A thri-kreen mantis warrior with a green carapace.

The Lore

Thri-kreen are the famous mantis-people of Athas. A slightly more generic version of them appeared in the Monster Manual 3, and now we get more NPC stat blocks here and a playable version in the Campaign Guide. Unlike what happened to muls a few pages back, thri-kreen in the Creature Catalog are given a description that’s about as positive as the one for the playable version.

Thri-kreen have deep instinctual bonds of loyalty to their “clutch” and their “pack”. As the Campaign Guide explains, a clutch is a small group of at most six individuals to whom the thri-kreen feels closest, and a pack is an extended family composed of multiple clutches.

Traditionally a clutch is formed by individuals who hatched from their eggs at around the same time, but kreen can “adopt” other clutches over time if circumstances demand. For PCs, this means their adventuring party is their clutch. NPC kreen away from their homes will have similar arrangements with their ally groups.

Those ubiquitous asshole slavers like to steal Thri-kreen eggs so that their can exploit their bonding instinct, making them extremely loyal to their new masters.

Thri-kreen packs prefer to hunt non-sapient creatures for food, but they will make exceptions in truly desperate times. They will fight with all their strenght to protect themselves from attacks by other people, but will almost never be the aggressors in such fights. Their spiritual leaders are known as desert talkers, and are responsible for maintaining their connection to the primal spirits of the desert and those of their ancestors. This gives them a very long genetic memory, stretching back to an ancient age where they had their own great empire.

The Numbers

These NPC thri-kreen are Medium Natural Humanoids with Low-Light Vision. The ones here have ground speeds between 6 and 7, slightly slower than the MM3 ones. Their signature ability remains Mantis Jump, an move-action encounter power that lets them jump their speed without provoking opportunity attacks. This is indeed different from the power PCs get.

We get three new stat blocks here, which can be mixed in with the ones from the MM3 without any extra work.

Thri-Kreen Bounder

These are less experienced hunters who are still learning the tricks of the trade by observing the pack’s veterans at work. They tend to be a little more skittish than those veterans. They’re Level 6 Minion Skirmishers with a ground speed of 6.

The Deft Dodger trait gives them +2 to defenses against ranged attacks, which helps them survive longer in a fight. They attack in melee with claws and at range with thrown Chatkchas, which are three-pointed throwing blades with Range 6/12.

Instead of Mantis Jump they have Mantis Bound, which lets them jump 3 squares without provoking opportunity attacks as a reaction to being missed by an attack.

Thri-Kreen Mauler

These are the veteran hunters, big and beefy thri-kreen who single out a quarry, jump on top of it, and tear it apart. They’re Level 8 Brutes with 105 HP and a speed of 6.

Their basic Claw attack is way too weak for a level 8 brute (average damage 9), but Mauler Frenzy (recharge 4+) lets them make two of those, three when bloodied. Mauler Leap lets them jump 6 squares and make two claw attacks with a +1 to attack and a +4 to damage, which definitely matches the formula. This recharges when they’re first bloodied.

If the mauler hits a bloodied target with their claws, they can use Pain Amplification against that rarget with a minor action, attacking their Fortitude. A hit causes the target to take ongoing 5 psychic damage (save ends).

If multiple claw attacks aren’t on the cards this turn, the mauler can use its Chatkchas at range, which do level-appropriate physical damage. Mantis Jump rounds out their arsenal.

While Maulers will try to avoid getting killed like any opponent, they don’t mind getting bloodied since it makes them stronger. They probably should try to open the fight with a Leap, get stuck in for a Frenzy or two, and then jump away for that second use of Mauler Leap once bloodied.

Thri-Kreen Mantis Warrior

Mantis Warriors are hunt leaders, highly skilled with both weapons and psychic powers. They’re Level 10 Elite Soldiers with 208 HP and a ground speed of 7.

They still have their Claws, and also carry a Gythka, a light polearm with a trident-like head on either end. Both do equivalent damage, but the gythka marks for a turn on a hit and does a blend of physical and psychic damage instead of just physical. They can also throw Chatkchas, though these are a bit weaker.

The Mantis Flurry ability allows the warrior to make a claw and a gythka attack, or to throw two chatkchas, with a single action.

Occasionally they can pull off a Springing Assault (recharge 5+): this lets them jump 4 squares, make a gythka attack, then jump another 3 and make another gythka attack. None of this movement provokes opportunity attacks.

Once per encounter they can perform a Mind Wrench, attacking the Will of all enemies in a Close Burst 2. On a hit this deals psychic damage and marks for a turn.

When an adjacent marked enemy moves, shifts, or makes an attack that doesn’t target the warrior, it can cause a Spasm as an interrupt. This is an attack against Will that does psychic damage on a hit, knocks the target prone, and slows them until the end of the warrior’s next turn.

Encounters and Final Impressions

These three stat blocks combined with the Ambusher, Scout, and Sand Talker from the MM3 will let you build a large variety of thri-kreen encounters. They can also be part of “found clutches”, AKA Mixed Groups of Humanoids, voluntarily or not.

I note that the MM3 Thri-Kreen are described as using “spears” and “shuriken”, which clearly correspond to the gythkas and chatkchas used by these ones. A simple find-and-replace of the names should work, as there is no mechanical difference between them in the stat blocks themselves.