Unlikely Alliance - A Pair of Illithid Slayers

[studderingdave]

So I am putting on the DM pants for a bit in our long running campaign. I have a fair amount of experience, but the story arc is bending with an aberration incursion. The DM is taking a PC role and allowed me to run a pair of illithid hunters as NPCs. The hitch is one of the hunters is actually an illithid from a former campaign arc that has gone "mad" with clarity, desiring to end the illithid "plague" that has infested this reality. I'm going to prepare a human to tag team with him as a pair of high end mindflayer killers. The campaign is floating at level 13-15 level, so the duo can be quite powerful. Any help would be appreciated.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Start the build with one level of this Ranger variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) to get fast movement.

Always get Expanded Knowledge: Energy Missile if you wouldn't otherwise be able to pick it. Use that to destroy opponents' weapons, shields, armor, holy symbols, spell component pouches, and persons. You can use it to destroy doors, bridges, the pillars supporting the ceiling, etc. It's basically the best blasting power in the game, don't leave home without it.

Take four levels of Ardent, using substitute powers (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a) to fill out his list. For his mantles I'd get Freedom, Natural World, and Time.

This character should have six levels of Sanctified Mind (LoM), having used the Otyugh Hole to get the Iron Will prerequisite. Finish the build with Illithid Slayer, he'll only have nine levels of that by 20th but that's fine. With Practiced Manifester he'll get access to higher level powers at the same rate as a single-classed Ardent, and he'll have 19/20 BAB as well. You could give him a fifth level of Ardent for another mantle in exchange for losing another point of BAB and delaying Slayer by one more level, but it's not necessary.

So that's Ranger 1/ Ardent 4/ Sanctified Mind 6/ Slayer 9 for the final build, or put one more Ardent level in there somewhere for one less Slayer.

Get a psicrystal (nimble) and keep it in a compartment on your person so opponents never have line of sight or line of effect to it and can't hit it with area effects. Give it a Healing Belt (MIC) that it can use on you during combat as needed. Learn the power Share Pain and always have that active on it, keeping in mind its Hardness 8 reduces every instance of damage it takes from Share Pain by as much. Learn the power Vigor and share that with your psicrystal whenever you use it.

Take Power Attack and Leap Attack and use a two-handed weapon. I'd probably get EWP: Greathorn Minotaur Greathammer (MMIV) and have one made from Deep Crystal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/specialMaterials.htm#crystalDeep), with Valorous (UE) and Sudden Stunning (DMG2). Get an XPH Torc of Power Preservation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#torcofPowerPreservation), while MIC tried to reprint it as a nerfed version, they're different enough that they could be considered 'lesser' and 'greater' versions and both available as printed. A Third Eye: Sense (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#sense) is broken because it can be used to remotely view an area, then use it again to remotely view someplace you can see from the previous use, and repeat as needed to effortlessly scout and spy to your heart's content.

Be sure he has all the necessary magic item (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items) effects covered by his powers, class features, or items. I'd give him a magical mithral breastplate and an animated heavy shield, and don't forget per MIC p234 you can put flat bonuses on existing items of an appropriate item slot for the same price as buying a separate item of the same bonus.

[studderingdave]

Wow, thanks for the insight. Any suggestions on the mind flayer side of the dual? Should I go stock with an alignment shift and some minor tweaks? The pair will be call leaders to a small cadre of flayer hunters.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A MM Mind Flayer is ECL 15 out of the gate, but only CR 8. I'd definitely use the XPH version that gets Psion (Telepath) 9 manifesting. Ignoring the level adjustment and instead aiming for CR ~15, we have about six levels to work with. Be sure to give him Mindsight from Lords of Madness.

You could give it more Psion levels, but that runs into a bit of shenanigans. Similarly to how a Lammasu (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lammasu.htm) gets Cleric spellcasting and the Good and Healing domains, if you give it a Cleric level it gains two more domains because that's what you get at Cleric 1. At Psion 1 you get to pick a discipline, so it could actually get access to powers from two discipline lists by giving it a Psion level. I honestly don't think this is even necessary, so I'd go another route. The other character is the muscle, this one should have better things to do in combat than making physical attacks, but he should still be physically dangerous as all Mind Flayers are.

Option 1: Give it Incarnate or Totemist 2, which are not associated levels so they each count as +1/2 CR. Give it six levels of Soul Manifester (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20060217a) and you've got a CR 15 (ECL 23, but 16 HD) Mind Flayer boss. He has Psion (Telepath) 15 manifesting, and Incarnate or Totemist 8 for soulmelds. Add or remove Soul Manifester levels if you want it weaker or stronger. Incarnate is more for utility, Totemist is if you want it to do melee.

Option 2: Give it Binder 2, its 9th HD feat needs to be Improved Binding, and throw on a psionic adaptation of Anima Mage. Binder is not an associated class so two levels is +1 CR, and six levels of Anima Mage (Anima Manifester?) hits CR 15 (still ECL 23, 16 HD). That's still Psion (Telepath) 15 manifesting, and able to bind two vestiges of up to 5th level. I would honestly give him one more level of Anima Mage to get 6th level vestiges, and bind Zagan along with taking Expanded Knowledge: Grip of Iron. This makes him extremely good at removing brains without making it his primary focus (maybe it's something he learned before he had a change of heart). The only problem with this route is the role-playing implications of binding vestiges, but it can definitely work if you don't bind something silly (or do, if that's how you want him to play).

Option 3: Go Spellthief 2/ Psychic Assassin (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040723d) 6+, maybe remove the death attack and poison use and the evil and special prerequisites. Keep in mind that the text trumps the table, he doesn't lose manifesting at the 5th level. Get Mind Cripple, take TWF and Multiattack and wear Gloves of the Balanced Hand. With Mindsight he'll know the Int score of anything he can use telepathy on, and he'll deal 2 Int damage with every sneak attack. With three main hand attacks, two offhand attacks, and four secondary tentacle attacks, that's 18 Int damage he can deal in a single full attack without Haste or similar. A creature reduced to Int 0 goes into a coma, but doesn't die from it. The Spellthief levels enable him to use wands of any Wizard spell from a school that class gets access to, namely a Wand of Wraithstrike in a wand chamber of his primary weapon. Have him use some type of unusual weapon like punching daggers, since the hp damage he deals won't even matter.

[studderingdave]

Yeah I'm looking for the flayer to be the psionic side of the duo. Wanting to keep it simple so i think the spellthief option is more of what I want. I sort of want to reduce emphasis on the brain eating, sort of like he knows it's unnatural and wrong despite it being the source of his nourishment. I like the mind flayer to be martial when needed, since I have him meeting the party after a drawn out combat between the duo and a flayer cell with slaves.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Give the illithid the sustenance power (or a ring of sustenance) that has been modified to provide the psionic nourishment he needs. Perhaps make illithids unable to refill their pp stores through rest, and instead have most consume brains to absorb the psionic energy to do so.

This one, though, uses one of the many, many, many power point recharge tricks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23808698&postcount=30) out there.

Doesn't mean he doesn't crave brains (treat as a drug addiction, perhaps?), but he can function without them.

In fact, I would personally play him as a drug addict gone straight, with the resources and help to overcome the cravings, but they still plague him. Research the physical and mental effects of withdrawal, and give them to him as flaws. Perhaps he has certain situations in which he will consume the brain of a living creature in order to curb the slowly-growing torment, but he holds to those rules like a drowning man to a lifeline.

Is there a local BEA* branch he could join?


"Hi. My name is Xyx'tersthsthl. And I am a psi-addict."

"Hi, Xy... Xyx't... Err..."

"You can call me Bob."

"Hi, Bob!"



*Brain-Eaters Anonymous

[studderingdave]

I like that from an RP perspective. I work in mental health, so i can apply those withdraw traits easily.

[Particle_Man]

Can an Illithid extract and eat the brain of another Illithid?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I like that from an RP perspective. I work in mental health, so i can apply those withdraw traits easily.Perhaps sanity is a(n un)fortunate side-effect of withdrawal for illithids, and that's the reason he's lucid, while the others definitely aren't?