I 100% agree, but with the caveat that it does make me nervous how DMs would rule claws. If they consider attacking with them “wielding”, then you can’t use them since they aren’t light. But otherwise it’d be fantastic
If you took GWM, would you he better off using GWM and 2 claws, or just GWM x2? I know that GWM hits harder, but with the -5 to hit combined with the fact that the claws get to apply full mods to damage, I wasn't sure how that would pan out, on average.
>Another point of order: would a Thri-Kreen be able to reload a crossbow multiple times with its second pair of arms?
By RaW, no, the Loading property doesn't care about number of arms, its about time spent doing it. Your turn is only 6 seconds so loading/firing a single use gun or crossbow and firing it takes about that time.
Gunner/XBE ignores those restrictions but still requires a free hand to load, which is where thri-kreen shines.
Thats true, it can do that without XBE, which is very good from levels 4 to 8 when you have sharpshooter but not XBE. You still want XBE eventually for a free BA attack
A lot of classes. But the ones with the most Synergy would be Rogue and Ranger.
Both have high dex meaning you'd have high AC.
High enough for it to be comparable to plate mail at +5 dex. With advantage on stealth as a bonus.
You can dual wield and still use a shield. So two weapon fighting style on a ranger + a shield = Three attacks, possibly with hunter's mark, per turn while still having good AC.
At +5 dex and a shield you have 20 base AC. If you pick dual wielder or the protection fighting style later as a multiclass or feat you bump it to 21.
This still allows you to use a bow for ranged attacks as well.
Good at damage, good health and durability, good at stealth and you got skills for days.
A Gloomstalker Thri-kreen will be some really scary shit from your enemies point of view.
This fantastic. I’m so used to the tabaxi race for double speed I didn’t even consider the increased grapple total. With full buffs (mobile and haste), Tabaxi did 140 damage split between two targets. This (with mobile, haste, and ideally longstrider) can do double that (280!) at level 20 in best conditions, though at the cost of taking 70 themself (but possibly splitting that with an enemy for 35). More realistically, there will be movement between enemies, and you’ll spend far more time with only three attack. Assuming full buffs, and having to use 40 ft getting between enemies for the beginning grapple, that leaves 360 ft of movement for the drop. That’s 180 ft for 189 damage total if you’re willing to take the drop (for 63 damage or 31.5 at half), and 94.5 for a safe drop (or somewhere in between, depending on recklessness).
The real draw is that you can do this every turn rather than the Tabaxi every other turn, so this has better sustained damage, and the ability to also hold a weapon while doing this means you can threaten nearby enemies with sentinel so at least one will stay in range for the next grapple attempt (or a shield for better AC). This is a very interesting method for this tactic.
Everyone with extra attack can potentially grab multiple targets per turn, that’s not connected to being a psi warrior. This is standard RAW it’s nothing to do with how I DM
I never advocated using telekinetic movement?
Attack to grapple then psi powered leap to zip upwards, and dishing out falling damage to all the fools you’ve grabbed
Why not be a beast barbarian where you get jump hight equal to your strength + other shit to reach the fall damage threshold for free? Or be a rune knight there you can he about 16 feet tall, maybe even drink a giants potion on top of that and toss people countless times for maximized ragdoll sim?
- Any shield proficient striker (can dual wield while holding shield {ac boost +2)
- any Gish with full hands, you can perform somatic with secondary hands instead of investing on war caster
- grappling build? You can attack ? while grappling
* Nice starting AC - similar to lizardfolk
So the classes with all of this are :
- Artifcer
- hexblade
- bladsinger (dual wield)
- valor bard
- arcane trickster
- eldritch knight
- spore druid* (making it kinda viable)
You can always attack while grappling, but Thri-Kreen can grapple up to 4 people, or use a weapon while grappling 2-3 people. Only Minotaurs (with horns), Simics, and Loxodons (with extra limbs) can compete.
I like the idea of a spore druid Thri-Kreen being [controlled by the spores](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/UvAXDFvpB65a5VlSwvZZ9cEF1pk=/0x192:2048x1344/1952x1098/media/img/mt/2017/11/29867355174_7c3c99f18c_k/original.jpg) it uses.
Making a grapple [specifically](https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Combat#toc_42) states it only requires one hand. Bring it up, but if your DM knows this and has decided elsewise then, well...
What do you mean? He will be an ok monk or battle master Fighter but his secondary hand will not be much of use if you don't multi-class into a spellcaster/ spellcasting feat
Samurai Fighter with a Heavy Crossbow, Hand Crossbow and Sharpshooter is probably one of the stronger options. Although Thri-Kreen can also boost the damage of Sword And Board builds (not sure if and how Dual Wielder would fit into it).
is roughly 2 dmg per main attack worth losing 2ac lot being able to use a shield. you can't handle shields or non light weapons with the little hands. and heavy crossbow uses both your mains
Assassin or BM/Swashbuckler to use its chameleon carapace.Hand Crossbow with CBE & SS feats.
reloading - you need Crossbox Expert feat and free hand to fire multiple times per turn from your Crossbow.
I don’t know if sharpshooter is really necessary. Most of the damage is from sneak attack anyways, so the -5 risks more than it gives with the +10. I suppose if you get your first attack off then the second could be sharpshooter, but with the rogues bonus action options competing the bonus damage on the second attack may not be enough expected damage increase to warrant it(on a non-extra attack rogue)
\- -5 to attack (SS) & +2 to attack for Archery fighting style (BM). Better ? ;)
\- ofc it is better to hit at least once if you can land Sneak attack, but if you have 3 attacks per round (Extra attack + bonus action attack) then it is worth to go for extra 10 dmg per attack. It also depends on target's AC.
Dual Wielding Crossbows would do exactly nothing. You don't get a BA attack because Two Weapon Fighting only works for melee attacks. Crossbow Expert is what would get you the BA attack but you can do all that with ONE hand crossbow.
False, wielding two crossbows would allow you to not require the crossbow expert feat “to ignore the loading property” since you’re fine with the loading property, firing each crossbow once per turn with extra attack. You’re essentially trading 1 point of damage from longbow (1d8->1d6) for the ability to wield a shield. Very different from a traditional hand crossbow build
To take sharpshooter an entire asi earlier, and not fall behind on dex progression, and maybe you’re a Ranger with an already busy bonus action. This is a lot more similar to a longbow build, but you’re sacrificing some range 1 point of damage and some range for the ability to wear a shield which IMO is pretty good. A Swarmkeeper at lvl 5 would be able to do (3d6+13)+(2d6+13) if both attacks hit using hunters mark and sharpshooter wile rocking an 18 AC from carapace+shield, and the reloading hand can also be used for somatic components. If you want to take CBE at later levels you can, but there’s no pressure to do it before taking sharpshooter and maxing dex. Wielding a shield and still having a hand free for reloading and somatic spells still makes this better than what a lot of race’s are capable of
What I would do is to go (Dex) Echo Knight/Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Flavor the echo as a Psionic ability. Depending upon which aspect you want to be dominant will decide the split. For a fighter 11/9 works well. More spells; 6/14. (I'd go 3/5 & then decide.)
Write it into your back story that your Gythka was split in half during some battle, family heirloom, you repaired it but was only able to turn it into 2 light weapons, (Fighting style: 2 WF) Lean toward fire spells & make your signature attack GFB-quicken-GFB.
Not sure why no one has said it yet — beast barbarian. Sword and shield or great sword and you still have access to your claws.
I 100% agree, but with the caveat that it does make me nervous how DMs would rule claws. If they consider attacking with them “wielding”, then you can’t use them since they aren’t light. But otherwise it’d be fantastic
If you took GWM, would you he better off using GWM and 2 claws, or just GWM x2? I know that GWM hits harder, but with the -5 to hit combined with the fact that the claws get to apply full mods to damage, I wasn't sure how that would pan out, on average.
I took 1 look at the Thri-kreen & had the same thought... I'll bet that would make one hell of a Beast Barbarian.
>Another point of order: would a Thri-Kreen be able to reload a crossbow multiple times with its second pair of arms? By RaW, no, the Loading property doesn't care about number of arms, its about time spent doing it. Your turn is only 6 seconds so loading/firing a single use gun or crossbow and firing it takes about that time. Gunner/XBE ignores those restrictions but still requires a free hand to load, which is where thri-kreen shines.
No, but it can wield multiple hand crossbows, firing each a max of once per turn
Thats true, it can do that without XBE, which is very good from levels 4 to 8 when you have sharpshooter but not XBE. You still want XBE eventually for a free BA attack
A lot of classes. But the ones with the most Synergy would be Rogue and Ranger. Both have high dex meaning you'd have high AC. High enough for it to be comparable to plate mail at +5 dex. With advantage on stealth as a bonus. You can dual wield and still use a shield. So two weapon fighting style on a ranger + a shield = Three attacks, possibly with hunter's mark, per turn while still having good AC. At +5 dex and a shield you have 20 base AC. If you pick dual wielder or the protection fighting style later as a multiclass or feat you bump it to 21. This still allows you to use a bow for ranged attacks as well. Good at damage, good health and durability, good at stealth and you got skills for days. A Gloomstalker Thri-kreen will be some really scary shit from your enemies point of view.
Grapple focused psi Warrior seems like a strong pick. Grab 4 guys then rocket up into the air and let them go dishing out fall damage.
This fantastic. I’m so used to the tabaxi race for double speed I didn’t even consider the increased grapple total. With full buffs (mobile and haste), Tabaxi did 140 damage split between two targets. This (with mobile, haste, and ideally longstrider) can do double that (280!) at level 20 in best conditions, though at the cost of taking 70 themself (but possibly splitting that with an enemy for 35). More realistically, there will be movement between enemies, and you’ll spend far more time with only three attack. Assuming full buffs, and having to use 40 ft getting between enemies for the beginning grapple, that leaves 360 ft of movement for the drop. That’s 180 ft for 189 damage total if you’re willing to take the drop (for 63 damage or 31.5 at half), and 94.5 for a safe drop (or somewhere in between, depending on recklessness). The real draw is that you can do this every turn rather than the Tabaxi every other turn, so this has better sustained damage, and the ability to also hold a weapon while doing this means you can threaten nearby enemies with sentinel so at least one will stay in range for the next grapple attempt (or a shield for better AC). This is a very interesting method for this tactic.
Does psi warrior allow you to grab more than one target a turn? Or is it some rule by your gm?
Everyone with extra attack can potentially grab multiple targets per turn, that’s not connected to being a psi warrior. This is standard RAW it’s nothing to do with how I DM
Telekinetic movement iirc was an entire action, not attack action
I never advocated using telekinetic movement? Attack to grapple then psi powered leap to zip upwards, and dishing out falling damage to all the fools you’ve grabbed
Why not be a beast barbarian where you get jump hight equal to your strength + other shit to reach the fall damage threshold for free? Or be a rune knight there you can he about 16 feet tall, maybe even drink a giants potion on top of that and toss people countless times for maximized ragdoll sim?
- Any shield proficient striker (can dual wield while holding shield {ac boost +2) - any Gish with full hands, you can perform somatic with secondary hands instead of investing on war caster - grappling build? You can attack ? while grappling * Nice starting AC - similar to lizardfolk So the classes with all of this are : - Artifcer - hexblade - bladsinger (dual wield) - valor bard - arcane trickster - eldritch knight - spore druid* (making it kinda viable)
You can always attack while grappling, but Thri-Kreen can grapple up to 4 people, or use a weapon while grappling 2-3 people. Only Minotaurs (with horns), Simics, and Loxodons (with extra limbs) can compete. I like the idea of a spore druid Thri-Kreen being [controlled by the spores](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/UvAXDFvpB65a5VlSwvZZ9cEF1pk=/0x192:2048x1344/1952x1098/media/img/mt/2017/11/29867355174_7c3c99f18c_k/original.jpg) it uses.
Oh cool. I wasn't sure cause my DM ruled it that you are using 2 hands And about your druid spores i like it but it is making my skin crawl
Making a grapple [specifically](https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Combat#toc_42) states it only requires one hand. Bring it up, but if your DM knows this and has decided elsewise then, well...
astral self monks can have arbitrarily many hands raw
What do you think about monk class, he’ll even fighter battle master
What do you mean? He will be an ok monk or battle master Fighter but his secondary hand will not be much of use if you don't multi-class into a spellcaster/ spellcasting feat
Samurai Fighter with a Heavy Crossbow, Hand Crossbow and Sharpshooter is probably one of the stronger options. Although Thri-Kreen can also boost the damage of Sword And Board builds (not sure if and how Dual Wielder would fit into it).
is roughly 2 dmg per main attack worth losing 2ac lot being able to use a shield. you can't handle shields or non light weapons with the little hands. and heavy crossbow uses both your mains
Assassin or BM/Swashbuckler to use its chameleon carapace.Hand Crossbow with CBE & SS feats. reloading - you need Crossbox Expert feat and free hand to fire multiple times per turn from your Crossbow.
I would argue you don't need CBE to make multiple attacks if you are using multiple crossbows.
yeah, but you want CBE for extra attack with hand crossbow and shooting ppl in close combat without disadvantage ;)
I don’t know if sharpshooter is really necessary. Most of the damage is from sneak attack anyways, so the -5 risks more than it gives with the +10. I suppose if you get your first attack off then the second could be sharpshooter, but with the rogues bonus action options competing the bonus damage on the second attack may not be enough expected damage increase to warrant it(on a non-extra attack rogue)
\- -5 to attack (SS) & +2 to attack for Archery fighting style (BM). Better ? ;) \- ofc it is better to hit at least once if you can land Sneak attack, but if you have 3 attacks per round (Extra attack + bonus action attack) then it is worth to go for extra 10 dmg per attack. It also depends on target's AC.
It's possible to use a hand crossbow and a shield with this race, right? Would be great for a Ranger with CBE and Sharpshooter.
Fighter, as i understand it duel wielding crossbows would be awesome and exactly what ill make after play test
Dual Wielding Crossbows would do exactly nothing. You don't get a BA attack because Two Weapon Fighting only works for melee attacks. Crossbow Expert is what would get you the BA attack but you can do all that with ONE hand crossbow.
Laaaaaaaame
False, wielding two crossbows would allow you to not require the crossbow expert feat “to ignore the loading property” since you’re fine with the loading property, firing each crossbow once per turn with extra attack. You’re essentially trading 1 point of damage from longbow (1d8->1d6) for the ability to wield a shield. Very different from a traditional hand crossbow build
Why would you ever use any kind of crossbow and not take crossbow expert? Sure, technically you can do what you said but there's no point to it.
To take sharpshooter an entire asi earlier, and not fall behind on dex progression, and maybe you’re a Ranger with an already busy bonus action. This is a lot more similar to a longbow build, but you’re sacrificing some range 1 point of damage and some range for the ability to wear a shield which IMO is pretty good. A Swarmkeeper at lvl 5 would be able to do (3d6+13)+(2d6+13) if both attacks hit using hunters mark and sharpshooter wile rocking an 18 AC from carapace+shield, and the reloading hand can also be used for somatic components. If you want to take CBE at later levels you can, but there’s no pressure to do it before taking sharpshooter and maxing dex. Wielding a shield and still having a hand free for reloading and somatic spells still makes this better than what a lot of race’s are capable of
Astral Self Monk to grapple EVERYTHING
What I would do is to go (Dex) Echo Knight/Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. Flavor the echo as a Psionic ability. Depending upon which aspect you want to be dominant will decide the split. For a fighter 11/9 works well. More spells; 6/14. (I'd go 3/5 & then decide.) Write it into your back story that your Gythka was split in half during some battle, family heirloom, you repaired it but was only able to turn it into 2 light weapons, (Fighting style: 2 WF) Lean toward fire spells & make your signature attack GFB-quicken-GFB.
What about a horizon Walker?