Intellect Devourer Encounter (suggestions please!)

[Quirken]

Basically, an Intellect Devourer can reanimate bodies and pretend to be people. This seems to have great potential for confusing the hell out of my players.

I'm designing a dungeon crawl for a party of 5 level-6 characters. (Paladin, Rogue-melee, Rogue-ranged, Cleric, Sorceror). This is more of a GM-oriented set of questions, although this is a Pathfinder campaign.

The Intellect Devourer's stat block is here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/mon...llect-devourer (3.5e version here: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Intellect_Devourer).

The PCs know they're looking for the sister of someone from town, but don't know what she looks like.

Basically, my plan is to have an "NPC from town" tied up and in a chair in a room with a bunch of other helpless/recently dead characters. PCs will probably go in, untie her, etc, and something will distract them (probably a crazed townsfolk tries to attack the "NPC"). Meanwhile, NPC will "cower" behind them. After an easy fight, the "NPC," actually a (weakened) Intellect Devourer, will use Confusion on one of the PCs.

This should create some great chaos and they'll probably blame it on something else if all goes as planned. While they're distracted again, she'll actually attack.

Anyway... here come the questions. I want to weaken the ID because it just seems pretty damn tough as is. I'm thinking higher-AC, lower HP, much lower DR, no resistance, and lots of relatively weak bodies for him to take over.

Does this seem like a good way to balance a fun/bizarre encounter with challenge? Or am I overdoing it? Any ideas on how to make more chaos without making it too tough?

[averagejoe]

The Mod They Call Me: This probably belongs in roleplaying games. Thread moved.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Well, first I gotta ask is have you ever seen a Tsochar from Lords of Madness? It just does that. Once it is inside a living being, it can kill them, and keep their neurological system going. Basically it is controlling dead bodies. Can also cast or manifest whatever they could. Pretty cool monster. Can leave at any time, take over another body, then return to the old later.

[Quirken]

Well, first I gotta ask is have you ever seen a Tsochar from Lords of Madness? It just does that. Once it is inside a living being, it can kill them, and keep their neurological system going. Basically it is controlling dead bodies. Can also cast or manifest whatever they could. Pretty cool monster. Can leave at any time, take over another body, then return to the old later.

Sounds like pretty much the same monster, except the stat block is much weaker, and it can control without killing. Oh, and there's much, much more in depth description of behavior. Hmm, thanks :)

[Mikeavelli]

Basically, my plan is to have an "NPC from town" tied up and in a chair in a room with a bunch of other helpless/recently dead characters. PCs will probably go in, untie her, etc, and something will distract them (probably a crazed townsfolk tries to attack the "NPC"). Meanwhile, NPC will "cower" behind them. After an easy fight, the "NPC," actually a (weakened) Intellect Devourer, will use Confusion on one of the PCs.

This should create some great chaos and they'll probably blame it on something else if all goes as planned. While they're distracted again, she'll actually attack.

I know my PC's cry foul every time a trap is sprung without any chance of having seen it coming on their part, and they'll do things like "Sense Motive!!!11!" at the drop of a hat, so if yours are anything like mine consider making it part of the plan what kind of skills and DC's they can use to sniff out the trap before it happens.

----

What is the goal of the Intelllect Devourer? To just kill/weaken the PC's so it can use them as Hosts?

-----

For anything with a brain eater vibe to it, you can throw in a pack of Cranium Rats as mooks.

[Quirken]

I know my PC's cry foul every time a trap is sprung without any chance of having seen it coming on their part, and they'll do things like "Sense Motive!!!11!" at the drop of a hat, so if yours are anything like mine consider making it part of the plan what kind of skills and DC's they can use to sniff out the trap before it happens.

Considering I'm pretty new at DMing, I don't think they'll suspect this sort of thing from me, but afterwords, they will in the future, I think. I guess I should expect a sense motive as a possibility, though.

What is the goal of the Intelllect Devourer? To just kill/weaken the PC's so it can use them as Hosts?

That's pretty much the weakest part of this idea. I have no idea, I guess so. My goal is just to provide a really unusual encounter that will hopefully leave them confused for a little while, provide some challenge, but not be too brutal. (The novelty will wear off after they kill a few host bodies...)

The Intellect Devourer... probably just wants new hosts, I guess. Or maybe it made a deal with the Undead boss at the end of the dungeon. Or maybe it's afraid of said undead, and trying to hide.

Oooh, that gives me an idea. Maybe the intellect devourer should stay with them rather than attacking them right away. Like the PCs escort it back to town, and along the way, there's a random encounter, and then it strikes.

Actually, I really like that idea.

I'm thinking the PCs stumble upon a camp with some fresh bodies, and while they're inevitably making a heal check to figure out what killed them, something jumps out of the bushes. Then things procede as planned before.

I can just give the ID a few properties of the Tsochar, namely that it can choose to hide in a host without killing it. It can be sitting there, threatening to kill the person they're trying to rescue. And since the goal of the ID would be the same goal as the NPC (escaping the dungeon), it meshes perfectly and there'd be a high sense motive to tell the difference between fear of dungeon and fear of the ID.