Quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sul_Zain_Aserbet
05-28-07, 11:12 PM Hey fellas. I see a few posts out there close to this, so i hope someone takes an interest in this question.

What is the quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" By quick, i mean in terms of levels.

For example, an actual Mind Flayer has an ECL of 15. However, with the illithid heritage feats and possibly (gag) the flayerspawn PrC, a PC might be able to become, in all practicality, a flayer much quicker. It just seems like you need a bunch of feats.

Psychic warrior looks promising, as illithid feats count as psionic feats, but does anyone have a quicker way to max out illithidy goodness?

optimally, a flayer by level 6 would be fantastic, as one could PrC out early. However, thats probably not too practical.

The other way i was thinking was going druid/master of many forms route with a bunch of feats from savage species to flush out abilities. The only problem here is that the druid levels dont seem to have as good synergy with being an illithid as being a psychic class of some kind. With psychic classes, you can shoot for Thrallherd.
Lina_Inverse
05-29-07, 01:24 AM For example, an actual Mind Flayer has an ECL of 15.

So a party of 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer? Anyone want to figure that one out?
Karkaras
05-29-07, 03:25 AM In Underdark you have the Half-Illithid Template.
It has mind blast, tentacles and the extract ability.
Kaiberon
05-29-07, 03:54 AM what's the name of the book?
calronmoonflower
05-29-07, 03:58 AM what's the name of the book?

Underdark
Fafnir
05-29-07, 05:35 AM So a party of 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer? Anyone want to figure that one out?

Well, yes. The same goes for any other creature. Standard encounters require some effort, but they aren't supposed to be 50/50 lose/win.
AntiDjinn
05-29-07, 10:52 AM The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts.
Rageheart
05-29-07, 11:17 AM FYI:

If they start shaking salt and pepper onto your scalp after strapping you in the chair, you snuck into the WRONG slave pen.

:coolcthul
Ryuu_Tenshi
05-29-07, 11:27 AM The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts.

I was about to say... :P
Sul_Zain_Aserbet
05-29-07, 12:53 PM The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts.

THAT IS HILARIOUS!!! i laughed for about 1 minute straight.
Wayfarer
05-29-07, 11:58 PM Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer.

Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself.
Thomar_of_Uointer
05-30-07, 12:11 AM Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer.

Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself.

That's a decent trick, actually. You might not even need to bother with waiting a week, as you know when you manifest the power whether or not it failed its save. Unfortunately, the wording of mind seed gives a DM the opportunity to say you become an NPC.
Kaiberon
05-30-07, 01:01 AM well according to my conversation with customer service, which went rather well and was at least swift in response despite the holiday

The Fastest Way would seem to be a Psychic Warrior that goes Flayerspawn Psychic., you can look at those 4 lost manifester levels as LA;)

but seriously, if you start as a human and your GM rules that you can take improved grapple with no more than the Claws power as a prepreq it's pretty easy to make a brain eating, mind blasting nightmare.
Moosh Nailo
05-30-07, 10:00 PM In case you haven't allready, you'll want to check out the Illithid Savant PrC in Savage Species.

Not sure if your DM will allow it, first because it's from SS, and second because it has a requirement of race: mindflayer which I'm not sure you qualify for. Alternately, the requirements could be altered to accomodate Illithid Heritage feats, maybe having a requisite number before entrey is gained?

If you do get a chance to nab a few levels, do it. You can "learn" skills from squishies whose brains you consume, you can make lore checks (similar to bardic knowledge) using info gained from your meals, you can acquire feats, class features, and more over the course of the class. Bloody wicked, IMO.
Lina_Inverse
05-30-07, 10:29 PM Well, yes. The same goes for any other creature. Standard encounters require some effort, but they aren't supposed to be 50/50 lose/win.

You didn't read.

1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.)

4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses.

Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer.
Ornedan
05-31-07, 03:30 AM You didn't read.

1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.)

4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses.

Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer.

Which would imply that illithid are ninja :eek:

Also, shouldn't that be CR11 and CR12?
Fafnir
05-31-07, 07:28 AM You didn't read.

1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.)

4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses.

Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer.

Yup, I forgot that Flayers are CR 8. I blame it all on the LA system. The higher the adjustment goes, the worse the ECL/CR relation gets, as it was developed as an approximation for PCs (typically LA < 2).

My bad, anyway.:embarrass
Karkaras
05-31-07, 07:43 PM well according to my conversation with customer service, which went rather well and was at least swift in response despite the holiday

The Fastest Way would seem to be a Psychic Warrior that goes Flayerspawn Psychic., you can look at those 4 lost manifester levels as LA;)

but seriously, if you start as a human and your GM rules that you can take improved grapple with no more than the Claws power as a prepreq it's pretty easy to make a brain eating, mind blasting nightmare.

This thread is [ Quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" ]

Are you telling us that CustServ actually told you that you can become a Mind Flayer to all pourposes by choosing the illithid heritage feat and the Flayerspawn Psychic PrC?

(I know that there are inverted commas in the thread name, but maybe, just maybe, we are in front of something big here)
Tyroki
05-31-07, 08:27 PM Well if you're another race you could let them fill your braincase with goo, set your backstory as the Elder Brain was killed, and viola xD
Jaid
05-31-07, 08:29 PM Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer.

Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself.hmmm... you know, come to think of it, there was rumoured to be an enemy to the illithids who came out of ceremorphosis with his personality intact... (in 2nd edition?)

clearly he had a variant mind seed or something :P (or perhaps he mind switched?)
CrimsonDeath
05-31-07, 08:53 PM Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer.
Although, since the larva isn't humanoid, you'll have to Mind Switch with it, then Mind Seed it while it's in your body
Jaid
06-01-07, 12:52 AM Although, since the larva isn't humanoid, you'll have to Mind Switch with it, then Mind Seed it while it's in your body

well, there's the beauty of it...

you mind switch into it, right?

well your body wasn't *killed*, and it's still your body... so just make sure you stay switched long enough to not have your personality destroyed... and you're good to go :)
CrimsonDeath
06-01-07, 02:30 PM In that case, you'd want to True Mind Switch with it, so you don't die when the power ends. (You'll just gain a negative level during ceremorphosis.)
Jaid
06-01-07, 07:57 PM In that case, you'd want to True Mind Switch with it, so you don't die when the power ends. (You'll just gain a negative level during ceremorphosis.)what negative level? it's body is still alive, and your body is still alive (just transformed) :P

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sul_Zain_Aserbet 05-28-07, 11:12 PM	Hey fellas. I see a few posts out there close to this, so i hope someone takes an interest in this question. What is the quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" By quick, i mean in terms of levels. For example, an actual Mind Flayer has an ECL of 15. However, with the illithid heritage feats and possibly (gag) the flayerspawn PrC, a PC might be able to become, in all practicality, a flayer much quicker. It just seems like you need a bunch of feats. Psychic warrior looks promising, as illithid feats count as psionic feats, but does anyone have a quicker way to max out illithidy goodness? optimally, a flayer by level 6 would be fantastic, as one could PrC out early. However, thats probably not too practical. The other way i was thinking was going druid/master of many forms route with a bunch of feats from savage species to flush out abilities. The only problem here is that the druid levels dont seem to have as good synergy with being an illithid as being a psychic class of some kind. With psychic classes, you can shoot for Thrallherd.
Lina_Inverse 05-29-07, 01:24 AM	For example, an actual Mind Flayer has an ECL of 15. So a party of 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer? Anyone want to figure that one out?
Karkaras 05-29-07, 03:25 AM	In Underdark you have the Half-Illithid Template. It has mind blast, tentacles and the extract ability.
Kaiberon 05-29-07, 03:54 AM	what's the name of the book?
calronmoonflower 05-29-07, 03:58 AM	what's the name of the book? Underdark
Fafnir 05-29-07, 05:35 AM	So a party of 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer? Anyone want to figure that one out? Well, yes. The same goes for any other creature. Standard encounters require some effort, but they aren't supposed to be 50/50 lose/win.
AntiDjinn 05-29-07, 10:52 AM	The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts.
Rageheart 05-29-07, 11:17 AM	FYI: If they start shaking salt and pepper onto your scalp after strapping you in the chair, you snuck into the WRONG slave pen. :coolcthul
Ryuu_Tenshi 05-29-07, 11:27 AM	The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts. I was about to say... :P
Sul_Zain_Aserbet 05-29-07, 12:53 PM	The quickest way to become a mind flayer is to kick back while they shove a tadpole in your ear. It could happen to a first level character if you somehow wound up in their slave pens. If you are in a real hurry, I bet everyone else in line would let you take cuts. THAT IS HILARIOUS!!! i laughed for about 1 minute straight.
Wayfarer 05-29-07, 11:58 PM	Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer. Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself.
Thomar_of_Uointer 05-30-07, 12:11 AM	Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer. Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself. That's a decent trick, actually. You might not even need to bother with waiting a week, as you know when you manifest the power whether or not it failed its save. Unfortunately, the wording of mind seed gives a DM the opportunity to say you become an NPC.
Kaiberon 05-30-07, 01:01 AM	well according to my conversation with customer service, which went rather well and was at least swift in response despite the holiday The Fastest Way would seem to be a Psychic Warrior that goes Flayerspawn Psychic., you can look at those 4 lost manifester levels as LA;) but seriously, if you start as a human and your GM rules that you can take improved grapple with no more than the Claws power as a prepreq it's pretty easy to make a brain eating, mind blasting nightmare.
Moosh Nailo 05-30-07, 10:00 PM	In case you haven't allready, you'll want to check out the Illithid Savant PrC in Savage Species. Not sure if your DM will allow it, first because it's from SS, and second because it has a requirement of race: mindflayer which I'm not sure you qualify for. Alternately, the requirements could be altered to accomodate Illithid Heritage feats, maybe having a requisite number before entrey is gained? If you do get a chance to nab a few levels, do it. You can "learn" skills from squishies whose brains you consume, you can make lore checks (similar to bardic knowledge) using info gained from your meals, you can acquire feats, class features, and more over the course of the class. Bloody wicked, IMO.
Lina_Inverse 05-30-07, 10:29 PM	Well, yes. The same goes for any other creature. Standard encounters require some effort, but they aren't supposed to be 50/50 lose/win. You didn't read. 1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.) 4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses. Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer.
Ornedan 05-31-07, 03:30 AM	You didn't read. 1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.) 4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses. Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer. Which would imply that illithid are ninja :eek: Also, shouldn't that be CR11 and CR12?
Fafnir 05-31-07, 07:28 AM	You didn't read. 1 mindflayer is ECL 15, so a standard encounter to him is ECL11, such an encounter should drain 20% of his resouses(hitpoints, spells etc.) 4 mind flayers are ECL12, so they should drain about 30% of 1 mind flayers recourses. Not 1 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 4 mind flayers, 4 mind flayers is a standard encounter to 1 mind flayer. Yup, I forgot that Flayers are CR 8. I blame it all on the LA system. The higher the adjustment goes, the worse the ECL/CR relation gets, as it was developed as an approximation for PCs (typically LA < 2). My bad, anyway.:embarrass
Karkaras 05-31-07, 07:43 PM	well according to my conversation with customer service, which went rather well and was at least swift in response despite the holiday The Fastest Way would seem to be a Psychic Warrior that goes Flayerspawn Psychic., you can look at those 4 lost manifester levels as LA;) but seriously, if you start as a human and your GM rules that you can take improved grapple with no more than the Claws power as a prepreq it's pretty easy to make a brain eating, mind blasting nightmare. This thread is [ Quickest way to become a "Mind Flayer?" ] Are you telling us that CustServ actually told you that you can become a Mind Flayer to all pourposes by choosing the illithid heritage feat and the Flayerspawn Psychic PrC? (I know that there are inverted commas in the thread name, but maybe, just maybe, we are in front of something big here)
Tyroki 05-31-07, 08:27 PM	Well if you're another race you could let them fill your braincase with goo, set your backstory as the Elder Brain was killed, and viola xD
Jaid 05-31-07, 08:29 PM	Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer. Or (you know, since that won't work) you use Polymorph Any Object to turn into a mind-flayer larva, and infest a clone of yourself.hmmm... you know, come to think of it, there was rumoured to be an enemy to the illithids who came out of ceremorphosis with his personality intact... (in 2nd edition?) clearly he had a variant mind seed or something :P (or perhaps he mind switched?)
CrimsonDeath 05-31-07, 08:53 PM	Dude... actually, all you'd need to do would be to manifest Mind Seed on the flayer larva, wait a week, and then infest yourself... with the mind-seeded larva. Boom: you're a Mind Flayer. Although, since the larva isn't humanoid, you'll have to Mind Switch with it, then Mind Seed it while it's in your body
Jaid 06-01-07, 12:52 AM	Although, since the larva isn't humanoid, you'll have to Mind Switch with it, then Mind Seed it while it's in your body well, there's the beauty of it... you mind switch into it, right? well your body wasn't killed, and it's still your body... so just make sure you stay switched long enough to not have your personality destroyed... and you're good to go :)
CrimsonDeath 06-01-07, 02:30 PM	In that case, you'd want to True Mind Switch with it, so you don't die when the power ends. (You'll just gain a negative level during ceremorphosis.)
Jaid 06-01-07, 07:57 PM	In that case, you'd want to True Mind Switch with it, so you don't die when the power ends. (You'll just gain a negative level during ceremorphosis.)what negative level? it's body is still alive, and your body is still alive (just transformed) :P