D&D 5E Illithid PC

[Elon Tusk]

I have to say that a renegade Ilithid working with a (possibly renegade) githzerai out of a common desire for revenge is ... well it's a bit gonzo, but it's pretty cool too.

In other news, I could have sworn that the githzerai's stats had been published already... am I wrong?

Yeah, I'm looking forward to coming up with tortuous ways to treat the renegades once they are over their heads, possibly using some of the bizarre flying ships (nautiloids), augmented monster thralls, and other illithid magic items mentioned in Volo's.

As far as I know the Githzerai have only been statted in the MM as NPCs, though I have no doubt others have home-brewed them.

 

[Elderbrain]

In the Illithiad and the three-part adventure tie-in for 2nd edition, there is a NPC who survives being turned into an Illithid by taking special rare herbs. This NPC retained his original human mind, alignment, and goals and was able to pass as a normal Mind Flayer and learn their plans. He aided the PCs in thwarting the Mind Flayers' plot to substitute the normal universe for an alternate reality in which the Illithid empire never fell.

There are also certain campaign settings (or parts of settings, i.e. certain cities) where monstrous and/or evil beings like Illithids are tolerated, if not exactly liked, such as Spelljammer and Planescape, where Mind Flayers can walk around in public and not be attacked in, say, the Rock of Bral or Sigil. Of course, eating an unwilling person's brains is still murder...

 

[Elon Tusk]

In the Illithiad and the three-part adventure tie-in for 2nd edition, there is a NPC who survives being turned into an Illithid by taking special rare herbs. This NPC retained his original human mind, alignment, and goals and was able to pass as a normal Mind Flayer and learn their plans. He aided the PCs in thwarting the Mind Flayers' plot to substitute the normal universe for an alternate reality in which the Illithid empire never fell.

I really like the idea of the colony working toward an alternate timeline.
I may steal that for the illithoid/githzerai campaign I mentioned, maybe even letting the timeline substitution happen so that illithids have subjugated the world of the players, making illithids accepted but even more hated.

There are also certain campaign settings (or parts of settings, i.e. certain cities) where monstrous and/or evil beings like Illithids are tolerated, if not exactly liked, such as Spelljammer and Planescape, where Mind Flayers can walk around in public and not be attacked in, say, the Rock of Bral or Sigil. Of course, eating an unwilling person's brains is still murder...

This is why I allowed illithoid to subsist on brains, even of those other than humanoid.

 

[plisnithus8]

https://youtu.be/9zqRlWgPtbU

Nerdarchy guys answer fan mail question from GM who asks hiw to build an illithid PC.