yack
Commander
3268 Posts
    
Gatineau Canada
 | | 10/29/2005 8:55 AM |
| | recovered topic 10567 | |
Champion of the Peryton
Vindicated Champion : Pit Fiend, Devourer
DW: Duergar Priest
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yack
Commander
3268 Posts
Gatineau Canada
| | 10/29/2005 8:55 AM |
| I have used a illithid city in the FR. I used alot of slaves that were pretty zombied,such as drow,humans,dwarves and even elves.They roam about the city under the power of the mind flayers.
I also, just for something different had them use hook horrors also as guards and beasts.
In my city the doors weren't normal doors they were kind of a plasma thing where it was like looking in a mirror and you walked through.It also muffled all sound so they had no idea what was ever on the other side. Its been awhile sine I played it...I'll have too look it up for more ideas. | |
Champion of the Peryton
Vindicated Champion : Pit Fiend, Devourer
DW: Duergar Priest
RPG Only!!!! The Drumming Drunkn' DM | |
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taliesin
Underboss
1113 Posts
| | 10/29/2005 3:13 PM |
| | Browse through Lords Of Madness. WotC has already fully detailed a sample Illithid city, and while you don't need to use theirs whole cloth, it should have lots of flavorful bits. My favorite piece is the stones that broadcast emotions. They broadcast despair or helplessness near slave pens, and satsifaction in feeding areas. These stones effectively "teach" a mind-flayer how to feel, since after ceremorphosis it is physically mature but mentally a child, and Illithids don't parent. | |
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Fun Guy from Yuggoth
Cthulhufnord
Warlord
10990 Posts
Umass Amherst Baby!
| | 10/29/2005 3:29 PM |
| | The Broadcast stones are one of my favorites bits too from LoM. I'd play up the Alien feel of the city, the strange twisting buildings(non-euclidian); the musky smell of all the slaves. Finaly the almost dead silence that prevades most of the city. With Telepathy I don't see MF speaking aloud all that much, and I doubt they encourage their thralls to speak much. | |
Pathetic Earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void - without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe - anything at all - you would have hidden from it in terror. | |
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Fun Guy from Yuggoth
Cthulhufnord
Warlord
10990 Posts
Umass Amherst Baby!
| | 10/29/2005 6:09 PM |
| | Oh and don't forget the psionic static surrounding the city, an electrical hum that peremates the air and causes the hackles to raise. As you get deeper in the players may start getting headaches and nosebleeds from the presence of the Elder Brain. | |
Pathetic Earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void - without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe - anything at all - you would have hidden from it in terror. | |
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arbados
Underboss
1446 Posts
New York, USA
| | 10/29/2005 10:26 PM |
| Very nice ideas. I think I am going to steel most, if not all of them. The ectoplasmic doors, the hum, and the nose bleeds are all great and I am definately going to use that.
The city itself is actually located beneath what will appear to be a grimlock city. These grimlock are all under the control of the illithids and is there to confuse individuals as to the actual existence of the city which is located beneath. There are actually three levels with the last being the brine pool where the elder brain will be along with some illithilich's I am thinking.
I have to throw in a brain golem as well somewhere in the mix.
The silence will work nicely after the group moves from the top layer (with the grimlocks) to the second layer. I just finished writing up one of the main illithid npc's and I must say as a 15th level psion he is pretty powerful and deadly. Psionics can be especially nasty if prepared correct. | |
Give me more MIND FLAYERS! | |
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arbados
Underboss
1446 Posts
New York, USA
| | 10/29/2005 10:34 PM |
| | By the way, does anyone know where the half-illithid template is found? I want to throw in some lizardfolk considering we have the mini! | |
Give me more MIND FLAYERS! | |
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taliesin
Underboss
1113 Posts
| | 10/29/2005 11:36 PM |
| Either in the Underdark sourcebook for the FR, or in the Fiend Folio. I think Underdark is the more recent, and thus more balanced, version, but I can't for the life of me remember what the difference was...
Oh, and Illithilich's are usually outcasts from mind flayer society. As an undead, it's become immune to the Elder Brain's control (which the Elder Brain won't like), and the creature has the temerity to NOT add it's brain matter to the pool, which should have been done at death. | |
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Fun Guy from Yuggoth
Cthulhufnord
Warlord
10990 Posts
Umass Amherst Baby!
| | 10/29/2005 11:50 PM |
| | I'm certain The Half-Illithid template is in the Fiend Folio. But they re-printed it in the underdark book? I wonder what changes they made to it then? | |
Pathetic Earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void - without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe - anything at all - you would have hidden from it in terror. | |
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arbados
Underboss
1446 Posts
New York, USA
| | 10/30/2005 12:07 AM |
| | Scratch the illithilich (thanks taliesin) I just put in a couple of urophians on the path to the briny pool(thank goodness for the roper mini). I used the FF template. I have to check the difference? | |
Give me more MIND FLAYERS! | |
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arbados
Underboss
1446 Posts
New York, USA
| | 10/30/2005 12:10 AM |
| | On another note, it would have been great if they added an Intellect Devourer mini in the underdark set. They are very interesting creatures and the Body Theft ability is pretty cool. I always pictured them as larger than small. I guess it was just the picture in the EPH. Would have been an interesting sculpt to see which would be much different than anything we already have. | |
Give me more MIND FLAYERS! | |
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Fun Guy from Yuggoth
Cthulhufnord
Warlord
10990 Posts
Umass Amherst Baby!
| | 10/30/2005 1:24 AM |
| | An Intellect Devourer would have been nice. Very interesting how it would work out in the skirmish game. Some sort of varient on enslave? | |
Pathetic Earthlings. Hurling your bodies out into the void - without the slightest inkling of who or what is out here. If you had known anything about the true nature of the universe - anything at all - you would have hidden from it in terror. | |
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arbados
Underboss
1446 Posts
New York, USA
| | 10/30/2005 2:00 AM |
| Cthulhufnord: Not a big skirmish guy, but always keep up to date on whats happening. Yes a varient of enslave would be nice. A little guy with the power to control. Now any more ideas for my illithid city [:I]!!
Thanks everyone for chiming in. Illithids are probably my favorite creature so I must do them justice!!! | |
Give me more MIND FLAYERS! | |
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Monsoon28
Underboss
2313 Posts
Toronto
| | 10/30/2005 10:45 AM |
| I think I've been influenced by the Baldur's Gate series, but I love the idea of Umber Hulk's as elite body guards.
Of course if you don't have enough mini's that can definitely add up, curse WotC for not giving us an UH UnC! [:(] | |
"I was sittin' here eatin' my muffin, drinkin' my coffee, replayin' the incident in my head, when I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity." - Jules Winnfield
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Zenako
Commander
3469 Posts
| | 10/30/2005 1:52 PM |
| Preparation, preparation, preparation. Illithids are HIGHLY intellegent and will have prepared defenses in depth.
If the PC's are a known problem, they will have tried to scry or learn what they could of the PC's weaknesses. They might send out kidnappers to capture not the PC's (who might be too tough for the kidnappers to defeat) but people who know the PC's. The victims will be interogated and then kept as hostages. Perhaps a few NPC friends being kept bound next to the BBEG's will put a damper on area of effect spells, unless the PC's don't mind killing off old friends. Make the Mind Flayers amoral, vicious and completely disrepctful of human life or it being worth more than a coackroach is to a human.
If they have good items in treasure that for some reason they cannot personally use, have them enslave others that can use the items and compel them to be part of the attack, maybe even the kidnap victims.
Confuse the PC's, wear them down. Don't forget to use the Plane Shift and Astral Projection abilities. I also generally make sure that my really BBEG's ensure that foes that go down, STAY down. Direct a lesser member of their side to take the heads of any who fall, so that things like Mass HEAL do not fix them and you have to defeat them a second time. Make some of these habits known so that the PC's are not taken by surprise by the tactic, but I have seen many battles where party members do down, but are not yet dead, and the enemy makes the decision to just focus on the "up" foes instead of making sure the PC is dead. Then moments later the PC Healer restarts their side all over again.
Have fun... | |
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The Great
Choco Monster
Ghendar
Warlord
12441 Posts
The G Spot
| | 10/30/2005 3:41 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by arbados
Do you guys have any ideas on how I can make this city and its inhabitants most interesting and memorable? This final battle has been building up for about 2 months now and I want it to be great. I have collected about 5 harbinger mind flayers and 3 mind flayer telepaths for this time!!!
If you can get it, the 2nd ED book, The Illithiad, has some good crunchy bits in it. | |
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Snappa
Sneak
77 Posts
| | 11/01/2005 7:55 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by taliesin
Browse through Lords Of Madness.
I second this motion. There's a lot of great fluff in there along with some crunchy bits that will help you make the city really ring true with your players. The illithids are a truly alien race that don't think like we do, nor have the same motivations we have.
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