Mind Flayer (Illithid)

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any subterranean

FREQUENCY: Rare

ORGANIZATION: Community

ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any

DIET: Carnivore (brains)

INTELLIGENCE: Genius (17-1

TREASURE: S, T,x(B)

ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil

NO. APPEARING: 1-4

ARMOR CLASS: 5

MOVEMENT: 12

HIT DICE: 8+4

THAC0: 11

NO. OF ATTACKS: 4

DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2; see below

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Mind blast, see below

SPECIAL DEFENSES: Magical powers

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 90%

SIZE: M (6' tall)

MORALE: Champion (15)+special

XP VALUE: 9,000 (7,000 for psionic version)

 

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 (no pupils are evident) and four tentacles around its mouth, a round, many-toothed orifice like that of a lamprey. The creature has three reddish fingers and a thumb on each hand.

Illithids have infravision. 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.

Combat: A mind flayer's preferred method of attack is the mind blast, projected in a cone 60 feet long, 5 feet wide at the mind flayer, and 20 feet wide at the opposite end. All within the cone must make a saving throw vs. wands or be stunned and unable to act for 3d4 rounds. The illithid tries to grab one or two stunned victims (requiring normal attack rolls if others try to prevent this) and escape with them.

The illithid keeps some victims as slaves and feeds on the brains of the others. When devouring the brain of a stunned victim, it inserts its tentacles into the victim's skull and draws out its brain, killing the victim in one round. A mind flayer can also use its tentacles in combat; it does so only when surprised or when attacking a single, unarmed victim. A tentacle which hits causes 2 hp damage and holds the victim. A tentacle does no damage while holding, and can be removed with a successful bend bars/lift gates roll. Once all four tentacles have attached to the victim, the mind flayer has found a path to the brain and kills the victim in one round. If preferred, the DM can simply roll 1d4 for the number of rounds required to kill a struggling victim.

A mind flayer can also use the following arcane powers, one per round, as a 7th-level mage: suggestion, charm person, charm monster, ESP, levitate, astral projection, and plane shift. All saving throws against these powers are made at a -4, due to the creature's mental prowess.

If an encounter is going against a mind flayer, it will immediately flee, seeking to save itself regardless of its treasure or its fellows.

Habitat/Society: 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 a charm person or charm monster, 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.

Ecology: 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 (which most do) 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.

Psionic Illithids

Psionic flayers, considered the only true illithids by some (including themselves), have most of the same statistics and abilities as other mind flayers. Instead of magic-based abilities, however, theirs are purely psionic. Psionic mind flayers have a beak-like mouth and disdain the stiff-collared robes preferred by their cousins.

Psionics Summary:

Level Dis/Sci/Dev Attack/Defense Score PSPs

10 4/5/15 EW, II/All = Int 1d100+250

 

Illithids use psionics for attack, mind control, and travel. All psionic illithids have at least the following powers:

Psychokinesis - Devotions: control body, levitation.

Psychometabolism - Sciences: body equilibrium (their only psychometabolic power).

Psychoportation - Sciences: probability travel, teleport. Devotions: astral projection.

Telepathy - Sciences: domination, mindlink. Devotions: awe, contact, ESP, ego whip, id insinuation, post-hypnotic suggestion.

As it says the Mind Flayer is 90% resistant to magic attacks so to deal with them requires hack and slash.

Range weapon would be safest for us.

The book says the Flayers get 4 attacks each so that's a lot from three of them.
They likely have mind control over the Derro, Ogres and the Dwarven leader, he may not have been a bad guy, just now controlled by a mind blast. Option to try and drag him away to break the link?

The book does not say they have dispell magic so either it was from Tann's home brewt hat they dispelled Sirene's arom or there is another evil magic user we have not discovered yet. Now if was a mind blast I'd have to guess it came from the giant Mind flayer to travel that far to hit Sirene. The standard blast is only 60 foot length, so does bigger mean longer?

 

flirty had asked about Control Weather to create a Sun effect. lt doesn't create weather in an area without it, it can alter existing weather.

Ulthok has a wand that can create a burst of light as bright as a sun and might temporarily blind them. But it could blind us too if you were looking where the burst happens.

• Sunburst: When this effect is called forth, the wand delivers a sudden flash of brilliant, greenish-white light, with blazing golden rays. The range of this sunburst is 120 yards maximum, and its duration is 1/10 of a second. Its area of effect is a globe of 40-foot diameter. Any undead within this globe suffer 6d6 points of damage, with no saving throw. Creatures within or facing the burst must roll successful saving throws vs. wands or be blinded for one round and be unable to do anything during that period. (Of course, the creatures in question must have sight organs sensitive to the visible light spectrum). The function requires three charges. The wand can be recharged.

Being that this isn't cast on the Mind Flayers their resistance to magic should no teffect it. This would effect the Ogres and Derro too.

It could help cover our attack to the rear, as Cor might call it.

Ok so anything else to build on?

Ok, we can run.

Sirene lost her spell - was this before multiple massive spears shot by the Ogres hit her?  

I'd like to try and drag the dwarf away.  More allies = better survival chance.

Lothor does have 4 vials of a potion of turn to stone - Basilisk's Blood.  Normally these are thrown at someone, but they might be spread over a tunnel behind us to slow down followers.  It would sorta block our going back tht way as well.  Plus, it normally affects whatever it is put onto or thrown at - if spread over stone I'm not quite sure what effect it might have.  I'm hoping none until someone steps into a pool of it.  It would likely take multiple doses.  (Tann - how woud this work?)

Or he has a rabbits foot of luck that allows him to succeed on a roll.   (I think, gotta verify the detail)  So if he got close enough to throw a vial, he could be sure to hit.  Of course, they still get a saving throw.  Didn't check mind flayer saving throws in what Ody posted.  Not sure that 90% magic resistance works against basilisk's blood.

Plus his bow is a darn good distance weapon.

 

Just so everyone knows I intend to have a character sheet up and running soon so I can start posting. Sorry about the delay.

I think we should flee for now and regroup. Get Sirene out and also that Derro leader that could be controlled by the Mind Flayer. Like Nomad said, more allies the better.
I'm just waiting on what you guys want Arandur to do.

Ok I still need the rest of the players to post for your chacaters or in the case of Nimu for Frag. Once we get everyone back to posting I'll get a new post up. I'm currently working on giving Schnozzle any help I can and he should be up and posting soon.

Im working on mine should have it up by tomorrow

Tann - is there any chance of using the Basilisk's blood like I outlined above?  This means bsically spreading it around on a floor before others chase us and hopefully go through it?

And one more question - how does running away work?  Do we get to make an attack and then run?  Or if we attack do we lose the chance to run?  Not sure about 2e.

Lothor does have 4 vials of a potion of turn to stone - Basilisk's Blood. Normally these are thrown at someone, but they might be spread over a tunnel behind us to slow down followers. It would sorta block our going back tht way as well. Plus, it normally affects whatever it is put onto or thrown at - if spread over stone I'm not quite sure what effect it might have. I'm hoping none until someone steps into a pool of it. It would likely take multiple doses. (Tann - how woud this work?) No like any potion ounce its out of its vial it has to be used right away or it loses it's magical ability. Spreading the Basilisk's Blood on the floor would turn it to stone but as the floor is already stone it would be wasting it as by the time they crossed it it would be useless. Great idea if it was oil and not a potion.

And one more question - how does running away work? Do we get to make an attack and then run? Or if we attack do we lose the chance to run? Not sure about 2e. Normally you can move half your movement then do an attack. However if you decide to retreat below is how it works and you get no attack.

Retreat

To get out of a combat, characters can make a careful withdrawal or they can simply flee.

Withdrawing: When making a withdrawal, a character carefully backs away from his opponent (who can choose to follow). The character moves up to 1/3 his normal movement rate.

If two characters are fighting a single opponent and one of them decides to withdraw, the remaining character can block the advance of the opponent. This is a useful method for getting a seriously injured man out of a combat.

Fleeing: To flee from combat, a character simply turns and runs up to his full movement rate. However, the fleeing character drops his defenses and turns his back to his opponent.

The enemy is allowed a free attack (or multiple attacks if the creature has several attacks per round) at the rear of the fleeing character. This attack is made the instant the character flees: It doesn't count against the number of attacks that opponent is allowed during the round, and initiative is irrelevant.

The fleeing character can be pursued, unless a companion blocks the advance of the enemy.

 

Cor will neither flee nor withdraw; he will attack in a retrograde manner. 

 

So, it seems we have decided to retreat.  

Lothor and several others have nobody around them.  This leaves them either able to flee quickly or, more likely, try and cover the retreat.  Lothor also has the bow.  he can take a couple of pot shots at someone on the way out.  These might well be lethal in some cases.  He could try and take out a Derro - they are the closest.  Or he could fire at the mind Flayers - they are the bggest threat and probably need to be taken out with melee attacks.  Although Anduril's blood does magical damage as well, so I'm not sure how that hits a mind flayer.  

We "know the path behind us."  Ok, so what sort of retreat are we looking for?  Where are we headed?  My assumption is that we still want to circle around to the forge.  That is the goal.  What type of room do we want to look for?  How do we block and entrance behind us?  The have muscle and magical firepower.  Are we hiding?  What sort of place lets us do that?  I assume we have no magical escape available.  But we need to give Tann a hint of what sort of place we want to go.  And it needs to leave a path to the forge open.

Lothor is also strong and could try and drag the mind controlled dwarf away, but we really need some way to incapacitate him.  

Given Tann's description of retreats I suspect we want to do a tactical retreat on the first turn - allowing us to get Sirene and hopefully incapacitate the dwarf we want to rescue.  Then we all-out run for it next turn.  

But I also think someone needs to coordinate our actions and that usually goes to Ody.

Well I don't mean to drive anyone to any action. The withdrawl just seems most prudent. Lothor protecting the rear makes sense to me.

Lothor getting some shots off at the Mind Flayers before or after Ulthok's Sunburst is up to you Nomad. 

Valene is already healing Sirene but we need a bigger person help move Sirene, Ulthok and Valene together might be able to drag her back into the tunnel. 

Do we want to rethink going to the forge? It appears we have been betrayed so to me I guess it is a hugh trap. We needed the Dwarven magic to help the forge be strong enough to destroy the sword, do you think we can still get that? The Durro and others were waiting for us. I think we should concider a change of plan an head to the other option. 

I think we need to head back to the surface and then flee. 

 

I agree that the forge is now not really an option.  We need to do an orderly withdrawl to the surface.  If we can allow the dwarves under the spell of the mond flayers to keep in contact with us they may eventually get far enough away to break the spell.  

Tann, would post the link to the updated Trilogy map. I thought you did that before to show the changes from the great battle with Loki.

Agreed, the forge isn't an option. We need to find someway out to regroup. Total trap. Do we have enough teleport spells?