D&D Race Guide: How to Play a Kalashtar
These psionic humanoid hybrids of humans and dream spirits called Quori are an often overlooked player race. But they shouldn’t be.
There’s a decent chance you haven’t even had a Kalashtar character show up in any of your games. And they’re a little obscure, a little weird, and a little new to 5E, so that makes sense. But if you’re open to playing psionic humanoid spirit creatures from the Dream planes, you just might add something very fun and unique to your party’s next adventure.
“The kalashtar are a compound race created from the union of humanity and renegade spirits from the plane of dreams – spirits called quori. Kalashtar are often seen as wise, spiritual people with great compassion for others. But there is an unmistakable alien quality to the kalashtar, as they are haunted by the conflicts of their otherworldly spirits.”
Kalashtar Traits
Kalashtar look a lot like humans, at least by D&D standards. With a medium build, they typically stand a few inches taller than humans on average, but they have the same range of eye, skin, and eye colors as well as a similar walking speed of 30 ft. But Kalashtar are humans who fused with Quori souls, and this gives them some psionic and dream-related abilities.
Duel Mind gives a character advantage on all Wisdom saving throws, which is an extra boon since they start with a plus-two to Wisdom and a plus-one to Charisma anyhow. In addition, Mental Discipline provides resistance against psychic damage and Mind Link allows for telepathic communication with any creature they can see as well as giving that creature the ability to communicate back telepathically. Finally, Kalashtar don’t go to the plane of dreams when they sleep like other creatures do. Instead, they have Severed from Dreams, which allows them to see memories of their otherworldly spirit when they sleep. In game, this could have a fun story-driven effect. But in practical rules terms, this means that Kalashtar are immune to spells and effects that make them dream such as the Dream Spell. However, they are not immune to the Sleep Spell since they do in fact sleep.
Best Classes for Kalashtar
With a naturally increased Wisdom as well as advantage on those saving throws, Cleric and Druid would both be solid choices for Kalashtar. And for Druid, your Kalashtar can use their mental abilities while using Wild Shape. Of course, Bard would also be a very good option with their high Wisdom and the boost to their Charisma. A Bard who’s charismatic enough to get into (and out of) trouble is important. But a Bard who’s wise enough to know when not to is even more so.
Tips & Tricks
There’s a lot of potential when it comes to Kalashtar characters. And since the people at your table likely don’t know too much about them- in or out of character–you have a lot of opportunities to be creative. The different dream-space can be used in all sorts of interesting ways, so definitely make sure you have a conversation with your DM about your character about all of your hopes and goals for this adventure. And of course, don’t forget to use your telepathic powers. There isn’t a single mission or battle that wouldn’t benefit from a quick brain-to-brain conversation so don’t let that be one of your abilities that gets overlooked.
Have you ever played a Kalashtar character? Have you had one join your adventuring party? Are psionics and psionic characters something you’ve had a chance to play with yet? Let us know in the comments!
Happy adventuring!
