Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 SillyMind Jan 22, 2015 9:47:04	Hi everybody! I was planning our next game where my party of 4-5 level 5 PCs enters the cave of a Mind Flayer. I wanted the cave to bring them to level 6 and climax with the fight with the Mind Flayer so I started populating the cave with ''thralls'' and aberations. I read the lore of multiple monsters and decided it was logical to have many Intellect Devorers working for the BBEG.   Reading their statblock and their abilities I feel astonished by their lethality. First they are hard to injure (resistance on all physical damages) and their Devour Intellect is pretty sure to work on low/mid intelligent PCs ''killing'' the PC in the process. At 0 Int you are ''brain dead'' and only a Greater Restoration spell can heal that ability loss. After that we have the Body Thief ability that destroys the target's brain for which only a Wish spell can help.   I never used that monster and was wondering what is the community's opinion on that its abilities, if other DMs have used it against their party and how it played out.   Thanks!
#2 EzechielDantan Jan 22, 2015 9:58:42	Haven't used it but if I do I will most likely use it more as a plot device than use it directly against the players.
#3 Noctaem Jan 22, 2015 10:21:49	What level are these creatures stat blocks?  This kind of monster doesn't sound like it's designed for a group of level 4-5 PC's.  One option would be to custom make a lesser intellect devourer creature that resembles the one in the stat blocks you're talking about but doesn't have the lethality you mentioned.  Like instead of body thief removing the brain, the creature just latches onto the head of the victim and controls it.  Remove the lesser intellect devourer and the victim is ok again.  Stuff like that.
(Reply to #3) SillyMind	Noctaem wrote:
#5 Noctaem Jan 22, 2015 11:02:24	SillyMind wrote:
#6 monkey-xuk Jan 22, 2015 14:57:51	I'm just about to throw one of these against my party of 4th level adventurers. It was going to be a pair, but they do seem kinda dangerous.
#7 Slyck314 Jan 22, 2015 15:12:38	I think the most interesting thing about Intellect Devourers is that their lethality is pretty consistant at most levels, particulaly to some classes.  They have to succeed in several rolls in order to successfully Devour Intellect so in that way they aren't much more lethal then a cockatrice or basilisk.  They'd make for a nice tense encounter in ones and twos, but I don't think I'd ever use them in gangs or hordes as the number of rolls they would get would almost guarantee a character being affected, at least not until the party has access to Greater Restoration.
#8 pukunui Jan 22, 2015 15:50:04	I'd suggest foreshadowing their presence so that the PCs can have the opportunity to arm themselves against the threat. In addition, you could have a number of "red shirts" accompany the PCs to the cave and have them fall victim to the intellect devourers .
#9 QwertyAzerty Jan 23, 2015 6:20:05	Retrun reading the devourer intellect entry.   AC : 12, easy to hit, even using power attack (-5 to hit +10 damage)   HP: 21: relatively low HP, (fireball do on average 28 damage, so the wizard/sorcerer can kill them all with one spell, a fighter/barbarian/paladin weilding a greatsword +1 (with 2 attack from being level 5) should do 2 time 2d6+5 so average 24 and this do not include power attack (-5 to hit +10 damage), yes resistance can possibly boost this to 42HP which become a bigger   the resistance is only against non magical damage, so if you have a weapon+1 no damage resistance, your arcane caster/divine caster using spell ignore the resistance, if you can imbue the weapon with magic (paladin smites, magic weapon, elemental weapon you ignore the resistance), Moondruid and monk gain the ability to make there unarmed attack magical (druid in wildshape form only) etc...   So the creature is relatively easy to kill.   Blindsight 60ft and speed of 40 ft: meaning the archer and spellcaster can attack without being seen by the devourer, so your archer got advantage (and rogue got sneak) and kite him   Then the devourer intellect ability: DC 12: yes most character might fail this save and could possibly fall down to 0 Intellect but the ability also say:   Monster Manual wrote:
(Reply to #9) SillyMind	QwertyAzerty wrote:
(Reply to #10) QwertyAzerty	SillyMind wrote:
#12 SillyMind Jan 23, 2015 10:21:57	Here, I prepared a new monster for my PCs with the Intellect Devourer in mind.   What I want my PCs to do is investigate the lair of the Mind Flayer and climax with the fight with it at the end. My dungeon is an underground abandoned temple to a god of war that was repurposed as the Mind Flayer's laboratory to experiment on humanoids brain and make sacrifices to his alien god (old ones). So the temple is overrun by ''tentacles-like neuro synapse links'' that light-up one in a while to let an electric influx pass. All those synapses are linked to the Mind Flayer's chamber and transmit information from many rooms to the central one. Some rooms are big pools of grey matter with many humanoids trapped to the walls and linked to the synapses for ''food''. I want to telegraph a sense of weirdness and horror like when they enter the hive in Alien. I will have many thralls controlled by ''probe-like'' creature ala Metroid and many swarm of Intellect Devourers without mental abilities (see below). I might put one or two ''real'' Intellect Devourers with the swarms but one of the enslaved humanoid will let the PCs know about their Devour Intellect and Body Thief ability beforehand.   Swarm of Intellect Devourers Medium swarm of Tiny aberrations, lawful evil Armor Class 13 Hit Points 44 (8d8+8) Speed 40 ft. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________