Becoming a Hive Mind

[Avigor]

Let's say you're an evil Psion (either Telepath or Erudite) and a Thrallherd and you want to go a step further and become a Hive Mind, using all your thralls, believers, and maybe others (like domination victims) as components of your entity, meaning that to kill you just became ridiculously complicated. How do you do this? Preferably without relying on Body Leech (which would mean no 9's) to swap bodies if you "die" after someone figures out that you're up to no good and tries to stop you and true mind switch to swap bodies as you approach venerability. Is there a template that can do this? Maybe an obscure or 3rd party PrC? I'd rather not just rely on a dangerous use of reality revision / wish or an epic psionic power.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Hive minds (the game construct) are defined on page 34 of the Book of Vile Darkness.

There are two basic ways I know of for PCs to create hiveminds: Dark Speech (feat) and Vermin Lord (PrC). The first is limited to 100 individuals, does not include the PC, and allows only one command as per suggestion. The second requires ten non-manifesting levels (a psionic variant would still lose four manifesting levels), but has no limit and includes the PC.

I think the easiest way to get a hivemind as Thrallherd would be to execute the fusion + astral seed combo to gain the abilities of a Vermin Lord thrall. If you took the level loss associated with dying, and the VL thrall did not have too many useful feats/abilities otherwise, I would consider that a reasonable trade in a high-OP game.


EDIT: If, on the other hand, you're looking to turn yourself into a swarm, uh, turn yourself into a swarm-shifter necropolitan, or even a silthilar (lot of effort, that last one, but there are plot reasons to believe it's possible)? A psionic variant of the Worm That Walks template would be the obvious go-to, but that's actually an ooze, not a swarm.

[Avigor]

Hive minds (the game construct) are defined on page 34 of the Book of Vile Darkness.

There are two basic ways I know of for PCs to create hiveminds: Dark Speech (feat) and Vermin Lord (PrC). The first is limited to 100 individuals, does not include the PC, and allows only one command as per suggestion. The second requires ten non-manifesting levels (a psionic variant would still lose four manifesting levels), but has no limit and includes the PC.

I think the easiest way to get a hivemind as Thrallherd would be to execute the fusion + astral seed combo to gain the abilities of a Vermin Lord thrall. If you took the level loss associated with dying, and the VL thrall did not have too many useful feats/abilities otherwise, I would consider that a reasonable trade in a high-OP game.


EDIT: If, on the other hand, you're looking to turn yourself into a swarm, uh, turn yourself into a swarm-shifter necropolitan, or even a silthilar (lot of effort, that last one, but there are plot reasons to believe it's possible)? A psionic variant of the Worm That Walks template would be the obvious go-to, but that's actually an ooze, not a swarm.

Yeah I'm thinking more like the Overmind from Starcraft, only with humanoid hosts instead of a swarm of monsters. No single corporeal body (all hosts must be destroyed to kill you), aware of everything his hosts are aware of, preferably able to manifest powers from any host.

Probably not possible short of going epic first or using homebrew though... AFAIK, the "hivemind" rules in BOVD are exclusively for vermin swarms, not for humanoids, so Vermin Lord will not help.

Also, this is for a villain (either an NPC or maybe for the ultimate personal goal for an evil campaign), not a normal character.

[Avigor]

I must admit I'm tempted to simplify and weaken the build by making him incorporeal via Telepath 5/ Thrallherd 10 / Psion Uncarnate 10 or maybe Unbodied 4 / Telepath 1 / Thrallherd 10 / Telepath (or whatever) into epic... But I really would prefer the idea that he's achieved a level of ascension where he has no form to target, at least not easily (maybe allow some means of attacking him directly without killing his followers, but don't make it simple by any means). Either way, I kind of like the idea of the special weakness that he is somewhat vulnerable in the sense that he is completely reliant upon his followers and if they all die, he dissipates and ceases to exist.

So if one were to build an epic psionic power to achieve this, what would be the best way to build the power?

[ExLibrisMortis]

So if one were to build an epic psionic power to achieve this, what would be the best way to build the power?
Well, have a look at Gathering of Maggots (ELH 230). And have a look at the Dream of Metal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?121334-The-Dream-of-Metal).

There are a few cases of hive minds (formians, legion devils), but I don't think they involve the sharing of one overmind between many followers.

A cabal of three illithid can manifest powers from and see through the eyes of a single Voidmind creature. I suppose a psionic illithid telepath 1/thrallherd 10 with two illithid thralls could turn all its believers into Voidmind creatures. If those believers then have a hivemind amongst themselves (for example, by being killed, polymorph any object'd into outsiders, then reincarnated as legion devils? If that doesn't work, fusion + astral seed with a legion devil works, but it's complicated to do it for each believer--you need soul crystal to make it possible), the illithid would be aware of anything any of its believers are aware of, as long as its believers are in range of the Hive Mind, and at least one believer is in range of the Voidmind effect (which is five miles). You would still have a primary physical body, though.

A telepath 5/thrallherd 10/Fiend of Possession 5 could possess a noncontinuous object, such as a pool of water, and then spread that object across its believers. Vulnerable to banishment and dismissal, and you must be an outsider with the [evil] subtype.