Krinth

Krinth are a race of half-fiends native to the Plane of Shadow, or at least that part of the Shadow Plane that borders the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons. They were bred as a slave-race by the Shades descended from those survivors of Netheril that escaped into the Plane of Shadow. They debuted in the splatbook "Champions of Ruin" as a PC race for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.

In Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, the article "A Legacy in Shadow" in issue #391 of Dragon Magazine stated that the Krinth died out after the Spellplague, as their race began producing Shadar-kai children instead of true krinth. However, shadar-kai with krinth ancestry do have unique racial abilities, and thus Krinth Heritage was introduced as a feat-based subrace in that same article.

Champions of Ruin Fluff

For the past two thousand years, the City of Shade has existed on the Plane of Shadow, kept in good condition by slaves captured from that plane as well as from Faerûn. The Netherese wizards who rule the city also trafficked with demonic creatures made of the same tenebrous substance as the plane itself. On occasion, these demons would force themselves on the slaves; the offspring from these couplings are a unique race known as the krinth.

Krinth are known for their physical endurance, their singlemindedness, and their quick tempers. They make excellent warriors and servants because of the first two traits, but the third often means they are short-lived at both roles.

Racial History: The krinth came into being shortly after the City of Shade found itself trapped on the Plane of Shadow. The powerful Netherese arcanists of the floating city regularly held congress with the shadowy fiends of the plane, and often the demons demanded to know the secrets of human pleasure. From these unions came a race of half-demon beings that came to be called the krinth. These are the facts.

However, the krinth themselves do not ascribe to this rather unflattering origin, instead insisting that they had always lived in the shadow world and that they were offered as slaves to the Netherese in return for treasure and knowledge of the Material Plane and its magic. They point to colonies of krinth in the Plane of Shadow as evidence for this theory, although in truth these are simply escaped krinth who have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in their dark home.

The first krinth were born of unions between Netherese and demons. These krinth were unable to reproduce, making them a rare occurrence and little more than an interesting curiosity to both the shades and the demons who spawned them. For a short time, the krinth even enjoyed an elevated status within the city, where they were viewed as an expression of the union between the realm of shadow and its new residents. They were given well-appointed living quarters and allowed to study under the best teachers and mages in the city. The Shadovar secretly hoped that the krinth would somehow give them the added knowledge and power needed to dominate the plane and its denizens.

It did not take long before krinth began to pop up among the slaves, however. This development led quickly to the reassignment of all krinth as slaves of the royal family. Some krinth escaped enslavement by appealing to those who had become close to them, and even those who were enslaved were often given preferential assignments. The rulers of Shade feared that abusing the krinth could bring down the wrath of the shadow demons, although in truth these demons cared little for their spawn.

For a reason unknown to them or their masters, the krinth became fertile about one thousand years ago and started reproducing among themselves. This quickly created two different castes of krinth - the trueborn, or full krinth, and the halfbreed demonspawn. The demonspawn, once having been favored by the Shadovar, now found themselves outcasts in their own community. The trueborn krinth treated the demonspawn with cruelty and contempt, forming a deep division in the krinth community that lasts to this day. The number of demonspawn has dropped dramatically since Shade's return to Faerûn, but plenty of demonspawn children remain within the city. Many demonspawn krinth have turned informant, attempting to help the Shadovar crush the growing krinth underground movement before it can become a true threat.

The true story of the sudden fertility of the krinth reaches all the way back to one of Faerûn's oldest struggles. The goddess Shar, having been systematically defeated by her sister Selûne at every turn, found herself looking elsewhere for ways to win their eternal battle. She saw in the krinth an opportunity to create a race of servants who could bridge the gap between Faerûn and the Plane of Shadow. Shar is secretive and subtle, and so she did not reveal herself to the krinth, instead choosing to watch them develop from afar. She was disappointed that the Netherese could not find their way back to Faerûn, however, and largely gave up on the krinth until Shade's recent appearance over Anauroch. Now she is once again interested in turning the krinth to her.

For their part, the krinth have adjusted well to life as slaves under the Shadovar. Their natural tendencies are to work hard and play hard, so the erratic and often grueling schedules they keep as slaves do not bother them. The number of krinth quickly outstripped the royals' need for them, and so they can now be found working for any number of patrons around the city. They have steadily climbed back up to favored-slave status, and they usually choose to keep the company of other krinth rather than spend time with slaves of other races.

Since the city's return to Faerûn, the krinth have been restless. Shar has sent agents to infiltrate the city, and to whisper thoughts of freedom and promises of her rewards into the ears of eager krinth. With the number of krinth who have escaped the city rising steadily, under the influence of Shar as well as their own desire for freedom, the Shadovar have tightened the reins on the City of Shade. The krinth are still alien to every culture in Faerûn, and even in places where they have proven their value, they still arouse curiosity and suspicion.

Outlook: Krinth are not philosophers. Their natural inclination is to only think about what they are doing at the moment, and perhaps what they will be doing afterward. On the Plane of Shadow this outlook helped them immensely, allowing them to thrive even under the yoke of their Shadovar masters. It also means that they have difficulty with long-term planning of any kind, and function best when matters of strategy are left to others.

Now that they have reached Faerûn, the krinth find that they have more opportunities open to them than ever before. Some krinth have seen the beauty of the forests and caverns of Faerûn and wish to live there, rather than in the city above the desert. This desire led to many escape attempts during the early Shadovar excavation projects, and the shades have since put tight controls on any krinth that leave the city. Some krinth are finally awakening to the reality of their slavery, and it is frustrating to them that they cannot leave the City of Shade to explore this new world around them. While there is nothing close to a full insurrection brewing, a burgeoning underground movement helps krinth escape into the world at large, and fights for krinth interests within the city.

Krinth mature more quickly than the Shadovar. To the Shadovar, this simply means that their slaves can take on more responsibilities at an earlier age. This trait does give the krinth some insight into the true nature of those around them, since people act much differently around children than they do around adults. Krinth children excel at sports, and spend most of their free time playing and inventing new games. They do not experiment with different interests as the children of other races do, because the krinth mind does not worry about finding and pursing its passion. Occasionally a krinth will show some artistic talent or skill with mathematics or spellcraft, although the Shadovar generally frown upon such diversions.

The only way a krinth in the City of Shade is likely to learn magic or art is through a clandestine teacher, or perhaps with the encouragement of the krinth underground, who seek to develop a loyal cadre of mages for the time when they attempt to break free from the yoke of slavery.

Like their children, krinth adults prefer rigorous activity in their leisure time, often playing sports or training in combat. During the rare holidays in which they have more than one day off at a time, krinth stay up all night long drinking large quantities of beer, wine, and other festive libations. Aside from the rift between demonspawn and trueborns, krinth treat one another and others with respect. Even though many are now longing for freedom, they do not actively hate the Shadovar who rule them.

Personality: Krinth are seen as dour and humorless by most other races. When they are working at a task, they rarely allow themselves to become distracted from it. The krinth are said to work as hard at leisure as they do at laboring, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, enjoying food to gluttonous proportions, playing games of chance, and taking physical pleasures as often as possible. Members of this race work hard and play hard, and they never seem to rest.

Physical Description: A krinth appear similar to an average specimen of the nonfiendish half of their bloodline. Krinth are generally born to human, orc, or dwarf parents - the most common slave races in the City of Shade. Krinth with dwarf ancestry are shorter and more stout than those of human or orc ancestry, but they are not as short as true dwarves. Krinth range anywhere between 5 and 7 feet tall and usually weigh between 150 and 250 pounds. All krinth, regardless of their ancestry, have straight black hair, black eyes, and dusky gray skin. Krinth reach adulthood at age 20 and live between 100 and 125 years.

Relations: Although the krinth are slaves in the City of Shade, they still occupy a higher social stratum than the other humanoid slaves of the city. The Shadovar generally give them better positions and treat them with less cruelty than their other slaves. Since krinth are related to the shadow demons of their adopted home plane, some Shadovar fear that mistreating them would risk making enemies of the demons and their offspring.

The krinth regard the city's other slave races as beneath them. They often treat their fellow slaves with more contempt than their owners do, and their violent tempers often cost them dearly when they take the life of, or disable, another slave. Krinth who have escaped the City of Shade and made their way onto the continent usually maintain this haughty attitude, although they realize that they must soften it somewhat if they are to get along. Most escaped krinth become mercenaries and seek to join a larger organization. Several have joined with the Zhentarim through caravans moving through Anauroch, and others have gone into the Underdark and now fight for the drow. On rare occasions, a krinth joins a more traditional community and learns to live alongside normal races, even hiding his true nature from his new neighbors.

Alignment: Krinth are very chaotic in nature, despite their single-mindedness in duty. They also tend to favor the evil of their sires, although some have shown the capacity to break out of this mold, and even to do good. Those who escape the City of Shade are more likely to lean toward neutrality, which might have been the cause for their flight in the first place.

Krinth Lands: Most krinth are slaves in the City of Shade, performing high-level tasks as well as menial labor for their Shadovar masters. They tend to reside in subterranean lairs even on the floating city, since they prefer to live in isolation from other races. Krinth who escape the city often retreat to the Underdark if they can find entry; otherwise, they simply travel as far from Anauroch as possible. They consider open terrain to be indefensible and uncomfortable, and the entire race suffers from a mild case of agoraphobia. Thus, in cases where they cannot find their way into The Night Below, krinth often take up residence in heavy forests, jungles, or in mountain valleys hidden away from the sun and other humanoids.

Religion: Krinth have no common racial deity; instead, they tend to worship powerful demon lords, especially those from their home plane. A krinth rarely worships the demon who spawned him unless the demon is a powerful lord that calls his spawn to him. Krinth who escape their servitude and take up a life outside the City of Shade often adopt native gods in order to better fit in. The deities discussed below are the most common choices of worship for krinth who have left their old lives behind through virtue or chance.

Those krinth who take up with the Zhentarim via one of the caravans that run through the Anauroch generally worship Bane. The Black Lord rules his people through power and fear, much like the demons that the krinth are used to worshiping. Those krinth who find their way to the Underdark often take up the worship of whatever god is prevalent in the community in which they find themselves, most commonly Lolth or Laduguer.

Shar also maintains her interest in these new Faerûnians, and has directed several of her cells to actively recruit those krinth who labor in the City of Shade as well as those who have left it.

Language: All krinth speak Common and Halruaan. Krinth who have lived with the Shadovar might also know Netherese, the dead language of the dead empire. Although krinth often have contact with their sires, not all of them learn to speak or understand the Abyssal tongue. Individual krinth who escape the City of Shade might learn other languages appropriate to their new region or the peoples who live there. All krinth are literate, except for barbarians.

Adventurers: Most krinth are happy with their roles as the favored slaves of the Shadovar. They secretly believe that the shadow demons that spawned them will elevate them someday, but their decent treatment at the hands of their masters is enough for now. Those who are not happy are either rooted out and killed, or they escape out of the floating city and find a new life on - or under - the surface of Faerûn. A krinth's stubborn will to finish the job often helps him stand strong in the face of the sorts of horrors that adventurers meet on a regular basis.

PC Stats

+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: Krinth are hardy and resistant to illness and damage, but they often lack self-determination and a sense of purpose outside that given to them by others.

Medium: As Medium creatures, krinth have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Krinth base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision out to 60 feet.

+1 racial bonus on all saves. Krinth are resilient in mind as well as body.

+1 bonus on all saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities with the shadow descriptor.

+2 racial bonus on Hide checks in shadowy conditions.

+4 racial bonus on saving throws against fear. As the spawn of demons, the krinth were born of fear and malice.

Krinth cannot become shaken, and they ignore the effects of the shaken condition; they can still become frightened or panicked, though in most cases their innate resistance to fear keeps them from it.

Automatic Languages: Common and Netherese. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Chondathan, Damaran, Undercommon.

Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass krinth's fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.

5e Krinth PCs

Krinth appeared alongside Dhampirs, Hagspawn and Shadar-Kai as a playable race for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes: Shadowfell. Here, they had the following PC stats:

Ability Score Increase: +2 Constitution, +1 to 2 other ability scores of your choice

Size: Medium

Speed: 30 feet

Darkvision 60 feet

Abyssal Ancestry: You have Advantage on saves against being Paralyzed< petrified, or Poisoned.

Abyssal Whispers: You can communicate telepathically with any visible creature within 10 feet. By default, your mental communique is done in Abyssal, but you can spend an Action to convert it into any language that the target understands.

Shadow Stealth: While in dim light or darkness, you can take the Hide action as a bonus action.

Epic Racial: Demonic Fury: You gain this ability at character level 25. Once per turn, you can deal an additional 1d4 weapon damage when you hit with a weapon attack.