Homebrew Dark Sun: Thri-Kreen Species Details
Thri-kreen are mantis-like humanoids that hunt in packs throughout the wastes of Athas. They have adapted to the harsh climate and are experts at surviving with only scarce resources. Thri-kreen are nimble, and many also have psionic abilities.
Physical Qualities
The insectoid thri-kreen have six limbs and are covered in tough, sandy-colored chitinous plates. Their lowest pair of limbs is used as legs, and their upper pair of limbs serves as arms. The middle set of limbs is small but dexterous, and the thri-kreen use them for fine manipulation, leaving heavy work to the stronger upper arms. Both the middle and the upper pairs of limbs have three clawed fingers and one opposable thumb. In combat, thri-kreen hold weapons or shields in their upper limbs, since the middle pair lacks the strength for this purpose and using both sets of limbs would be awkward and unwieldy.
Swift and athletic, thri-kreen are natural climbers and jumpers. Their wedge-shaped heads have large compound eyes, two (mostly vestigial) antennae, and powerful mandibles. They can speak an accented form of Common but prefer their own language, which is easier to pronounce with their mouth parts.
Thri-kreen have short life spans and rarely reach 30 years of age.
Playing a Thri-kreen
Thri-kreen minds, behavior, and physiology often seem bizarre to members of other races. But despite their fierce appearance, the insect-like humanoids can be loyal and courageous companions. Thri-kreen have most of the same needs and morals as do other races; they simply prioritize those needs and morals differently. Most important, thri-kreen judge others solely on physical and mental ability. The lazy and weak deserve contempt, regardless of race; likewise, strength and cleverness merit respect no matter who demonstrates these qualities.
Thri-kreen view everything through the lens of the hunt and the predator-prey relationship. Their basic social units are the clutch and the pack. A clutch is a small group (no more than six) to which an individual kreen has a close bond. The concept of the clutch combines “team,” “friends,” and “family.” Every thri-kreen has a birth clutch that consists of all surviving members of the group of eggs from which it hatched. Later in life, each kreen forms one or more other clutches, perhaps centered around adventuring groups or specialized hunting parties. A pack is a larger social unit that consists of any number of clutches. If deprived of a clutch, a thri-kreen is biologically compelled to seek out a new group to join.
Obeying their pack instincts, thri-kreen try to find their place in any group. They use a series of challenges to determine the pecking order, assessing their possible clutchmates in secret or, when necessary, demanding trial by combat. Thri-kreen seize leadership of groups in which they’re the strongest members, but they are willing to accept subordinate roles in the presence of powerful allies. They take orders from the pack or clutch leader without hesitation, eager to fulfill the duties of their position. Despite the apparent autocracy of a kreen group, any member is free to voice its opinion and offer advice. Indeed, each thri-kreen is expected to have expertise in matters the others do not. All must contribute to the good of the clutch and the success of the hunt.
In thri-kreen culture, combat is just another kind of hunt. Thri-kreen rarely fight out of malice and see no need for aggression unless it is the best means of obtaining the resources they need to survive. Self-defense is another matter—a thri-kreen who has been attacked can’t fathom any response other than a violent counterattack. After a victorious battle, a kreen’s first instinct is to collect any useful possessions that belonged to the attacker or (in the case of beasts) to harvest the body for food.
Many thri-kreen develop psionic abilities. Those who fully pursue these gifts often become monks or battleminds, taking advantage of their physical talents. Some attribute this natural ability to racial memory. Each member of the race is born with the clutch mentality and an innate knowledge of the Thri-Kreen language. When a thri-kreen encounters a place or an item that played an important part in kreen history, it might see flashes of the past—an upwelling of racial memories long suppressed but present in all kreen.
Male and Female Names: Cha’ka, Chuka-tet, Drikchkit, Hakka, Ka’cha, Kacht-ta, Ka’tho, Lakta-cho, Pak’cha, Pik-ik-cha, Sa’Relka, T’Chai, Tak-tha
Duties of a Clutchmate
The clutch mindset influences all thri-kreen actions, and the duties to the clutch are many:
✦ Accept your place in the clutch and follow the leader’s commands, for the clutch must be orderly.
✦ Challenge a weak leader, for the clutch must be strong.
✦ Offer advice to the leader, for the clutch must be wise.
✦ Protect the clutch and clutchmates, for the clutch must endure.
✦ First fulfill your duty to the clutch, then to the pack, then to other kreen, then to intelligent creatures, and then to prey, for the clutch must be foremost.
Dark Sun: Thri-Kreen Traits
Alien and beastial, Thri-kreen are unlike any other peoples on AthasAbility Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age
Thri-kreen have short life spans and rarely reach 30 years of age.
Alignment
Thri-kreen tend towards lawful alignments, valuing the clutch and order it provides.
Size
Thri-kreen are roughly the size of any most other humanoids, with the largest of them ranging to 6 and 1/2 feet tall, and pushing 250 pounds.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Darkvision
With odd anatomy, and accustomed to living life without the small comforts that city life on Athas brings, Thri-kreen have developed the ability to see in the dark. 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 Arms
Once per turn, you can draw or sheathe a weapon (or retrieve or stow an item stored on your person) as a bonus action.
Natural Jumper
A thri-kreen is always considered to be proficient in the Athletics skill.
Torpor
Thri-kreen fall into deep, extremely restful bouts of sleep. Thri-kreen need only to rest 4 hours a day to gain the benefits of a Long Rest. (The Common word for such a state is “torpor.”)
Thri-Kreen Claws
Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Thri-kreen. They can speak an accented form of Common but prefer their own language, which is easier to pronounce with their mouth parts.
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