Thri-Kreen, 2nd Variant (5e Race)
Thri-Kreen
Oh, that? That's Chaktik. Picked her up back in the plains a while ago and she's been following us ever since. She doesn't talk much, but she's loyal, quick, and can track like a bloodhound. What? How do we understand her you ask? Eh... it's not so hard once you pick it up.
Thri‐kreen ("kreen" for short) are insectoid beings born from eggs possess a mindset very different from any humanoid being encountered. They roam the wastes in packs, hunting for food day and night as they require no sleep. Thri‐kreen are quick and agile and make fearsome fighters, feared throughout the wastes. They refer to thri-kreen who have become city dwellers as “tohr-kreen,” meaning “settled person,” whereas thri-kreen means “wanderer-person.”
Insectoid Beings
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| Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual |
Mature thri‐kreen stand about 7 feet tall, with a rough body length of 11 feet. Their four arms end in claws; their two legs are extremely powerful, capable of incredible leaps forward but struggle to do the same backwards. Their body is covered with a sandy–yellow chitin and is reinforced with a tough exoskeleton. Their head is topped with two antennae, their two eyes are compound and multifaceted and their mouth has small pincers.
Male and female thri‐kreen are physically indistinguishable despite not usually wearing any more clothing than harnesses to carry weapons and food. Thri-kreen own only what they can carry and what little clothing they do wear takes the form of bands, bracelets, and rings. While most thri-kreen appear emotionless their pheromone release shifts their eye coloration and gives away their true feelings: the brighter the eyes the more positive the emotion while darker colors are generally negative. As carnivores thri-kreen typically become sick when they consume plant matter with the exception of a handful of common spices and fruits.
Sleepless Hunters
The kreen do not require sleep and as such have difficulty understanding this state of "laziness" or exhaustion in other races. Many similar behaviors of other humanoids seem unnecessarily complex to them, for their life is simple: A continuous hunt that only ends when they do. A kreen lives for this hunt not because it is what they were taught but because it is a deep racial instinct pass down through the generations. Even lessons learned and observations of the environment are passed down within a thri-kreen clutch, the young already knowing the best places to hunt and what dangers to look out for. This makes them largely predisposed to tasks and activities they already know, some thri-kreen might go their entire lives repeating activities they inherited from their ancestors.
A Different Perspective
The kreen have a strong pack mentality which dominates their relationships with other creatures. Thri-kreen in any group has an inherent need for strong leadership. If they believe themselves to be the most powerful and capable, then they will assume leadership; if someone challenges their authority then they will wish to test whether they are in fact stronger leader. It is not a question of vanity for the thri-kreen, they don't want to fight to the death, but merely to ascertain who is the most capable to lead the party. This can be disconcerting to those unaware of a thri-keen intent but once the matter is settled, they are steadfast members of any party willing to dive into walls of flame at a leaders command. Thri‐kreen view humanoids as possible sources of food but rarely hunt them as humanoids are not simple prey. Many kreen have a particularly fond taste for elves; as such, meetings between these two races are often tense. Through all of this thri-kreen have a innate fear of any water smaller than a puddle as they cannot swim nor float.
Thri-Kreen Names
The Thri-kreen language is very different from those of the other intelligent species, made up of clicks, pops, or grinding noises. Given their lack of lips or a tongue they, in turn, cannot make many of the sounds typical for the common languages. Their names also don't distinguish between male and female.
Names: Cha'ka, Chak-tha, Chuka-tet, Drasna, Drik-chkit, Hakka, Ka'cha, Ka'tho, Kacht-ta, Kat’chka, Klik-chaka'da, Lakta-cho, Pak’cha, Pik-ik-cha, Ptekwe, Qhak'cha, Qhik-ik-cha, Sa'Relka, T'Chai, Tak-tha, Tik-tik.
Thri-Kreen Traits
Swift and cunning hunters, the mantis-like thri-kreen wander the deserts and savannas of the world.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age. Thri-kreen live much shorter lives than their humanoids counterparts. A thri-kreen matures quickly, reaching adulthood within 3-4 years of hatching. Most thri-kreen only live to be 25 years old, although some live marginally longer.
Alignment. Thri-kreen tend towards a chaotic nature, uncomfortable living by the rigorous societal standards the other races subject themselves to and often acting in whatever fashion benefits the pack at the time. It is rare that thri-kreen are good and evil.
Size. A full-grown thri-kreen stands seven feet tall but can be as long as 7 to 9 feet, and can weigh between 450 to 470 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet. You sink in liquid and have a swimming speed of 0 feet.
Darkvision. Your compact eyes and deep instincts give you superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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 can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Chameleon Carapace. As a bonus action, you can change the color of your adaptive carapace to match the color and texture of your surroundings. When you do, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide until the start of your next turn.
Exoskeleton. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Multiple Limbs. You have a shorter pair of arms in the center of your chest. Your smaller arms have a reach of 5 feet, and you can use them to lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use these arms to take an additional object interaction each round and hold objects. Your secondary arms can’t be used to do anything that requires manual precision such as attack, benefit from a shield, use an item or performing the somatic components of a spell.
Standing Leap. Your long jump is up to 30 feet and your high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start. You cannot jump backwards.
Thri-Kreen Weapon Training. The thri-kreen are known for their martial prowess with the chatkcha and gythka. You have proficiency with the dagger, spear, pike, and glaive.
Torpor. Thri-kreen are known to enter a state of decreased physiological activity to prolong their survival. You only require 1 gallon of water each week, you do not require sleep and don't suffer exhaustion from lack of rest. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours of it in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Thri-kreen and can read and write Common. The thri-kreen language is composed mostly of clicking noises and hieroglyphics. It is relatively simple to read or write, but it is difficult for members of other species to speak it.
Variant Rule: Thri-Kreen Weapon Training
The thri-kreen are known for their use of the gythka and chatkcha, exotic weapons traditionally used by thri-kreen warriors. The blades of these weapons are made out of dasl; an amber-like crystal made from a mixture of thri-kreen venom and sand. While the rest is typically made from wood or bone. With your DM's permission, you are proficient in the gythka and chatkcha instead of the weapons described in your Thri-Kreen Weapon Training trait and you can craft these weapons over the course of an hour provided you have a knife, sand, and either bone or wood. Once crafted the weapon takes 24 hours to set before it can be used.
Gythka. A thri-kreen polearm with single or triple-bladed heads at each end. The gythka is a martial melee weapon that deals 1d8 slashing damage, weighs 4-6 pounds and has the weapon properties: Heavy, two-handed.
Chatkcha. A thri-kreen throwing weapon with three sharpened ends forming a triangular shape that circles around to return to the thrower much like a boomerang. The chatkcha is a martial melee weapon that deals 1d6 slashing damage, weighs a pound and has the weapon properties: Finesse, light, thrown (30/120), special. If you make a ranged attack with this weapon and miss, the weapon returns to you and you can catch it at the end of your turn if you still have a free hand.
Racial Feat: Thri-Kreen Psionicist
Prerequisite: Thri-kreen
You have unlocked your innate psionic potential within, a trait your people use to aid the hunt and communicate more easily with outsiders. You gain the following benefits:
- You know the mage hand cantrip and the hand is invisible when you cast it.
- You can communicate telepathically with a creature within 30 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand you, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.
- You learn the blur, magic weapon and invisibility (self only) spells and can cast any of them once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast these spells in this way when you finish a short or long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
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