What Are The Mind Flayers? | Dungeons & Dragons
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Mind Flayers are the scourge of worlds in D&D and inspiration for villain in Stranger Things. Chris Perkins and Todd Kenreck talk about the lore behind the Mind Flayers.
Mind flayers, also known as illithids, are horrific, alien humanoids that lurk deep within the Underdark. Masters of psionic energy, they use their mental powers to dominate other creatures. The fortunate among their victims are slain, their brains devoured. The unlucky ones have their psyches warped, leaving them as mindless slaves with little hope of being rescued.
#dnd #dungeonsanddragons #strangerthings
One of my favourite aspects of Bluetspur from 5e Ravenloft is that it doubled down on the concept of Mind Flayers being alien invaders, so it's literally an alien abduction setting.
I worked that particular domain of dread into my Curse of Strahd Campaign. The last scene of the campaign after Strahd dies gave a hint at this.
"Eden you strike Strahd down with one final fatal blow, picking him up in your tyrannosaurus teeth you begin to chew. As you chew, Strahd’s screams can be heard coming from within your large reptilian jowls. You thrash about in celebration of your victory over the dark lord as your large saurian feet trample the now shattered remains of Strahd’s coffin. You then swallow what remains of the Dark Lord. The land begins to shake for miles, as the castle foundation shutters. Vincent is in mid-combat when Argynvost’s bones come crashing to the ground, no longer animated by Strahd’s dark magic. The Dracolich is no more. As you return to your normal form you both flee from the castle, searching for an exit as the ground beneath you quakes. Eshkira, you are battling with the Hoard Mimic located in Strahd’s treasury as you feel the castle around you begin to shake. The creature, frightened by the rumbling and shaking, releases you and flees further down the corridor. You are uncertain why, but it feels as though the entire structure could come down on your head at any moment. You, too, begin to look for a way out.
Sarbis, you are in the Amber temple, having been teleported there not long after casting your lot into the Brazier at Castle Ravenloft. You narrowly escaped a large Amber golem and battled two of the undead berserker’s that protected the halls of this long forgotten sanctuary. You too begin to feel the ground quake as the earth around you moves. Several whispering voices enter your mind and begin to assault your senses telling you that you should flee from this place and never return. The whispers grow into a crescendo of screams that seem to come from within your own head.
Clarke, you are traveling South-west along Tsolenka Pass through Mount Ghakis when you feel the ground beneath you begin to shake. Suddenly the sky opens up and a storm begins. The wind whips up and suddenly a blizzard sweeps over the land. As the temperatures drop to sub zero, you look for shelter but none is to be found. You turn into your wolf form and continue traveling onward, using your fur to keep you warm, though you stumble as the earth around you trembles still. Suddenly the sky turns black as the sun, moon, and stars blink out of existence. Above you is an expanse of inky black void that seems to stretch on for eternity. The lands of Barovia no longer border the other domains of dread as it floats in the vast. As you look beyond the border of Barovia you now see a sheer edge where the land once connected, anchoring it to the rest of the domains.
Just then a bright flashing light begins to strobe, cutting the darkness in seconds of sheer brilliance that blind you momentarily. When the flashing stops, and your vision returns, you see the blurred visage of a bulbous tentacle faced humanoid wearing long planely ordained robes. It’s purple skin feels mucusy and wet as it’s hand caresses your cheek. It then raises its tentacles revealing a sharp beaked maw beneath as it comes closer to your face. You feel the suction as the tentacles reach out and pull you in close, slipping into crevices in your nose, mouth and ears seeking purchase. You fend the creature off, but it is too strong for you. It unleashes a mental blast that cuts like a sharp knife as it stabs deep into your brain with it’s thoughts, staring at you with beady white eyes. You feel as though your head will split but you continue to fight the thing through sheer force of will. Just then you lose consciousness falling into a deep slumber.
You see before you reality split into several thin layers. Each layer carries a possibility which your reality could become. In one of the scenes Clarke is standing with Ireena at a chapel in an unknown village, both dressed in wedding attire. Eshkira and Sarbis are part of the brides party, while Vincent and Eden stand on the side of the Groom, in this case Clarke. Another vision passes before your eyes and the party is standing in the middle of a large underground lair filled with treasure. This appears to be Argynvost’s Hoard. There is enough gold, gems, and magical artifacts here to last the entire party a lifetime despite the life they should choose moving forward. Another vision passes before your eyes and you are being called by the Lady of Pain to Sigil the city of doors. She thanks each and every one of you for your diligence in destroying Strahd and preventing a collapse in the fabric of the Phlogiston. She offers you a job relating to another multiverse shattering plot, being carried out by an unknown entity, as well as offering you a chance to go home. Several more visions of other possible lives swim past you in a myriad of color and sound before fading into nothing. You believe you are witnessing the split realities of the multiverse as you transcend time and space, beyond logic.
You awaken again several hours later and you are seemingly alone. You look around and the creature is nowhere to be found. You are laying on what appears to be an inclined operating table made of some strange bone-like organic material. As you get up from the table you look around and notice that your companions are at rest on similar tables in the same room as you. The walls appear to be made of the same organic bone-like structure, wrapped in a veiny mucous membrane that resembles flesh. You stand in front of Eden who appears to still be unconscious. Placing your hand upon his shoulder you attempt to shake him awake. Eden, you come to, waking up momentarily as you see Clarke standing in front of you. You are in some chamber that is alien to you. Just then you hear a noise as the organic door retracts, opening to reveal your captor. He blasts you both with another wave of psionic force causing you to blackout.
Clarke you re-awaken, and you are lying, snow covered, on the seldom traveled road of Tsolenka pass. The storm appears to have died down and your visibility has returned. You look off in the distance to the South, then the East noting that the lands surrounding Barovia have returned. You are quite sure that what you just experienced was a nightmare, but you can’t seem to shake the realism that you felt within the dream.
Eden you too re-awaken in Strahd’s castle. Vincent appears to be above you trying to get you to wake up as the land begins to settle. The quaking seems to have stopped, and the castle still remains intact. You are alive and Strahd has been defeated.
Now sure that the castle is no longer going to come crashing down on top of you, you gather the bones of Argynvost. No longer held together by the machinations of Strahd’s Dark Magic, the bones have crumbled to dust. You gather the dust in your bags, to take with you when you go back to Argynvostholt. You then turn to your companion with a sense of victory and nod. You both walk out of the dungeon crypts, eventually catching up with Eshkira and you leave through the large main doors. The door is open and the drawbridge suspended. You leave the castle behind taking several steps over the threshold of Castle Ravenloft. As you do the world goes black around you, and your companions are nowhere to be found. The only sound that remains are your own screams as you feel your brain being ripped open with waves of psychic energy. Then your own vision recedes and you are standing alone in a void, all alone with your companions nowhere to be found. Madness grips you as eternities pass in isolation and your mind unravels. "
We must protect Chris Perkins at all costs...he's so genuinely smart and funny and so non-chalantly creepy, but in a good way...I just love him... XD
SPOOKY is the word. 🧐😶🤫🤔🙃😏
He has the best job in the world.
Awwww Spurt!
The tadpole cannibalism is actually how a neothelid is born. When an Elder Brain dies and the tadpoles are no longer being fed, they resort to cannibalism and the survivor turns into a scourge to all living things around. While there's no official source as to how Elder Brains are born in 5e as of yet, there is a part of Dungeon of the Mad Mage where an Ulitharid is attempting to become the Elder Brain for their colony.
There is 5E lore on how Elder Brains are born in Volo's Guide to Monsters, page 73. To quote:
"Rarely, the process of ceremorphosis yields an ulitharid, a more powerful mind flayer that isn’t beholden to the elder brain’s whims."
"Eventually, if the colony grows to sufficient size, the ulitharid strikes out on its own. Half the mind flayers and thralls in the colony undertake a great migration, seeking a new lair at least 100 miles away from the old one. Once the ulitharid finds a suitable spot, its followers construct a new lair while it transforms into an elder brain." End quote! 😉
If you think about it, Mind Flayers taking orders from a big brain is like cops taking orders from a giant donut.
ok that comment got me. 😄
Some kind of satire about being enslaved by your own food?
You're not wrong!
Liked this interview? I frickin' loved it! Just give us a podcast with Todd and Chris where Todd asks Chris about literally anything that pops into his head about D&D, and have Chris answer in the wonderful storyteller way that he answers any question. Would be absolute gold, and seriously fun!
The best lovecraft monsters lovecraft didn’t create.
I like the messed up implications generated by good mind flayers like the ones in the society of brilliance. They could be good and love among other peoples, but their diet makes them antithetical to most other creatures. Though, if they really put their minds to it perhaps they could come up with a dietary alternative, but at the moment I only know of two working towards that
My preferred interpretation of Mind Flayers has always been that they're only trying to survive. My Illithids only see themselves as superior insofar as humans see themselves as superior to cows and pigs--this way, you can even have colonies (or communes if you wanna up the hippie imagery) of "ethical" Illithids who only eat the brains of intelligent but non-humanoid animals like pigs, dogs, and monkeys. Gnome Squidlings actually seem like they'd work really well as Illithids born from tadpoles inserted into chimpanzees!
In Spelljammer 2e there is a group that eat a psionic fungus instead… but it’s got its own complications.
Illithid in my game are so utterly alien that other life forms don't even register as having
"Life". So if you aren't part of the collective you essentially are only materials for the collective to continue. The purpose of the collective? Purpose of existence isn't an idea they can even conceptualize. They function more like an amoeba.
@@baynemacgregor8441 A community of mind flayers on shrooms? That'd be like... the chillest funniest thing ever!
A Mind Flayer that largely forgoes their natural inclination towards psionics in favor of studying necromancy can eventually become a Lich, which eliminates the need to eat brains entirely.
I always liked how my fav DM always played the mind flayers like the chthulhu mythos, all sorts of other-worldly weirdness! We never knew if we were seeing something incomprehensible, or just got mind bent.
They really need to experiment more about what would happen if a tadpole got into more non humanoid creatures and see what the art team makes.
I've always been slightly fond of the xenomorphs in Alien vs Predator that are like, dogs or big cats. I'd love to see an Illithid in that same vein.
There's some great illithid variants from older versions which were basically just tadpole infected monsters/races. Tzakandi are essentially mindflayer lizardfolk, Uchuulon are tadpoled Chuuls (a crab abberation thing), and my personal favourite Urophion are illithid Ropers. I'd love to see some of these come to 5e, or maybe even some new and weirder tadpole combos.
That and we really should get Brain Golems back too.
There were also a few particularly weird Illithid vehicles, a troop carrier like a living tank made out of an Illithids decapitated and enlarged head that crawls on its tentacles, a punishment for severe failure. And the other was kind of a clam-flying saucer with tentacles.
Oh and a 2e thing I really want to see back is the Bonethriven! A weird Illithid musical instrument made from the bones of thralls that they can use to boost their force or negatively impact opponents a bit like evil bards! A miniature of an Illithid playing a Bonethriven would be a delightful macabre oddity.
There are a lot of designs and monsters that come from Tadpole infections and experiments.
I’m surprised that the “Brine Dragon” or some of the infested beholders weren’t mentioned.
Intellect Devourers punch way above their weight, such that you can have them "inside" multiple possible targets. They're a great source of body horror, can be the reason behind a murder mystery, are a link or hook to a larger mindflayer campaign, and are easily one of the most versatile monsters ever.
The 2e Illithiad sourcebook is one of the best D&D books ever made. And the three part campaign that was connected to it was extremely epic. It’d be really good to see a 5e version. 5e needs the return of the Illithid Bonethriven, a Mindflayer musical instrument for evil bard style weirdness. Also Mindflayers in dampsuits, glare goggles and tentacle blades is a look that could make a comeback for Illithid special forces.
Spoilers follow:
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From the first adventures city intrigue as an ice age hits to the seconds mix of Hitchcock style chase with Mindflayers on a sleigh and Lovecraftian archaeology to the thirds Spelljamming to the ruins of the Illithid Empire capital Penumbra and then a race to stop a multiverse-level threat with a literal war between Githyanki Dragon Riders Vs Nautiloid fleets as just backdrop! It’s really up there on levels of amazingness. Especially as it even suggests the outcome of failure which is so amazing it could be a superb campaign setting all its own!
Had a Lvl 8 party get attacked by some Intellect Devourer scouts. Got the druid cornered and away from the party... Yeah...I let the player continue RP'ing (they asked to) but I had my spy planted. Was fun.
I just wanna sit down for like a day and talk dnd with Chris Perkins over coffee/tea. That sounds like an amazing time
I hope that bit about the tadpoles in the brine pool becoming an elderbrain, said like the lore behind the neolithid, was just Chris having a flub mixing up the two and not a retcon with new content coming out... haven't got MMoM yet myself so I don't know. The later ulitharid life cycle stage we got in volo's makes more sense and avoids the creature origin overlap.
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, page 249. To quote:
"When an ulitharid finds sharing leadership with an elder brain insufferable, it breaks off from the colony, taking a group of mind flayers with it, and moves to another location to form a new colony. After the death of the ulitharid’s body, a special process transforms its brain into a new elder brain for the colony." End quote. So same origin as Volo's.
Edit: Added sauce.
This is the type of content that makes me love DnD🥰
Imagine getting a gobby from a mind flayer
What a classic monster. I love the casual lore drops too.
One of the most difficult voices I’ve attempted at my table for an NPC were the gnome ceremorphs from the “Rime of the Frostmaiden” campaign.
Pint-sized squidlings trying to convince the group that they don’t immediately wish them harm (think Gollum; but more slurred).
Loved ‘em, though.
They even participated in a prison break later on, alongside an army of snowmen & and a mostly-blind dragon.
…my players had a knack for putting their trust in the most questionable of people.
I wish he would ask why there are so little mind control/reading abilities with Illithids and the Elder Brains.
Well they've got Mindreading down with at will Detect Thoughts.
Dominate monster however seems like a waste. It would be better if they could cast suggestion or geas instead.
I appreciate these videos you all have been releasing lately as they cater to my current homebrew campaign perfectly. Mind Flayers and Vecna are both heavily present in it.
If I ever kill a PC with a Mindflayer, I'm bringing a red Slurpee for dramatic effect.
7:40 Now I have this mental image of a group of mind flayers, coming up through the sewers and invading a nobles dinner party to have a dinner party, the servants long eaten by intellect devourers.
and the party gets to investigate the grisly scene because one look and the town guards want NOTHING to do with it.
The evil laughter and giggles from these two guys are adorable and terrifying...
This was great, I think you need to do videos on each of the enslaved races under the control of the Illithids next.
I have two non-D&D sources that influence mind flayers in my games. The movie Dark City, which you guys mentioned; and GDW's Dark Conspiracy RPG, in particular their DarkTek sourcebook. Beyond that, I've dug into the Illithiad and Lords of Madness and all of the other mind flayer sources from earlier D&D editions.
Thanks guys. Following Todd and the Legends I had hoped to get an in depth explanation and history of the flayers. We didn't have them when I was playing I. C. E. and M. E. R. P. forty years ago.
The Illithiad from 2e is available in pdf from drivethrurpg and DMsGuild. I still have my original copy and it really added so so much to the faction.
16 minutes of greatness
Love it. One of the best videos released. The animation used to describe the baby flayer scene is epic!
Didn't say Cthulhu or Lovecraftian once; hmm, interesting...
Because anything Lovecraftian is an "intellectual property" (pun intended). So they're being careful with what they say.
@@MichaelKerr71 Isn't Lovecrafts work under public domain?
I'm probably going to bet they don't want to be attack for mentioning anything about Lovecraft.
@@kingman450 That's probably it then.
Hope this means we will be a getting a mini mindflayer supplement like we did Vecna
How are they any more insidious than many humanoids are for keeping cows and pigs? They just do what they have too to eat and breed.
> "...a process called Ceramorphosis."
It is to be avoided!
I like listening to Chris talk about D&D lore
Great vid, looks like they got the birth of Elder Brains wrong tho
The terrifying art on Dragon magazine years ago had the best picture of a mindflayer in the process of slurping a poor souls brain.
I think mind flayers are creatures that flay minds.
Unfortunate they didn't bring up the Elder Brain Dragon from Fizbans
Yeah that’s such a great new addition! I have the miniature of it on my table as I type, creepy and cool.
I also noticed that the upcoming Spelljammer miniature line previews include a picture of one in a flying pose that’s presumably on the new Ship Scale miniature line that had me take another look at the stats… and I noticed something I’d missed before. Elder Brain Dragons don’t need to breathe! Which may make them a bigger deal in Spelljammer.
Planescape: Torment has cool example of cranium rats!
This is beyond eerie. I was going to homebrew my first campaign with these monsters that I was going to call MIPS. Basically they are a parasite that needs a host to survive. The MIPS would be controlled under a greater yet to be named hive mind. This has made the process so much easier for me. I have spent well over 20 hours planning out the first session and this has beyond sparked my imagination. I even thought of a concept where one of my MIPS takes over the brain of a gnome. The only thing is that in my world, the MIPS are designed to increase the productivity of it's host until it eventually dies from exhaustion. This is to create a unique atmosphere for my players.
I've read the Illithiad and also that adventure with the Illithid dyson sphere!
Yeah that sourcebook and campaign is so amazing! It’d be great for a 5th edition expanded and improved version of them to be made as a campaign book, especially with Spelljammer coming out that it could connect up with.
I would love a Ceremorph lineage, akin to what Ravenloft had for Dhampires, Hexblood and Reborn, to play someone whose ceremorphosis failed.
Might make for a good Aberrant Mind Sorcerer.
A slightly squid-faced humanoid, who managed to maintain their mind…but maybe has lost their sense of morality.
Actually; dhampir has a minor suggestion for a mindflayer-based character who feeds on brain fluid (yuck).
@@voodoophil Yes, but also, wouldn't you want tentacles and some psionic abillities?
this is actually given as an option for an aberrant mind sorcerer from Tasha's receiving their powers. although their mind actually rejected the ceremorphosis process, the humaoid host is permanently mentally damaged and "in exchange" receives magical aberrant powers. I am currently playing Osborn Underbrush, a 6th lvl stout halfling sorcerer character with this backstory. he was an ordinary halfling trader who accompanied a trade mission to the duergar, and was captured by mind flayers in the Underdark. After his ceremorphosis failed his sorcerous abilities developed and he escaped, a bit like Bilbo Baggins from Gollum. he tends to have a twisted sense of humour and act irrationally on occasions
In 3.5 you can play as a flayer -spawn
I wish the people saying that Vecna and the Mindflayer are the same person in the Stranger Things Season 4 finale would watch this. It’s quite clear in that Stranger Things’ Mindflayer is not Vecna and that Vecna is under the control of the Mindflayer.
Except vecna is the one controlling the mind flayer in the show....the actual dnd creatures have nothing to do with stranger things creatures aside from names ascribed to them from the kids lol
@@kindenigma4119 negative. I think the arrow of causality goes the other way. The Mindflayer communicated and seduced vecna via the spiders just as Mindflayers do in dnd. The Mindflayer is using vecna’s to open the portal into our world. Vecna’s arrogance probably makes him think he’s in control when he’s really not
@@hamm8934 you're wrong because it shows vecna literally controlling the shadow that becomes the mind flayer......
@@kindenigma4119 nope. We should vecna communicating with the Mindflayer. With respect, I believe you’re thinking too many things are confirmed than actually are. Just remember what I said in 2 years when the final season comes out.
Also, vecna will be elevens father like in starwars.
Recently my dm introduced some mind flayers to us. Due to circumstances, just a series of events that worked out, we ended up befriending them. Now, to be fair, the dm made clear these were not like other mind flayers we might be used to seeing (my character in particular has done extensive field research of the underdark, and so is at least familiar with those). These mind flayers were part of a faction that decided they preferred to be skilled merchants. So they were used to getting along to some degree with other species and had a sense of stewardship of some of the alien life that might take up residence on the planet. This is what brought them to meet us. They had come across this type of plant creature that fell to earth (think Little Shop of Horrors) and both our group and theirs was trying to eliminate it. After the fight we end up on conversation as they teach us how to more permanently eliminate the roots of this thing so it doesn’t grow back. The wizard ends up befriending one and offers to exchange arcane pointers with them if they want to know more about it. The mind flayer is apparently amused enough by us that they offer to take us on a ride through space and have some adventures together before dropping us off close to our destination we were originally going to. Now, I’m not saying these mind flayers are GOOD. Dm made it quite clear that they are neutral evil, but our party is mostly variations of neutral so there was common enough ground. The merchant mind flayers were also slave traders which we were made aware of, though we were not ourselves being made slaves, but instead treated as something between friends and pets. It’s been a fun experience and we picked up some fire arm proficiencies and my character got to research the species (they are a field researcher contractor for the mega library of the world). It was absolutely fascinating. We got up to some Sci fi with magic mixed in type antics, and were recently dropped off to our destination. It’s been a lot of fun. I like that our dm took the fracturing of the mind flayer empire part and decided to make this type as one of the factions. It feels like each colony of mind flayers has a different feel.
Cranium Rat King
i loved the artwork shown here. Some of it i've not seen anywhere before. o:
Since Psionics came out in 1e having psionic characters and mind Flayers has been a staple in my games.
In our current game, Mind flayers and intellect devourers are feared greatly. We still haven't learned what their goals are. I had great fun creating a mindflayer city in the D1 module suggested area before second edition.
So what happens to the tadpole after the transformation? Is it still in there? Does the tadpole merge with the host becoming a single entity and that’s where the transformation occurs?
I would like to run an adventure someday where mind flayers use doppelganger & changeling thralls (and oblexes) to take over a nation's capital so that they can conquer the rest of the nation easily; it can start with the players being asked to deal with this phenomenon of people disappearing and sometimes reappearing acting strange, and overtime they find out the mind flayers planned to use these shapechangers to replace the heads of the church, the city watch, and political bodies until the entire capital is vulnerable enough for them to take it by force.
Why would they use doppelganger tho?
Illithid-> creates intellectual devoured-> controls politicians with all their memories and whatnot
Or
Illithid-> creates intellect devoured->controls dopplegangar-> doppelganger pretends to be a politician that they must now ALSO remove.
Why add an extra step for a less effective plan? Seems like forced stupidity onto an intelligent race
LOVE the Gith... used them in every campaign
I have a large poster from a book store that has the mind flayers and Drizzt. One of my prize possessions.
Is this all-new mind flayer artwork we’re seeing, or am I just going crazy? 😀 Love it!! 🐙
Yeah it’s all new to me! I wonder if it’s done for Spelljammer or for something else?
@@baynemacgregor8441 I was thinking the same thing -- maybe this is new illithid art for the Spelljammer books.
I’m so excited for Spelljammer in 5e.
If this isn’t from it though it might mean something else Illithid is coming. Either or both is great for me!
@@74gould I think it might be for an aberration-themed book, the artwork here looks too creature specific to be for a setting book. If you've seen Battle for Baldur's Gate, one of the commander sets for it is Mind Flayarrrs, which features a lot of Mind Flayer cards, a Grell Philosopher, and a Brainstealer Dragon (WotC have reused artwork from their MTGxD&D sets in the past with FToD and MotM). It was odd that the Brainstealer Dragon was omitted from FToD, though the Elder Brain Dragon was arguably a worthy replacement. Now we might know why it was omitted, it might come to another book that's themed around aberrations such as Mind Flayers, Beholders, and even Grells. Lest we forget that WotC discontinued VGtM, which featured Mind Flayers and Beholders, and the latest UA seems to indicate that we're getting a giant book in the future (giants also appeared in VGtM). There's little point in VGtM existing when we can instead take it's creature chapters and give them their own book with a greater focus on their lore and encounter building.
Mindflayers are the stuff of nightmares!
My homebrew mindflayers is that they are also shapechangers that can perfectly mimic anyone they have eaten the brain of
Where is that amazing artwork from?
Yes that’s the important question here. While I prefer the 2e tadpole design from the Illithiad this new interpretation is still interesting. And that’s a big swathe of new art.
@@baynemacgregor8441 "And that’s a big swathe of new art"
It's probably a sign that WotC are planning to do a book for Illithids and possibly other aberrations such as Grells. One of the commander sets for Battle for Baldur's Gate has a card called Grell Philosopher, which is a homage to 2e Grells when they weren't just predatory floating brains. While that might just be for Spelljammer, WotC have reused artwork from their MTGxD&D sets in the past with FToD and MotM. We might get an aberration book in the future, just like how we're getting a giant book if the latest UA is of any consideration.
Eberron actually has an origin for the mind flayers. They come from the material plane of Eberron..... but not the one you'll be playing in. In another timeline, the alien daelkyr invaded another version of Eberron, one where the dominant species was a race of yellow skinned, mildly psionic humanoids (the Gith, but they weren't called that yet). Just as they warped the champions of Dhakaan in the current iteration of Eberron to create the dolgaunts and dolgrims, they warped the greatest champions of the old timeline to create the first mindflayers. The mindflayers conquered their own people until they were overthrown by Gith. That version of Eberron was eventually warped so thoroughly by the daelkyr's "process of perfection" that it caused the Eberron multiverse to reset. A few Gith escaped into the plane of Kythri, where they split into two factions. And the daelkyr who created the mindflayers, Dyrrn the Corrupter, took a few mindflayers with him back to Xoriat and brought them back to the current version of Eberron for the conquest of Dhakaan, which went pretty well until a bunch of ork druids emerged from the Shadow Marches and sealed the daelkyr deep within Khyber. They occasionally emerge to work Dyrrn's will, but rarely stray from his demiplane en masse.
Intellect Devourer? Huh, I wonder what those are.
**
Well, I guess I'm not sleeping ever again.
Everyone likes Matt Mercer as a DM but for me Perkins will always be the GOAT. The guy is both likeable and diabolical at the same time
Mind Flayers are one of the most interesting monsters in the entire dnd universe.
okay... who drew those magnificent concept art! I NEED A NAME!!
eldritch lich elder brain dragon. Deep in space an elder brain dragon finally makes itself into an eldritch lich. And starts Looking for a planet to take over.
The look you give when an Illithid's face tentacle attack actually hits. You know what happens next. 🙃
I’m working on a campaign setting where the veils between fictional realities have been open. So a big bad I’m creating is a Mimd Flayer that is fused with Reaper Tech from Mass Effect.
So…..Rifts?
I made a cleric mindflayer dungeon once. Good dungeon
I wonder if it would be accurate to change the alignment of Mind Flayers from Evil aligned to Unaligned, like a Doppelganger. They're so foreign and strange, they're beyond classical ideas of morality. They don't do what they do out of animosity or hate. They just do what they do because...it's what Mind Flayers do.
Mmm... they tend to be pretty hateful and evil.. they are foreign.. but extremely malevolent.. are there exceptions? Probably, just like with everything, but they are not the norm.. same goes with demons and devils.. etc..
All I knew about them is that theyre scary in Drizzt books
Anyone know where I can find the new art?
Chris just made my day!
Does Hasbro own Stranger Things too?
Okay now I want to play a gnome that has undergone ceremorphosis.
can we get more chris perkins content please!!!
Hail Elder Brian.
Please keep up these creature videos!
D&D was cooler back when monster descriptions were short and sweet. I never use the official lore, kinda ruins the fun of DMing for me.
For what it's worth, this is a Cthulhic race. Primeval. Something horrifically alien and unknowable. I believe it's excellent. It gives any storyteller a great "bad guy" for any narrative.
I've loved mind flayers for years. I never want to encounter them as a player though.
This is great. Does anybody know where this art is from? I have a character writing his own Ilithiad text.
I have heard 2 theories regarding the origin of The Mind Flayers. That they are Extraterrestrial or they are Interdimensional.
Still want to know if armorer artificers can have their brain eaten while alive.
My kind of people.
Mind Flayers',
Mind the 'say your prayers, players' slayers' 'ard 'as nails Hells' lairs' 'F' layers'.
Feel a fuller flay-a-mind filet tour.
Mind miners',
Minor minds,
Mine minds?
Mind mine,
Mine's mined.
Ahh the good old 30 cranium rats in a trench coat
One of the worst mid-level BEGs you can have
don't forget elder brain dragon
Hmm...looks like the Mind Flayers are the good guys and what we see is just prejudiced propaganda against them because they look different. If they can reduce my body's pain I would serve them any time.
2:55 Are those… flying intellect devourers?
Looked like a chart of the Illithid life cycle. Tadpole spawn (left), grown tadpole (top), tadpole devouring a human brain (right), Illithid (bottom).
You can almost read his title card ………
Yea long time listener 1st time caller what level do you think it's appropriate to have a ship of 10-20 illithids invade a campaign in a Nautilus?
Level 1, better run fast!
Well, I hate the word "delicious" now.
Not one shout out to Lovecraft? hmmm
is this similar to Tyranids
Sound like the Goa'uld
Art is only as good as its creators.
im confident in time the truth of mind flayers will be revealed. they are from the far future whos entire universe was facing eminent destruction, so they transport back in time with a mission to build their power to untold heights so that they can save the universe.
Put's a different connotation on the term, "BRAAAIIIINNss"
Having a moron fighter with virtually no chance of saving against mind control, a mindflayer was about the worst creature I have EVER faced...for about 6 seconds, then it took control of me and turned me against my own party.
Lovecraft inspired monster are far more frightening than Tolkien inspired monsters.
14:51 So basically iZombie
I'm here for the lore videos, but can we discuss something that isn't trying to ride on Stranger Things clout? Maybe also something that isn't part of an ad campaign for a new book? There's some real potential here to develop an official, centralized database on the characters and places that can teach and showcase the feeling of D&D's 50-year story in a pleasent, digestible conversation and I hope it's not just gonna be "ride the zeitgeist and make videos about the things everyone's already talking about."
I'd love to see vids about some powerful Archdevils, some demon lords that AREN'T Demogorgon, maybe some stuff about the Seldarine or the Mordinsamman, or maybe yall can answer my nightly prayers and give us more Yugoloth discussions.
can chris please please please dm another campaign
I know there’s a divide right now about races being evil but mind flayer and the Lolith Drow are pretty messed up. maybe we should look at it like “it’s not evil it’s just their way of life” i’m just trying to help out the people who want to play mind player characters 😅
i’m really pondering this one and trying to figure out how to play a good mind player for a campaign i’ve always been so fascinated by them.
@@snuggiethegoblin7101 It went vegan, became a druid, and feeds on the psychic mushrooms that collects the dreams of people who dream near them. The crazier the dreams collected the better the flavor!
You’re giving me Clarota flashbacks. ; )
@@MisterSmith00 Throw back!!! 🤩
They still retain individuality though.