Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
It's worth noting that Neolithids are gargantuan sized, which is the biggest size category in 5e (not like that will stop me from using my Colossal Red Dragon mini any time soon), and CR 13, meaning it's has the second lowest CR out of all of them, only low-balled by the Roc (which isn't anywhere near as interesting). The Low CR and lack of interesting competition, means that the Neolithid may very well be the first, if not only, Gargantuan sized monster your group ever gets to fight. Which is kind of special, even if they did lower the CR from previous editions to make that happen.
As for an alternate use, I'm going to go a bit transmedia for this, so it may be too nerdy, even for some D&D playing people.
If you have played the D&D Starter set, and done the Lost Mines of Phandelver introduction adventure, you may have noticed a location called Icespire Peak on the region map. This location isn't detailed anywhere other than the Neverwinter MMO, so it is likely a shout out to them. But that's not the important part. The important part is a Frost Giant named Lakkar, who absorbed the power from an Artifact called the Winterforge (A portal to the icy bit of the elemental Chaos), grew to Colossal size, and started laying the smack down on everyone. His ego, or perhaps insanity, grew along with the rest of him, causing him to declare his godhood. Angering his patron Thrym (see chapter one of Volos for a bit more info on him) in the process. Thrym then lent his aid to the Icehammer Dwarves (of all peoples) in order to defeat Lakkar, and froze his body into the Icespire.
If you have ever played the MMO, and I have, it's quite an impressive sight to behold. First your travel up his axe, which serves as a bridge, then you see his frozen corpse which is bigger than most of the buildings you have seen up until that point. You can probably find a video of it on youtube if you care to look.
So why am I yammering on about Frost Giants, when we talked about them weeks ago?
Well it's simple, I propose two interesting ideas that can be combined into a higher level plot. Firstly, Lakkar isn't dead, he is just frozen. Secondly, Neolithids can potentially undergo Ceremorphosis, but they haven't found a suitable body to do so with, due to their size. I am sure you can see where this is going, another Illithid experiment, just with larger stakes and an even more terrifying outcome. Something I would like to call the Omegalithid. A being with immense strength, size, tentacles, and a direct connection to the elemental plane of ice that would surely have the potential to extinguish the sun. A fitting end to your mind flayer themed campaign if you don't want to go the Alhoon route.
As for an alternate use, I'm going to go a bit transmedia for this, so it may be too nerdy, even for some D&D playing people.
If you have played the D&D Starter set, and done the Lost Mines of Phandelver introduction adventure, you may have noticed a location called Icespire Peak on the region map. This location isn't detailed anywhere other than the Neverwinter MMO, so it is likely a shout out to them. But that's not the important part. The important part is a Frost Giant named Lakkar, who absorbed the power from an Artifact called the Winterforge (A portal to the icy bit of the elemental Chaos), grew to Colossal size, and started laying the smack down on everyone. His ego, or perhaps insanity, grew along with the rest of him, causing him to declare his godhood. Angering his patron Thrym (see chapter one of Volos for a bit more info on him) in the process. Thrym then lent his aid to the Icehammer Dwarves (of all peoples) in order to defeat Lakkar, and froze his body into the Icespire.
If you have ever played the MMO, and I have, it's quite an impressive sight to behold. First your travel up his axe, which serves as a bridge, then you see his frozen corpse which is bigger than most of the buildings you have seen up until that point. You can probably find a video of it on youtube if you care to look.
So why am I yammering on about Frost Giants, when we talked about them weeks ago?
Well it's simple, I propose two interesting ideas that can be combined into a higher level plot. Firstly, Lakkar isn't dead, he is just frozen. Secondly, Neolithids can potentially undergo Ceremorphosis, but they haven't found a suitable body to do so with, due to their size. I am sure you can see where this is going, another Illithid experiment, just with larger stakes and an even more terrifying outcome. Something I would like to call the Omegalithid. A being with immense strength, size, tentacles, and a direct connection to the elemental plane of ice that would surely have the potential to extinguish the sun. A fitting end to your mind flayer themed campaign if you don't want to go the Alhoon route.
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