Chitine

Chitine

Characteristics
Alignment	Chaotic Evil
Type	Monstrous humanoid
Image	Wizards.com image
Publication history
Source books	Monsters of Faerun, Monstrous Compendium Annual 1, Forgotten Realms

In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the chitine is a monstrous humanoid. They were created inadvertently by the drow as a result of failed experiments on normal humanoids.

Publication history

The chitine first appeared in the second edition for the Forgotten Realms setting in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991), reprinted in the Monstrous Compendium Annual One (1994). The creature was further developed in Dragon #223 (November 1995).^[1]

The chitine appeared in the third edition in Monsters of Faerûn (2001),^[2] and Underdark (2003).

The chitine appeared in the fourth edition in Monster Manual 3 (2010).

Physical description

A Chitine resembles a sickly, white, four-feet tall humanoid with vaguely spider-like features. They have wavy hair, sly faces, and spider's fangs protrude from their mouths. Chitines have four arms, and these have an additional joint (a normal humanoid, such as a human, has three [shoulder, elbow, wrist], but the Chitine has a fourth), and this allows for greater flex in movement and manipulation.

Environment

Chitines dwell underground.

Society

Chitines mostly serve the spider goddess/demon lord Lolth. Chitines typically hate their former masters, the drow. Chitine clerics of Lolth are rare; instead, there is a closely related but completely separate race for the worship of Lolth in Chitine society; the Choldriths. Chitines strongly live up to their spider heritage; in their underground cities and villages, they build with webs in the same way that humans build with wood and stone. They build everything out of it, homes, traps, clothing, weapons, and more.

A chitine is usually chaotic evil in alignment, though Neutral Good and Chaotic Good ones exist (usually those that have abandoned their subterranean villages for adventuring).

Further reading

Monsters of Faerûn provides information on Chitines, and their priest race the Choldriths^[3]. Underdark gives even more information, including that on how to play Chitines as a player race.

References

1. ^ Ashley, Belinda G. "The Ecology of the Chitine" Dragon #223 (TSR, 1995)
2. ^ Wyatt, James and Rob Heinsoo. Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
3. ^ Monsters of Faerûn