Reputation - brain sucking monster, extreme, 8 or less - Cost -10
Conversion Notes: This package is based on the mind flayer race from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. This write-up uses Champions 5th edition rules.
The illithid, or mind flayer, is an evil and feared creature of the Underdark; its powers are formidable and it feeds on the brains of any creature it encounters. Using arcane powers, it enslaves or destroys its foes, which include such powerful creatures as drow and kuo-toa.
Mind Flayers stand about 6 feet tall and have hideous mauve skin that glistens with slime. The head resembles an octopus, with white eyes and four tentacles around its mouth, a round, many-toothed orifice like that of a lamprey. The creature has three long fingers and a thumb on each hand.
Illithids have infravision and night vision. They can communicate with any creatures via innate telepathy; they have no spoken language, although they often accompany their thoughts with hissing, and the eager lashing of their tentacles. Mind flayers dress in flowing robes, often with high, stiff collars, adorned with symbols of death and despair.
A mind flayer's preferred method of attack is the mind blast, projected in a cone. The illithid tries to grab one or two stunned victims and escape with them.
If an encounter is going against a mind flayer, it will immediately flee, seeking to save itself regardless of its treasure or its fellows.
Mind flayers hate sunlight and avoid it when possible. They live in underground cities of 200 to 2,000 illithids, plus at least two slaves per illithid. All the slaves are under the effects of their mental powers, and obey their illithid masters without question.
The center of a community is its elder-brain, a pool of briny fluid that contains the brains of the city's dead mind flayers. Due to the mental powers of illithids, the elder-brain is still sentient, and the telepathic union of its brains rules the community. The elder-brain has a telepathic range of 2 to 5 miles, depending on its age and size. It does not attack, but telepathically warns the mind flayers of the presence of thinking creatures, so a mind flayer within its telepathic radius can be surprised only by non-intelligent creatures. The range of the elder-brain determines the territory claimed and defended by the community, though raiding parties are sent far beyond this limit.
Mind flayers have no family structure. Their social activities include eating, communicating with the elder-brain, and debating on the best tactics to conquer the Underdark. For amusement, they inflict pain on their captives and force slaves to fight in gladiatorial games.
Mind flayers are arrogant, viewing all other species only as cattle to be fed upon. They prefer to eat the brains of thinking creatures.
Mind flayers live about 125 years. They are warm-blooded amphibians, and spend the first 10 years of life as tadpoles, swimming in the elder-brain pool until they either die or grow into adult illithids. On an irregular basis, adult illithids feed brains to the tadpoles, which do not molest the elder-brain. Illithids are hermaphroditic. Each can produce one tadpole twice in its life.
Mind flayer ichor is an effective ingredient in a potion of ESP.
Note: Add ESP and plane shift abilities.
Champions rules conversion by Mathew R. Ignash - mathewignash@comcast.net.
Last Updated - July, 2004
