D&D: It’s A Bug’s Life In Spelljammer For The Thri-Kreen
The Thri-Kreen are perhaps the best new race in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. What makes them so good? They’re well armed.
Thri-Kreen have come a long way over the years. They originally started in 1982, as monsters in a set of Monster Cards by Paul Reiche. Now, 40 years later, they’re one of the best PC races in 5th Edition. What makes the Thri-Kreen so good?
Before we get to that, it’s worth mentioning that the Thri-Kreen have always been among the more powerful PC races. In 3rd Edition they were often at the heart of broken character builds. For multiple reasons. They had powerful psionics in 3.5, but the real key to their power was their set of 4 claws and a bite.
And that’s what makes modern Thri-Kreen so good now.
Spelljammer – Thri-Kreen are the Breakout Stars
It’s a simple thing, really. Thri-Kreen are bug people with multiple arms. They always have been, but their defining feature makes them pretty strong. As NPC enemies, this translates to multiple attacks. Because, in D&D, the number of attacks is a significant factor in determining how a fight goes.
But the PC version of Thri-Kreen don’t actually get extra attacks innately. What they do have is a singular feature that suits them to a variety of roles. Perhaps their biggest feature is Secondary Arms.
All Thri-Kreen have two slightly smaller secondary arms situated below their primary arms. And this is an incredibly versatile feature. They can manipulate an object, open or close a door or container, pick up or set down a Tiny object, or wield a weapon with the light property.
This last bit, in particular, opens up so many doors. As you can see in the Thri-Kreen art above, this means you can wield multiple weapons. More than you might normally. A Thri-Kreen fighter could wield a shield and still engage in two-weapon fighting. You could hold a greatsword or halberd, and have a light crossbow in hand for a crossbow expert attack no matter where you are.
But it gets even better for spellcasters. As you can keep a sword and shield, and still have hands free for spellcasting. This will be great for any gishes who can’t just wave away the need for somatic or material components.
The rest of the Thri-Kreen package is pretty good too. As an action, they can give themselves advantage on stealth thanks to a Chameleon Carapace, which also counts as an always-on Mage Armor. And they get Telepathy and Darkvision.
Finally, they’re Monstrosities. Which is important. Many new races aren’t humanoid; this is important because spells like Charm Person or Hold Person require the target to be human.
In short, the time of the bugs is at hand.
Happy Adventuring
