Quote Originally Posted by redwizard007 View Post
What we really need to ask is, "Is Mindflayer just a meaningless term?"


Responding seriously for a second though...


Vampires are defined, in part, by their laundry list of weaknesses. It's true that both monsters hate sunlight, but that's basically where it ends - a lot of the other stuff (holy water, garlic, running water, holy symbol, turning) won't do squat against an Illithid except add flavor to your brain.

They also have different strengths. A lone Illithid is a threat of course, but not nearly as much of one as a lone vampire. Vampires can propagate themselves completely solo, and every time they do they gain lasting backup (the kind they can't lose to a lucky saving throw) to help further their ends. Left alone, a single vampire could potentially subvert an entire village or even country. Illithids meanwhile can procreate using their victims too, but it is a much more involved and lengthy process, and it requires them to already have an entire community nearby (tadpoles + elder brain) - by themselves, they just can't do much.

The biggest difference mechanically is that most Illithids are a known quantity. Their abilities are more or less defined, with the vast majority being noodly-armed (and noodly-faced) Telepaths. Vampire meanwhile is a template, and you can never be totally sure what you'll face ahead of time, especially since Vampires have all of eternity to reinvent themselves or pick up new pursuits. Some are casters, some are bruisers, some are sneaks, and their powers compliment all three approaches.

The last key difference is that Vampires are, well, sexy. Even before Twilight, that was a hugely integral part of the mythos. Not only can they blend into society, there is a pretty substantial minority of society that wants them to. That gives them a much bigger capacity to seed society with their plots and play the long game.

Now, I'm sure there are any number of deviants who view Illithids the same way - but for the most part, their only community is with each other and with those nearby races (like Drow enclaves) that they can't wholly subjugate - at least not yet. Their ability to effect political machinations is limited to dominating important people, and that isn't nearly as feasible long-term.