Homebrew Thri Kreen Species Details
Physical Description
Thri-kreen resemble bipedal praying mantises. Their bodies are coated in exoskeletons with various earthy hues, including rust red, sandy yellow, and mottled green-brown. Unlike most humanoids, thri-kreen possess six limbs, walking on two legs and possessing four arms, each ending in four prehensile, claw-like fingers. The lower two arms are smaller and less-powerful than the upper two. Their heads possess compound eyes, generally in somewhat-brighter colors like green or blue, antennae, and mandibles. Because of the alien shape of their jaws, they have difficulty speaking and pronouncing Common and most other humanoid languages besides their own. They wear little clothing beyond simple harnesses for carrying weapons and equipment.
Their lower bodies are very powerful, and because of their exoskeleton they are proportionally much lighter than most humanoids of their size. Combined, these traits give them exceptional reflexes, speed, and jumping power.
Society
Thri-kreen view themselves as hunters and judge other folk on the simple relationship of predator to prey. They respect barbarians, rangers, and others who live off the land and treat it with care. On the other hand, savage and evil races such as gnolls and orcs despoil the lands that should be hunted with respect, and thus they earn the thri-kreen’s enmity. The mantis warriors generally regard city folk and farmers of other races as not-hunters, and therefore worth neither their attention nor their enmity.
Their culture has no taboos regarding either cannibalism or the consumption of the flesh of other sapient creatures, particularly elves. Although they do not hunt for sport and will generally be no more likely to commit murder than any other sapient mortal, this, combined with their difficulties in communicating with most humanoids, has still resulted in an extremely sinister reputation.
Although thri-kreen experience all emotions that non-thri-kreen do, they are generally of a very cool-headed temperament and are not as likely to act rashly because of them as most sapients. Those who have manifested psionic abilities are generally the exception to this rule. They tend to move and act in "clutches" of approximately six individuals, in a combination of a team and family. Lone thri-kreen or those integrated into the broader community of other races still obey this instinct to form a "clutch."
Thri-Kreen Names
Thri-kreen make no distinction between male and female names, and they do not use surnames.
Chak-tha, Drik-chkit, Kacht-ta, Kat’chka, Pak’cha, Pik-ik-cha, Ptekwe, 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 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 2. Age. Most thri-kreen only live to thirty years at most, but they are fully mature by the age of five or six and their reduced need for rest ensures they live the years they have to the fullest. Alignment. Thri-kreen have virtually no social structure other than the clutches they form with their families and closest allies. The notion of sophisticated rules for social behavior is foreign to them. They are almost always chaotic in alignment, and often neutral with respect to good and evil. Size. Different breeds of thri-kreen possess different builds, from little bigger than dwarves to taller than most men. However, none are as tall as trolls or ogres, or as short as halflings. Your size is Medium. Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Darkvision. Your insectoid senses give you superior vision in dark and dim coAbility Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age
Most thri-kreen only live to thirty years at most, but they are fully mature by the age of five or six and their reduced need for rest ensures they live the years they have to the fullest.
Alignment.
Thri-kreen have virtually no social structure other than the clutches they form with their families and closest allies. The notion of sophisticated rules for social behavior is foreign to them. They are almost always chaotic in alignment, and often neutral with respect to good and evil.
Size.
Different breeds of thri-kreen possess different builds, from little bigger than dwarves to taller than most men. However, none are as tall as trolls or ogres, or as short as halflings. 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 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.
Exoskeleton.
When you aren't wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
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. You can carry an additional one-handed weapon using each of these extra arms, and you cannot use the Versatile property of weapons carried in these extra arms. You cannot use these extra arms to initiate grapples or wear shields. These hands can be used for other tasks, such as opening doors, carrying torches, using tools, or performing the somatic components of spells, without difficulty when they are not holding weapons
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. Also, magic can't put you to sleep.
Languages.
You can speak, read, and write Common and Thri-kreen. The Thri-kreen language is composed mostly of clicking noises. It is relatively simple to understand, but it is difficult for members of other species to speak it.
Thri-Kreen Weapon Training.
You have proficiency with the Gythka and Chatkcha. These exotic weapons are traditionally used by Thri-kreen warriors. A gythka is a two-handed polearm with a blade at each end, and has the same statistics as a glaive. A chatkcha is a is a flat, triangular wedge with three serrated blades, and has the same statistics as a dart.