Mindflayer Domination.

[Tvtyrant]

One of my few frustrations with 5E is monsters not actually fulfilling their fluff. Mindflayers in 5E can control one creature for an hour a day, which makes their "cohort of mind slaves" impossible. I replaced it with at-will charm person but it still iritates me that I have to mess with creatures to make them work as written.

[calebrus]

One of my few frustrations with 5E is monsters not actually fulfilling their fluff. Mindflayers in 5E can control one creature for an hour a day, which makes their "cohort of mind slaves" impossible. I replaced it with at-will charm person but it still iritates me that I have to mess with creatures to make them work as written.

A monster's MM entry isn't meant to be an exhaustive list of that monster's capabilities. The MM entry is meant to be a guide as to what it can do in combat.
Any and all of the MM entries where the fluff doesn't match the abilities (in your opinion) are easy to make work in a non-combat situation.

Your mind flayer, for example, doesn't dominate their "cohort of mind slaves" during combat, that's something that happens outside of combat, and is therefore not included in the MM entry. Something like that takes a certain amount of time and effort. But they are so skilled at it that they can do so quickly, and for a limited time, during combat.

There. There's your fluff to match. Just do the same with other so called "discrepancies" that you find.

[SharkForce]

One of my few frustrations with 5E is monsters not actually fulfilling their fluff. Mindflayers in 5E can control one creature for an hour a day, which makes their "cohort of mind slaves" impossible. I replaced it with at-will charm person but it still iritates me that I have to mess with creatures to make them work as written.

you haven't read charm person lately, have you?

[TheDeadlyShoe]

Calebrus' approach is very reasonable. There's no Mind Flayer ability to create an Intellect Devourer mid-combat either.

[kaoskonfety]

Calebrus' approach is very reasonable. There's no Mind Flayer ability to create an Intellect Devourer mid-combat either.

Oh man, if there was though! /sigh

A DM can dream...


edit...

One of my few frustrations with 5E is monsters not actually fulfilling their fluff. Mindflayers in 5E can control one creature for an hour a day, which makes their "cohort of mind slaves" impossible. I replaced it with at-will charm person but it still iritates me that I have to mess with creatures to make them work as written.

Of interest, if something with an utter lack of human ethics had demonstrated it could take control of you for an hour a day and make you do ANYTHING - how often would you go against this things wishes? Would you do everything you could to be useful? If not what percentage of people do you think would cave FAST. Those are the ones they keep. The rest get to die.

The dominated NPC thinks "Adventurers! this is my chance to escape!" - and the hour starts the instant you have that thought, they fight the PC's first. A group of 20 or so utterly broken thralls, having seen their compatriots take their own lives in AWFUL ways is going to be VERY scared of any defiance. The party after all, can only kill them.

It changes the scene from "freeing slaves with an inspiring speech" to half way though the speech one of them stands up yells "THE MASTER IS DISPLEASED!" and cracks opens the skulls of those nearby till he is retrained or killed (and he's a biter...)... you now have disadvantage on the persuasion roll and the DC is a BIT higher... just a bit...


Maor edit - works best if the PC's and the slaves don't KNOW the power is limited - place doubt in the players by having several slaves act up as if they were dominated (only one is controlled, the rest? well the master IS displeased)