Thri-kreen, the insectoid nomads of the D&D multiverse, bring a unique perspective and prowess to any adventuring party.
Selecting the perfect background for your Thri-kreen character can enhance their natural abilities and add depth to their role-playing potential.
What Are Backgrounds in D&D 5e?
Backgrounds are more than simple stat boosts in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. They reveal where your character came from, why you became an adventurer, and your place in the world.
Before choosing your Background, ask yourself a few questions:
- What was I before I became an adventurer?
- Why did I stop doing what my Background explains and become an adventurer?
- Where did I get the money to buy my starting equipment?
- Where did I learn the skills used in my class?
- What’s different about me compared to others with the same Background?
Best Backgrounds for Thri-Kreen
5. Spy
Skill Proficiencies – Stealth, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – Thieves’ tools, One type of gaming set
Languages – None
Equipment – A set of dark common clothes, including a hood, a crowbar, and a pouch with 15GP.
Why the Spy?
Spies aren’t much different from normal Criminals or Smugglers, but they have practiced in vastly different ways.
In fact, most spies are trained espionage agents. Many work as sanctioned agents of the crown or sell uncovered secrets to the highest bidder.
Thri-kreen can make for a deadly assassin or invisible scout with their Chameleon Carapace, Darkvision, Secondary Arms, and Telepathy.
With these, they can hold onto two more daggers, communicate without making a sound, become one with the environment, and see in the night. The perfect combination for a Spy.
4. Mercenary Veteran
Skill Proficiencies – Persuasion, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies – Vehicles (land), One type of gaming set
Languages – None
Equipment – A gaming set of your choice, an insignia of your rank, a uniform of your company (traveler’s clothes in quality), and a pouch with the remainder of your last wages (10GP).
Why the Mercenary Veteran?
Mercenary Veterans have the Mercenary Life feature, letting you identify mercenary companies, find places where mercenaries abide, and get mercenary work between adventures.
Thri-kreen have everything you need to fight at and above your weight class, having extra arms for more weapons and a way to camouflage themselves when they need to be stealthy.
It’s no wonder some Thri-kreen discover their power and head out to become mercenaries to earn their keep in the world.
3. Far Traveler
Skill Proficiencies – Perception, Insight
Tool Proficiencies – One musical instrument or gaming set you choose (most likely something native to your homeland)
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – Set of traveler’s clothes, one gaming set or musical instrument you’re proficient with, a small piece of jewelry worth 10GP in the style of your homeland’s craftsmanship, poorly wrought maps from your homeland depicting where you are in Faerûn, and a pouch with 5GP.
Why the Far Traveler?
Far Traveler gives you the All Eyes on You feature, marking you as foreign and garnering attention from everyone, including commoners, scholars, nobles, merchants, princes, and kings.
Thri-keen are generally regarded as giant insects by the lesser-knowledgeable populations of the Material Plane, often feared or asked for assistance in dispatching a certain “problem.”
Thri-keen may be approached by important figures like nobles or kings in order to get some information out of them or assist them in their adventure in place of some alien wisdom they think they have.
2. Sage
Skill Proficiencies – History, Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Two you choose
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you haven’t been able to answer, a bottle of ink, a small knife, a quill, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Sage?
Sages have the Researcher feature, allowing them to effortlessly recall information and lore.
If they do not know the information, they will know where to find it, such as in a university, scriptorium, or some other place of knowledge.
However, some knowledge is extremely difficult to obtain and can take a long time to unlock or force you to perform questionable actions.
Thri-kreen may not look like the most thoughtful bugs, but due to their Telepathy and Secondary Arms, it’s easy for them to communicate and page through countless tomes of knowledge, which some of them have been seen doing.
1. Faceless
Skill Proficiencies – Intimidation, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – Disguise kit
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – A costume, a disguise kit, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Faceless?
Faceless characters have the Dual Personalities feature, where you have a persona that most of the world knows you by, even your fellow adventurers.
Everything about you is different than your true self, and once you wear your disguise, all similarities of your true self are hidden. Removing your disguise makes you unidentifiable as your disguise.
This means you can change your appearance between your personalities as you wish, one serving as your camouflage and the other to hide.
Note: If someone realizes the connection between your true self and your persona, your deception could lose its effectiveness.
Thri-kreen already have advantage on stealth with their Chameleon Carapace, and with their Thri-kreen Telepathy, it becomes easy to communicate with your party members while sneaking around.
Faceless will allow you to increase your stealth, hide your insectoid identity, or just become a ghost in the night who befalls those unlucky enough to encounter you.
Final Thoughts
Backgrounds such as the Spy, Sage, or Mercenary Veteran can emphasize their versatility, while the Faceless or Far Traveler backgrounds can add depth to their character’s experiences.
Choose a background that resonates with your Thri-keen’s personality and story, and embark on an adventure that showcases their adaptability and resourcefulness.