FREQUENCY: Rare <(deserts & dry grasslands)>
FREQUENCY: Rare ([Tropical Wilderness Plains], [Tropical Wilderness Desert])
FREQUENCY: Rare ([Dungeon Level VI])
NO. APPEARING: 2-12
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 18"
HIT DICE: 6+3
% IN LAIR: 5% <(small, lightless burrows)> (12 Thri-Kreen: plains, TPL42:7th, REF3.70)
TREASURE TYPE: [Q]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 5 or 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4 (x4) / d41 <d4+1?> or by weapons +2
SPECIAL ATTACKS: [SB]
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Dodge missiles on roll or 9 or greater
INTELLIGENCE: High
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral
SIZE: M (6')
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VI | 800 + 8

The thri-kreen are a race of carnivorous insect-men who inhabit deserts and dry grasslands.
They live in small,
lightless burrows and are not social creatures.
Thri-kreen warriors hunt many creatures,
especially elves.
These mantis warriors are strong && agile,
able to leap 20 feet upward and 50 feet forward.

The thri-kreen often use 2 specialized weapons of their own design.
    * One is a polearm with a blade on each end which can be used to slash like a glaive or be thrown as a spear (damage 3-8).
    * The other weapon is a small triangular "throwing wedge" carved from a hard crystalline substance.
        These wedges will return to the thrower and may be caught to be thrown again if they miss their target.
        A thri-kreen may carry up to 10 of the wedges and throw them up to a distance of 9" (damage 3-6).

A thri-kreen can successfully dodge missiles on a roll of 9 or better on 1d20.

Even unarmed,
the insect warriors strike with 4 clawed,
arm-like appendages (damage 1-4) and bite with their mandibles (damage 2-5).
Anyone bitten must save vs. paralyzation or be paralyzed for 2-16 rounds.

- by Paul Reiche III

James M: 4. Perhaps your most lasting contribution to D&D was the thri-kreen race, which first appeared in the AD&D Monster Cards.
Is there any truth to the long-held suspicion that they were inspired by the phraints from Dave Hargrave's Arduin Grimoires?

Paul Reiche III: At the time, I thought TSR needed a good insectoid enemy which was intelligent and weapon-using. I was aware of phraints and I certainly can't say I came up with the idea of bug-men entirely on my own -- I was mostly driven by images of mantis creatures and the warlike cultures of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom" series. The spinning crystal disc weapon hearkened to Star Trek's kligat thrown blade ("as dangerous as a hand phaser at close range"). So I guess instead of being a simple "phraint thief," I am a super "steals-good-ideas-from-all-over-the-place" kind of thief.

- Grognardia (Interview: Paul Reiche III)