Old school Dungeons and Dragons

[cantswleepclownswillgetme]

Ok,ok, let me expand. What I meant was, I remember seeing them in one of the original ....Monsters Compendiums? and they were sort of an also ran type of character I guess, not too big a deal. Not something youd wanna meet in a dark alley, defininately kick a bugbears ass, but not THAT tough. Of course, red dragons were pretty much top of the food chain then, (not that they arent, chill people ) and there have been some pretty srious badass types come along since.
But, as said, havent been on top of the "scene" foor awhile, so I googled illithid, and was surprised to see how popular/widespread they have gotten. But then, I stopped paying serious attention after .... well Dragonlance I suppose.
Better?

[jermoore]

Hehe... I was half-kidding, and I pretty much agree with you.

Boba Fett - bit role bounty hunter who gets eaten.
Marvin the Martian - bit role, has maybe 6 episodes where he's a major player, and he never accomplishes what he sets out to do.

Now, the Illithid - minor "bad-guy", has a couple devastating attacks, but if those can be repelled, he can be defeated quite easily. That would explain the popularity, in terms of the other characters I mentioned.

As they are found in the Monster Manual (or Monstrous Compendiums, or whatever), illithids are deadly against low-level characters, but by mid-level, they're a minor threat. However, they've also got a lot of built-in ways to give them boosts, especially in 3E/3.5... the presence of an elder brain, conversion into an alhoun (illithid lich), levels as a sorcerer, psion, or psychic warrior, etc. And on top of it all, they look cool in a freaky kind of way.

I don't think they're the best. Like I said before, my favorite race is kobolds. They are so often and easily underestimated by players... it may actually be more pathetic than amusing.

[iron_warmonger]

Originally Posted by jermoore

My favorite class is sorcerer... and no, I don't play fireball batteries. Ray of Frost as a cantrip (with my aforementioned Weapon Focus preference) makes for more than enough combat ability for a low-level spellcaster - use the rest of your limited spell slots to develop a character. Here's a tip - unlike most games, D&D isn't about winning or losing.

The first PC I had in a 3.0 edition game was a Rogue/Sorcerer. Ray of frost become even more effective when you can combine it with the sneak attack bonus Rogue.

Iron

[theson]

Originally Posted by iron_warmonger

The first PC I had in a 3.0 edition game was a Rogue/Sorcerer. Ray of frost become even more effective when you can combine it with the sneak attack bonus Rogue.

Iron

Yeah, me too. However I turned him into an Arcane Trickster.

Now in 3.5 a Sorc can give up a familiar (as in never get one during creation) for a feat that makes any (one at a time) meta magic feat not increase casting time.

[Ehtiar]

Ah, the key thing with Illithids/ Mind Flayers though is they shouldn't be played up as the wandering jump into melee combat and get his ass kicked type...

They're meant to be slightly more reminiscent of your Lovecraft Cthulhu types...
Played creepily, from the background and shadows.. Building the PC's fear levels up.. striking from the side.. Using psionic/sorcerer abilities (depending on which flavor you prefer ) To play with the PC's mind...
Throw in that by the time you do get into combat with them.. they normally have a few mind-controlled Thrall types who can handle the physical type activity.. ie: Umber Hulks, Trolls,

Illithids make great "Evil Mastermind" type villains. They're meant to be up in the genius range, and they never think quite like normal mortals expect. Perfect for taking control of the local thief's guild and lurking in the background.

Which only makes it more worrying for the PC's when they finally work through all the cut-outs, and hench-things, and find out that the Illithid they thought was the super-dooper-chief-poke-your-eye-out-and-laugh-bad-guy... is actually just another minion of something else....

[jermoore]

Originally Posted by Ehtiar

Ah, the key thing with Illithids/ Mind Flayers though is they shouldn't be played up as the wandering jump into melee combat and get his ass kicked type...

They're meant to be slightly more reminiscent of your Lovecraft Cthulhu types...
Played creepily, from the background and shadows.. Building the PC's fear levels up.. striking from the side.. Using psionic/sorcerer abilities (depending on which flavor you prefer ) To play with the PC's mind...
Throw in that by the time you do get into combat with them.. they normally have a few mind-controlled Thrall types who can handle the physical type activity.. ie: Umber Hulks, Trolls,

Illithids make great "Evil Mastermind" type villains. They're meant to be up in the genius range, and they never think quite like normal mortals expect. Perfect for taking control of the local thief's guild and lurking in the background.

Which only makes it more worrying for the PC's when they finally work through all the cut-outs, and hench-things, and find out that the Illithid they thought was the super-dooper-chief-poke-your-eye-out-and-laugh-bad-guy... is actually just another minion of something else....

Well, yeah... all that, too.

[kmg3]

Boy am I glad I started this thread. I love the idea rolling around. If you strand a party on the astral plane what sort of creatures do the illithids have for minions? I think I am next GM up in the rotation and I need to get busy really writing this module of the campaign. I like the Cthulu look of them my son has a stuffed Cthulu and get him confused with mind flayers (His Kindergarten teacher last year siad she had never had a child bring in a Cthulu before ) I am still thinking of the Lich Illithid being an enemy of the main true necromancers plan for world dominion but worried about being controlled by this true master of the undead hence stayin in his astral home. Do I have him plan to kill the intruders or in the end offer to help them destroy the necromancer is the question an NPC Mind Flayer Could really mess up a party. ANy other cool ideas or suggestions.

Thanks everyone I am really enjoying the input

[iron_warmonger]

Originally Posted by theson

Yeah, me too. However I turned him into an Arcane Trickster.

Now in 3.5 a Sorc can give up a familiar (as in never get one during creation) for a feat that makes any (one at a time) meta magic feat not increase casting time.

Actually there were a number of "Flaws" that allow various classes to give up some ability in exchange for one additional Feat. The Sorc "Loner" was one of them, but becase they were in Dragon Magazine, they are not considered offical, so it is up to the individual GM on weather or not they are going to be used in the game. I have allowed them in a game, and multi-class arcane spell casters giving up their Familiar is the most common on taken.

Iron

[dkunsberg]

Hey, D&D is pretty entertaining, for all you nerd haters, you stink! Its quite fun, and the fact that theres an actual person in control makes it alot different from any game that you can play now. Even so, NWN is a pretty good reflection of the actual game. Any fans out there?

[jermoore]

Originally Posted by dkunsberg

Hey, D&D is pretty entertaining, for all you nerd haters, you stink! Its quite fun, and the fact that theres an actual person in control makes it alot different from any game that you can play now. Even so, NWN is a pretty good reflection of the actual game. Any fans out there?

I love NWN. From what I've heard of the Fleshlight, they could both have the same tag-line: Not as good as the real thing, but as close as you can get when you're all alone.

[Ehtiar]

And just for jermoore.... Kobolds can be downright vicious if they're played smart'n'sneaky...

It's always fun to have the PC's laught about getting sent to deal with some kobolds...and then let them enter the Lair (tm)

Tunnels just slightly too small to stand properly... collapsing walls, and pit drops to split the party up... All the fun but eviiiiil traps to poke minor holes and poison people with... Just to slowly whittle them down a few hit points at a time...

That's not even mentioning when you have the one or two Kobolds with even just two or three levels as a Sorcerer... The way a stinking cloud can fill up cramped tunnel spaces .... or pyrotechnics plays havoc with the party torches...

And when you drop a bunch of Kobolds with swarm fighting and flanking techniques...