I'll admit it: I'm playing an Illithid.

[Roland Delacroix]

A Psion fits the theme, but similar to the Wizard and Sorcerer, spells/power that low level won't be very usefull. The Psi feats however could be very cool, particularlly since you could apply them to your inate powers. Have you considered a Psi Warrior? That would net you a few self-buff powers, minor PP, decent saves and BAB and the much needed psi feats.

Another option is Barbarian. Tack on 2 levels and you get those d12 hit die, Uncanny Dodge, increased Move, and good skills (Intimidate?). Take the Extra Rage feat and get a +4 Str bonus to those tentacle grapples, 3 combats a day.

 

[hammymchamham]

a mind flayer assassin? YOINK. Stealing to use on my players in my FR campaign. Teamed up with a mind flayer lich (forgot what they were called)... nasty. I'll save that for a few levels

 

[Tonguez]

Hey follow s/Lash's suggestion and make it a Mindflayer Paladin!!!

Now wouldn't that be fun...

(ps this thread has been fun

PSS is s/Lash a D/s reference or what?)

It's a cool idea. However, I'm not getting as much character stuff as I might like... why is this illithid on the surface? What are its motivations? Why is it after an Item Of Extreme Power besides power for power's sake?

It strikes me that, with a little effort, you could have an illithid who wanders the daylit world on a noble quest to save his people. But because his people are the only ones worth calling people, he can still be as evil as he wants to 'lesser beings'. Picture this: Illithids under siege from some nasty force that lives on an outer plane. And I mean really nasty... nastier than illithids. One citizen goes into the Daylit Realms to find a way to save his people. OK, so this requires DM consultation, but I figure it's an interesting perspective to have. If you want, you could slowly gain respect for Daylanders and stop thinking of them as cattle, but let's not do anything too drastic, hey?

What would really suck is if you were playing a mind flayer that didn't know it was a mind flayer...

 

[Aaron L]

I've always thought that an illithid psychic warrior would be a really cool character.

 

[s/LaSH]

is s/Lash a D/s reference or what?)

It's not a reference to anything, it just seemed unique. It's also how you pronounce the little mark I sometimes put on my artwork (ES-lash). And the mark is based on my initials crammed together and simplified and recomplicated.

Now I don't know what D/s means, so enlighten me if you'd be so kind.


Meanwhile, I also liked the idea of mind flayer assassins, but here's something cooler that I've used in the past: illithid ninjas. As a prestige class, you'd probably allow them the ability to Plane Shift partially into Shadow without flying off a few dozen miles (gotta hate that Plane Shift aim), or other cool stuff. Just remember, I thought of it first. Oh, and I gave them a pretty lethal piece of equipment called a cinema, but what that is will have to wait for another day.

 

[RangerWickett]

Actually, a Mind Flayer paladin ain't a bad idea. I mean, what's your Charisma score? 18? Hey, immediate +4 to saving throws! Or if you don't want to be good, you could always take a level of Expert (for the necessary skills) and then grab Blackguard or Assassin at the next level. I think you should have enough BAB and such to fulfill the rest of the requirements.

 

[Hand of Vecna]

I played a Mind Flayer once. Most of the things the party fought were either mindless undead or aberations with a monstrously high Will save.

At the end of the adventure, we all got up to 2 draws from a Deck of Many Things. I went first.

Not only was this my first Illithid character, this was my first encounter with a Deck as a PC.

First card drawn was the Idiot, I lost 4 points of Intelligence. Second card -- the Donjon. And since all gear got stripped from me, and the Deck was considered part of my gear at the time, the Deck vanished, making it so no one else could get any draws.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Dude, Illithid Assassins *are* Illithid Ninja. Especially with the Ranger stuff tied to it.

For an added edge, you may want to consider these abilities/enhacements/whatever.

*Firing Tentacles: Like various species of squid, you posess two longer tentacles in springs of muscle that can shoot out. These come from your "cheeks," can can extend 15 feet. If they hit, they deal 1d4 damage each, and if both hit a grapple is started. After getting a hold on the target, you can bring them to your space with an opposed Strength check, if they are lighter than you. If they are heavier, you can bring yourself to them. Any subsequent tentacle attacks (from the 4 on your face) are automatically successful once you're next to a creature you've grabbed with these.

*Chromatophors: You posess a startling control of your skin coloration. In effect, you can gain a +10 to Hide checks, and can attempt to hide even while in plain sight. You can also use this for more surprising control, altering skin texture and color as you see fit, turning unnatural colors and patterns, if you desire.

 

[JohnClark]

I played a Mind Flayer once. Most of the things the party fought were either mindless undead or aberations with a monstrously high Will save.

At the end of the adventure, we all got up to 2 draws from a Deck of Many Things. I went first.

Not only was this my first Illithid character, this was my first encounter with a Deck as a PC.

First card drawn was the Idiot, I lost 4 points of Intelligence. Second card -- the Donjon. And since all gear got stripped from me, and the Deck was considered part of my gear at the time, the Deck vanished, making it so no one else could get any draws.

Our group just got to draw from the deck of many things. I scored myself the three of cups (50,000gp worth of gems ), then I got to draw again when the cleric gave me his extra, and I drew the same card! I am a happy gnome golem creator!

 

[ced1106]

Hmm... Mind Flayer. You're Lawful Evil, right?

Looks like you're getting into the role of things. Other sentient beings are cattle, slurp, slurp. These are not the droids you're looking for, throb, throb.

If you're interested in an exotic field of study, suggest this as your motivation to the DM, and have him create adventures in which you search for arcane knowledge (or modify his adventures to suit this motivation). Meanwhile, being the lawful kinda guy you are, settle into the town, turn everyone into Stepford people, and have some peace and quiet as you delve into planar research. Oh, sure, this only means the DM also has a hook for goody-two-shoes NPCs to "save the town" (not to mention bring in some nasties when you open a gate by mistake), but surely you and your party can take care of these little problems.

Dunno if the Book of Vile Darkness has suggestions on running an evil campaign (ie. a campaign in which the players create the plot, rather than react to it), but AEG does with its Evil supplement. Guess what you're buying your GM for an early Christmas gift?


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^