Mind Flayer Racial Template

[elv]

OK, I finally got a chance to sit down with The Illithiad at the same time as having this thread in front of me. In this post I'll treat that book as "Mind Flayer gospel"; if you prefer to go with some other source, that's fine.

The following traits seem appropriate:

• Infravision [0] (they have no normal vision but excellent infrared sight)
• Magic Resistance ? [?] (I know you didn't want to give them this, which is fair enough; but their mucus is explicitly described as both psi-active and magic resistant. I have no idea of an appropriate level)
• Night Vision 8 [0] (their infravision gets worse as the light increases; a 0-point version centred on near-darkness seems appropriate)
• Cannot Speak [-25] (all their communication is done via telepathy)
• Hard of Hearing [-10]
• No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5] (well, no smell anyway; it doesn't say about taste but this keeps it simple)

One I'm not sure how to stat is their dependence on thralls. They need the companionship of beings whose minds they dominate, and will be cast out of a community if they can't get them (they then die of loneliness). This seems like a physical counterpart of Chummy or Gregarious.

The tentacles are 2-4' long in an adult. The low end should qualify for the "Short" limitation, but not the high end! I'd be tempted to drop it from the default template but offer it as an option.

Originally Posted by Verjigorm

As an aside, while there's no D&D mechanic to represent it, there's plenty in the D&D fluff(from Spelljammer and the 1st edition AD&D Dungeoneer's Handbook) to say that mindflayers cannot deal with the sun. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the sun completely incapaciates them, and kills them quickly. Much like an Octopi that is out of water n the beach. This leaders to a racial compulsion and over-spanninggoal: douce the sun.

From the book:
"Ah, the accursed sunlight with its searing heat and sight-dissolving radiations [...] whose very excess clouds vision and exposes moist skin to dryness"

I think a quirk-level Obsession ("Darken the light") is appropriate (not more than that for most Illithids since it doesn't dominate their day-to-day behaviour). I don't think damage should be severe - perhaps replace the "Prefer moisture to dryness" quirk with a Dependency or Weakness, though I'd personally still keep it at quirk level.

I'll read some more this weekend and let you know any more thoughts.

Thanks for all the work you've done on this already!

John

[FatherMackenzie]

Originally Posted by elv

OK, I finally got a chance to sit down with The Illithiad at the same time as having this thread in front of me. In this post I'll treat that book as "Mind Flayer gospel"; if you prefer to go with some other source, that's fine.

Well, the Illithiad is a 2nd Edition book, and the mind flayer has changed since then. Still, I could incorporate some aspects of the Illithiad version.

Originally Posted by elv

Infravision [0] (they have no normal vision but excellent infrared sight)

I could include this in adddition to normal vision. It's cheaper than Dark Vision, which is what they have in 3rd Edition.

Originally Posted by elv

[*]Magic Resistance ? [?] (I know you didn't want to give them this, which is fair enough; but their mucus is explicitly described as both psi-active and magic resistant. I have no idea of an appropriate level)

I included this.

Originally Posted by elv

Night Vision 8 [0] (their infravision gets worse as the light increases; a 0-point version centred on near-darkness seems appropriate)

This is a playability issue. I'll discuss this further when I get to sunlight vulnerability.

Originally Posted by elv

Cannot Speak [-25] (all their communication is done via telepathy)

They can speak in 3rd Edition. I'll make Cannot Speak optional.

Originally Posted by elv

Hard of Hearing [-10]

I guess I can see this. In it goes.

Originally Posted by elv

No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5] (well, no smell anyway; it doesn't say about taste but this keeps it simple)

I see this as No Sense of Smell/Taste with the Perk (still can taste).

Originally Posted by elv

One I'm not sure how to stat is their dependence on thralls. They need the companionship of beings whose minds they dominate, and will be cast out of a community if they can't get them (they then die of loneliness). This seems like a physical counterpart of Chummy or Gregarious.

Chummy (Thralls only, +20%???; Doesn't react at +2 to others, +0%) [-6], maybe? I'm pretty sure the modifiers are wrong. Also, in 3rd Edition, mind flayers don't need the companionship of thralls. There's no mention of it anywhere in Lords of Madness or the Monster Manual. They do prefer to have the hum of the Elder Brain in their head at all times, but they don't act at a penalty when it's not there. (Quirk-level addiction, maybe?) This should be discussed further.

Originally Posted by elv

The tentacles are 2-4' long in an adult. The low end should qualify for the "Short" limitation, but not the high end! I'd be tempted to drop it from the default template but offer it as an option.

Optional. Good idea.

Originally Posted by elv

From the book:
"Ah, the accursed sunlight with its searing heat and sight-dissolving radiations [...] whose very excess clouds vision and exposes moist skin to dryness"
I think a quirk-level Obsession ("Darken the light") is appropriate (not more than that for most Illithids since it doesn't dominate their day-to-day behaviour). I don't think damage should be severe - perhaps replace the "Prefer moisture to dryness" quirk with a Dependency or Weakness, though I'd personally still keep it at quirk level.

To me, it seems like Weakness (Sunlight, x3; 1d/5 minutes; Mitigator (Wetsuit), -70%) (-9). Still, like I said before, I want illithids to be playable. Mind flayer players will usually be adventuring on the surface, where they will regularly be exposed to vision-clouding, shriveling sunlight. I don't want it to disrupt the game too much. Besides, there's always the "in MY campaign" excuse (they could have just evolved out of vulnerability to sunlight).

And how do you make weakness to sunlight a quirk?

[Lancewholelot]

Here's the mindflayer template I've been using for monsters in my fantasy campaign. It's a slight variant on the D&D version. Note that although my flayers have 4 tentacles I've only given them effectively 2 extra arms without the Extra-Flexible modifier. This assumes that it takes two tenacles to do the work of one arm and that they can't reach rear or flanks. Also, my mindflayers don't draw out the brain using tentacles but rather use the tentacles to grip the head as they bite through the skull to suck out the brains with the use of a rasp-like tongue. This has caused some delightful moments of terror as a paralyzed PC sees his helm pulled off by tentacles and then feels and hears the lamprey-like teeth cutting through their skulls (luckly one of these PCs was saved by another PC in the next instant; unluckly another was rescued only after a couple of rounds of brain sucking). Having the mindflayers desending out of darkness from above also added greatly to the atmosphere of terror.

The disadvanges assume that most people encountering them will not know what an Illithid is and will thus react to what is observable.


Illithid [706]

DX +2 [40]
IQ +5 [100]
HT +2 [20]

Affliction (Mind Blast) 1 (Malediction 2 (Uses Size and Speed/Range Table), +150%; Paralysis, +150%; Cone (+7), +110%; Based On (Will), +20%; Telepathic, -10%) [52]
Clairsentience (Projection (can only affect the insubstantial world), +0%; Increased Range (×10), +30%; ESP, -10%) [60]
Damage Resistance 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]
Detect (Thoughts) (Common) (Telepathic, -10%) [18]
Doesn't Breathe (Gills) [10]
Extended Lifespan 2 [4]
Extra Arms (Face Tentacles) 2 [20]
Flight (Psychokinetic, -10%) [36]
Infravision [10]
Jumper (World) (Psionic Teleportation, -10%; Preparation Required (1 minute), -20%; Interplanar (can reach higher and lower planes), 100%; Can Carry Objects (Extra-Heavy Encumbrance), +50%) [220]
Mind Control (Telepathic, -10%; Independent, +70%) [80]
Mind Reading (Universal, +50%; Telepathic, -10%) [42]
Mind Shield 5 (Telepathic, -10%) [18]
Nictitating Membrane 1 [1]
Night Vision 6 (Visually impaired by day) [0]
Night Vision 3 [3]
Slippery 1 [2]
Striking ST +5 (Bite Only) [10]
Teeth (Sharp Teeth) [1]
Telecommunication (Telesend) (Universal, +50%; Telepathic, -10%; Broadcast, +50%) [57]

Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]
Callous [-5]
Intolerance (Total Intolerance) [-10]
Odious Racial Habit (Eats People's Brains) (-3) [-15]
Phobia (Heliophobia: The Sun) (12 or less) [-15]
Reduced Air Move -9 (Levitation speed 3) [-18]

Likely I'll make some changes after digesting this thread but this is how I left it last time I tinkered with it. This template doesn't take into account the bizarre bio and psi tech that always surrounds my mindflayers and their horrid experiments.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by FatherMacKenzie

And how do you make weakness to sunlight a quirk?

Susceptible X1 (Sunburn) [-1].

[deathsaudit]

The sun is needed even by them.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by deathsaudit

The sun is needed even by them.

That assumes that light can only be produced by the sun. Not very accurate when magic enters the picture.

[LoneWolf23k]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

That assumes that light can only be produced by the sun. Not very accurate when magic enters the picture.

Take, for exemple, the Bleeding Earth Alternate Vampire: The Dark Ages setting (subscriber login needed)

[Cadius]

I just cracked open my new PDF of Horror 4th edition....

Have you considered using the Leech Advantage (GH4e 20-21) as the core result of the brain eating? It "is a general case of Vampiric Bite that can be modified..." Much of the description seems to fit the Illithid attack form. During "ongoing contact" you drain 1 HP per second from the victim. For each 3 HP stolen, the mind flayer gains 1 HP in healing effects. cost is 25 pts for 1st level, 4 for each additional. So to drain 10 HP/second costs 25 + (9x4) = 61. It lists almost a full page of enhancements. Some that seem well-suited include Heals FP (+60% if you can choose whether to apply to hp or fp or +30 to heal FP only when at full HP). And my personal favorite, steal IQ (which also lowers Will and Per). (+300%). Expensive, but more representative of what's being eaten. The only downside to that is that the IQ restores at same rate as FP. Not likely if the flayer is really eating your brain. But at least it represents what's happening to the victim. Contact Agent is -30%.