Thri-Kreen

[Yunru]

So this talk of Thri-Kreen lately has left me wanting. So I fired up my laptop, loaded my DMG pdf, and created this:

Race:
Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom
Age: Thri-Kreen have short life spans, living for only thirty years on average.
Alignment: Thri-Kreen tend towards neutrality, and believe more in personal freedoms that adherence to rules.
Size: Medium
Speed: Your base walking speed is 40 feet.
Darkvision: Accustomed to life underground, you have 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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Multi-Limbed: Thri-Kreen possess a second set of arms. While weaker than their main pair, these limbs are strong enough to wield light weapons and manipulate objects with.
Sleepless: Thri-Kreen are incapable of sleeping. Sleeping is not required to benefit from a long rest, and magic cannot put you to sleep.
Thri-Kreen Stealth: You have proficiency in the Stealth skil.
Languages: You can read and write Common. You can speak, read and write Thri-Kreen. Thri-kreen is a language without words. To show emotion and reaction, a thri-kreen clacks its mandibles and waves its antennae, giving other thri-kreen a sense of what it is thinking and feeling. Other creatures find this manner of communication difficult to interpret and impossible to duplicate.

Feats (a la UA):
Chameleon Carapace: The thri-kreen can change the color of their carapace to match the color and texture of its surroundings. As a result, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide.
Thri-Kreen Fighting: When you partake in Two-Weapon Fighting, you may make an additional attack for each valid weapon you wield beyond the second.

 

[Yunru]

Altered, updated and added some UA-style feats.
Still very torn between Dexterity and Wisdom or Dexterity and Strength. The former allows for more roles, which is good, while the latter is far more unique.

 

[Elon Tusk]

That looks very similar to one I came up with:



And Racial Feats:

 

[Sacrosanct]

4 attacks per round at inception seems a bit OP. 5 if you're a monk with flurry.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Darkvision: Accustomed to life underground, you have 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 colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

I thought that Thri-Kreen tended to live in deserts, not underground?

Languages: You can read and write Common. You can speak, read and write Thri-Kreen. Thri-kreen is a language without words. To show emotion and reaction, a thri-kreen clacks its mandibles and waves its antennae, giving other thri-kreen a sense of what it is thinking and feeling. Other creatures find this manner of communication difficult to interpret and impossible to duplicate.

Can Thri-Kreen language even be written down?

Thri-Kreen Fighting: When you partake in Two-Weapon Fighting, you may make an additional attack for each valid weapon you wield beyond the second.

This seems seriously more powerful than equivalent feats.

 

[Elon Tusk]

I thought that Thri-Kreen tended to live in deserts, not underground?

The Thri-kreen from the MM have Darkvision; it looks like he just copied and pasted Darkvision from another creature and forgot to remove the Underground part.

 

[Yunru]

The Thri-kreen from the MM have Darkvision; it looks like he just copied and pasted Darkvision from another creature and forgot to remove the Underground part.

Yuuup.
>_<

 

[Bad Fox]

Interesting to see someone else's take on this. I've been grappling with this conversion as well, but with a specific eye towards Dark Sun races.

I've tried to balance a number of competing priorities, which has been really challenging. Essentially, I'm looking to maintain a power balance with other races and adhere to general 5e design philosophies, but stay as true as I can to the original design from the 2e boxed set.

Here's what I've come up with... feedback very welcome.


Thri-kreen Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom increases by 1.

Age. Thri-kreen reach physical maturity around the age of 6 and generally live for about 30 years.

Alignment. Most thri-kreen are neutral.

Size. Thri-kreen stand nearly 8 feet tall and weight over 450 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

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.

Armored Carapace. You have a tough exoskeleton, providing an AC of 13 + your Dexterity modifier. A single shield’s benefits can be applied as normal, but you cannot wear armor.

Efficient Adaptations. Thri-kreen don’t require sleep and can rest while remaining alert and performing light tasks, but can still be put to sleep by magical effects. You require only 1 gallon of water per week to sustain yourself under normal conditions.

Thri-kreen Weapon Training. You are proficient with the gythka and the chatkcha.

Bite. Thri-kreen have a complicated jaw structure that can be used to make unarmed strikes. Your bite deals piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target is paralyzed while poisoned this way. The poisoned target can repeat the saving throw at the start of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

After biting a target, you must finish a long rest before the poison is ready again.

Claws. Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes that deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier.

Languages. You speak Thri-kreen. You may also read and write this language if you choose. It is strongly recommended that you select a background that allows you to learn the Common tongue.