03-15-2007, 05:03 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sheffield, UK
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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:
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. Quote:
"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 |
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03-16-2007, 07:43 PM | #22 | ||||||||||
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Somewhere in Time
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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And how do you make weakness to sunlight a quirk?
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07-29-2007, 06:01 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: USA, Planet Earth, The Milky Way Galaxy
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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. Last edited by Lancewholelot; 07-29-2007 at 08:35 PM. Reason: typo and clarity |
07-29-2007, 10:49 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: One Mile Up
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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07-30-2007, 07:55 AM | #25 |
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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07-30-2007, 08:09 AM | #26 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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07-30-2007, 09:15 AM | #27 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
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06-07-2011, 03:09 PM | #28 |
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dayton, OH, USA, Earth
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Re: Mind Flayer Racial Template
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%.
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