, being the only good deity among the Drow deities.

Future sourcebooks will likely change these dynamics in the future, but the one that tends to stay consistent is Lolth and Eilistraee's animosity.

3 The Tests Of Lolth

Prove Yourself Or Be Cursed

Lolth likes to ensure that her followers are always powerful, and she encourages fighting among them to weed out the weak. Her most common tests involve testing their strength by challenging a follower to kill someone who is significantly stronger than they are, and a test of loyalty that forces the follower to kill someone they love in Lolth's name.

Succeeding in these trials benefits the followers, as they are empowered, but failing them is a guaranteed tragedy. Either the follower dies in the hands of who they were supposed to kill, or they are cursed and turned into Driders - the centaur-looking creatures with a spider bottom rather than a horse.

The transformation weakens the Drow (though Driders are still dangerous) and is extremely painful, to the point that it tends to cost their sanity. It is reversible through another test of Lolth, but those tests are just something overly difficult that Lolth tasks them to do just to see if they die trying. Still, a Wish spell or Divine Intervention from another deity could be possible ways out of the curse if you need to think of something for your campaign.

2 Lolth's Association With Spiders

The Fall Of Zanassu

So, what does Lolth have to do with spiders? When Araushnee tried to kill Corellon and was defeated, he still didn't want to kill her, so she turned her into a Tanar'ri (a type of demon from D&D), and this transformation turned her into a spider-demon (now you see where she got the idea of punishing people by turning them into Driders). She was also cast out into the Abyss, where the demons live.

In the Abyss, there was the Spider Demon called Zanassu, who was associated as the 'god' of spiders (he wasn't a deity, though, but a Demon Lord). Araushnee, now Lolth, liked the idea of controlling spiders due to her new form. Thus, she killed Zanassu and took his layer of the Abyss, becoming a Demon Lord herself and the Spider Queen.

1 Lolth's House

Beware The Web

We mentioned the Demonweb before, from the first edition adventure that involved fighting her. The Demonweb Pits is the 66th layer of the Abyss, and it's where Zanassu used to live. Now, the Pits are Lolth's home, and where she controls the Drow and many conquered civilizations.

In its appearance, the place is a giant pit (as you'd assume) with rocky segments connected to one another through many webs, and it's common to see people trapped in these webs, agonizing from pain or already dead. It's not a nice place.

Now only the layer has multiple realms for each of the Dark Seldarine to rule over (even Eilistraee, though hers is abandoned), she also uses this place to connect many places in the multiverse she conquered through portals.