Homebrew Illithid Species Details
Mind flayers, also called Illithids, are the scourge of sentient creatures across countless worlds. Psionic tyrants, slavers, and inter-dimensional voyagers, they are insidious masterminds that harvest entire races for their own twisted ends.
Alien Physiology
Illithids resemble humans in body structure, but are taller and more slender. Their skin is usually a cool color, such as pale green, mauve, or sky blue, in addition to being smooth and completely hairless.
Mindflayers have a tall, sloping cranium, two roughly humanoid eyes, and four long, coiling tendrils concealing an alien mouth evolved to open the skulls of other creatures and feed on their contents.
Illithids subsist on brains, as brains provide enzymes, hormones, and vital psychic energy necessary for their survival. A healthy Illithid diet consists of one sapient brain a month.
Illithid Names
Illithid do not have genders as other beings understand them, and reproduce via a process known as ceremorphosis, which consists of producing "tadpoles" via parthenogenesis, then allowing them to consume the brains of other creatures, eventually mutating them into a new Illithid.
They also use unique psychic impressions rather than names among themselves, but they do have transliterated Common equivalents to allow non-psionic creatures to address them.
Sample Names: Altharid, Ilsenparint, Malinbossk, Qorik, Ullipsine, Xalliordell, Clarota
Illithid Traits
Your mindflayer character has the following racial traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age
Illithids fully complete ceremorphosis by the age of 9, and have become fully mature and complete in their education by age 15. Illithids live to be around 135.
Alignment
Illithids normally have a natural tendency towards hierarchy, discipline, and cruelty, and are almost always lawful evil. An Illithid of any other alignment is likely an outcast.
Size
Most Illithids are taller than humans, but their bodies are slender, weighing much less than an average being of their stature. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
You have darkvision up to a range of 60 ft.
Magic Resistance
You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Mind Blast
You may use your bonus action to attack anything in front of you with a mind blast. When you use your mind blast, each creature in a 15 ft. cone must make an Intelligence saving throw equal to 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus.
A creature takes 2d6 psychic damage on a failed save and is stunned until the end of your next turn, and half as much damage on a successful save. This damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use your mind blast, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.
Devour Brain
You can consume the brain of a recently deceased creature, and if you do, you briefly interface with its mind. By doing so, you learn at least one piece of useful information the creature knew. You must consume the brain of at least one sapient brain per month to stay healthy.
Telepathy
You can speak telepathically to any creature within 120 feet of you. A creature understands you only if the two of you share a language.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write, Common and Undercommon, and can read and write Qualith.
Qualith
On the rare occasion that mind flayers need to write something down, they do so in Qualith. This system of tactile writing (similar to braille) is read by an illithid's tentacles. Qualith is written in fourline stanzas and is so alien in construction that non-illithids must resort to magic to discern its meaning. Though Qualith can be used to keep records, illithids most often use it to mark portals or other surfaces with warnings or instructions.
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