Thri-Kreen Rogue Tank

When Thri-Kreen released with Spelljammer, alongside their telepathy, Chameleon Carapace, and multiple arms, I got the bright idea to create a dual-wielding rogue tank that manages to do rogue things outside of combat, draw the attention of enemies, and still do decent damage in combat. I've always felt like rogue had a lot of abilities that had the potential to be good for tanking, but never felt bulky enough to do the job. I wanted to post this build for some feedback and potential improvements that I may have missed out on.

The build centers around maximizing AC through the combination of Chameleon Carapace, the Dual Wielder feat, and a shield. To begin with, you'll want to maximize your DEX for the extra AC from Chameleon Carapace, so I recommend taking +2 from your racial there, and putting your extra +1 to CON. I went with the point buy system and put a 15 on each, giving me a 17 DEX, 16 CON, and 16 AC at level 1 with zero equipment. This leaves you with some points left over, which you can spread across WIS and CHA as you like for either better skills or better saving throws.

Of course, 16 AC at level 1 is nothing to write home about, so we're going to want to pick up a shield. Rogues don't get shield proficiency or any sort of taunt-like effect quickly, so we'll be starting off with 3 levels of Battle Master Fighter, giving us a shield and a semi-taunt from Goading Strike. We'll also be taking the Two Weapon Fighting Style in order to attack with two Shortswords and still deal a good bit of damage.

For the next three levels, you'll want to start taking some Rogue levels. This will brush up your damage a bit and give you a lot of out-of-combat utility, which will combine with your telepathy and Chameleon Carapace very well. I recommend taking the Arcane Trickster subclass, in order to gain access to Booming Blade, Absorb Elements, and Shield, giving you a bit of survivability and control.

It feels a little bad not immediately going to level 5 in Fighter for the extra attack, but the damage from Sneak Attack should help make up for it. Either way, after gaining your Rogue subclass, you'll want to take an additional 4 levels in Fighter, earning you that extra attack, as well as 2 feats. The ones I recommend are the Dual Wielder feat, for an extra AC, as well as Resilient DEX. Between these two feats, your AC would be up to 20 with a shield and no armor, and you'd have proficiency with DEX saving throws for AoE type effects. I'd actually prioritize Resilient first, as the additional 1 DEX would increase your AC, Initiative, damage, and a whole slew of other things. Furthermore, you'd also get an additional Superiority Die, which helps with your taunts, more manuevers, and more importantly, Know Your Enemy, which synergizes very well with your Rogue skills and could give you an extra edge in combat, given the opportunity to scout out the enemy first. Personally, I'd avoid this 7th level in Fighter if your DM typically runs combats by ambushing you, and instead just finish off your build with Rogue levels, giving you more Sneak Attack damage, Uncanny Dodge, and Evasion.

So all in all, I think that this is a pretty solid semi-tank, semi-dps build that has a pretty good number of tools to stay alive when taking enemy hits. However, I'm relatively new to D&D, so if there's anything that I missed, whether it be things that don't work the way I think, or potentially useful features that I may have missed, please let me know!