One thing mind flayers have going for them is their reputation. Anyone who has ever read up on or faced one before knows full well the threat they pose. Had my party once defeat a wizard trying to open a portal. What I "failed" to mention, lol, was that if they destroyed the apparatus controlling the portal it would malfunction. They of course targeted it first and the explosion took out the wizard. Then the unstable portal began to change colors. Within it the party could see three figures approaching. When I described them and mentioned the tentacled faces, they all went "Oh shit! RUN!". They did manage to take out two of them but they were VERY careful and did everything possible to keep themselves out of sight. The panic was hilarious. The last one escaped and the players managed to close the unstable portal but they did keep a close eye on it to make sure nothing else was coming through.
One thing mind flayers have going for them is their reputation. Anyone who has ever read up on or faced one before knows full well the threat they pose. Had my party once defeat a wizard trying to open a portal. What I "failed" to mention, lol, was that if they destroyed the apparatus controlling the portal it would malfunction. They of course targeted it first and the explosion took out the wizard. Then the unstable portal began to change colors. Within it the party could see three figures approaching.
When I described them and mentioned the tentacled faces, they all went "Oh shit! RUN!". They did manage to take out two of them but they were VERY careful and did everything possible to keep themselves out of sight. The panic was hilarious. The last one escaped and the players managed to close the unstable portal but they did keep a close eye on it to make sure nothing else was coming through.
Oh I love this and so true! Might borrow this for my party's next run in with mind flayers :)