Rise Of the Illithids

[Lord Loss]

Any Ideas on how to DM a Horror/MindFlayer Campaign?

I've been thinking of setting it in the middle of a city attacked by (??? Illithid-themed monsters), they are hired to clear up a problem in theSewers (or nearby caverns?)

Like...

What level to start at?

Any Low Level Illithid-themed monsters (Pseudonatural or half-Illithid Elves, Maybe?)

Illithidians are useful for whadda?

My Group:

A powergamer.

A player who likes backstory and ''cool'' characters.

A cleric-lover.

A new Player.

Me (DMing)

[DementedFellow]

For lower level Illithids, check out savage species and use the progression there. That way you can scale the powers back of a mindflayer and still have it make sense.

[Lord Loss]

... I like it ( I happen to have that book on PDF!... En français) Also I had the idea of a cult (In The sewers) Dedicated to an Illithidian or a Brain in a Jar.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Cultists are probably a good idea, as are thralls, the dominated slaves of the illithid race.

In Lords of Madness there's creatures called illithidae, strange creatures vaguely related to mind flayers (think chimpanzees in relation to humans). There's a template in one of the Monster Manuals called Voidmind, designed to make servants of mind flayers.

Also, the Mind Flayers of Thoon are in general weaker than normal illithids, and they're pretty freaky. A Thoonite Elder Brain, for instance, is only CR 15-ish, while the Elder Brain in Lords of Madness is CR 25.

[Ostien]

I'm starting a Cthulhu based horror game and starting it at low level.

The concept is basically that the world is pretty much entirely aberrations, but not in the area the party starts out in. Without going to far into detail, basically the Ilithads set up a slave revolt a long time ago and cleared out an area for the non aberration races. The purpose of which is to watch how the surface races interact and study them, as the goal of the time transported Ilithad are to figure out how to again rise to power, and they do this minly through study. The only Ilithad who know the full story are the council of nine ulathalid (formed when the first elder brain died because of a crazed Alhoon) and the new Elder brain, who is more of the archivist type of ruler opposed to harsh rule of the first elder brain. Created a new fluff for the Elan (engineered by Ilithad to act as shock troops against the Beholders that needed to be cleared out). But all of this is virtually unknown to the surface races, even the Gnomish empire.

Because of this there are ilithad and other aberrations that are all vying for power behind the scenes and thus there are cultists and such. So it will start as mainly a city based game dealing with organized crime and then slowly become more horrifying as more and more of the world is reveled.

There is a lot more to the back story but my general advice would be start with cultists. And also remember in a horror game less is often more and slow gaining of information and hints can set the mood perfectly.

[Leewei]

I like an idea a friend of mine had -- the ideal enemy for Mind Flayers is an army of Undead. The PCs may end up with some very creepy and morally flexible allies.

[FMArthur]

All you need is Monster Manual V. The Mind Flayers of Thoon have enough various thralls and creatures statted out that it is basically the framework for a low-mid level campaign. Obviously it doesn't go as far as being a module in itself, but you wind up with a group of monsters and horrors that you can easily fit into any illithid-themed campaign idea.

[Carden]

As for my two cents, make sure to hide the illithids for a while. Put them behind the scenes, controlling thralls in the city to do their bidding. Play it up as random killings, switch to your cult idea, then reveal semi-illithidian creatures. Half the horror is in not knowing. Also, the "Evil All Along" trope helps make them feel hopeless.

Other than that, I second the use of Mind Flayers of Thoon, especially their statistics for an Elder Brain of Thoon.

[jiriku]

+1 to the mind flayer material in MMV. Personally, I'd avoid half-illithid monsters...themed monsters are a stake in the heart for a horror campaign (please pardon the pun) because they're predictable and they create certainty about the enemies yet to come. For a horror campaign, you want unpredictible monsters and an uncertain future.

A vague and yet troubling prophecy of doom doesn't hurt either.
Avoid traditional mind flayer tropes: they shouldn't hide underground or employ umber hulks as bodyguards or be chummy with dark elves and beholders. The minute your players can guess what's next or predict what abilities a monster will use, the fear and suspense will evaporate.

This was actually the plot of the last major campaign I ran. (spoilered to prevent wall of text)
Thoon was a moon-sized (and, moon-shaped) corpse of the dead god of chaos, floating in the Realm of Dreams. Illithids (recrunched as outsiders originating from the Far Realms and incorporating many elements of the kaorti) operating out of the city of Nepenthe on the surface of Thoon sought to enact a ritual to resurrect this dead god and grant him entry into the material realm. Long story short, the players were partially successful. Thoon entered the material realm but remains dead; their world now has a new moon. And every month, the night of the full moon is a night of horrors....


There are a number of interesting monsters that make good servitor races, including

Derro (gotta love racial insanity) foot soldiers, rukanyr as living siege engines, and the slasrath and skybleeder as flying mounts. Aberrations scale nicely when advanced, remaining interesting and useful in encounters even at extremely high levels. Derro vampire spawn (homebrew) made decent assassins as well. And did I mention the flying polyps and dimensional shamblers? You can tell I read H.P. Lovecraft. (Although I use those monsters only because I know my players don't read Lovecraft. If they were familiar with his creations, I'd use something else, to maintain that sense of uncertainty).


Advice though, if you're going to run a campaign featuring illithids:

rewrite mind blast in some way. Every time a player took a stun from mind blast, that player usually had to sit out the game for 45 minutes or more and usually missed an entire combat. Feedback from my players was that this was way not fun. Perhaps you could rewrite mind blast to be more like hold person, and grant a save every round to shake off the effect.

[Solaris]

As for my two cents, make sure to hide the illithids for a while. Put them behind the scenes, controlling thralls in the city to do their bidding. Play it up as random killings, switch to your cult idea, then reveal semi-illithidian creatures. Half the horror is in not knowing. Also, the "Evil All Along" trope helps make them feel hopeless.

Other than that, I second the use of Mind Flayers of Thoon, especially their statistics for an Elder Brain of Thoon.

Even better?
At lower levels, it's your standard - completely standard - world. To the point where you look at it from a reasonable perspective and think "This world can't work - how does this dungeon survive?". 1ED type stuff.
That world's not real. That world's an illusion. The players and everyone in it are just fodder, the illithids slowly draining their minds away as they keep them enthralled in this illusion. They've been doing this for generations. The illusion begins to crack, maybe the PCs get 'killed' facing Gorbatrix the Evil Dragon Overlord. They don't die thanks to a glitch in the Illithitrix, instead they wake up to the real world. Where they go from there is up to you.

[Lord Loss]

Thanks. By Illithidians I meant Illithidae.

Welcome, Neo, To the Desert of the Real.

I like the Idea of Keeping them ''behind the scenes''. I was going to bring in the illithidae, then have a sage remember that they were linked to a mysterious and ancient species, but be assasinated between then and his discovery of the exact species. I'd like to involve Mechanus at some point.

Also... Intellect Devourers in a non psionic setting? Yay Or Nay?

[Calmar]

The illithids would prepare their takeover over a long time, creating conflict between the powers that could oppose them and enslave them when there wouldn't be any serious resistance.

At least they did something similar (http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/Torment/zerthimon.php) when they subjugated the ancestors of the githzerai and githyanki...

I'd suggest to keep them pulling the ropes in the background, rather than simply invading with a horde of horrible aberrations. I guess there'll be lots of fighting against these when the heroes uncover the illithid's hidden bases of operation.

[Malacode]

Even better?
At lower levels, it's your standard - completely standard - world. To the point where you look at it from a reasonable perspective and think "This world can't work - how does this dungeon survive?". 1ED type stuff.
That world's not real. That world's an illusion. The players and everyone in it are just fodder, the illithids slowly draining their minds away as they keep them enthralled in this illusion. They've been doing this for generations. The illusion begins to crack, maybe the PCs get 'killed' facing Gorbatrix the Evil Dragon Overlord. They don't die thanks to a glitch in the Illithitrix, instead they wake up to the real world. Where they go from there is up to you.

D-do you mind if I shamelessly steal that? I'm looking for a segue from "Series of one-shot dungeon crawls" to "Full blown undead/abberation campaign" and that is preeeetty much perfect!

[Blackfang108]

Thanks. By Illithidians I meant Illithidae.

Welcome, Neo, To the Desert of the Real.

I like the Idea of Keeping them ''behind the scenes''. I was going to bring in the illithidae, then have a sage remember that they were linked to a mysterious and ancient species, but be assasinated between then and his discovery of the exact species. I'd like to involve Mechanus at some point.

Also... Intellect Devourers in a non psionic setting? Yay Or Nay?

Those creepy psychic chuaua brains? YES, PLEASE!

I love those things. I want one as a pet.

(if you use psionics for the Mind-Flayers, btw, it'll screw with your players. Non-Transparency could really screw them up, but might be more of a pain than they can handle.)

[Lord Loss]

You could use Grell for your Matrix camapgin (I'd use it but half my Players are matrix Fans that would massacre me for ripping it off). I will however be using the Gith as an Enemy of The Illithids (and allies of the PCs), based on the undead idea. Also how could i add Grell to this Campaign?

I thought to end the Campaign with the ability to unleash the Essence Of Gith, a poweful vestige built from the Soul of the fallen warrior, after having found all the Tablets, to help eliminate the Mind Flayers. Also, Duergar cultist or Derro Cultists?

[Volkov]

Illithadae are commonly used pets of Illithids, coming from the same place as the mind flayers, whether it's from the future such as in 3e, or simply the far realm in 4e. They are all fairly low CR monsters, but are of the same taxonomic class as mind flayers. They are fantastic mind flayer related monsters, you can also use the various creatures the mind flayers of thoon make use of from the fifth 3.5e monster manual.

[Lord Loss]

Thanks. I have the Illithidae in LOM (are there others?) but could you give some specifications on the Mind-Flayers of Thoon (as opposed to 3.5e Normal Mind Flayers)?

[Kallisti]

Half-illithid is pretty cool. Also, MM5 includes a bunch of variant weird illithids. Even if you don't want to use Thoon, you can use the creatures.

[Volkov]

The mind-flayers of thoon have all types of neat converted creatures and constructs, one of which is a sapient construct. They also have a lesser elder brain with a CR of 15 and no power to cast spells as sorcerers/manifest powers as psions. In addition they have a new off-shoot of the mind flayer, the shadow-flayer.

[Lord Loss]

I'm a Horrible Monster Designer, so here's a challenge:

Please Design a

Lesser Embarc (Misspeled for copyright reasons), of CR 3-4.

[KiltedGrappler]

Start out having them fight thralls of the Illithids. Peasents, dockworkers, city guards, just about anyone and everyone could be used by the Illithids as slaves, then when they get more experienced, have them start fighting half-illithids, other abberations, illithids using the savage species rules, and Lovecraftian horrors designed and grown by them. Just get creative.

[lord_khaine]

Lesser Embarc (Misspeled for copyright reasons)


Im no expert on copyright law, but im pretty sure you are still allowed to post the full name.

[Lord Loss]

I'll keep it this way just in case. Thanks, though!

[jiriku]

Yea to intellect devourers. They're gross, creepy, and subtle, all at once. Good horror material.


Your regular vanilla mind flayer of thoon is just a normal mind flayer with a different agenda.

Because they worshipped Thoon, the mind flayers also had clerics. Lemme tell you, a disarming- and grappling-focused mind flayer cleric with the elite ability array, wearing plate mail and armed with a heavy flail and divine power is a scary thing.

Shadow flayers lack the charm and control powers of a typical mind flayer, but can sacrifice hit points to activate swift invisibility. They favor strength-draining poisons, and retain the mind blast power IIRC.

They also had a method of turning victims into sleeper agents who, upon a command word, turned into fast, strong, tough, fast-healing, utterly obedient engines of destruction, but died within a few minutes. Victims affected by this process did not know that they were sleeper agents unless the illithids wanted them to know.

Thoon flayers typcially employ constructs, since they can mind blast without stunning their constructs. I misremember the details, but they include a levitating scout construct that can throw lightning by sacrificing hit points, and a soldier-class construct that can sacrifice hit points to shift between a fast-moving quadruped form, a defensive form with high AC and saves, an offensive form with flaming limbs and multiple attacks, and (when hard-pressed) a bomb form that blows up on the critter's next turn.

They also have a half-alive illithid construct that can extract brains like a mind flayer, but is large size and immensely strong, so it's good in a grapple.

[Lord Loss]

1-3 The PCs are given the task of protecting one of the Important priests of Fargrove during the Festival of Souls, after a series of mysterious Assasinations. Following the assasins back , interrogating them, etc. will lead the PCs to the sewers where the duergar cultists await, forcing them to battle the Lesser Embrac hidden deep in the sewers...

4 Lord Daven (or the Priest, if he lives) sends the PCs to Mount Drevve, where they will meet the Sage Faragus. They must hurry, because the Sage is under attack from the cult. And did I mention? The sage is a Silithar.

5 The Hivemind, Faragus, explains that the creature encountered in the sewers is a creature which shares it's origins with an ancient evil of unending cruelty... but he does not know more. Faragus sends the PCs to the Silithar homelands... but they are kidnapped... by the Priest!

5-8 Taken to a strange castle, the heroes are slated for death... by boardgame. Sent to a strange demiplane to fight against an opposing team, the PCs must survive a series of fights, some in arenas, others in jungles, others as even giant games of Chess... if they complete The Challenges Five:

A Beasthunt in the middle of a Jungle, killing beasts for points and fighting members Of Shadow Team.

An Arena Fight against enslaved monsters, each of the two teams battling the same fight seperatley.

A game of chess in which the players are Pieces! (I'll need some Chess Piece Monsters) In this twisted world, the rules are far from those of normal chess...

Sent to the interior of a futuristic spaceship (actually a Nautiloid), the PCs must find the control room and pull The FIRE
Lever before the enemies do. Later in the campaign, the PCs will find themselves in a real Nautiloid...

Finally, they must battle Shadow Team in an ancient pyramid... sinking into a pool of Lava!

All through this time, the PCs will hear the cheers of the crowd and the roar of the anouncers...

[TheWerdna]

+1
rewrite mind blast in some way. Every time a player took a stun from mind blast, that player usually had to sit out the game for 45 minutes or more and usually missed an entire combat. Feedback from my players was that this was way not fun. Perhaps you could rewrite mind blast to be more like hold person, and grant a save every round to shake off the effect.



As said above Mind Blast should be changed. In a game i was once in the DM had it so Mind blast gave a -2 pentelty to all skill checks, atk rolls, and Ac as well as 10 foot movement pentelty. This doubled with a second hit with it and then completely stuns them with a 3ed successfull hit. So you had to fail your saved 3 times befor you were out of the fight.

[TheWerdna]

Even better?
At lower levels, it's your standard - completely standard - world. To the point where you look at it from a reasonable perspective and think "This world can't work - how does this dungeon survive?". 1ED type stuff.
That world's not real. That world's an illusion. The players and everyone in it are just fodder, the illithids slowly draining their minds away as they keep them enthralled in this illusion. They've been doing this for generations. The illusion begins to crack, maybe the PCs get 'killed' facing Gorbatrix the Evil Dragon Overlord. They don't die thanks to a glitch in the Illithitrix, instead they wake up to the real world. Where they go from there is up to you.

Matrix anyone?

[AslanCross]

Mind Flayers are not the only people working on that side. Before the Illithids expose themselves to danger, they're going to send in some dumb muscle.

Also, Monster Manual 5 has the Mind Flayers of Thoon, a small cult of Illithids who have been changed by their contact with something from the Far Realm. Even their Elder Brain is a bit messed up. The Thoon Mind Flayers are searching across the cosmos for Quintessence.

The Thoon Mind Flayers have lots of robotic constructs that can fight for them, as well as specific humanoid thrall templates. Pretty solid package for a relatively low-level campaign. Add class levels for higher levels.

[Count Dravda]

You simply have to use Thoon. Even if you ignore all the Thoon flavor, they still serve admirably as default Mind Flayers. As mentioned, the it's FAR easier to work CR 8 mind flayers into the same adventure as a CR 15 boss (elder brain) rather than a CR 25 one.

A few cool encounter ideas...maybe, while exploring a dungeon, the PCs encounter a prisoner being held down by two thugs. The prisoner is undergoing ceremorphosis (put the illithid tadpole in the ear to turn them into a full-fledged flayer). Once rescued, the prisoner begs them to set them free, but is becoming increasingly unstable. Sweating, dizziness, nausea, feverish delusions, hair and nails falling out, and other creepy things are all fair game as the tadpole eats his brain slowly and replaces it with its own tissue. Works better if described in horrific detail. If the PCs don't know what's going on, they'll be freaked out as hell. If they DO, then they realize that all hope is basically lost: only a combination of powerful spells (that they might not be able to spare: Heal and Restoration, IIRC) can save the man now, and the only other option is to put him out of his misery. Oh, and should that last option be explored, the man screams and begs them with tears in his eyes to spare him: he still has no idea what's happening to him.

Or how about exploring the idea that mind flayers can mess with your...uh, mind? Eerie, incongruous things start happening. Complete strangers run to them once they break free, acting as if they knew each other and begging for help. They might be lovers, friends, business partners, or enemies. Many will be confused and offended that the PCs don't remember them. Think Total Recall with Schwarzenegger (spelling?), or The Truman Show (except a bit more eerie). People do things that don't make any sense: when alone in a room with a PC, they scream "HELP ME!" at a random corner, and then pretend it didn't happen. Some people don't actually exist: when they leave the room (to go to the bathroom/talk to someone else) they simply stand on the other side of the door for several minutes before returning. Seemingly random passerby are actually following a very carefully calibrated pattern: every 5 minutes, the man in the red robes goes by (always the same man); every 2.5 minutes, a nondescript commoner walks by (it's the same one every time); and every 37 minutes, a cart goes by (always the same one, but with different cargo).

Oh, and has anyone played Half Life 2? The Headcrab Zombies, with their horrified moans and screams of pain and terror, were possibly some of the creepiest monsters I've ever fought. You could easily play those Thoon Thralls (the "sleepers" who go into overdrive mode) as those. Even as they charge, they look terrified at what's happening to them. Not angry, determined, or even ready, as most combatants are. Just scared. When hit in combat, their screams are all too human. Doubly effective if this happens to someone the PCs care about.

Do these things really happen? Are the people involved the victims of mind control, or are the PCs? Or are the PCs simply losing their minds

Anyways, hope these ideas help. I'd been wanting to use some of these, but I doubt I'll get a chance.

-Count Dravda

[Volkov]

You could say that the thoon elder brains are immature elder brains, while the lords of madness ones are the mature ones.

[kwanzaabot]

Or how about exploring the idea that mind flayers can mess with your...uh, mind? Eerie, incongruous things start happening. Complete strangers run to them once they break free, acting as if they knew each other and begging for help. They might be lovers, friends, business partners, or enemies. Many will be confused and offended that the PCs don't remember them. Think Total Recall with Schwarzenegger (spelling?), or The Truman Show (except a bit more eerie). People do things that don't make any sense: when alone in a room with a PC, they scream "HELP ME!" at a random corner, and then pretend it didn't happen. Some people don't actually exist: when they leave the room (to go to the bathroom/talk to someone else) they simply stand on the other side of the door for several minutes before returning. Seemingly random passerby are actually following a very carefully calibrated pattern: every 5 minutes, the man in the red robes goes by (always the same man); every 2.5 minutes, a nondescript commoner walks by (it's the same one every time); and every 37 minutes, a cart goes by (always the same one, but with different cargo).


This is pretty damn spooky. I love it. :D

Another idea (related to Count Dravda's suggestion) is that you could play with the idea that maybe each player (perhaps simply from growing paranoid/insane) finds evidence to support the theory that maybe their memories are false, and that perhaps the rest of the party is simply a figment of their imagination? For example, monsters slain by the Fighter seem to disappear when your back is turned, the Wizard's familiar only appears when you remember she has one (naturally, in reality it was there all along), the Rogue has to pick locks on doors that you could've sworn were already unlocked... etc.
Of course, the party has to be real, but the characters don't need to know that. ;)

[Deth Muncher]

I definitely support mind flayer variants (which reminds me, side note: Mind flayer/Illithid are copyrighted, as I recall. It's okay, you can say their names without the lawyers taking you away). Especially the Illithid Vampire.

Why?

Well, they're creepy.

No, really.

Instead of normal illithids, where they wear the grandiose capes and blahblah, the Illivamps dress in scraps. And instead of being that healthy purple, they're pale and almost white. With crazy looks on their faces.

[Count Dravda]

I definitely support mind flayer variants (which reminds me, side note: Mind flayer/Illithid are copyrighted, as I recall. It's okay, you can say their names without the lawyers taking you away). Especially the Illithid Vampire.

Why?

Well, they're creepy.

No, really.

Instead of normal illithids, where they wear the grandiose capes and blahblah, the Illivamps dress in scraps. And instead of being that healthy purple, they're pale and almost white. With crazy looks on their faces.

I'd forgotten about those! Maybe the product of the clash between the aforementioned Illithids and "Undead Army."

[Lord Loss]

You simply have to use Thoon. Even if you ignore all the Thoon flavor, they still serve admirably as default Mind Flayers. As mentioned, the it's FAR easier to work CR 8 mind flayers into the same adventure as a CR 15 boss (elder brain) rather than a CR 25 one.

The cult worships Thoon, and they manage to summon it at the end of the campaign. I think I might use Atropus + Pseudonatural Template + ? to make Thoon, unless someone has a better idea. After the PCs defeat a Mindflayer city, they will see a Nautiloid descending...


A few cool encounter ideas...maybe, while exploring a dungeon, the PCs encounter a prisoner being held down by two thugs. The prisoner is undergoing ceremorphosis (put the illithid tadpole in the ear to turn them into a full-fledged flayer). Once rescued, the prisoner begs them to set them free, but is becoming increasingly unstable. Sweating, dizziness, nausea, feverish delusions, hair and nails falling out, and other creepy things are all fair game as the tadpole eats his brain slowly and replaces it with its own tissue. Works better if described in horrific detail. If the PCs don't know what's going on, they'll be freaked out as hell. If they DO, then they realize that all hope is basically lost: only a combination of powerful spells (that they might not be able to spare: Heal and Restoration, IIRC) can save the man now, and the only other option is to put him out of his misery. Oh, and should that last option be explored, the man screams and begs them with tears in his eyes to spare him: he still has no idea what's happening to him.

I'll merge the Citadel with the Kidnapping, turning it in to one long we-broke-out-now-lets-kill-stuff adventure.

Or how about exploring the idea that mind flayers can mess with your...uh, mind? Eerie, incongruous things start happening. Complete strangers run to them once they break free, acting as if they knew each other and begging for help. They might be lovers, friends, business partners, or enemies. Many will be confused and offended that the PCs don't remember them. Think Total Recall with Schwarzenegger (spelling?), or The Truman Show (except a bit more eerie). People do things that don't make any sense: when alone in a room with a PC, they scream "HELP ME!" at a random corner, and then pretend it didn't happen. Some people don't actually exist: when they leave the room (to go to the bathroom/talk to someone else) they simply stand on the other side of the door for several minutes before returning. Seemingly random passerby are actually following a very carefully calibrated pattern: every 5 minutes, the man in the red robes goes by (always the same man); every 2.5 minutes, a nondescript commoner walks by (it's the same one every time); and every 37 minutes, a cart goes by (always the same one, but with different cargo).

Yes! How about the original breakout/ escape to fargrove is actually in the minds of the PCs being influenced by the illithids? And then they are freed by Gith right before they would be eaten or turned into thralls! Then, the city of Fargrove is actually under attack... BY THOON!

[AslanCross]

I statted out Thoon for kicks. I simply made him an Uvuudaum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/uvuudaum.htm) Psion 20.

[TheWerdna]

mkae sure you don't let the player know what is going on untill later. As said befor, make wierd things happen, strange disapearences. poeple the players met earlyer act weird. Toon thralls can work great even if you are not useing thoon mind flayers

[Set]

A low-level 'Illithid' feeling beastie. (http://www.skiltair.com/Ian/Pathfinder%20Society%20characters/Fam%20-%20Darkhood.htm)

Basically, psionic darkmantles that splorch onto people's heads and ride them around, creating the image of humanoid bodies with squids for heads, using mental attacks. When slain, the darkhood levitates up off of the dead humanoid host, and attempts to make whoever killed it's last host it's new host. (Or flies away, depending on how overwhelmed it feels...)

[Lord Loss]

Thanks for this creature. Would you be interested on helping on a low-level Illithid adventure? I'll start it when I get back from vacation (I'm leaving 4 a week)