This is a race I created for the use for one of my AD&D DMs. I also created a PC with this race, but I never did get to play him. (Well, actually the PC was the reason I created the race, but I decided to do a complete write-up for the DM, in order to increase the chance of him clearing the character.)
The name myrangeikki come from the Dark Conspiracy books (excellent books, by the way), and I was partly inspired by this trilogy when I designed my myrangeikki. I have in no way intended infringement on copyrights with this action - rather, I regard this as a tribute to the excellent books.
If some of the information is duplicated in the description (which I know it is), this is due to my rather bit-wise design of this race. Any weird sentence structure, misspelling, or other cock-ups are probably due to me converting this piece by compiling several files into one.
| Stat Mods | +2 Dex, -4 Cha, -1 Str, -1 Wis (yellow-gray variety) red variety have a +1 Str instead of -1 Str. |
| Alignment | Varies wildly, though the most common is Lawful Evil (red myrangeikki) |
| AC | Special (AC7 Natural Armor) |
| Special | Infravision 90', Sense Bioelectricity 2', Myopic, Compound Eyes, Spider Climb (as spell, at will), Extra appendages: Four arms, 7' tall, 70 lbs. |
Note: no distinction between singular and plural - myrangeikki are hivemind, and thus such distinction does not exist in their vocabulary.
90' Infravision (this sight does not have the myopic penalty)
Myrangeikki are also able to communicate through dancing (like the silent visual code of the Drow, though the two races does not understand each other's language), and do also use pheromones (scents) as a means of communication.
They are extremely hivemind oriented, and lone myrangeikki are normally mad. To be excluded from the hive is the most terrible punishment visited on an individual myrangeikki.
Myrangeikki are able to sense living objects with their antennae (positioned as antennae on an ant) within 2 feet. The antennae are based on picking up bioelectricity, and do therefore not detect things like golems and undead. Unless the DM rules otherwise, of course. (The antennae are 1' long, and DO have a sense of touch...)
Myrangeikki convened through a hivemind are also able to employ a limited form of telepathy with the other members of the hivemind. Lone myrangeikki cannot use this psionic ability.
The eyes of a myrangeikki are composite, like the eyes of a housefly or grasshopper. They have near 360 degrees vision, and attackers do therefore not get the +1 flank attack bonus when attacking myrangeikki, and only half normal chance of sneaking up on them from behind. (Tough, all thieves and other sneaky characters out there.) This special eye structure is the reason for the myopia and poor visual resolution of all myrangeikki.
Perhaps the most peculiar trait of a myrangeikki society is the hivemind structure. When in hivemind, the myrangeikki (within one tribe) regard themselves as one individual.
The Queen is the most important in the hive, and is the most powerful myrangeikki in the hive at any given time. This ranking is done by the hivemind, as the Queen (or King, as the myrangeikki are capable of changing sex if the situation so demands) is the seat of the hivemind. Often the most efficient way of destroying a tribe of myrangeikki is to eliminate the Queen, as the remainder of the tribe will be paralyzed for 1d4 turns following the elimination of the hivemind, while trying to establish a new Queen. Myrangeikki rank each other automatically through the hivemind, and are therefore at any given time perfectly structured.
It is interesting that the myrangeikki have the same word for "I" as for "us", i.e. the tribe or hive, but that they have one special word for "ruler" and "outcast". An outcast is defined as a myrangeikki excluded from the hivemind by the ruler for some reason.
Because myrangeikki are usually not concerned about themselves as individuals, they do not have the same survival instinct as other races (which translates into a -1 Wisdom penalty).
The hivemind makes it practically impossible to magically or psionically charm, control or otherwise affect the mind of any single myrangeikki.
Of course, if extreme spells like Mass Charm are employed, and most of the tribe (including the Queen), and the DM so rules, there might be a slight chance of controlling a tribe of myrangeikki... The implications are too strange and wonderful to spell out.
The mindlink to the hivemind is possible to break (through psionical means, NOT magical means), and the myrangeikki is then regarded as an outcast. And will usually go mad (Saving Throw, 20 (modified by Wisdom) to save).
An insane myrangeikki will either commit suicide, become catatonic, or homicidal (myrancidal?) maniacs.
The hivemind also makes the hive perfectly coordinated, which is an immense advantage in for instance ambushes. Picture this scene: The adventurers have pressed a lone myrangeikki against the edge of a cliff. They press on, sure of their victory. Then the rest of the tribe charges the adventurers, and throws them over the edge. Remember; the myrangeikki have no regard for personal safety: the hivemind is everything.
The hivemind can be regarded as an entitiy of Genius (18) or Supra-Genius (19+) intelligence, wisdom and any other psionics relevant statistic. Nevertheless, a hivemind often has a so alien and backward logic that it may seem mad like a hatter most of the time. Of course, some red tribes are insane no matter what measure of sanity is used.
When tribes meet, the hiveminds are joined together to a new tribe. The ranking battle is both psionic and physical, as the hiveminds wage an all-out war until the strongest tribe emerges as the winner. The losing tribe is absolutely integrated into the winning tribe, and may even change color to that of the winning tribe.
A hivemind can use most psionic abilities, with a PSP pool equal to the number of myrangeikki in the tribe multiplied by two. The hivemind is treated as a psionicist with regard to disciplines, sciences and so on with a level of number of myrangeikki in the tribe divided by six. Now, considering that most tribes have 40+ members, the adventurers are up against a 6th level (or worse) psionicist, aided by 40 or more perfectly coordinated 3rd level fighters... a formidable force, indeed!
Actually, because of this hivemind-internet (pun intended), myrangeikki are physically unable to become psionicists, as the part of their brain which have psionic talent is only accessible to the hivemind. All psionic abilities can be projected by the hivemind through any of the tribe's members, though the individual myrangeikki cannot control this. (Like, the adventurers have "captured" one of the tribe, and suddenly, the hivemind starts pouring PSPs to the myrangeikki, and starts using Body Weaponry, Adrenal Strength or whatever... Scary. Especially if the adventurers are asleep.)
Most myrangeikki tribes have a base class of fighters, and all myrangeikki therefore have an effective level of 3. Myrangeikki can advance up to 20th level, but fortunately these mighty individuals (and tribes!) are extremely rare. (The hivemind decides what members of the tribe get experience points, so the Queen (or King) is rarely less than 6th level with regard to THAC0 and hit points.)
Myrangeikki decorate themselves with colours from special types of fungi which they grow in their sub-terranean hives. These colours are often luminous in the dark. A myrangeikki in warpaint at night is a fascinating (and frightening) sight.
Myrangeikki are more or less vegetarians, but some tribes worship a myrangeikki god which demands sacrifice of humans and demi-humans. The sacrifical ritual is through eating the sacrifices. Raw. Alive. Conscious victims. In small pieces at a time. Very small pieces. These tribes are called red tribes, and are actually another colour than the normal tribes. There is a legend which states that all tribes will be red if they worship this barbaric god - they actually change colour.
Myrangeikki also have a priest caste, and can advance up to 12th level priests. Myrangeikki have the unique ability to change classes once, which use the same rules as dual class. This change of classes can only come after gaining 3rd level in their tribe's base class (usually fighter). There are, however, few myrangeikki wizards, because this class requires a strong sense of oneself as an individual to harness the arcane energies to shape a spell. Myrangeikki priests within the hivemind function with the benefits of a Chant-spell (from the Tome of Magic). Myrangeikki cannot become more than 12th level wizards with regards to number of spells memorizable at one time, but will continue gaining levels when it comes to hp, THAC0, durations which are level-variable, and so on.
There actually are a wide variety of myrangeikki tribes, but they are rare on the Prime Material plane. There are legends of tribes with a base class other than that of fighter, for instance tribes where Fighter is exchanged with Paladin, Wizard, Priest, or even Thief. These tribes come in other colours than the "normal" myrangeikki, and may even have different physiology than the regular myrangeikki (thieves have more dextrous hands, and so on).
There are legends about black myrangeikki which worship evil gods, have a tremendous resistance to magic, and are powerful wizards. These myrangeikki are not known on the Prime Material plane. Yey. (They exist. They function as multi-class Wizard/Warrior, but are nevertheless Necromancy specialists. They have the same Magic Resistance as Drow, and have many innate spells {like Drow, but other spells}. These myrangeikki can become up to 20th/20th level, and are therefore tremendously powerful. They are few, but they exist. They can become up to 400 years, and are more or less the myrangeikki version of Drow.)
Their eyes are composite eyes, which gives a wider field of vision, but poorer resolution of what they see. Myrangeikki are therefore functionally myopic. They have 90' infravision, and the earlier detailed bio-electricity sense due to their antennae. They are born to the darkness.
As myrangeikki have four arms, they can attack up to 4 times per round without weapons. Their exo-skeleton gives the myrangeikki a natural AC of 7, further modified by Dexterity. They do a damage of 1d3 hp per natural attack and this attack does not get Strength damage bonus.
Myrangeikki do not need sleep, and have an average lifespan of 35 years. They can live up to 55 years. Myrangeikki in an hivemind does not gain Wisdom bonuses due to age. They do not suffer reduced ability scores until they reach the Old Age category, when they suffer -6 Str and -4 Con. If a myrangeikki have any of these scores reduced to 0 due to this reduction, they will die within 1d4 weeks.
They have the same resistances to charm/sleep as elves. They are also inhumanly fast (high Dexterity), and are excellent climbers (like the spell Spider Climb, at will, but need cracks and the like to climb). The DM can demand Strength or Dexterity checks on especially challenging climbs.
"Normal" (i.e. not immediately hostile, unlike the red variety) myrangeikki are a greyish-yellow colour, and move in a stop-motion fashion when they do things, i.e. moving extremely fast and then standing perfectly still while they consider the next move.
Myrangeikki are not physically strong, as they have a relatively small muscle / weight ratio. Nevertheless, myrangeikki are extremely light-weight, and often weigh no more than half of the weight of an average human of same height.
Myrangeikki are technically omnivores, but prefer various types of fungus. They have a double set of mandibles, which are reminiscent of ant mandibles. They do not have a nose per se, but "smell" with dedicated taste buds in their mouths. Naturally they look very alien to humans.
Myrangeikki are normally on good terms with thri-kreen, even though they cannot inter-breed.
They are skilled in the creation of magical items, provided that there is a priest (or, rarely, a wizard) myrangeikki of sufficient level. They rarely have forges, however, so they usually shape the metal through spells and raw strength. They are not likely to research new spell, neither wizard nor priest spells. They are, however, likely to have access to unique and powerful psionic powers, as they are extremely powerful psionicists.
Variant races of myrangeikki may be even more powerful psionicists - just increase the PSP multiplier, and decrease the level divider.