Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Mind Flayer

[@Darkraggs]

Great video and keep up the good work ❤ 1:18 Meta Origin 1:50 Publication History 4:05 Ecology 4:34 Tadpole Stage 5:26 Ceremorphosis 6:40 Host Races 7:21 Adult Size 8:18 Senses and Sun Resentment 10:08 Mucus Properties 10:24 Diet and Digestion 11:35 Variant Intellect Devourer 11:45 Joining the Elder Brain 12:45 Colony Communication 13:12 Elder Brain Pt 2 14:25 Brain Golem 14:43 Ulitharid 15:44 Origin 20:46 Neolithid 22:00 Fun Fact: Scent 22:20 Illithid Roper 22:54 Vampiric Illithid (Feral, not charming) 23:30 Arcane Illithids 23:52 Alhoons 24:52 Mind Witness 25:56 Cranium Rats 26:15 Illithosites 26:42 humanoid cattle 28:03 Illithidae: animals with convergent evolution 28:50 Slime Chuul (ceremorph) 29:11 Mosgricken (Deep Gnome ceremorph) 30:25 Ceremorph Shock Troops (lizardfolk) 31:05 Oryndoll 31:40 Architecture & Tech 32:27 Language 32:58 City of Oryndoll 33:25 Founding of Oryndoll

[@joeiznang]

Pin this

[@just10joy]

Good video for playing a wizard in Baldur's Gate and thinking "My character should know a great deal about mindflayers, but I don't want to read spoilers for the game itself."

[@Steezington]

Baldurs gate 3 introduced me to dnd. I wish i’d discovered this stuff earlier, cuz this is amazing!

[@arronwright2331]

same here.

[@michaelstreilein9788]

Yeah, but now you get to binge and watch it all for the first time! Lucky.

[@daved1113]

nah regular dnd is boring

[@chrisw5403]

​@@daved1113 L opinion

[@HighmageDerin]

​@@daved1113 Please purtel tell me how is 50 years of lore stories and adventures boring?

[@ohorta1534]

As someone who’s never played DnD and is now in love with Baldurs Gate 3, this video is awesome. Great insight into the lore. Thanks.

[@AJPickett]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@itsashane1552]

Idea: a game where you play as an elder brain running a mindflayer colony

[@harrietr.5073]

here's how it could be, prologue. the mighty years. a mess around area getting you to test out spell jamming vessels, soldier placement, other enemies and traitors. chap 1 modern day mind city. planted in the middle of a land of standerd fantasy monsters. introduces traitors and boss monsters (fire dragons and liches) chap 2 breaching crystal sphere galaxies. spell jamming vessels and more alien enemies. introduces enemy illithid colonies and ship teleportation chap 3 the muiltiverse. you go after semi gods to get a way to bypass the far realm, introduces diverse hard monster colonies on each universe. final chap the beyond. your final challenge before becoming interdimensional conquers are the commanders of the lovecraftien gods armadas. possible secret bosses could be a time dragon (that warns you about your actions and if killed won't have their warning cutscenes appear in new game + lich illithid the king of traitors.

[@roseabee7503]

Both of you, shut up and just take my money!! XD

[@dhalterman]

Sid Meier's Civilization Illithid

[@MrFlashpoint1978]

Sim Cthulu City Edit: of course that's Sim R'leyh.

[@cyanhb9689]

Serve the Hive. Feel the groove.

[@lordnaarghul]

I believe I read somewhere that the cosmic Illithid Empire grew so vast and so powerful at one point that the Blood War actually stopped, with demons and devils considering a truce to deal with these powerful psychics. That's the level of scary these things can reach. Back in the early 2010s I had contemplated an alhoon antagonist who had an ambition of becoming the next Orcus, never really understanding that Orcus was using him as a blunt object to batter his enemies with.

[@marthachampagne316]

that reminds me.. i read in some 3.5 book about mind flayers using purple worms as mounts by causing a cyst in their mouth and a special harness that could be used to force the beasts mouth to stay open or shut... i forget the precise book but i think it was in a section about exotic mounts.

[@Eisfalken]

Arms & Equipment Guide, page 86. Rules are 3.0, but should still be perfectly valid. Same book has an item that allows you to "ride" a gelatinous cube, which would also make an interesting mount for a mind flayer.

[@JJbm4233]

Hell, the video I can’t believe I didn’t make a comment on last year when I first saw it. What a fantastic classic D&D channel.

[@amjthe_paleosquare9399]

Thank yo for such a comprehensiev video on mind flayers! I'm making an urban setting for my players that we can play multiple times, and one of the possible quest lines is about a mind flayer colony they may attempt to infiltrate, so this info is very useful! Also, I'd be watching even if I had no mind flayer stories to explore, because it's just that interesting :D

[@AJPickett]

I am honored to be of service!

[@moregasmthepowerful2959]

I had no idea that an Illithid could become a Lich. I think I've found my new favourite Monster.

[@The_Babe]

Same here!

[@krispalermo8133]

AD&D2ndE Dark Sun/ Ravenloft monstrous compendium Psionic Lich are nightmares to deal with.

[@yully89]

I always thought any arcane caster could achieve lichdom?

[@danielrobinson7872]

​@@yully89Pretty much. Though some races have a chance of failing and dying. Dragons for example.

[@yully89]

@@danielrobinson7872 same with them all though tbh.

[@SimonAshworthWood]

The psionic people of Athas and necromancers with their mindless undead hoards can save us from the mindflayers!

[@redashea3004]

The desert would do that itself😂

[@saeyabor]

34:41 "There's so much lore on the Mind Flayers I could talk about them all day, and maybe one day I will." Don't telepathically threaten us with a good time...

[@Pfhreak]

"Let's check KZbin before I got to bed." Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Mind Flayer - 44 seconds ago "Every once in a great while I have good timing."

[@arthurbonner8542]

I knew this was gonna be awesome, but man you knocked it way out of the park. Bravo (does a slow clap)

[@AJPickett]

Arthur Bonner thanks :)

[@Jabri-78]

I feel like I've half bastardized this race by playing one of these a bard. His instrument is a vuvuzela, which he plays because the vibrations feels good on his tentacles, but being healed by a vuvuzela is probably more excruciating than his mindblast.

[@AJPickett]

Ha ha ha! Oh my... that is great.

[@truefanforum3273]

Jackson Briggs Ever since the World Cup in South Africa I have considered the vuvuzela as an instrument if pure evil. So it makes sense a Mind Flayer would use one.

[@NodDisciple1]

+Reague of Regends It's not the heretical Abomination that is the Neothelid?

[@mercedeswalt6621]

That’s awesome! Please tell me more!

[@aniraz1]

damn, should've had him play the otamatone lmao

[@levimorne]

Gotta love these ancient evils from scary settings. Nothing like a marriage of Lovecraft and RPG!

[@draxthemsklonst]

Check out the aboleth! That one is...holy geez wtf.

[@jasonbovee7693]

I've been waiting for this! The mind flayers have been my favorite d&d monster since the ancient days of 1st edition, and this episode in the series truly did them justice. Well done!

[@reubenholcomb8568]

Your skin monster thing is now an official part of the mind flayer lore in my games. Too cool!

[@firetarrasque4667]

Absolutely.

[@joshuazane3210]

Great job, AJ. Your videos have always been great, but you can really see how the production values have improved over time.

[@FoxBatinaHat]

8:00 The legend of the Host-which retained its memory when turning into a Mindflayer (cough Baldur's Gate 3 cough)

[@AJPickett]

Oh that goes back to Bruce Cordell's source books on the Illithids.

[@shadowwarrior1003]

​@@AJPickett that is basically the Emperor though isn't it?

[@Teca89z]

The inspiration for Baldurs Gate 3 at 7:38

[@RenzorTheRed]

Yay. :) Loved the old mindflayer vid, it was one of my favorites. This one is missing all of the cool atmospheric details you had in the other one though, like when you were describing the lairs.

[@AJPickett]

Hmmm, true, and my simulation of a mind blast. Thanks, good critique.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Outstanding video on the illithids,great foe for any campaign Master Pickett! Keep cranking out that good content!

[@StoicheiaSage]

I played an Illithid once as an ambitious Rogue/Wizard that was a Mastermind subclass. The combination of their mind control and psychic powers combined with the Mastermind's ability to sow the seeds of deceit among groups of people made the class almost the ultimate "non-combat combat" character. I eventually just got so good at playing the character that the rest of my party was almost a little scared of the character. He was so hard to kill that eventually me and the DM agreed to have the character live on in legend and have me move on to another. The DM has allowed me to use him sometimes in again when the appropriate campaign/setting comes along, but his invincibility, just because of mainly my luck with him and the combination of race and class, has made him a "if he's on the scene, shits real" in our play group. I love Illithids and Morgrack will always live on to be one of the five most powerful characters in my group's circle. My DM and me have been talking about making a campaign where my Illithid is the villain and they ascend into a Lich Illithid. We'll see how that goes, especially if things go as planned and the DM lets me play as the villain and have us have a "Raid Boss" campaign where I get to play as the main villain and actively have a group of players against a single other evil player.

[@3dagalathor]

Bravo well done, Sir. I was wondering if you could make a small section in your videos for information on what can be harvested and made from key parts of creatures that you cover in your videos. thank you

[@user-nz4dg4db7k]

im so happy to see this channel growing so fast

[@jeffreylucier5266]

I like the reproductions A.J. As always, thank you for the entertainment and hard work. I know these must take some effort and research to put together.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, a wee bit :)

[@peteraustero608]

Freakin fantastic as usual. You should have waaayyyy more subs.

[@AJPickett]

Thanks, tell your friends. :)

[@sufferinsuccotash8981]

"Your source for easy listening lore..." Indeed it is. Love your channel AJ

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks AJ, I knew research on your channel would be helpful.

[@Kitava.]

Recommended this video to my friends so I could go through Baldur's Gate 3 campaign without having to explain every single detail.

[@itsyaboythewendigo8321]

One of my players played a mindflayer who was "disconnected" from the hive mind and they played them as skittish and paranoid it was fun

[@Arwcwb]

II'd love to listen to a twelve hour Mindflayer marathon video.

[@DiscipleToki]

BG3 Brought me here. Fascinating stuff. I love it. Thank you for making this video!

[@AJPickett]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@colonelguiltergr8theart288]

Your videos are fantastic, I'm glad I found this channel!

[@scottyrose9106]

AJ, I swear, the depth you go into in your videos it's amazing! Please, keep up the good work. PS. I wonder in the creators of Stargate (the show, not the movie) bases the Goa'uld off of mind flayers...? It's worth a thought. PPS. you should try making a few videos showing the influence D&D has officially had on pop culture. That would be awesome! I would watch fully, thumbs up and share (with all my friends) every video in that series. SOOOOOOOO.... Basically I already do with your videos. LoL. Love ya man, keep on inspiring and entertaining all us lore addicted nerds. LoL.

[@beowulf.reborn]

Imagine a Mind Flayer equivalent of a Worm that Walks, which is comprised entirely of Mind Flayer tadpoles.

[@AJPickett]

Yikes

[@Hero99100]

That's a Neolithid!

[@Zoroasterisk]

What you're describing is very similar to the Tsochar

[@CreatorCade]

I'm glad none of these vile monsters are real otherwise we would all be in big trouble.

[@SquashGuy02134]

if they were real we'd have powers too though, and the lore to fight them

[@antoniorezik4072]

How do we know they aren't real?

[@thomassosby9068]

With the apparent lack of brains in this world, I'd say humanity would be safe.

[@just70hq]

Great video man, I’m working on my first campaign and I’ll definitely use these guys

[@grandsome1]

20:06 Quintessence you said? Now, I can put those DnD monster into my Mage: The Ascension campaign!

[@AJPickett]

See? It all works together.

[@grandsome1]

@@AJPickett All part of a "Grand Design"!

[@RoundRobin0]

According to Lords of Madness: Illithids originated in the vastly distant future when creation was starting to die. Thousands of elder brains pooled their energies to create a portal into the Far Realm, which exists outside the boundaries of creation. Upon their arrival within its influence they ripped an opening through time and space to arrive in the prime material. Less than 1% of those who embarked on the journey survived and those who lived were greatly weakened to such an extent that the servitor race that had been under their mental control for millennia revolted and fled to become the Illithids most hated, implacable and tenacious enemies.

[@AJPickett]

Timey Wimey, wibbly wobbly :) The Illithids thus created themselves.

[@marthachampagne316]

and thus the gith are from the future.

[@fumarc4501]

Terminators, but in reverse... neat!

[@itxi]

Isn't that stated in this video?

[@jayc4890]

I've just discovered this channel and I'm loving it you haved earned another sub lol

[@AJPickett]

Thank you Jay C, much appreciated :)

[@dr.calibrations7984]

"Good hunter, may you find peace in the waking world."

[@tregggabbard6917]

but alas, not too fast! The nightmare swirls and churns unending!

[@greulich9635]

i once roleplayed a lawfull neutral mindflayer. He wore robes and a iron mask, stalking around in the night to eat the brains of badits and thieves. yes, i created the goddamn squidman

[@oizaklives4996]

You predicted a now cannon character. Good job, Emperor!

[@paulwoolcock6364]

Ended up here coz of Bulders Gate 3 😂 Awesome stuff man!

[@AJPickett]

Hey, thanks!

[@Ian-ie3hy]

Fantastic job. Very well done. Love the lore vids!

[@Joeseph_Kerr]

Favourite monster ever.

[@insomnifaxxwmaxx7244]

Stargate Atlantis, hell yeah. For some reason not as many people as one might think like SGA, which is a shame because of how awesome it is. By he way, great job on the video, quite informative.

[@kainlockley]

I ran a campaign centered around the Illithids of Thoon. I made Thoon an Obyrith in the Far Realm who used her essence more than any other Obyrith in crafting the Seed of Evil given to Tharizdun the O.G. Mad God (take notes, Cyric) to place in the Astral Sea. In my cannon, Thoon never left the Far Realm (unlike many other Obyriths who inhabit the Abyss, & rule/propagate the Qlippoth) & as much as the Obyriths imprinted on Tharizdun, so too did Tharizdun imprint upon Thoon. This led to an overwhelming drive to reunite with the Chained God (described by Thoon as "completing herself"), thereby sending her Illithids to collect Quintessence (which I redefined as refined souls stripped of identity & processed into raw Creation energy) to fuel a particular weapon which when combined with a sliver of the heart of the Abyss, would shatter the Chained God's prison. In other words, I love em too

[@Janos1989]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw the similarity between the wraith of Stargate Atlantis and the illithids of D&D. I am convinced that the illids were the inspiration for the wraith. Feed on humans Bio-tech Mysterious origin Psychic powers and communication Psychic controlled tech Ravaging entire worlds for food Even their hive mentality. Just replace the elder brain with a queen, and their societies would be virtually identical.

[@AJPickett]

Check my latest video, you will LOVE IT

[@abdullahalghanimi379]

I always saw them as the Goa'uld with how they use hosts to control through their true worm-like body. It is very easy to reflavor them for that as well, just a Mind Flayer without the horrible appearance.

[@Janos1989]

@@AJPickettI’m really bad at keeping up with notifications on youtube. You mean the video you made on the Stargate RPG, right? Or was there a specific creature video?

[@lordinquisitor6233]

These are so going to be my villains for my campaign

[@davidmouser596]

Actualy I remember in a magazine that Mind Flayers where inspired by the Larry Niven story World of Ptavvs. A race called the Thrint who enslaved others telepathically creating a galactic empire via mind control. Also Charles Stross based his Gith races upon the enemies of the Thrint the race the Tnuctip.

[@purefoldnz3070]

hits different after Baldurs Gate 3

[@Sabourok]

5:55 dead in an hour you say? I wonder then how the writers of Baldur’s Gate 3 justify the player’s character and other NPC’s surviving more than a day with it in their heads. XD

[@whatanerd7628]

all of a sudden, very popular video :P

[@jeffdumpster1470]

Great video I'm hooked on the lore since BD3

[@kordelshorgar122]

i love mind flayers i know there are a lot of beholders fans out there and i get it but to me mind flayers will always be king i love the fact that despise using several references to several works they still manage to be kind of unique and cool in their own way, i love their culture, their society (i mean for being villains obviously) and they look mughty badass too!

[@snforde4603]

Say AJ, I noticed in the table for Aberrant Mind sorcerers’ origins that there’s an option for an incomplete ceremorphosis. Any theories on how one could gain sorcerous power from something like that? Best ones I could come up with are that the tadpole was modified by an Ilithid magic user or Alhoon, there was a planar bleed through during the ceremophosis process or a condensation of ambient magical energy such as faerzress, or (if you wanna tie it in with BG3) the tadpole was a prototype for the tadpoles used by the cult of the absolute.

[@AJPickett]

Turning your brain into a receptor for psionic beings on the Astral plane, that could work as both a source of Sorcery, and a means to be in contact with an Eldritch Patron as a Warlock.

[@onetotwenty6360]

Great video, I love mind flayers :)

[@MawsParasite2]

"TH' Illithid stood just in front of th' Aboleth, so that they faced each other, it whose empire was yet unborn, and it whose empire had been lost in th' mists of time for unguessed ages. Kings of darkness, thought Soratha, nameless kings of th' night, whose realms are gulfs and shadows."

[@superdarklink]

Mind Flayer is a great name for a heavy metal band

[@DirtCobaine]

So in baldurs gate 3 there are two mind flayers free of the colony with their own free will. And At least one of those actually remembers who they were before they transformed. Seems it was a prophecy after all

[@blondie4943]

I once played a Mind Flayer Warlock called Xan'Thurr who after an encounter with a powerful wizard began to have flashbacks to his life as a human and became fascinated with the world above. After he left he had to keep hidden by living in the shadows. He also had to consume brains which he got from killing drifters. Favorite character I ever played and tough to roleplay. He eventually met his end by the hands of another mindflayer saving the party.

[@InquisitorThomas]

Question: What are the typical sizes of Mind Flayer Colony in terms of members: like how many Mind Flayers will a colony have on average? How many would be psions? I’m not asking in terms of “if you have so and so many party members of so and so level you should have X amounts of Mind Flayers”.

[@AJPickett]

I'd say without a mature elder brain, the hive would be less than six, with a mature elder brain, around 20-30 and three times as many thralls.

[@InquisitorThomas]

AJ Pickett thanks but how many would be Psions? From what I’ve read in Volo’s Psions are simply Mind Flayers who are more well versed in their natural abilities but it doesn’t say how common they are.

[@TheHarrisontemple]

Inquisitor Thomas pretty much all mindflayers have potent pyscic abilities

[@InquisitorThomas]

Ben Swolo yes but in Volo’s Guide there is variant mind flayer called the Mind Flayer Psion who are more Psionicly powerful then others.

[@tea-perialistgaming8217]

I would say its likely 5-10% of the colony size. So if its 20-30, there would likely be 1-3 psions.

[@danielcarrasquillo9613]

This was truly indepth and well done. Thank you for the contet 🥰

[@AJPickett]

You're welcome

[@VikTobeyOfficial]

This is amazing, glad it got recommended to me after playing Balders Gate 3!

[@Gcrilla]

Wow, Mindflayers really made it impossible to get rid or limit them. It'd be awesome to come up with a timeline. That alters their race and turns them into a symbiotic species, instead of body stealing parasites.

[@Mystic_Librarian]

Thank you AJ Top-notch video

[@benthomason3307]

something just occurred to me. the idea of the mind flayers conquering the entire great wheel seems rather implausible when you consider all the powerful denizens therein. How likely do you think it would be for the illithids to keep something like a storm giant or an ancient dragon enslaved, for example? Not to mention all the, you know, GODS Illsensine would need to take on single-handedly.

[@AJPickett]

its no cake walk

[@khilorn]

I've been really interested in the Tamer Creed lately. I love the idea of a mind flayer decked out in full plate armor.

[@thesinfultictac5704]

Weird dark sun game idea, you are retinue of the finest Templars of a sorcerer- king and you've been tasked to find out why a growing psychic black spot has developed in a region only to be a confronted woth something more terrible than your lord. A mind flayer colony has plan shifted to Athas and found lots of large psychic brains to eat and convert.

[@japerkins3565]

Similar to the vampire description of 'the Strain' novels. The 'worms' burrow into a host and the body is transformed

[@bw7754]

Thank you BG3 for renewing my love for DND

[@AJPickett]

😊

[@GamingBear_Q_E_D]

TSR was Tactical Studies Rules I believe, if i'm remembering back to the original modules back in the day correctly?

[@kevinchristiansen4348]

My favorite part of this is the tadpole and the changing into the mindflayer with ten years of growing to dominince

[@Tr1ckM1rr0r]

I always imagined a game where the elder brain has some what of a tumor that alters the natural state of the mind flayers making a colony of them more docile and neutral instead of evil

[@joshuaholder6818]

Been playing BG3 and this definitely helps with the story thanks

[@Yuudaddy]

We need the Great Modron March to destroy them! But seriously I miss Mechanus and would love to see the interaction between these two races...

[@enchantrem]

I know this video is ancient but on the off-chance you're still active and so inclined, what's the source of the slide image for the "31:40 Architecture & Tech" timestamp? Can't help but notice it looks exactly like the Illithid architecture in Baldur's Gate 3!

[@AJPickett]

jaredblando.com/cartography

[@enchantrem]

You rock!!! @@AJPickett

[@noelhutchins7366]

How about: The Illithid races become so diverse & far seeding into the past that, humans, or dodecapus, are an intensively planned blend of Illithid races, here on earth, where they believe this to be a successful planetary domination.

[@epiclevelcraft]

AJ always killing it

[@magiwiz3889]

Anyone else exited about the fact baldurs gate 3 early access releases today and its about these guys

[@medicorene]

I really enjoyed this in preparation for bauldur's gate 3.

[@KrusherMike]

An Intellect Devourer is basically junk food. Can't live off them, but they're quite tasty... I got a genuine chuckle out of that.

[@curtisthornsberry4236]

I played a high level wizard who was captured by an illithid. I had a contingency spell readied in case I was killed by something to “soul jar” their consciousness and I could attempt to possess their body. The tadpole stood no chance against my spell DC. Body still died and I got to experience turning myself into an illithid. I was barely able to resist the elder brain when I made my escape, and my party almost killed me when I reconnected with them. Character became an NPC after a couple of sessions, but it was fun and cool. Eventually transferred his mind to a fresh clone of his old body.

[@AJPickett]

That's amazing!

[@trajanfidelis]

Would Ilithids trade with a society with sufficiently advanced psionics, or would the Ilithids see that society as a threat?

[@AJPickett]

Both, what better way to infiltrate than to trade?

[@cipherstrife1991]

Those spaceships look goofy as all get out. Arg we be Squid Pirates Arg!

[@linguisticallyoversight8685]

Looks like you are going to have to do a new video on the mind flayer with baldur's gate 3 being announced and the mind flayer are playing a pivotal role apparently So you can capitalize off the hype ☺️

[@Ajv516]

If they’re networked together like a Teams meeting, you know there’s at least ONE shitposter in the group. “Steve’s on some bullshit again…”

[@skrog907]

it would be extremely gnar gnar if you did a vid on ormyrr, i would totally watch that

[@loganross1861]

5 year old video, has 171k views as of 8/12/23. Bg3 came out 👍

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, traffic on this video is going to skyrocket.

[@H3xx99]

I'm currently writing a pre steam steampunk campaing (flintlock fantasy) I'm tempted to retool mindflayers into 1950s style space aliens (Wands of lightning and fireball as ray guns). they're really not far from that right now...

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, they are cosmic horror creeps, through and through.

[@H3xx99]

AJ Pickett I'm thinking Mars Attacks with brain eating face tentacles. Lol

[@AJPickett]

They can't speak, so perhaps just little speaker boxes that go "At at Rat at, dat rata at at At!"

[@H3xx99]

AJ Pickett that could work.

[@sanddry738]

34:15 I was wondering how screwed mindflayers would be in the face of an undead foe. To be fair though, Atropus is quite the horrifying step up from your basic ghoul

[@rejvaik00]

Yeah they really really don't like undead, they can't sense them with their psionic powers or infrared/dark vision And that scares them, because they can be ambushed so easily, often mind flayers will be very traumatized after encountering undead creatures

[@JCinLapel]

I am currently playing a drow male given to the Illithids as a host who found a way to slow the transformation. It is really fun and one of the most interesting characters I have played in a while

[@robertowens2022]

So basically bualders gate 3

[@JCinLapel]

@@robertowens2022 Yeah feels like they stole it from me. I even am freinds with the brother of one of the devolpers. They Swar they Did not Know of Darous.

[@jaymeVos]

Well now I want to have my players over hear a madman ramble on about how covering your self with the epidermal goo that covers the Illithids body will grant you a measure ov spell resistance, depending upon how much you use. ...only to find out that it does Not do that. Perhaps it does nothing. Perhaps it does something terrible! Not sure what to do yet but I seriously feel like you just handed me a beautiful gift ov an awful idea 😈

[@jacobfreeman5444]

How about it only does so for the Illithid that produced it? No other being has a mind resonance that allows for this positive effect. All others have some sort of effect related to thier special racial traits. Roll Gor whether it is positive or negative with advantage or disadvantage being given on whether this is in the presense of aware Illithids.

[@john.harrison]

maybe each new addition of D&D is another loop for the Mind Flayer's so we are now on loop 5?

[@Elemessclr]

because of Tasha's cauldron of everything we know that even with the correct parameters it can fail because of the aberrant mind origin table

[@sirgibbels8358]

Are you sure Goblins are candidate for Mind Flayers? Because they are small creatures (Even shorter than dwarfs), or is their some weird reason why they can become Mind Flayers unlike other small creatures?

[@AJPickett]

That is exactly what I thought, perhaps he meant Goblinoids, which would include Bugbears and Hobgoblins.

[@MoreMagical]

I think some small creatures do get used, deep gnomes are one of the most common selections iirc. They won't turn into the humanoid form of the illithid but rather into some sort of beast used as a guard dog by illithid colonies

[@nightflame69]

I have 3.5 edition stats for a mind flayer assassin. That character was absolutely Nasty

[@shiftstart]

This lexicon must be forwarded to Swen for a BG3 sequel .