Mind Flayers in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Mind Flayers in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Saragon42
09-04-07, 04:55 PM I'm running a one-shot weekend game set in Sharn for a large group of players; since their characters will be well-optimized and likely pretty well equipped, I figured that a mind flayer might be a nice BBEG for the party to face in the last battle. Unfortunately, the game is set purely in Sharn as an urban adventure, and I'm having some trouble coming up with a motivation for such a creature to be at work in Sharn at all.

My rough draft of my BBEG's Big Bad Evil Plan is the forcible recruitment of slaves and soldiers for an army engaged in a battle in Khyber. Sharn seems a sensible place to do this sort of thing: Plenty of targets, plenty of food, plenty of "legitimate" reasons for people to disappear (especially the lower classes), plenty of wealth and items to acquire as an extra benefit to the mind flayer, and the lower levels provide plenty of hiding places and routes into and out of Khyber.

The only problem is that I have no idea if this is something a mind flayer in Eberron might do. It seems vaguely out of character for a mind flayer - even one acting through its minions - to expose itself to that sort of risk or to even take that much interest in the surface world; and I can't think of another Khyber power that would care enough to order an unwilling mind flayer servant to do so (the daelkyr, for example, have their own mad designs that don't really involve armies.) I've never used a mind flayer as a monster before and never run up against one in any other campaign, so I don't really know their behavior well; moreover, aberrations in Eberron have rather different motives than the same creatures in other settings.

I guess what I'm looking for is a good explanation for a mind flayer's presence in Eberron that isn't the traditional "alien cult leader" stereotype. If anyone can help flesh out the creature's role in Eberron and Khyber, that'd be very helpful too.

For the record, the party will all be sixth-level PCs, fairly well optimized with a mid-range point buy for stats and standard treasure appropriate to their level. There will be at least six PCs, which is why I'm considering a monster with so high a CR an acceptable opponent.
naturax
09-04-07, 05:11 PM Rogue mindflayer. There are a couple mentions of this in the ECS, especially the one in Graywall in Droaam. Just use the same story: imprisoned during the Daelkyr War and now that its free it wants revenge on the Daelkyr. Maybe it's building an army to go into Khyber and kill one of 'em.
ZimTsu
09-04-07, 05:15 PM Your mindflayer could have been banished from the underworld in a power struggle. Seeking revenge, he is recruiting an army and slaves to build a base for his revenge.

I don't really now much about mindflayers or Khyber, so I don't know if this is helpful.
Altar_Boy
09-04-07, 05:33 PM One tip: maximize the use of your Mindflayer. Have him show up behind the scenes before the final battle. Use his mind powers on lone PCs to throw off the group, or make him a Sleeper Agent. Have him manipulate authority figures or friends to give him the maximum advantage.

Instead of an army, why not have the Illithid round up sacrifices? Humanoids, gold, weapons: to the twisted Khyberian mind, all other life are commodities to be exploited.
JMSilverwolf
09-04-07, 05:35 PM First off remember in Eberron many mind flayers are still servents of the few Daelkyr still trapped on Eberron. Are they're the kind of bad guys that do evil stuff just because they can. So the mind flayer's motivation need not be it's own. It could just be serving it's master's ends.

Also keep in mind that part of the uniqueness of Eberron is it stretches the rules when it comes to who does what. I still drool about the idea of throwing my PCs against an insane ancient CE gold dragon.

For a good devious plot where one of the main villains is a mind flayer read Keith Baker's City of Towers.
ZeroSD
09-05-07, 12:39 AM and I can't think of another Khyber power that would care enough to order an unwilling mind flayer servant to do so (the daelkyr, for example, have their own mad designs that don't really involve armies.)

The local Mind Flayers may be co-opted by a Rakshasa Lord (not a Rajah, but still a powerful unique one) as minions that, while threatening, feared, and powerful are generally traced back to Daelkyr instead of herself. Or alternatively, a Daelkyr may be threatened by such a Rakshasa and need some Mindflayers to do that plan to help stop her.
Saragon42
09-06-07, 01:08 PM One tip: maximize the use of your Mindflayer. Have him show up behind the scenes before the final battle. Use his mind powers on lone PCs to throw off the group, or make him a Sleeper Agent. Have him manipulate authority figures or friends to give him the maximum advantage.
I'd planned on this to a degree, especially since dominated thralls offer so many wonderful ways to mess with my players. I don't know that I want it affecting PCs directly until they find his lair; I can't imagine that a mind flayer could move freely in the public areas of Sharn, even under cover of night. Still, if you have suggestions on how it might do so, they'd be welcome.
Instead of an army, why not have the Illithid round up sacrifices? Humanoids, gold, weapons: to the twisted Khyberian mind, all other life are commodities to be exploited.
Certainly my mind flayer is gathering whatever material goods his "acquisitions" happen to have on them (in fact, that's a small part of the story's hook) but the word "sacrifices" I'm a bit uncomfortable with. Food? Sure. Thralls for whatever community it comes from, and for itself? Sure. But killing humanoids simply for sport? Again, that seems somewhat out of character. I could almost buy an adventurous mind flayer seeing an "ecological niche" in the depths of Sharn simply based on the abundance of food, though.

First off remember in Eberron many mind flayers are still servents of the few Daelkyr still trapped on Eberron. Are they're the kind of bad guys that do evil stuff just because they can. So the mind flayer's motivation need not be it's own. It could just be serving it's master's ends.
Having skimmed through Lords of Madness I'd considered the idea of the illithid obeying a direct order from its community's elder brain; but the exact species of monster giving the mind flayer an order isn't terribly relevant. It's the purpose of its actions I'm trying to finalize. Still, a servitor mind flayer does hint at a larger problem the PCs may have to deal with, and would be a good hook for a later game or campaign -- I'll definitely consider it.
Saragon42
09-06-07, 01:15 PM Now, a new question about mind flayers: Thralls and companions. Obviously, the food stock and manual labor involved in maintaining a lair can be handled by commoner/expert thralls -- kidnapped laborers and the like. "Defender" thralls I can come up with on my own, too. But it would seem to me that a mind flayer might have other creatures around it: Intellect devourers, psithsics, grick swarms, and other aberrations. Any suggestions for good aberrations (or otherwise creepy-crawly non-undead minions) appropriate to a mind flayer?
Darakhoranon
09-06-07, 03:54 PM "Failed" mind flayers...

I can´t remember where I read it (probably some Underdark supplement in 2E...), but when a new mind flayer is "born" (i.e. a tadpole takes over another beings body), there is a chance for the process not working correctly, which creates some kind of "sub-race". So you suddenly have something like, say, a dwarf with tentacles sticking out of his mouth. Or an elf with slimy skin and pupilless, milky white eyes. Or...

Apart from that, there is that relatively big part of MM V - mind flayers of Thoon. Quite a few constructs/creepy things you could use (just ignore the part about Thoon).
glug
09-07-07, 02:53 PM He could be rounding up an army of goblins, kobolds and other lesser citizens of Sharn, with the intent of using them to gather all of the loose and attached-to-items Khyber shards he can so that he can return them to his Daelkyr master in Khyber. Perhaps the veins have been running a little dry, and he was tasked with finding more for some diabolical purpose. How would a mindflayer do this? Go to Sharn, find people to do the work for you.

Also, my level 8 party of 6 players made short work of a couple of disciples of thoon with 4 thoon soldier buddies. Well, not short work, but work none-the-less. I would suggest that if the party seems a bit more powerful than you had hoped, trading in your mindflayer for a Disciple of Thoon, or something in between, might help. Essentially, it's a mindflayer with 4 levels of cleric, but you can go with 2, and gain the benefits of a couple of buffs and full plate armor on your squishy BBEG.

I know I hate it when a mindflayer gets charged and chopped to pieces in 6 seconds =(
Drag0nUL
09-07-07, 03:29 PM Good things to have around the house of a Mind Flayer(apart form what other people have mentioned:
Dolgrims and Dolgaunts (preferably with class levels). These are aberrations specific to the Daelkyr, and if the Mind Flayer in question is working for them, he might have quite a fair amount of these.
A stray Gith or two (ghitzerei and githianki). These creatures were created to serve the ilithids a long time ago and even if the vast majority of them has turned on their former masters, the Mind Flayers might still appreciate the value of such servants (as thralls of course).

I also think that you should put an accent on the diversity of the mind flayer's thralls, because they probably have been gathered on an individual basis.
Closet_Nerd
09-07-07, 05:55 PM Mind flayers don't wait for one last big hurrah. They would be sniping your pcs at every chance it got. If this is a one time adventure I wouldn't be afraid to suck out some brains.

I was in a group of pcs that was attacked by 2 stone shaping illithids. We got reamed. Won the day, but reamed. That was 2nd edition... seems they don't have stone shape any more.

Anywho, keep in mind that mind flayers have a 19 intelligence.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Saragon42 09-04-07, 04:55 PM	I'm running a one-shot weekend game set in Sharn for a large group of players; since their characters will be well-optimized and likely pretty well equipped, I figured that a mind flayer might be a nice BBEG for the party to face in the last battle. Unfortunately, the game is set purely in Sharn as an urban adventure, and I'm having some trouble coming up with a motivation for such a creature to be at work in Sharn at all. My rough draft of my BBEG's Big Bad Evil Plan is the forcible recruitment of slaves and soldiers for an army engaged in a battle in Khyber. Sharn seems a sensible place to do this sort of thing: Plenty of targets, plenty of food, plenty of "legitimate" reasons for people to disappear (especially the lower classes), plenty of wealth and items to acquire as an extra benefit to the mind flayer, and the lower levels provide plenty of hiding places and routes into and out of Khyber. The only problem is that I have no idea if this is something a mind flayer in Eberron might do. It seems vaguely out of character for a mind flayer - even one acting through its minions - to expose itself to that sort of risk or to even take that much interest in the surface world; and I can't think of another Khyber power that would care enough to order an unwilling mind flayer servant to do so (the daelkyr, for example, have their own mad designs that don't really involve armies.) I've never used a mind flayer as a monster before and never run up against one in any other campaign, so I don't really know their behavior well; moreover, aberrations in Eberron have rather different motives than the same creatures in other settings. I guess what I'm looking for is a good explanation for a mind flayer's presence in Eberron that isn't the traditional "alien cult leader" stereotype. If anyone can help flesh out the creature's role in Eberron and Khyber, that'd be very helpful too. For the record, the party will all be sixth-level PCs, fairly well optimized with a mid-range point buy for stats and standard treasure appropriate to their level. There will be at least six PCs, which is why I'm considering a monster with so high a CR an acceptable opponent.
naturax 09-04-07, 05:11 PM	Rogue mindflayer. There are a couple mentions of this in the ECS, especially the one in Graywall in Droaam. Just use the same story: imprisoned during the Daelkyr War and now that its free it wants revenge on the Daelkyr. Maybe it's building an army to go into Khyber and kill one of 'em.
ZimTsu 09-04-07, 05:15 PM	Your mindflayer could have been banished from the underworld in a power struggle. Seeking revenge, he is recruiting an army and slaves to build a base for his revenge. I don't really now much about mindflayers or Khyber, so I don't know if this is helpful.
Altar_Boy 09-04-07, 05:33 PM	One tip: maximize the use of your Mindflayer. Have him show up behind the scenes before the final battle. Use his mind powers on lone PCs to throw off the group, or make him a Sleeper Agent. Have him manipulate authority figures or friends to give him the maximum advantage. Instead of an army, why not have the Illithid round up sacrifices? Humanoids, gold, weapons: to the twisted Khyberian mind, all other life are commodities to be exploited.
JMSilverwolf 09-04-07, 05:35 PM	First off remember in Eberron many mind flayers are still servents of the few Daelkyr still trapped on Eberron. Are they're the kind of bad guys that do evil stuff just because they can. So the mind flayer's motivation need not be it's own. It could just be serving it's master's ends. Also keep in mind that part of the uniqueness of Eberron is it stretches the rules when it comes to who does what. I still drool about the idea of throwing my PCs against an insane ancient CE gold dragon. For a good devious plot where one of the main villains is a mind flayer read Keith Baker's City of Towers.
ZeroSD 09-05-07, 12:39 AM	and I can't think of another Khyber power that would care enough to order an unwilling mind flayer servant to do so (the daelkyr, for example, have their own mad designs that don't really involve armies.) The local Mind Flayers may be co-opted by a Rakshasa Lord (not a Rajah, but still a powerful unique one) as minions that, while threatening, feared, and powerful are generally traced back to Daelkyr instead of herself. Or alternatively, a Daelkyr may be threatened by such a Rakshasa and need some Mindflayers to do that plan to help stop her.
Saragon42 09-06-07, 01:08 PM	One tip: maximize the use of your Mindflayer. Have him show up behind the scenes before the final battle. Use his mind powers on lone PCs to throw off the group, or make him a Sleeper Agent. Have him manipulate authority figures or friends to give him the maximum advantage. I'd planned on this to a degree, especially since dominated thralls offer so many wonderful ways to mess with my players. I don't know that I want it affecting PCs directly until they find his lair; I can't imagine that a mind flayer could move freely in the public areas of Sharn, even under cover of night. Still, if you have suggestions on how it might do so, they'd be welcome. Instead of an army, why not have the Illithid round up sacrifices? Humanoids, gold, weapons: to the twisted Khyberian mind, all other life are commodities to be exploited. Certainly my mind flayer is gathering whatever material goods his "acquisitions" happen to have on them (in fact, that's a small part of the story's hook) but the word "sacrifices" I'm a bit uncomfortable with. Food? Sure. Thralls for whatever community it comes from, and for itself? Sure. But killing humanoids simply for sport? Again, that seems somewhat out of character. I could almost buy an adventurous mind flayer seeing an "ecological niche" in the depths of Sharn simply based on the abundance of food, though. First off remember in Eberron many mind flayers are still servents of the few Daelkyr still trapped on Eberron. Are they're the kind of bad guys that do evil stuff just because they can. So the mind flayer's motivation need not be it's own. It could just be serving it's master's ends. Having skimmed through Lords of Madness I'd considered the idea of the illithid obeying a direct order from its community's elder brain; but the exact species of monster giving the mind flayer an order isn't terribly relevant. It's the purpose of its actions I'm trying to finalize. Still, a servitor mind flayer does hint at a larger problem the PCs may have to deal with, and would be a good hook for a later game or campaign -- I'll definitely consider it.
Saragon42 09-06-07, 01:15 PM	Now, a new question about mind flayers: Thralls and companions. Obviously, the food stock and manual labor involved in maintaining a lair can be handled by commoner/expert thralls -- kidnapped laborers and the like. "Defender" thralls I can come up with on my own, too. But it would seem to me that a mind flayer might have other creatures around it: Intellect devourers, psithsics, grick swarms, and other aberrations. Any suggestions for good aberrations (or otherwise creepy-crawly non-undead minions) appropriate to a mind flayer?
Darakhoranon 09-06-07, 03:54 PM	"Failed" mind flayers... I can´t remember where I read it (probably some Underdark supplement in 2E...), but when a new mind flayer is "born" (i.e. a tadpole takes over another beings body), there is a chance for the process not working correctly, which creates some kind of "sub-race". So you suddenly have something like, say, a dwarf with tentacles sticking out of his mouth. Or an elf with slimy skin and pupilless, milky white eyes. Or... Apart from that, there is that relatively big part of MM V - mind flayers of Thoon. Quite a few constructs/creepy things you could use (just ignore the part about Thoon).
glug 09-07-07, 02:53 PM	He could be rounding up an army of goblins, kobolds and other lesser citizens of Sharn, with the intent of using them to gather all of the loose and attached-to-items Khyber shards he can so that he can return them to his Daelkyr master in Khyber. Perhaps the veins have been running a little dry, and he was tasked with finding more for some diabolical purpose. How would a mindflayer do this? Go to Sharn, find people to do the work for you. Also, my level 8 party of 6 players made short work of a couple of disciples of thoon with 4 thoon soldier buddies. Well, not short work, but work none-the-less. I would suggest that if the party seems a bit more powerful than you had hoped, trading in your mindflayer for a Disciple of Thoon, or something in between, might help. Essentially, it's a mindflayer with 4 levels of cleric, but you can go with 2, and gain the benefits of a couple of buffs and full plate armor on your squishy BBEG. I know I hate it when a mindflayer gets charged and chopped to pieces in 6 seconds =(
Drag0nUL 09-07-07, 03:29 PM	Good things to have around the house of a Mind Flayer(apart form what other people have mentioned: Dolgrims and Dolgaunts (preferably with class levels). These are aberrations specific to the Daelkyr, and if the Mind Flayer in question is working for them, he might have quite a fair amount of these. A stray Gith or two (ghitzerei and githianki). These creatures were created to serve the ilithids a long time ago and even if the vast majority of them has turned on their former masters, the Mind Flayers might still appreciate the value of such servants (as thralls of course). I also think that you should put an accent on the diversity of the mind flayer's thralls, because they probably have been gathered on an individual basis.
Closet_Nerd 09-07-07, 05:55 PM	Mind flayers don't wait for one last big hurrah. They would be sniping your pcs at every chance it got. If this is a one time adventure I wouldn't be afraid to suck out some brains. I was in a group of pcs that was attacked by 2 stone shaping illithids. We got reamed. Won the day, but reamed. That was 2nd edition... seems they don't have stone shape any more. Anywho, keep in mind that mind flayers have a 19 intelligence.