Kruthik

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the kruthik is a bizarre, quasi-mechanical, organic, insectoid creature.

Publication history

The hatchling kruthik, the adult kruthik, and the greater kruthik first appeared in third edition in the Miniatures Handbook (2003).^[1]

The kruthik appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008).^[2]

Physical description

The kruthik is somewhat hard to describe. It is insectoid, at least vaguely, despite having only four limbs. It has a long, thin body, roughly 3 or so feet long with a serrated spine, and its color ranges from grey, to black, to steel, to silver, to pale green, always with a shiny and metallic look. While the neck, sides and tail of the kruthik are bare, the legs, head and back are protected by spiny, jointed plates which eventually grow to protect the full body. In the unprotected parts of a kruthik's body, organic lights of a color corresponding to that of the kruthik's body glow. The kruthik has razor sharp teeth, and a pair of mandibles. In addition to its four major legs, the kruthik also has a much smaller pair of limbs hanging from its chest just a little back from the front two major ones.

Society

Little is known of the society and habits of these mysterious and highly evil creatures. They dwell far out in ashen wastelands, in organic hives buried beneath the surface. Though it is suspected that the creatures have some sinister goal behind their motives, it is not known. Their only desire in life seems to be to breed huge swarms and then wage war and disaster upon neighboring races. Kruthiks start out born as just eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborns are but mere larvae, but these eventually sprout legs, change shape, and become proper kruthiks. Kruthiks are trained in both breeding and combat from birth and are expected to do nothing but this, all but drones and queens in a hive are not treated like fodder. It is suspected that when they defeat rivals, they carry bodies back to hives for putrid breeding experiments, but such things, like most aspects of the kruthiks, remain unknown.

Combat

Kruthiks are deadly opponents. Their two front legs are sharp and curved, and serve a double purpose as biological blades which the kruthik can use effectively in combat. In addition to this, it also has a deadly bite. While their biological armor serves them well enough, kruthiks are often depicted as wearing additional gothic-sci-fi style black plate armor all over their body, often with blades attached to the leggings as to double the initial damage. Aside from renegade kruthiks cast out of society by their hive, kruthiks are rarely found alone, typically traveling in medium to large-sized hordes led by a taskmaster. A kruthik horde attacks in a flurry of bites and slashes all in unison, and is a highly dangerous foe.

Kruthiks can only speak a clicking, screeching language of their own, but can understand Common.

They are lawful evil in alignment.

Bibliography

External links

• Elysium Nebula - Epic Sci-Fantasy Campaign Setting
• Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast D&D Miniatures site