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Dark Sun

2018-03-10T20:32:54Z

2001:41D0:8:EB9D:0:0:0:1: Undo revision 479767 by SpectralTime (talk)Vandalism.

[[Image:DSlogo.gif|center]]
[[File:Dark Sun 3e PHB.png|400px|thumb|right|The cover of the 3e [[PHB]].]]
'''Dark Sun''' is a campaign setting made for AD&D 2nd edition back in '90; there are [[3e]] conversions approved by [[WotC]], but we had to wait until 2010 and [[4e]] for an updated official version. Dark Sun is essentially a [[grimdark]] post-apocalyptic mix of D&D, Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars series, and [[Dune]]; it's pretty [[awesome]], but immediately proceeds to eschew common sense (unlike Dune).

==Setting==
The game is set in the world of Athas, a dying planet. Once full of happiness and sunshine, the planet was drained of all resources during the long and rich history the creators came up with. There is no water, no minerals, and no hope: only cannibal halflings, a lot of sand and a dying sun.

The world is so fucked up it makes Mad Max's setting look like a hippie paradise. Kinda looks like Barsoom on massive grimdark crack. Everyone wears [[Female Fantasy Armor]] (yes, even the dudes), and according to the developers, this was the entire reason they picked a hot climate for the setting instead of an icy one, [[Derp|despite the fact that wearing Female Fantasy Armor in the desert would result in a quick death from sunstroke and dehydration]]. The only few realms remaining are fascist police city-states ruled by wizards (all of them varying shades of evil) whose environmentally-unfriendly magic is responsible for fucking up the planet in the first place, and who're slowly losing their humanity as they turn more and more into dragons. Beyond civilized lands everything eats everything. The best weapon you can find is the femur of your party's cleric after being eaten by something that looked like a rock and the best armor is mostly the remains of a giant roach. There are no gnomes, orcs, kobolds, or furries because all of them where exterminated by some mean guys with psychic brains and magic hands. They were the Champions of Rajaat, and they and the Sorcerer-Kings are by-and-large one-and-the-same.

The original ''Dark Sun'' setting got pretty harshly wrecked by advancing novel continuity. Once a buncha [[Mary Sue|tie-in protagonists]] have already killed all the iconic villains and started fixing the setting's problems, what's there left for ''you'' to do? In response, [[4e]] went full-reboot and adopted an [[Eberron]]-style anti-continuity system: every campaign begins in exactly the same time and place, and the story never advances. It was, especially for a 4e idea, incredibly well-received, and will probably carry over into any attempts to adapt the setting for [[5e]].

Thus far, the closest Wizards of the Coast has come to actually ''adapting'' the setting over to 5e is a few ideas about how to change over any adventuring paths to Athas, though the design team has repeatedly mentioned they intend to try in the future. Co-creator of 5th Edition and creative lead designer Mike Mearls has stated that he's pretty much converted Dark Sun to 5th... for an office campaign. Given how 4e treated the setting, we should probably count ourselves lucky if they never try to 'adapt' Dark Sun to 5e.

===Races===
Most of the less-popular generic fantasy races were exterminated a long time ago, good riddance! This means no [[gnome]]s! First reason why this setting is full of win and awesome.
*'''[[Aarakocra]]''' - Sentient vultures, for those who don't want to play anything normal, but hate bugs or lizards.
*'''[[Dray]]''' - Horribly deformed dragon-people. Basically a failed magic experiment. Created by Dregoth, the undead Dragon King. Later generations were less-mutated. 4e made them straight-up [[Dragonborn|dragonborn]].
*'''[[Dwarf]]''' - Almost typical dorfs, except taller, waaay more muscular, bald with Klingon-like head plates and are even more fixated on their stuff than the hairier, stuntier variety. So fixated, in fact, that if they died without completing the shit they were obsessing over, they came back from the dead as banshees (sentient zombies that looked like a dwarf without skin).
*'''[[Elan]]''' - An experiment in creating human uber-psychics by a psionicist order that went wrong due to being too powerful
*'''[[Elf]]''' - No forests for them, ha! They are desert nomads, thieving and griefing all the time. Finally straight players could consider playing an elf.
*'''[[Gith]]''' - Descendants of a contingent of [[Githyanki]] that came to Athas generations ago and became stuck, unable to leave. As a race inherently strong in psionics, they are feared opponents and gladiators, but are still often employed as slaves, which is funny, because they always end up like that, but this time without [[Illithid]]s.
*'''[[Half-Giant]]''' - Big bad meanies, with a ''lolrandom'' alignment. Usually really fucking stupid, like you.
*'''[[Halfling]]''' - Cannibals who live in the remaining strips of forest. Despite Denning's initial fuckup in ''The Verdant Passage'', where he has the dragonfly riding midgets flinging spells hither and thither, no they cannot use arcane magic. Tries to retcon this in ''The Cerulean Storm'' but it doesn't quite work. MAJOR PLOT LOOPHOLE. Actually (spoilers!) the origin of all other demi-human races on Athas, as theirs was the high civilization of the Blue Age.
*'''[[Human]]''' - Sentient halfling, only larger. Always average, always racist. Just like in real life, the race arguably responsible for fucking up the planet. Somehow still manage to be the norm, large and in charge.
*'''[[Kenku]]''' - I shit you not. These crow-like humanoids are mentioned as existing as a viable race (with an accompanying language), but is then promptly forgotten and never mentioned again, so most people never think of them in the context of Dark Sun.
*'''[[Maenad]]''' - Alien berserker-psion emos that Andropinus recruited from somewhere beyond "The Black", then turned loose to die in the wasteland after they helped him get his city-state back. Rather pissed at that.
*'''[[Mul]]''' - [[Half-dwarf]]! Second reason why this setting is full of win and awesome! Bred for size and strength, but without the lack of agility of the typical stunty dorf, no slave was worth more than a Mul. Except a better Mul. Very prized as gladiators. Suck it, Russell Crowe. Unfortunately, like real-life hybrids tend to be, Muls are sterile, and they also tend to be born into slavery and kill their mums on the way out.
*'''[[Pterran]]''' - Pterodactyl-man shamanistic retards that remind you of a certain cheesy villain from the X-men comic books.
*'''[[Ssurran]]''' - 2-legged sentient komodo dragons. Lives in the desert and loves them some lava. Very resistant towards heat and the Dark Sun, these guys enjoy worshiping Fire and Magma.
*'''[[Thri-kreen]]''' - Sentient mantis. Strange, scary folk who can only communicate via their own language or telepathy. Like their elves raw. With four wickedly clawed arms, these guys can ''fuck shit up''.
*'''[[Yuan-ti]]''' - Much like the kenku, the classic yuan-ti are only technically part of the setting, and seem to have been largely forgotten the second after the core setting material was published, despite featuring prominently in the Dark Sun [[CRPG]] [[Wake of the Ravager]], a game nobody remembers either.
*'''[[Pyreen]]''' - A non-player (though 4e made them an epic destiny) race of ancient guardians from before the world was burned to shit, [[Rajaat]] was one of these guys before he went screaming off the deep end. Looks like a prettier version of how 3.5's [[Mongrelman|Mongrelfolk]] are supposed to look based on fluff; a harmonious blending of human, halfling, dwarf and elf. This mysterious & mystical mongrelfolk nature is strange, considering that halflings were the original inhabitants, and it also ignores several now-extinct but previously prominent (or at least "normal" non-monstrous) races, such as orcs. Epic-level immortal multiclassed druid/psions attempting to fix the world. Not getting very far.
*'''[[Athasian Dragon]]''' - Only "playable" by a very technical definition of the term, since it was an epic-level class for level 21+ characters with nastily-difficult requirements, though 4e made it an epic destiny. Not at all like the normal ''D&D'' variety, which don't exist on Athas, Athasian Dragons are horrible monsters that embody the corrupted nature of arcane magic in the setting: rapacious, violent, and filled with rage and a lust to dominate or destroy. Depending on source, there's either many or only one being that has ever successfully completed the transformation, and he's the ''other'' [[BBEG]] of the setting, as mentioned above, but almost all of the Sorcerer-Kings are at least part of the way there.
*'''[[Avangion]]''' - The opposite version of an Athusian dragon, being the life-nurturing embodiment of what arcane magic ''should'' be. Looks like a bizarre glowing manta ray-dragonfly, with a huge wingspan. Not as much balls-out murder power as a dragon, but able to no-sell many of its abilities, actually support its party, and not be an insane rage-cauldron the DM could take over whenever he felt like it. Just as hard to qualify for though, and also a 4e epic destiny. No one in the Tyr region has ever successfully become one, though one NPC as far down the process as most of the Sorcerer-Kings are to being dragons, and unlike many of them is actively trying to advance.

===Classes===

*'''[[Cleric]]s''' - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the [[Dawn War]]), so most clerics worship elements or quasi-elements. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you pussy until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental too. Very nasty to be drank alive for being a water elemental. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
*'''[[Druid]]s''' - Druids serve spirits of the land. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after.
*'''[[Gladiator]]s''' - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were [[Barbarian]]s before Barbarians as 3e made them were a thing.
*'''Dune Traders''' - lol that's actually a class? Was more one the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
*'''[[Fighter]]s''' - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
*'''[[Bard]]s''' - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe fuck you. Maybe in that order, too.
*'''[[Paladin]]s''' - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
*'''[[Templar]]s''' - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are like the Gestapo in the French State. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
*'''[[Psion]]icists''' - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have ''at least'' one psionic power! OMGWTF! Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move shit with your mind without casting a spell like some faggy ass wizard? Check. Mindrape? Check. ''Fucking Time Travel?'' Double Check.
*'''[[Ranger]]s''' - Same old shit. Think Aragorn in the desert.
*'''[[Rogue]]s''' - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
*'''[[Wizard]]s''' - Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
**Defiler - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
**Preserver - Mages who are not manly enough to steal life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same. Fortunately for them, most of their shit can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from ''Abyss''.

===Sorcerer-Kings===
Sorcerer Kings were the jerks with teh biggest cocks and deepest reservoirs of hatred (read:racists) for everything. Except halflings. Or was it humans. SPOILER! These were usually the big bad dudes that Dark Sun campaigns revolved around killing. Unfortunately, author Troy Denning killed off most of them in the series ''The Prism Pentad'', thus giving the campaign setting nothing left to live for. TSR brought out a small post-novel supplement entitled "Beyond the Prism Pentad", which also included references to a product called "Dark Sun: ''A New Age''" that was never released, to try and save what little scraps of the setting was left after [[skub|Denning's]] royal buttfuck of it all. It didn't work. As a result TSR brought it out back and shot it while you cried in your mother's arms.

Most/all Sorcerer-kings were/are in various stages of Dragon metamorphosis, i.e. turning into a Dragon, you idiot, as a result of their addiction to Defiling. "Real" dragons don't exist on Athas, and only the most powerful Wizard/Psionicists with the help of handy [[Necronomicon|forbidden lore]] could start on this journey to REAL ULTIMATE POWER. Side effects include deepening of voice, a bad case of scaly skin, and the desire to FUCKING KILL EVERYTHING. Which gave rise to the stupidest Dark Sun rule ever, via the rulebook ''Dragonkings'', where a 25th level Dragon, if you were lucky/good enough to make it that far and survive a series of spells that ''had an outright chance to kill you'', WAS COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER BY THE DM UNTIL LEVEL 30. How fun is that shit. The reasoning being the Dragon entered a period of Animalistic Rage, aka what happens to your bitch of a girlfriend once a month. And of course only the DM could properly portray that shit, moron. Go sit on the couch and shut up.

Originally, just one of the Dragon-Kings was an actual '''dragon''', formerly Borys of Ur-Draxa. Fighting him was detailed in what was generally agreed to be the single hardest module ever made, '''The Valley of Dust and Fire'''. Don't try it, the weather'll kill you before you get thirty miles from the place, not to mention that the module pretty much specifically states that the players should not be able to kill the dragon; it details it's stats and even says that if players are using the "Dragon Kings" supplement and are level 21+, they might mechanically be able to best it in combat, however, the dragon has prepared so many fucking escape-routes (including several teleporters that could be used at-will) that even if you were capable of doing so, the Dragon would escape the instant it realized it risked losing. Wonder how those "[[Mary Sue|Prism Pentad]]" dipshits managed it... Especially since not a single one of them were even level 20 (their stats are given in "Beyond the Prism Pentad") , much less a full 5-man party of level 21+ characters.

To expand their use as a plot device, each Sorcerer-King/Queen ruled a City-State, up until they were slain by Denning like it was a bodily function.

*'''Abalach-re''' - The queen bitch of the City-State of Raam, this paranoid schizo cunt makes your gf look like a saint by comparison. Also like your gf, universally loathed and held in contempt by both her own people and all the other Sorcerer Kings. Whether her neurotic paranoia is the result or the cause of this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question.
*'''Andropinis''' - He had egg shaped nostrils. He wore a toga and ruled over the Greek inspired City-State of Balic. Also prolly had a lot of anal sex and orgies. Unique for being the only Lawful Neutral sorcerer-king (All the others are listed as Lawful Evil, naturally), and for running a state that actually somewhat functions, in a democracy-turned-dictatorial-sham kind of way.
*'''Hamanu''' - Mr. Lionface. Not one of the original 13 Champions, he was the ruler of Urik and a blatant homage to Hammurabi. Evil and cruel, with his draconic transformation halted rather than reversed, but his devotion to order, justice, rationality, and his father's dream of a green and peaceful land make him one of the best of a terrible lot.
*'''Kalak''' - You know your old, shriveled, power-hungry, slave-master of a grandfather? That's this guy. Ruler of Tyr before his plan to get jacked up quick on dragonsauce was discovered and foiled by a bunch of meddling kids and one talking dog. The 4e reboot explicitly starts every game with him being overthrown and Tyr being established as a Free City, before letting the PCs see where things go from there.
*'''Kalid-Ma''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kalidnay, currently trapped in a near-death coma in [[Ravenloft|a completely different campaign setting]] thanks to his head honchessa's cruel betrayal of everything good in her life in favor of her freaky, possessive stalker crush on him. Probably not coming back, regardless of what the deluded cultists rifling through his garbage think.
*'''Lalali-Puy''' - Every time I see this name I think of a lolli-pop in a pussy. The hottest and most totally fuckable Sorcerer-Queen, and ruler of the barely civilized Jungle-Town of Gulg. Also one of the less-evil Sorcerer Kings by virtue of not doing much to actively hurt the people who adore her, with some liner notes specifically calling her the most likely King to make a face turn who hasn't already, though her current rule over Gulg is cemented by brutal enslavement of nature spirits, one of whom she's masquerading as.
*'''Nibenay''' - Called the Shadow King. Either he really, really hated people and being seen, or he was too stupid to cast a simple glamour to NOT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A DRAGON around his superstitious subjects. Ruler of the largest City-State of the same name, which was locked in a perpetual war with Gulg for some crazy strong blue balls. Or blue wood. Whatever. His templars are all female, and are forced to mate with him for the job, which is frankly par for the course for evil at this point. Even considering his hideous, part-dragon/part-man appearance.
*'''Tectuktitlay''' - He's a ladykiller, he'll rip your heart out and throw it down the fucking ziggurat. Bird like in appearance, he was the Aztec inspired ruler of Drag. Drek. Er, Draj. Smart, despite his insanity and cruelty.
*'''Oronis''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kurn. Kinda. Oronis is a special case. He started to feel bad about... you know exterminating all the lizard-men, especially when he saw that it was all for a lie, and he and his comrades were turning the world into a ruin rather than a paradise. So, he took his vitamins, drank his milk, and managed to put the brakes on the whole "morph into a dragon through genocide" thing... and go the other direction into becoming an avangion. Kurn is dying, but it's just a facade for New Kurn now anyway, and he's withdrawn from politics to pursue further experiments into avangion-hood while leaving behind a "true" democracy. Literally the only Sorcerer-King actively trying to make his shithole of a world a better place.
*'''Daskinor''' - Kim Jong Il's Dark Sun doppelganger. Ruler of Eldaarich, this <strike>paranoid asshat</strike> omnipotent and benevolent God King keeps his city <strike>on permanent lockdown</strike> safe and protected from all the evils of Athas. Literally built massive walls to close off his city from the outside world <strike>thanks to his insanity starting to leak into the city as a whole</strike> because it is totally self-sufficient and wants for nothing the outside world has to offer. Especially not water and food.
*'''Dregoth''' - The undead dragon sorcerer-king, ruler of Giustenal. This dude got ganked by a bunch of the other Sorcerer-Kings for having waaaay too big a cock a couple thousand years ago, but his loyal Templars brought him back as a Lich, and he's just been chilling underground unbeknownst to every else, for quite some time now. Created the dray race, which he hopes will one day completely replace humanity as the new "master race."

==External links==
[http://darksun.wikia.com/ Darksun Wiki] - <strike>a wiki almost as empty as this one</strike> {{BLAM|HERESY!'''*BLAM*'''}} <br>
[http://athas.org Athas.org] - conversion for 3.5, <strike>scheduled to be complete just after 5e comes out.</strike> Sweet shit, it's actually finished!

{{D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Dark Sun]]

Thri-kreen

2018-03-10T20:30:37Z

2001:41D0:8:EB9D:0:0:0:1: Undo revision 479774 by The Hat That Was (talk)Reversed vandalism.

[[Image:Thri-Keen 3E.jpg|thumb|right]]
The '''thri-kreen''' are a race of sentient, mostly-humanoid mantis-people, originally from the ''[[Dark Sun]]'' campaign setting. They later proved popular enough to port over to other places. Thri-kreen are often considered fear-incuding, but more because of their very alien physique and psyches, rather than any reputation of malice.

Thri-kreen have poisonous bites, psionics, and they can jump like grasshoppers. They don't sleep, but their lifespan is only 30 years. They don't have cultural taboos against cannibalism and love the taste of raw elf, though they aren't the crazed murder-munchers the Dark Sun [[halfling]]s are. They prefer double-bladed <strike>lightsabers</strike> polearms, and make three-sided Xena-style boomerang throwy-things by mixing their venom with plant sap until it hardens. They've also gone through a few different body configurations over the years, starting out as basically praying mantises with hands and moving towards a notably more humanoid bent in recent editions.

First showing up in AD&D in the ''Monstrous Manual'', and becoming a playable character race in the [[Dark Sun]] corebook, Thri-kreen are the darlings of [[powergamers]] everywhere, as four arms means four weapons means all sorts of crazy builds focused on massive, nigh-unusable numbers of attacks each turn. It turns out four arms doesn't help with spellcasting at all, so they're actually not such a huge deal.

They were recently voted one of the three most-popular races to be added to 5e, perhaps because they're the hardest "core" [[Dark Sun]] race to just glue another's template over and call it a day. The designer admitted that doing so would be pretty tough, but that it had to happen eventually.

They're a favourite when some [[drawfag]] offers to sketch some [[Thri-Kreen_Erotica|erotica]] for /tg/, and wants to squick us out instead. Well, except for those corrupted by [[Slaanesh]].

==The Complex Kreen Family Tree==
Whilst it's been obscured by time, the thri-kreen family tree is actually surprisingly large - and even more surprisingly complex. It's possible that this showcases some of the problems that [[TSR]] had with keeping their own lore straight.

See, first, there was the ''Thri-kreen'', the nomadic mantis-folk introduced in the Monster Manual and the Dark Sun corebook. And that was all good.

Then, in the first Monstrous Compendium Appendix for Dark Sun, we were introduced to the tohr-kreen; bigger, stronger, faster, deadlier and ''smarter'' versions of the thri-kreen, also nicknamed "mantis nobles".

So, what did "Thri-kreen of Athas", the thri-kreen racial sourcebook do? It went and made it more convoluted.

See, it turns out that the proper racial name of the mantis-folk is "Kreen"; the "Thri" and "Tohr" prefixes signify the kreen's native culture; "thri" means "nomadic" and "tohr" means "settled".

That's not to say there aren't also kreen subraces. In fact, there's six of them: Jeral, To'ksa, J'hol, J'ez, Tondi and T'keech. The sourcebook itself is somewhat vague, but careful attention reveals that the default thri-kreen originally introduced back in the Dark Sun boxset actually refers to the To'ksa subrace. Because Jerals are the only other kreen subrace native to the Tyr Region, the sourcebook exclusively focuses on them and the To'ksa, with only minimal detail given to the other subraces. The reason why three of them have names starting with J and the other three with T is culturally; "J" names signify the kreen has an active and thriving nation, whilst "T" names indicate that kreen's nation has fallen, reducing them to living under the rule of the other kreen or pursuing an existence as thri-kreen.

'''To'ksa''' are the most aggressive and most barbaric of the kreen subraces. Almost uniquely amongst their kind, they have a leathery sheathing over their exoskeleton, giving their sandy yellow bodies a dull finish. Their breathing holes are located in the head - one pair between the eyes, and a second lower down, just above the mandibles. They have long necks and the longest antennae of any kreen subspecies; 18 to 24 inches long. It's believed these longer anteannae, and the greater sense of smell they provide, may explain their unique craving for elf-flesh; no other kreen species craves it the way that To'ksa do. They have large abdomens, bearing a spiky shell that runs its length; it's speculated this may be a vestigial wing-covering. Finally, To'ksa hands have four digits; an opposable thumb and three fingers. Their barbarity means that tohr-kreen universally look down on them, viewing them as "scum" for their lack of parental care and willingness to cannibalize their own offspring, amongst other feral behaviors.

'''Jeral''' are much more civilized and calm-natured than To'ksa, and are effectively the "true tohr-kreen" of the Tyr Region. Easily mistaken for To'ksa at a casual glance, there are differences. For starters, their chitin is the outermost layer of their body giving them a glossy sheen. Their breathing holes are located between their arms, their necks are short, and their antennae are vestigial. Finally, they have three-fingered hands, with each digit being full opposable, and smaller, smooth-topped abdomens.

'''J'ez''' are black-colored kreen probably closely related to the To'ksa, as they share the leathery skin over their chitin and they also have long antennae. Aside from their color, their most unique feature is their mouth; a circular orifice ringed with inward-pointing fangs and with mobile mouth-parts used to assist with eating. They are an aggressive species, culturally fond of combat, but also highly intelligent; they make up a large part of the tohr-kreen philosophers and military leaders, and highly prize reading.

'''J'hol''' are crimson-colored, three-fingered, large-antennaed kreen with narrow feet and small abdomens; they are arguably the most humanoid-looking of the kreen. Adapted for stony barrens and rocky badlands, they are not as effective in the desert as other kreen races tend to be. Their primary contribution to tohr-kreen culture is as builders and crafters.

'''T'keech''' instantly stand out amongst their fellows; they're ''green''. Although they have adapted to cope with the barren landscape of Athas like their fellows, they were clearly jungle-dwellers in the ancient days of their world; to this day, they are the only kreen species that can comfortably survive in the Ringing Mountains, as they are immune to the chitin-rot and respiratory infections that befall other kreen in humid environments. To this day, they prefer to live in scrub plains and near oases, where their camouflage is still useful. Possessing four fingers to each hand and long antennae, they are perhaps the most peaceful of the kreen subspecies - though still capable of defending themselves. They mostly serve the tohr-kreen as laborers and builders.

'''Tondi''' are, without a doubt, the most striking and visually unique kreen subrace. If T'keech are jungle mantids, then Tondi are flower mantids; their mottled pinkish-purple chitin sports elaborate protrusions, especially on the abdomen, that allow them to mimic giant ohi flowers or outcroppings of rock crystal. Of all the kreen, they have the greatest love of nature, usually becoming master herbalists, and gravitate towards the power of [[druid]]ic magic. Rarest of the kreen subraces, they are also the most isolationist, in no small part because they're an all-female species, reproducing through parthenogensis (virgin pregnancies, for the laymen).They have abdomens as large as the To'ksa, long antennae, and three-fingered hands.

J'hol, J'ez, Tondi and T'keech all received monster manual writeups in the 2nd Dark Sun Appendix for the Monstrous Compendium.

You're probably wondering by this point "Wait! Then what the hell were the Mantis Nobles in the first Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium?" Well, we're getting to that.

"Thri-Kreen of Athas" revealed that, in addition to the six Kreen breeds, there are also two ''other'' races of mantis-folk on Athas.

The '''Trin''' are primitive, four-legged, two-armed mantis-folk; little more than animals, they roam the land and eat anything they can catch. They've been described as resembling a juvenile kreen grown to an almost adult-sized stature, but without any mental development. Even the kreen don't like the trin much, because the kreen are on the trin's menu.

Then, there are the '''Zik-Chil'''. Shorter, more slender and a pale-sickly green color, the zik-chil are instantly recognizable because their upper arms end in a unique and exquisitely-articulate set of claws, where each claw can seperate into six slender, multi-jointed "fingers". This allows for the most intricate of manipulation. More importantly, zik-chil have the innate ability to perform acts of [[fleshcrafting]], manipulating their own enzymes and rebuilding & augmenting other races. The book is deliberately vague on whether these cold, emotionless, and ruthless mantids are somehow related to the [[Xixchil]] of [[Spelljammer]].

The "tohr-kreen" first seen in the Dark Sun MC Appendix 1 are actually '''Zik-Trin'''; ordinary kreen who have been physically and mentally rebuilt into almost [[golem]]-like organic drones by the zik-chil. Specially, the creatures originally named as tohr-kreen are properly called ''Zik-trin'ta''; they are created as scouts to spy upon the non-kreen nations of the Tyr Region and to try and civilize the roving thri-kreen packs. There is also another verzion of the zik-trin, the ''Zik-trin'ak'', which is designed specifically for combat and is basically a kreen super-soldier.

==Thri-kreen Stats==
Thri-kreen have been present in every single edition since they were released for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] - unlike their unfortunate cousins, the [[Xixchil]]. In fact, except for 4th edition, they've actually had multiple appearances in each edition.

===AD&D===
Thri-kreen were present in both the Original and the Revised versions of the Dark Sun campaign setting. The versions are fundamentally identical.

::Ability Score Range: Strength 8/20, Dexterity 15/20, Constitution 5/20, Intelligence 5/20, Wisdom 5/20, Charisma 5/17
::Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, -1 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Class & Level Limits: Cleric (12), Druid (16), Fighter (16), Gladiator (15), [[Psion]]icist (Unlimited), Ranger (12)
::Base Armor Class: 5
::Reduce Darkness/Blindness-based penalties by 1 point/5% - this does not apply to ranged activities.
::Does not require sleep.
::Cannot use magic items designed to be worn by demihumans.
::Can make 1 Bite attack (1d4+1 damage) and 4 Claw Attacks (1d4 damage) per round. A thri-kreen fighter can attack with both weapon and bite, but multiple attack abilities only apply to its weapon.
::From 3rd level on, can leap 20 feet straight up and 50 feet straight forward. Can't leap backwards.
::From 5th level on, bite attack delivers a paralytic venom; creatures must pass a Save vs. Paralyzation or be paralyzed for rounds dependent on size (smaller than man-sized: 2d10, man-sized: 2d8, larger: 1d8, Huge/Gargantuan: 1 round).
::Bonus proficiency with the Chatkcha gained at 5th level. If Chatkcha Proficiency is taken earlier, the thri-kreen gains nothing.
::From 7th level on, can roll a 1d20 when fired at by physical missiles; on a 3+, the thri-kreen dodges the missile. Magical missile weapons modify this roll, subtracting their plus bonus from the thri-kreen's result.

"Thri-Kreen of Athas" would tweak the above by stating that the -1 Intelligence penalty signifies a kreen of To'ksa subrace. To play a Jeral, replace -1 Int with -1 Constitution. No rules for playing J'ez, J'hol, T'keech or Tondi were presented, alas.

===3rd Edition===
The thri-kreen was printed no less than three times in 3rd edition. It was first printed in the 319th issue of [[Dragon Magazine]], as part of the quasi-official Dark Sun reboot. This version was then lifted and reprinted ''exactly'' as it was into the "Expanded [[Psionics]] Handbook". Finally, it was reprinted again in the [[Forgotten Realms]] sourcebook "Shining South".

::+2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma
::Monstrous Humanoid
::Medium
::Base Land Speed 40 feet
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Immune to Sleep
::+3 Natural Armor
::Multiple Limbs: Four arms, qualify for the Multiweapon Fighting and Multiattack fets.
::Natural Attacks: 4 Claw Attacks (primary, 1d4 damage), 1 Bite Attack (secondary, 1d4 damage), a weapon-equipped thri-kreen can use its natural attacks as secondary attacks.
::Poisonous Bite (Ex): Once per day, can deliver poison via its bite with initial damage 1d6 Dex, secondary damage paralysis for 2d6 minutes, DC 11 + thri-kreen's Con modifier.
::Leap (Ex): +30 racial bonus on Jump checks.
::Weapon Familiarity: Gythka and Chatkcha are Martial Weapons for thri-kreen, not Exotic Weapons.
::Naturally Psionic: 1 bonus power point at 1st level.
::Psi-Like Abilities: 3/day - ''Chameleon'', ''Know Direction & Location''; 1/day - ''Metaphysical Claw''. Manifester level is equal to 1/2 Hit Dice (minimum 1st) and DCs are Charisma-based.
:::In the EXPH, thri-kreen can also use ''Psionic Displacement'' 1/day, whilst in Shining South, they can instead use ''Greater Concealing'' and ''Amorpha'' 1/day each. Possibly a case of regional variance.
::Racial Hit Dice: 2 levels of Monstrous Humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, BAB +2, Fort +0, Ref +3, Will +3.
::Racial Skills: A thri-kreen starts with (5 * (2+Int modifier)) skill points and its racial class skills are Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Listen and Spot.
::+4 racial bonus on Hide checks in sandy/arid settings.
::Racial Feats: Deflect Arrows and 1 bonus feat.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Ranger]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +2 for the psionic thri-kreen, +1 if psionic traits are removed.

===4th Edition===
Thri-kreen made their questionable return to the stage in the 4th edition Dark Sun Campaign Setting, joining [[Mul]]s as the only Dark Sun races they could care enough about to give their own new racial writeups, whereas [[Half-giant]]s were just made a reskin for [[Goliath]]s and the [[Dray]] were reskinned as [[Dragonborn]]. Others were flat-out ignored.

::Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Strength or Wisdom
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 7 squares
::Vision: Low-light
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Nature
::Multiple Arms: Once per turn, you can draw/sheathe a weapon or stow/retrieve an item as a Free Action instead of a Minor Action.
::Natural Jumper: You are always considered to have a running start when jumping.
::Torpor: You enter a torpor-state instead of sleeping, leaving you aware of your surroundings. You only need 4 hours in torpor to gain the benefits of an extended rest.
::Racial Power - Thri-kreen Claws: 1/encounter, as a minor action, make a melee 1 attack against up to 3 opponents. You can choose whether this attack keys off of Strength, Dexterity or Wisdom at character creation. You gain a +3 attack bonus per tier and inflict 1d8 damage per tier (plus Chosen Ability Score modifier). You gain a bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of targets.

The thri-kreen's racial [[Paragon Path]] is the ''Thri-Kreen Predator''. At 11th level it gains a Climb speed of 4 squares, +2 damage bonus with Thri-Kreen Claws, and the ability to make a jump as a free action as part of burning an action point to take an extra action. At 16th level, when the thri-kreen is adjacent to an enemy that is also adjacent to one of the thri-kreen's allies, the thri-kreen is considered to be flanking that enemy.

Its level 11 attack power is Capturing Claws (as Thri-Kreen Claws, but grabs the target), its level 12 Utility power is Insect's Spring (make a jump check as a minor action 1/encounter), and its level 20 attack power is Paralyzing Bite (inflict 2d6 + Chosen Ability Score poison damage, target is Stunned until end of your next turn and takes ongoing 5 poison damage, save ends).

Thri-kreen also had a "Winning Races" article in [[Dragon Magazine]] #411. Staunchly setting neutral, allowing it to apply to the Thri-kreen of both Athas and the [[Nentir Vale]], it examines their culture and biology, and in particular how it shaped by the existence of a racial hive-mind. It also introduces the Ancestral Khanate, one of the [[Primal Spirits]] and the closest thing to a patron god of thri-kreen, being the embodiment of this racial collective subconsciousness. It also came with a bundle of racial feats that empowered various aspects of the thri-kreen, from improving their mastery of gythka and chatkcha to being able to use throwing weapons and hand/light crossbows with their secondary arms.

==Monstergirls?==
Thri-kreen "[[monstergirls]]" are one of those areas where /tg/ inevitably gets into a debate about the definition of [[monstergirl]] vs [[beastfolk]] vs [[furry]]. Born out of a memetic attempt to mess with people's heads that lead to thri-kreen erotic art (and at least two human-on-thri-kreen porn-fics) showing up in /tg/, thri-kreen have retained that memetic infamy that sees lewd commentary and requests invariably brought-up in thri-kreen threads. The issue is that such material always goes hard-core xenophile, depicting thri-kreen as their canonical near-humanoid bug-selves instead of the more human-like forms commonly seen on monstergirls, which invariably sparks the anti-beastfolk brigade to come out of the woodwork and start yapping, just like what happens when threads about the cuteness of [[kobold]]s, [[gnoll]]s and [[minotaur]]s pop up.

== Gallery ==
;Thri-Kreen of Athas Poster
<center>
<gallery>
File:TKoA Poster 1.png|A Kreen of the Jeral subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 5.png|A Kreen of the To'ksa subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 2.png|A Kreen of the J'ez subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 6.png|A Kreen of the T'keech subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 3.png|A Kreen of the J'hol subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 7.png|A Kreen of the Tondi subrace.
File:TKoA Poster 4.png|Part 1 of the Growth Cycle.
File:TKoA Poster 8.png|Part 2 of the Growth Cycle.
</gallery>
</center>

<gallery>
Image:Thrikrn.jpg|L'original.
Image:Thri-kreen art 3.jpg|CHATCHKAS AND SPEARS.
Image:Thri-kreenAlchemist.png|Four arms makes for a lot of potion throwing.
Image:Thri-kreen.jpg|Long pointy sticks and three-pronged [[shuriken]].
Image:Thri-kreen_meditate.jpg|No magic, psionics only, final destination.
Image:Thri-kreen_knives.jpg|Knifin' around
Image:Thri-kreen_wave.jpg|Hello there!
Image:Thri-kreen_bird.jpg|Snack time?
Image:Thri-kreen_sketchy.jpg|The noble paladin Sir Mix-A-Lot once explicated the virtues of a large abdomen.
</gallery>

{{Monstergirls}}
<gallery>
Image:Shy-kreen.jpg|"I do declare!"
Image:Thri-kreen_potion.png|Potions!
Image:Thri-kreen_and_bard.png|Oh my!
Image:Thri-kreen_princess.jpg|Ready for her wedding day.
Image:1270871950526.png|[[Drawfag]], you got some splainin' to do!
Image:Thri-kreen_half.png|WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE.
Image:Thri-kreen_nurse.png|Thri-kreen girl what are you doing you are not a nurse.
Image:Thri-kreen_loli.png|D'awww
Image:Thri-kreen_play.png|D'AWWWWWW
Image:Thri-kreen_date.jpg|DATE NIGHT
Image:Buggy_chart.jpg|Real thri-kreen fans stick to 90%.
</gallery>
{{Promotions}}
<gallery>
Image:Thri-kreen_alchemy.png|SCIENCE!
Image:Thri-kreen_oh_god.jpg|Now with wait a minute what the fuck
Image:Top-heavy Kreen.png|18 Charisma
Image:Thri-kreen_sleek.png|Sleek!
Image:Thri-kreen_4e.png|[[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_4th_Edition|Now with boobs!]]
Image:Thri-kreen_knock.png|You should be ashamed of yourselves, fa/tg/uys.
Image:Thri-kreen_bra.gif|Fa/tg/uys are a bunch of disgusting perverts.
Image:Thri-kreen_heart.jpg|But it's okay. She loves us anyway.
Image:Thri-kreen_strip.gif|Is that an immovable rod in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Image:Thri-kreen_dom.jpg|This is just wrong! [[Dark_Sun|Dark Sun]] [[dwarf|dwarves]] don't have beards!
</gallery>

== See Also ==
[[Thri-Kreen Erotica]]

{{D&D2e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}

[[Category:Dark Sun]]