D&D 5E Preview: Intellect Devourer

[Roger]

I'd probably let a player keep playing a brain-eaten barbarian PC if he wanted to and if the rest of the party was cool with it. Might be fun.

 

[edbonny]

So cute...

They're absolutely adorable. They look like puppies with those big paws.

 

[the Jester]

No, it implies that if you throw one of these at a 2nd-level party, you probably will not kill them. Fighting things that are the same Challenge as your party is a big deal. Most of the Challenge 2 monsters we have seen are more than capable of dropping a Level 2 Character in a single lucky round.

This. CR in 5e is vastly different from level in 4e and CR in 3e.

 

[TDarien]

I'm slightly confused by the "Body Thief" Ability.

Does they body die when the devourer is expelled for any reason, or only if it leaves voluntarily?
Also, since the devourer is expelled if the body is reduced to 0 HP, what happens if it tries to steal the body of a character already at 0 HP? Is it successful and immediately expelled, killing the victim, or is it unable to attempt the body theft in the first place?

 

[Zaran]

Wow look at all that wasted space...

By the way, I didn't mean I thought the monster was a waste of space. It just seems like there is a lot of wasted page space there.

 

[Dausuul]

No, it implies that if you throw one of these at a 2nd-level party, you probably will not kill them. Fighting things that are the same Challenge as your party is a big deal. Most of the Challenge 2 monsters we have seen are more than capable of dropping a Level 2 Character in a single lucky round.

Dropping a PC is nothing. A cure wounds spell, available from level 1, will take care of that. How many CR 2 monsters have a 28% chance of killing a PC in one round? In a party without access to greater restoration, Devour Intellect results in permanent stun, which is effectively death since the character can never do anything again.

Compare the CR 2 ogre, which attacks at +6 and deals 2d8+4 on a hit. A 2nd-level wizard with Con 10, Dex 12, and no mage armor up (note that I'm going way out of my way to make the wizard extra fragile) has 10 hit points and AC 11. The total chance for the ogre to insta-kill the wizard is 4.7%, mostly due to the possibility of a crit. A single hit will very likely drop the wizard, but is unlikely to be a kill.

 

[Roger]

How many CR 2 monsters have a 28% chance of killing a PC in one round?

Swarm of Poisonous Snakes looks like they've got a pretty decent shot at it. I mean, sure, they're not eating your brain, but you're still probably going to have a bad day if you fall into hole full of poisonous snakes.

If those poisonous snakes have even tinier Intellect Devourers snuggled up in their little snake skulls, then you probably need to buy the DM a pizza or something.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Lesser Restoration should be able to cure it.

 

[jadrax]

Dropping a PC is nothing. A cure wounds spell, available from level 1, will take care of that. How many CR 2 monsters have a 28% chance of killing a PC in one round? In a party without access to greater restoration, Devour Intellect results in permanent stun, which is effectively death since the character can never do anything again.

Compare the CR 2 ogre, which attacks at +6 and deals 2d8+4 on a hit. A 2nd-level wizard with Con 10, Dex 12, and no mage armor up (note that I'm going way out of my way to make the wizard extra fragile) has 10 hit points and AC 11. The total chance for the ogre to insta-kill the wizard is 4.7%, mostly due to the possibility of a crit. A single hit will very likely drop the wizard, but is unlikely to be a kill.

Well I wouldn't want to get charged by a Challenge 2 Rhino (+7 to hit, 4d8+5 Damage) for a start.

That said, yes there is a wide variance of difficulty within a Challenge rating. It is a pretty blunt instrument by design for measuring difficulty. But if you are throwing creatures with a Challenge rating equal to the party level at the PCs, your going to have a lot of casualties.

That said, I am not convinced that a lone Intellect Devourer is in the right challenge band. It seems to me that it has a pretty good chance of seriously crippling parties of much higher level than 2. And honestly, god help you if you meet more than one.

 

[jadrax]

Lesser Restoration should be able to cure it.

You know, I have no idea how that works.

Presumably It would remove the Stunned condition, because that is what the spell does. But you still have INT 0. I am not sure what that mechanically means.

Ahah, no see [MENTION=67247]trystero[/MENTION] below.

The point would still stand if you found another way to removed the Stunned Condition though.