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In the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game, driders are aberrations that were formerly dark elves (also known as drow).

The drider was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

The drider first appears in the module Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980).^[1] The drider is reprinted later in the Monster Manual II (1983).^[2]

An article in Dragon #128 (1987) further detailed the drider.^[3]

The drider appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) under the "elf, drow" entry,^[4] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).^[5]

The drider appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).^[6]

Savage Species (2003) presented the drider as both a race and a playable class.

The drider appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The drider was detailed in Dragon #312 (October 2003), in the "Ecology of the Drider".^[7]

The drider appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).

These drow have been transformed from the waist down so they have the lower body of a spider. The transformation is typically a punishment for offending their goddess, Lolth, or failing one of her tests (though, in the Newest Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, being turned into a Drider is, in fact, a blessing).

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.

Driders are most commonly found in the Underdark.

Driders are centaur-like creatures, appearing as drow from the waist up, with their lower portions replaced by the abdomen and legs of immense spiders.

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.

Driders are always chaotic evil.

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.

In the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, however, the Drider are actually considered Holy; being turned into a Drider is considered a blessing from Lolth.

In the Eberron 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.^[8][9] Scorrow also replace the similarly centauroid scorpionfolk within the setting.^[10]

The Spider Daedra found in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion are essentially another species of driders.

The EverQuest creatures called drachnids are basically driders.

In the Drowtales 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.

There are various drider avatars in Second Life, with the majority selection produced by Lazrith Fardel, co-creator of the Red Eye shop.

Other notable drider creators are Flea Bussy of Grendel's Children, and Hunter Stern of The Drider's Nest.

Fardel's take on driders remains consistent with the nightmarish image of Underdark driders, while Bussy takes a more nature oriented approach to her creations.

Fardel also creates Scorrow.

These games by id Software feature human-spider hydrids similar to the drider. Quake has the "Vore" while the "Vagary" is present in Doom 3.

In the original campaign, Prophecies, there are several types of similar creatures named "Dryders". They do not possess any humanoid traits besides using their forelimbs to wield magical weapons.

The Dark Elf Titan unit in SpellForce is, in appearance, a spider-monster with the upper body of a female dark elf; apart from the white skin tone of dark elves in SpellForce, it is identical to a drider.