tk-337
2018-01-31, 11:54 AM
ok so i wanted to play as a mind flayer and looked up some homebrew stuff, and the most popular one seems to be elon tusk's version. looking through it, i was disgusted by the amount of penalties they suffer, and i didn't like the fact that alhoons were a whole subrace, so i'mma just write a new one and hope it catches on.
here's the crunch:
Illithid
ABILITY SCORE ADJUSTMENTS: Your Intelligence increases by 2. That's it.
AGE: Age is fluff. Fluff depends on the setting so I don't believe in dictating things like this, but Elon Tusk's version says they mature at 8 years and live to 50.
ALIGNMENT: Again, fluff, but obviously they're usually Lawful Evil.
SPEED: Your walking speed is 30 feet.
LANGUAGES: You speak common, undercommon, and deep speech. You can read and write in Qualith, the written language of Illithid reminiscent to braille.
SUPERIOR DARKVISION: You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only in shades of gray.
SUNLIGHT SENSITIVITY: You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to percieve is in direct sunlight.
SIZE: You probably stand around 5 or 6 feet tall, but dwarves, gnomes, halflings, goliaths, etc. might be eligible hosts for Illithid tadpoles, depending on your setting, so YMMV. You count as medium or small, depending on your host race, and you don't get the carrying capacity bonuses from host
races like goliaths.
TELEPATHY: You can communicate telepathically with creatures up to 60 feet. They must speak or understand a language for this to work, but they do not need to understand the same languages as you.
INTIMIDATING PRESCENCE: The mortal races are simultaneously threatened by and in denial of your vast superiority, so frightening those below you into submission will usually prove more effective than showing them reason. You have proficiency in Charisma (Intimidation) checks against humanoid creatures and disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks against all creatures.
TENTACLES: Your tentacles are natural weapons, with which you can make unarmed attacks. They deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and they can be used to grapple.
EXTRACT BRAIN: The reason surface-dwellers call your people Mind Flayers. If a creature who is grappled by your tentacles falls to 0 hit points, you can kill the creature by extracting and devouring its brain. You inherit some of the memories of that creature, with a general idea of its life and personality, but none of the skills it had. All arcane knowledge that creature learned is processed as gibberish and loud buzzing in your mind if you try to recall it.
LIQUID MEMBRANE: Your banishment from the community left your mind damaged, so you only have advantage on all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws against magic due to your protective membrane. If you were to lose this membrane somehow, you would lose this advantage and gain disadvantage against all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
MIND BLAST: Using an action, you can emit psychic energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed an Intelligence saving throw equal to 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus or take 1d6 psychic damage. The damage increases by 1d6 at 4th level, and again at 9th level, and once more at 12th level. After using this feature, you cannot use it again until after a long rest. At 12th level, you can choose to give all affected creatures advantage on the saving throw and stun them for one round if they fail.
EXILE'S CLOAK: You start with a cloak that completely hides your face and tentacles. Any medium or small creature wearing the exile's cloak hides its appearance completely, so other creatures cannot determine its race.
well, what do you think? if it's overpowered, gimma way to nerf it, but i refuse to give it any penalties to its ability scores.
second to latest patch: nerfed intimidating presence so it gives proficiency instead of advantage and removed the dumb half-int thing, nerfed mind blast again so the stun effect is only available at later levels and lasts one round, reworded extract brain so you don't inherit *all* memories anymore, just a general idea of the victim's life and personality
latest patch: added reversed gnomish cunning, nerfed intimidating prescence to apply to humanoids only, added exile cloak so dms can't justify having guards kos
here's the crunch:
Illithid
ABILITY SCORE ADJUSTMENTS: Your Intelligence increases by 2. That's it.
AGE: Age is fluff. Fluff depends on the setting so I don't believe in dictating things like this, but Elon Tusk's version says they mature at 8 years and live to 50.
ALIGNMENT: Again, fluff, but obviously they're usually Lawful Evil.
SPEED: Your walking speed is 30 feet.
LANGUAGES: You speak common, undercommon, and deep speech. You can read and write in Qualith, the written language of Illithid reminiscent to braille.
SUPERIOR DARKVISION: You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only in shades of gray.
SUNLIGHT SENSITIVITY: You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to percieve is in direct sunlight.
SIZE: You probably stand around 5 or 6 feet tall, but dwarves, gnomes, halflings, goliaths, etc. might be eligible hosts for Illithid tadpoles, depending on your setting, so YMMV. You count as medium or small, depending on your host race, and you don't get the carrying capacity bonuses from host
races like goliaths.
TELEPATHY: You can communicate telepathically with creatures up to 60 feet. They must speak or understand a language for this to work, but they do not need to understand the same languages as you.
INTIMIDATING PRESCENCE: The mortal races are simultaneously threatened by and in denial of your vast superiority, so frightening those below you into submission will usually prove more effective than showing them reason. You have proficiency in Charisma (Intimidation) checks against humanoid creatures and disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks against all creatures.
TENTACLES: Your tentacles are natural weapons, with which you can make unarmed attacks. They deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and they can be used to grapple.
EXTRACT BRAIN: The reason surface-dwellers call your people Mind Flayers. If a creature who is grappled by your tentacles falls to 0 hit points, you can kill the creature by extracting and devouring its brain. You inherit some of the memories of that creature, with a general idea of its life and personality, but none of the skills it had. All arcane knowledge that creature learned is processed as gibberish and loud buzzing in your mind if you try to recall it.
LIQUID MEMBRANE: Your banishment from the community left your mind damaged, so you only have advantage on all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws against magic due to your protective membrane. If you were to lose this membrane somehow, you would lose this advantage and gain disadvantage against all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
MIND BLAST: Using an action, you can emit psychic energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed an Intelligence saving throw equal to 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus or take 1d6 psychic damage. The damage increases by 1d6 at 4th level, and again at 9th level, and once more at 12th level. After using this feature, you cannot use it again until after a long rest. At 12th level, you can choose to give all affected creatures advantage on the saving throw and stun them for one round if they fail.
EXILE'S CLOAK: You start with a cloak that completely hides your face and tentacles. Any medium or small creature wearing the exile's cloak hides its appearance completely, so other creatures cannot determine its race.
well, what do you think? if it's overpowered, gimma way to nerf it, but i refuse to give it any penalties to its ability scores.
second to latest patch: nerfed intimidating presence so it gives proficiency instead of advantage and removed the dumb half-int thing, nerfed mind blast again so the stun effect is only available at later levels and lasts one round, reworded extract brain so you don't inherit *all* memories anymore, just a general idea of the victim's life and personality
latest patch: added reversed gnomish cunning, nerfed intimidating prescence to apply to humanoids only, added exile cloak so dms can't justify having guards kos