Insectare

Insectares are a race of insectoids from the Spelljammer setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Resembling elves with lime-green skin, short, flexible antennae that emerge from the backs of their heads, and chitinous plating on their skin, they are a highly secretive race with ambitions of conquering the known universe. To this end, their agents spread across Wildspace aboard spelljammers, disguising themselves as normal elves in order to scout the various crystal spheres and recover powerful magic to use in their goals. Whilst some of these agents sincerely go rogue, nobody trusts them, and frankly you can't blame them. Ironically, insectares are despised by both normal elves, who resent being impersonated by such fakes, and by scro, orcs and goblinoids, who are happy to think of insectares as being like the elves they resemble.

These creatures debuted as a monster race in the Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium Appendix II for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. They were updated to Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition in Dragon Magazine #339, which also presented 3e stats for Giff and Scro PCs.

AD&D Fluff

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lnsectare are a humanoid race rumored to be the descendants of a magical union of elves and insects. The insectare’s goal is to rule the spaceways, but they wage this campaign subtly, trying to play one race against another. While instigating these problems, the insectare try to stay in the background.

These humanoids are immediately recognizable by their limegreen skin and the two eight-foot antennae that sprout from behind their elven ears. For this reason, they wear heavy, concealing clothes such as large robes with hoods pulled in close. That way, an insectare can hide its antennae by slipping them down its back or coiling them in the folds of a loosely-fitting robe.

Close examination of an insectare’s eyes reveals that they are slightly multifaceted. Getting that close may prove difficult, though, as insectare do not ordinarily allow other races near them. From five feet away, the eyes look normal.

No one has ever reported seeing a female insectare, but for that matter, not many people have even seen a male insectare without a hood. Therefore, they could have been dealing with a female and not noticed.

Insectare can communicate with each other by touching their antennae together. They also have their own language, a clicking, lilting tongue that is a mixture of the common tongue and the insects’ original language. Characters who understand the common tongue have a 30% chance of catching the general idea of a conversation between two insectare, but cannot provide a comprehensive translation for others.

Most insectare stand 6’ or taller and are heavily muscled beneath their tough exoskeleton. Most insectare encountered outside their home sphere are fighters, wizards, thieves, or any combination of the three.

Combat: Insectare are ruthless in battle. Once a fight has begun, they never give up until the enemy is completely defeated. They chase fleeing foes to exact surrender, and they execute survivors who refuse surrender.

Insectare use a long sword and their two antennae, which attack as whips (1d2 damage). Often, one antenna entangles the opponent’s weapon hand (with an attack roll of 18 or better) while the other antenna and sword attack. An entangled limb cannot attack; to disentangle the limb, the character must make a Dexterity ability check.

In combat, the insectare’s chitinous exoskeleton provides an Armor Class equivalent to plate mail, without restricting movement. The exoskeleton has no known weak points.Insectare wizards jealously guard their magic, relying on their martial skills to bring them through a battle. The insectare obviously have magical ability, since they can spelljam, but the limits of insectare power remain unknown. Insectare wizards never reveal information without overwhelming reason. (The threat of death doesn’t qualify.)

Habitat/Society: Insectare live in a closed society. They forbid outsiders to set foot on their secret homeworld. Captured interlopers can expect a harsh interrogation, to find out if any other beings know of the world’s location, and then public execution. Insectare do not believe in keeping prisoners.

Insectare live in large hollowed-out mountains that rise out of the endless forests of their homeworld. These mountains are said to be honeycombed with dwellings. Not much is known about these community homes, but they are probably a remnant of their insect heritage.

The two major classes of insectare society are the wizards and the priests. The wizards are the explorers, forever searching wildspace for more magical power. The priests stay on their planet, diligently serving their god, Klikral.

The insectare mages’ goal, after learning spelljamming, was to acquire magical knowledge and power from other races, without drawing attention to their goals. Consequently, insectare prefer to work subtly among foreigners.

Some insectare are proficient thieves, despite the aversion to thieves on their homeworld. Insectare thieves are only interested in magic; gold, jewelry, gems hold no attraction. When an inectare steals a powerful magic item, it often leaves at least one misleading clue, pointing at another known thief (such as a player character).

Insectare priests rarely leave their homeworld, for they prefer not to venture far from Klikral. If a priest is found offworld, its mission must be highly important to the insectare race. Klikral grants insectare priests who reach 2nd level one special ability: They can summon insects from the surrounding area and send them against any one opponent. This swarm of insects arrives in one round, inflicts 1d8 points of damage per round, and remains for one round per level of the spellcaster.

Unlike other insectare, priests have normal humanoid eyes. No explanation has been found for this difference. The symbol of one multifaceted eye with two antennae off the two corners means that the owner or creator is an insectare wizard, fighter, or thief; a similar symbol, with a regular eye and two antennae represents an insectare priest. These two symbols, obviously signatures of some sort, appear on stolen insectare documents.

Multiclass options for insectare are wizard/fighter, wizard/thief and wizard/fighter/thief. Priests never engage in another profession. Insectare can reach 11th level in all classes except wizard, where they reach 14th level.

Ten ancient insectare priests on the inscctare homeworld serve as high priests of Klikral. They are all 11th-level priests and never leave the planet. They are twice as large as the usual insectare, and can communicate directly with Klikral.

The insectare travel space in their own distinctive ship, the klicklikak. The sleek ship resembles a grasshopper head with two long antennae trailing behind it. The name means “service to Klikral”.

The insectare power the klicklikak with a special spelljammer helm consisting of a shiny copper sphere with two holes. To propel the ship through space, the spelljammer inserts its two antennae. Only insectare can use this helm; conversely, insectare cannot use other kinds of helm.

Rumors have it that a new, larger version of the klicklikak roams the spaceways, but no sightings are confirmed.

Ecology: Spacefaring peoples shun the insectare, especially elves. Elves vehemently deny any suggestion that they are related to the insectare. Insectare, aware of this discord, go to great lengths to remain inconspicuous while among elves and other foreigners. Although other races don’t know much about the insectare master plan, they note the insectare’s secrecy and deviousness, which puts many people on guard.

A good weaponsmith can work the outer skin of an insectare, which is a hard exoskeleton, into a +1 shield, and can fashion an antenna into a short rope or whip. However, insectare consider this practice abominable, and anyone who uses such a weapon or shield earns every insectare’s instant hatred.

3e Fluff

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Humanoids whose ancestry appears equal parts elven and insectoid, the insectare present a small but growing threat to spelljamming life. These enigmatic creatures attempt to manipulate others and acquire magical knowledge, possessing great skill at both tasks, as evidenced by their ever-increasing power.

Personality: Insectare appear insular and icy to most outsiders. Their faces and voices offer little hint into their feelings. While most insectare encountered away from their homeworld are spies and infiltrators, their racial reticence springs from a different source - among their own kind, they express emotion by direct empathy, using their antennae.

Insectare possess a full range of emotions, although some may seem alien to ordinary humanoids. An insectare thinks of his entire race like a human or elf would his family, with the divine Klikral as the direct head of the house. This creates a very strong sense of loyalty, but also an adversarial outlook toward anyone so alien as to be outside the family.

Physical Description: In the face and extremities, Insectare resemble tall, green-skinned elves. Their most distinguishing features rise from behind their elven ears - a pair of antennae. Their lean torso, almost always hidden by robes or armor, sports a carapace of chitin plates. Insectare travel in disguise. Most pose as elves, using dyes and makeup to disguise their lime-green flesh while wearing heavy cloaks to conceal their antennae.

Close inspection of an insectare's eyes reveals their apparently normal green orbs to be multifaceted like an insect's. However, for reasons unknown to even the wisest sages, members of the insectare priest caste possess ordinary eyes.

Relations: Few races trust the insectare, and if they knew half of what these insectoid schemers planned, they would trust them even less. Knowing that their plans for domination mesh poorly with the aims of others, and that they currently lack the numbers to dominate, most insectare travelers disguise themselves and keep to the shadows, letting others think them elves or even humans.

Elves hate and despise the insectare, vehemently denying their apparent connections. This has done nothing to endear insectare to goblinoids and orcs, particularly scro, who consider them just another elven menace to annihilate.

Alignment: The insectare scheme to dominate all life, the racial goal to which they hope their extensive arcane research can lead. They possess a strong inclination toward evil, but an even stronger one to law.

Insectare Lands: Huge mountains and vast forests dominate the secluded insectare homeworld. They feel most comfortable in underground areas similar to the hollow structures carved directly from their native mountains, hivelike citadels extending as deep as dwarven cities. In the open vastness of Wildspace, insectare often gravitate toward regions controlled by dwarves because of this propensity for underground living.

Religion: Insectare worship Klikral, a lawful evil godlike entity physically inhabiting their homeworld. They guard the secrets of their worship even more jealously than the rest of their culture; a hundred insectare would die (or kill countless thousands of other humanoids) to protect their religious secrets. Insectare infiltrators often pretend worship of other devotions, a ruse Klikral apparently approves of.

Language: Insectare speak their own language, a mix of clicks, whirs, and Common words. They also speak Common. Many, finding it easier to pose as elves than as humans, learn to speak Elven.

Names: Insectare tend to adopt myriad pseudonyms during their secretive missions. They need no personal designations among their own kind due to their limited ability to communicate empathically. An insectares "name" usually reflects the naming conventions of the region he is currently infiltrating.

Adventurers: Insectare adventurers usually serve their race. Since they desire magical knowledge new and old, adventurers make a point of seeking out ruins and dungeons full of ancient lore. Insectare find it convenient to accompany other humanoids on these expeditions.

Insectare adventurers attempt to earn the trust of their companions, but no insectare reciprocates trust. Most try to hide their true natures as long as possible, and some prefer to kill anyone - ally or enemy - who discerns their identities. Even a known insectare tends to keep to himself preferring discretion and privacy over friendship.

PC Stats

+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma: Insectare suffer from few weaknesses and pride themselves on their quickness of mind and body. Their intense personalities overpower most other beings.

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

Insectare base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision: Darkvision out to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise just like normal sight, an insectare can function just fine with no light at all.

Natural Weapons (antenna rake): An insectare can make two attacks with his antennae each round, treating them as an off-hand weapon with all the associated penalties. These attacks deal 1d4 points of slashing damage plus one-half the insectare's Strength bonus. An insectare can instead attack with only a single antenna as an attack action at his normal bonus.

+2 natural armor bonus: The chitin plates on an insectare's body grant him superior natural defenses.

+2 racial bonus on Bluff and Disguise checks: Insectare possess a talent for deception and take great pains to keep their nature hidden.

Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, an insectare is considered an elf.

Automatic Languages: Common and Insectare. Bonus Languages: Any. Insectare actively learn the languages of those they hope to subvert and dominate.

Favored Class: Spellthief. Insectare cast spells naturally, drawing power from their arcane ancestry. They constantly seek new spells, which are somehow absorbed into future bloodlines and eventually learned by other insectare.

Level Adjustment: +1.