Thoon

[Spuddles]

Brainstorming thread.

I'm DMing for a midlevel 3.5 party (level 10 to 13), well optimized, but far from high OP.

Campaign is a modified version of Against the Giants/Lolth is a Douchecanoe.

The players are currently in an iron zeppelin run by gnomes, flying around trying to figure out how the hell to deal with all the Chaos wrought by cultists and Abyss Spawn. Incidentally, so are several other factions.

Including the inscrutable Flayers of THOON.

The players will first encounter these creatures when they see the Flayers' Voidship in the distance- a giant black shape hovering above the horizon.

The Voidship itself will be a dungeon. What should I fill it with? I am thinking the ambience will be like Alien, complete with Gigeresque biomechanical xenomorph infestation architectural features.

As far as encounters go, all I've got so far are Skybleeders (http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5859/50106.jpg), which will be flying around as the Flayers basically opened up a port and released a swarm of them.

Maybe a lower area with a Slaughterking and his brood of Kython?

Basically looking for all sorts of nasty disgusting aberrations to fill the ship with.

[Mr.Sandman]

Mindflayers just love their slave races, why not some of those, perhaps some established NPC's among them for drama?

[ksbsnowowl]

I really like the Scythers of Thoon. I think they are a pretty cool monster, and you should definitely have patrols of those walking around the hallways of the ship.

[Spuddles]

Mindflayers just love their slave races, why not some of those, perhaps some established NPC's among them for drama?

Flayers of Thoon arent slave takers so much as slave makers.

[kreenlover]

Well, I would say that any aberrations are good, as are any constructs. The Thoonflayers seem to be big fans of constructs, so I'd say go nuts. Throw force golems at them as trap wardens, and the like.

I also have always thought of them as being experimenters. So, have some experiments chambers. Throw templates onto anything and you have a viable experiment. Throw templates onto types that CANNOT GAIN THAT TEMPLATE. Make it an experiment.
Throw in larval flayers. Hordes of 'em. Put in swarms of the little monsters, and let them loose on the players.

Have large vats of quintessence around. Make a factory room, that looks like an industrial assembly line, except that it makes constructs, and pours molten quintessence and adamantine into molds and the like. That could make for a cool fight.

Have quintessence pipes throughout the ship. Breaking them can add a new element to combat, and if they get creative, they can maybe even crawl through them somehow (think ducts) to get from place to place. Make liberal use of acid vats and catwalks over areas that will kill them if they fall.

Just my two cents.

[BowStreetRunner]

Brain Golems (CR10 FF) and Urophions (CR13 LoM) would seem appropriate. Both are known to serve mindflayer communities.

[ksbsnowowl]

Well, I would say that any aberrations are good, as are any constructs. The Thoonflayers seem to be big fans of constructs, so I'd say go nuts.

Elder Eidolons (Lords of Madness) of Aberrations. Bam.

[Yora]

The Pathfinder SRD has all kinds of lovecraftian aberrations that could be quite simple to convert. Many quite low-level.

[Spuddles]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?

I am thinking that this flayer ship travels through the void in a protective shell of quintessence. Unfortunately they suffered a breach and void creatures crept in. So the feel will sort of be space hulk from 40k. It will also be absolutely massive, so wandering monsters wont be a big deal.

Do flayera of thoon have elder brains?


The Pathfinder SRD has all kinds of lovecraftian aberrations that could be quite simple to convert. Many quite low-level.

I'll look into it. I'm a big fan of things with tentacles from beyond the stars.

[ksbsnowowl]

Do flayer[s] of thoon have elder brains?


Yep, stats for them right there in the MM5 with all the other Thoon stuff (even a sidebar expounding upon the low CR of 15 for the Elder Brains of Thoon.)

[PraxisVetli]

I also have always thought of them as being experimenters. So, have some experiments chambers. Throw templates onto anything and you have a viable experiment. Throw templates onto types that CANNOT GAIN THAT TEMPLATE. Make it an experiment.
Just my two cents.

OH MY GOD YES.
The hilarity you can do with templates to creatures. give EVERYTHING acid blood. make things explode when they die. Cross breed creatures. Far-plane creatures.
Chokers, too, they make great little creepers. give em Half-Illithid templates. make your PC's run!

oozes too maybe? also debate Half-Golem from i believeeee MMII?

[Deadline]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?

Mindshredders from the MM3 are pretty sweet, and they can be plenty terrifying for lower-level parties.

Xill from the base Monster Manual are pretty terrific too, if you are going for that "Aliens" style feel (particularly with their Implant method of procreation). They aren't Aberrations, they are Outsiders, but they still fit the bill of a horribly gribbly monster.

[kreenlover]

Flayers of thoon have one single elder brain. Read the entire mind flayer of thoon entry in MM5. That has a bunch of icky constructs, as well as the elder brain.

As for my favourite aberration, well, they aren't really aberrations, but also from MM5 the Ushemoi are my favourite aberrant themed monsters.

I also think a neat idea could be a plant colony. Put some monstrous plant in the center of it, but have plant themed monsters all spreading out fro that one. Think of it this way: the dormant seed floated through space until it landed there. It quickly began to spawn more seeds. The evil of the mindflayers corrupted this plant, leading to things like burrowroots, and demonthorn mandrakes, verdant reavers, vinespawn, etc.

Personally I like vivisectors for abberations. Always fun.

Also, if you want ideas for things that people don't like, check out this thread Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292852)

[Spuddles]

Yep, stats for them right there in the MM5 with all the other Thoon stuff (even a sidebar expounding upon the low CR of 15 for the Elder Brains of Thoon.)

Thanks. Currently AFB. Been awhile since I cracked open MMV

[PraxisVetli]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?

Chokers I gotta say. Their initial concept is scary, add some templates, some spell like abilities, maybe crossbread them with something..

like, say, i dunno...blink dogs...
ya know, have fun with it.
Phargions from Miniatures Handbook are cool, not abberations, but totally Droidekas from star wars. add Spring Attack... awesome.
also in MH is the Nothic, good for some low levels.. give them spiderclimb, picture 6 of them crawling out of vents.

Maybe Umber Hulks? The insanity gaze kinda works.

as commonly mentioned with Alienesque campaigns, Steel Predators from FF are really some sick buggers. That roar destroys people in hallways when they can't run..Pounce, all the goodies.
Rukanyr (sp?) also in FF, definately intimidating.

[CRtwenty]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?

Mooncalfs by far. When I ran the "Heart of Nightfang Spire" module the Mooncalf in the beginning nearly resulted in a TPK.

[Inferno]

Maybe throw in a small party of Daelkyr Half-bloods (magic of eberron p37)
Call them security force of human test subjects.
There's bonus points because you get to give your players living aberration gear-loot. Crawling Gauntlets give a great visual, even if it's not a great item.

[Novawurmson]

Oh, god. I'm in the process of typing up a huge list of aberration for a similar campaign. Monster Manuals 3-5 are filled with great aberrations.

[Spuddles]

How terrible would it be if I included a clockwork horror infestation? Beyond comprehension? :smallamused:

Does anyone know what monster is like a weird pillar of horrible stuff? I think it's MM2 or FF, CR 12ish.


Mooncalfs by far. When I ran the "Heart of Nightfang Spire" module the Mooncalf in the beginning nearly resulted in a TPK.

Oh sick, those look badass.


Oh, god. I'm in the process of typing up a huge list of aberration for a similar campaign. Monster Manuals 3-5 are filled with great aberrations.

Promise to share?

[PraxisVetli]

How terrible would it be if I included a clockwork horror infestation? Beyond comprehension? :smallamused:

Does anyone know what monster is like a weird pillar of horrible stuff? I think it's MM2 or FF, CR 12ish.
Great Fihir? MMII 100
Moonbeast? MMII 149
Living Spell Blasphemy?
Edit, Living Blasphemy is MMIII (93)
MMII does however have the Wyste, a bit large, but you could scale it down. put it in those acid filled rooms with catwalks
all I got; i just cruised through the MMII.

[ksbsnowowl]

If you do go the "experiments" route, Bladerager Trolls (MM5) would be a decent option. At least they would somewhat make sense in that context.

[Novawurmson]

Promise to share?

What's your timeline? I'm about to be out of town for a week :P

If everything works out, yes. It'll be a big list mostly of fey, plants, undead, and aberrations for my next campaign.


Great Fihir? MMII 100

Feyr (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mm2_gallery/88268_620_50.jpg) are absolutely worthless. Such cool fluff, but once your party finds them, battle is over.

[mabriss lethe]

Deepspawn (lost empires of faerun) cloning chambers: The Thoonflayers keep feeding promising candidates to several deepspawn, who then work to produce an army of them.

This can get really scary if they're spawning casters and one of the Flayers is an Illithid Savant on a feeding frenzy.

[ksbsnowowl]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?


Nilshai, Unapproachable East
Meenlocks, MM2

Although it is actually an outsider, the Broodspawn template from Elder Evils could be of use to you.

Lastly, a Half-Illithid (Underdark) Black Dragon would make for a good Cthulhu substitute. A great Wyrm is CR 25, but has Spell Resistance 47...

[BowStreetRunner]

So MMV says the mind flayers of Thoon crossed over into the Far Realm - which immediately makes me think of Pact Magic Monsters from Tome of Magic. Deadly Dancers and Tooth Beasts are both abberations from that list. While you are in that book, the Ephemeral Hangman among the Shadow Magic Monsters and the Garbler among the Truename Monsters are both abberations as well.

My personal favorite abberations are the Neogi. A group of Neogi would not hesitate to switch from traders to pirates as the opportunity arises, and attempting to salvage what they could from the Thoon voidship would be in-character.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Nilshai, Unapproachable East
Meenlocks, MM2

Although it is actually an outsider, the Broodspawn template from Elder Evils could be of use to you.

Lastly, a Half-Illithid (Underdark) Black Dragon would make for a good Cthulhu substitute. A great Wyrm is CR 25, but has Spell Resistance 47...

Actually, IIRC, there was a brain-eating-dragon in one of the Dragon magazines.

Baring that, the Half-Illithid Black Dragon sounds awesome.

[Spuddles]

So MMV says the mind flayers of Thoon crossed over into the Far Realm - which immediately makes me think of Pact Magic Monsters from Tome of Magic. Deadly Dancers and Tooth Beasts are both abberations from that list. While you are in that book, the Ephemeral Hangman among the Shadow Magic Monsters and the Garbler among the Truename Monsters are both abberations as well.

I am fairly certain the Vestiges and stuff are from a place of non-existance while the Far Realm is the space outside of reality. In DnD cosmology, anyway.

A Deadly Dancer would be pretty cool, but I'm thinking more Aliens, less Event Horizon.


My personal favorite abberations are the Neogi. A group of Neogi would not hesitate to switch from traders to pirates as the opportunity arises, and attempting to salvage what they could from the Thoon voidship would be in-character.

I was thinking of a Neogi infestation. Their young are basically vermin that infest spacecraft, right?

[ksbsnowowl]

Depending how much inspiration you want to pull from pop culture science fiction, clockwork horrors (MM2) are the perfect thing to represent the Replicators from Stargate SG-1. Just know that the Adamantine Horror is WAY under CR'd.

[mabriss lethe]

You could have the walls seething with clockroaches.

[ksbsnowowl]

So what's everyone's favorite aberration?


OOOOooooo..... Ethergaunts!
Those things are NASTY!

Fiend Folio.

They wouldn't be the type to work with the illithids, though.

[Vedhin]

OOOOooooo..... Ethergaunts!
Those things are NASTY!

Fiend Folio.

They wouldn't be the type to work with the illithids, though.

In fact, according to Planescape, they enslave illithids.

[Tvtyrant]

OOOOooooo..... Ethergaunts!
Those things are NASTY!

Fiend Folio.

They wouldn't be the type to work with the illithids, though.

Or the Daelkyr from Eberron. They fill a similar niche, and have Demogorgonesque debuffing melee whips.

[Yora]

I'll look into it. I'm a big fan of things with tentacles from beyond the stars.
Akata are rather minor critters that spread zombie-apocalypses from space. In the original adventure, they arrived in the world hybernating on an asteroid and then swarmed from the crater.

The Decapus is basically an intelligent land-dwelling octopus. With ten arms.

Denezins of Leng and Leng Spiders might also work for you.

The Dust Digger is basically a miniature saarlac, that can be advanced to whatever size you need it.

A Faceless Stalker basically does the same thing as a doppelganger, but looks even more weird in its natural form.

Gloomwing is a giant hypnotic moth that implants its eggs in its victims.

Gugs are very basic big guys, but have a really weird look.

I don't know how to even describe Hounds of Tindalos. I think this one is even based on a Lovecraft-ish creature. It just messes with the dimensions and space around it.

Mongrelmen are an old D&D classic for experiments on new humanoid creatures gone totally wrong.

Mothmen are all about ****ing with your mind.

And then there's the Mu-Spore, a CN CR 21 behemoth. No cool abilities, but weird as hell.

Neh-Thalggus have probably been mentioned before. Those have always been one of the freakiest things I've ever seen in any D&D books. Also no unusual powers, but it's the fluff that sells them.

Qlippoth are the PF version of obryths. Technically outsiders from the abyss, they are all about being horrible and alien.

Neothelids and Seugathi are actually variants of illithids, even though Pathfinder doesn't have them. But what could be wrong with giant worms with tentacles? :smallbiggrin:

Totenmaskes are actually undead, but have the power to melt and reshape the flesh of still living creatures. The Thoons might have use for them.

Not quite sure what Vemeraks are for, but they certainly have the look.
A somewhat humanoid bug with lots of tentacles.

And the good old Worm that Walks.

Brain Ooze: A giant brain with tentacles!

The Cerebric Fungus is an intelligent fungus brain that causes temporary insanity and halluncinations.

A Ghorazagh is some kind of floating octopuss that spits toxit blood as a weapon.

I think someone already mentioned Kythons. Pathfinder has some more than just the standard type.

Moon Beast: A highly telepathic gorilla with tentacles for a face.

Sagari are little snails that seem the have the heads of horses. And like to let themselves fall down on their targets.

Spider Eater: Implanting their eggs is the only cool ability, but they are still giant freakish insects.

Ythians are an old Lovecraft creature. While looking cool, I'm not sure how they might fit with this particular campaign.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by kreenlover
Have large vats of quintessence around. Make a factory room, that looks like an industrial assembly line, except that it makes constructs, and pours molten quintessence and adamantine into molds and the like. That could make for a cool fight.

If done well, this could be supremely memorable.

Also, I plan to steal this. :smallbiggrin:


Originally Posted by spuddles
I am thinking the ambience will be like Alien, complete with Gigeresque biomechanical xenomorph infestation architectural features.

You can't go wrong with this. You just can't.


Originally Posted by Novawurmson
I'm in the process of typing up a huge list of aberrations for a similar campaign. Monster Manuals 3-5 are filled with great aberrations.

Would you be willing to share it? I've been meaning to compile aberrations for a mini-project, but haven't had the chance to plunge into it yet. Your list could be a real help.



For my part, my favorite aberrations are the tsochari. I used them to great effect in a previous campaign--starting with weak, isolated strands, which seemed to pose no threat whatsoever, and then working up to...other things.

Choose your favorite option from what's been suggested here...and then put a tsochar cleric inside, tied into its nervous system and pulling all the strings.

:smallamused: