It's been some time since i published a homebrew of mine and of the ones I'm currently working on, the Thri-Kreen has me worried on balance. Heres what I have written up. Pardon any spelling/punctuation mistakes, was never good at writing.
Thri-kreen Traits
The thri-kreen are a insectoid humanoid race that primarily dwell in planes or deserts. Many thri-kreen live as nomads and hunters, only taking and carry what they need.
Ability score increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age
Thri-Kreen age quickly and are considered adults and the age of 5 and many do not live past the age of 30 years.
Alignment
Acting spontaneously, many Thri-Kreen are typically of unpredictable and chaotic alignments, showing no inclination toward good or evil.
Size
A thri-kreen resembled a giant bipedal praying mantis, standing between 5 to 7 feet high and weighing between 125 and 275 pounds. your size is medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
Your insectoid senses 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.
Multiple Limbs
You have an additional set of smaller arms. You may interact with an additional object or feature of the environment for free during your turn. These hands can be used for other tasks, such as opening doors, carrying torches, using tools, or performing the somatic or material components of spells. however they cannot be used to wield weapons or shields due to their size.
Torpor
Instead of sleeping, you enter a torpid state, during which you remain fully aware of their surroundings. After four hours of torpor, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Thri-kreen.
Scout Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Chameleon Carapace
You can change your body's color to match your surroundings, allowing you to hide when lightly obscured by terrain. In addition, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) rolls if you have not moved since the start of your last turn.
Standing Leap
You have long and powerful legs that allow you to jump with ease. Your long jump is 25 ft. and your high jump is 10 ft. You don't need a running start to make these jumps
Psionic Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Wisdom score Increases by 1.
Psionics
You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast the cantrip with this trait.
When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Command spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the Blur spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait, they don’t require components.
Warrior Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Strength Score increases by 1.
Natural Armor
You have thick plates covering your entire body, granting you greater protection compared to other Thri-Kreen. 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.
Venomous Bite
You have powerful mandibles that are capable of delivering a venom to your foes, they are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal Piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the Bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. additionally, when you hit a creature with your bite attack, you may force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw, becoming poisoned for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier on failure (minimum of 1). The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The poisoned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"i'm assuming i can't uncanny doge the end of the world."
Seems solid! The Chameleon Carapace seems quite strong for a racial ability, although in practice it's not too horribly overpowered, and the Venomous Bite should probably be weakened a little—that extra damage is strong even without the Poisoned condition.
It's been some time since i published a homebrew of mine and of the ones I'm currently working on, the Thri-Kreen has me worried on balance. Heres what I have written up. Pardon any spelling/punctuation mistakes, was never good at writing.
Thri-kreen Traits
The thri-kreen are a insectoid humanoid race that primarily dwell in planes or deserts. Many thri-kreen live as nomads and hunters, only taking and carry what they need.
Ability score increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age
Thri-Kreen age quickly and are considered adults and the age of 5 and many do not live past the age of 30 years.
Alignment
Acting spontaneously, many Thri-Kreen are typically of unpredictable and chaotic alignments, showing no inclination toward good or evil.
Size
A thri-kreen resembled a giant bipedal praying mantis, standing between 5 to 7 feet high and weighing between 125 and 275 pounds. your size is medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
Your insectoid senses 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.
Multiple Limbs
You have an additional set of smaller arms. You may interact with an additional object or feature of the environment for free during your turn. These hands can be used for other tasks, such as opening doors, carrying torches, using tools, or performing the somatic or material components of spells. however they cannot be used to wield weapons or shields due to their size.
Torpor
Instead of sleeping, you enter a torpid state, during which you remain fully aware of their surroundings. After four hours of torpor, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Thri-kreen.
Scout Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Chameleon Carapace
You can change your body's color to match your surroundings, allowing you to hide when lightly obscured by terrain. In addition, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) rolls if you have not moved since the start of your last turn.
Standing Leap
You have long and powerful legs that allow you to jump with ease. Your long jump is 25 ft. and your high jump is 10 ft. You don't need a running start to make these jumps
Psionic Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Wisdom score Increases by 1.
Psionics
You know the mage hand cantrip, and the hand is invisible when you cast the cantrip with this trait.
When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Command spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the Blur spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest.
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. When you cast them with this trait, they don’t require components.
Warrior Thri-Kreen Traits
Ability Score Increase
Your Strength Score increases by 1.
Natural Armor
You have thick plates covering your entire body, granting you greater protection compared to other Thri-Kreen. 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.
Venomous Bite
You have powerful mandibles that are capable of delivering a venom to your foes, they are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal Piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the Bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. additionally, when you hit a creature with your bite attack, you may force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw, becoming poisoned for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier on failure (minimum of 1). The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The poisoned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
"i'm assuming i can't uncanny doge the end of the world."
Check out my homebrew! Path of The Troll Blood barbarian subclass, the Gnoll race, the satyr race, and the Shardmind race.
Seems solid! The Chameleon Carapace seems quite strong for a racial ability, although in practice it's not too horribly overpowered, and the Venomous Bite should probably be weakened a little—that extra damage is strong even without the Poisoned condition.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I played in Dark Sun back in AD&D2e. I remembered all Thri-kreen having psionic powers....
All in all I love the ideas!
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