Illithid-touched Race

[SkidAce]

Lol... I knew that someone was going to mention this at some point. I had meant to make a pre-emptive strike by covering my butt; however, it appears that I forgot to do so.
/snp

This fits very nicely with a strong undercurrent of transmutation magic in this world, such as a major organization of "Chimerists" that specialize in transmutation magics--especially those pertaining to altering, improving, or (as with many of the famous magical creatures, such as the (ahem) chimera) mixing already existant creatures.

Years I have been looking for a name for my creature mutating evil wizards...and it was right under my nose. And I watch Slayers too...I am ashamed. Oh and /yoink!

THANK YOU!

 

[fourthmensch]

I don't think ten is really enough. I grabbed 13 so that it'd start out equally at 1st level with, say, a wizard's base Will save (13 + Wis mod). I would think that an illithid-touched and a wizard should start out on equal ground. If it was just DC 10 + Int modifier, that would put the illithid-touched behind other 1st level characters in ability, and this just makes it that much more useful for the next few levels as others catch up.

Hm. I certainly understand your reasoning, but I'm not sure that you should do that. To the best of my knowledge, every single save DC in the D&D game is 10 + modifier. To make it higher risks the mind blast being overpowering at lower levels (even though it would still be pretty irrelevant at high levels). For example, a 1st level illithid-touched wizard with a high Int could have a save DC of 17 (or even 18) for his mind blast, which is significantly higher than other save DCs at that level.

On a related note, shouldn't the mind blast save DC be Charisma-based, rather than Intelligence-based?

My only beef with your version of their write-up is that they didn't seem unique. You could have named them Mind-Trees and had them be of type plant and I wouldn't have noticed a difference.

Fair enough; my version does lack the obvious illithid-connection that yours does. What I had planned was an available feat that would grant the detect thoughts ability. The main reason I went more with skill/save bonuses rather than discrete abilities (such as detect thoughts) is to prevent keep them relevant throughout a character's career. A +2 to Diplomacy is always useful, but any ability relying on static DCs can become less and less useful as enemies' saving throws increase. That's just a matter of personal preference, though.

I very much like the idea of a minor mind blast. Now we just need to tinker with it. I'll try to write up some of the feats that I mentioned, and y'all can let me know what you think.

 

[Torx]

Originally posted by fourthmensch
To the best of my knowledge, every single save DC in the D&D game is 10 + modifier.

Actually, where I first got that idea was by going over the Fiend Folio (granted, 3.0 rules, but the update to 3.5 made no amendment) entry of the half-illithid. In that description, the mind blast ability was exactly the same save format as I proposed for minor mind blast. So there is precedent.

However, if you believe that the ability is too powerful with that save, lower the DC. My thought was that, for a racial ability, it should be a little more useful over the course of the first five levels or so. That's why I agreed with the Fiend Folio DC 13 + Int mod.

I really do like the idea of skill bonuses; I think they should be included. I just couldn't make them fit with the extras I added, and I thought the extra flavor of the abilities was worth the sacrifice. If you can think of a way to make them all work together, I'll be happy to see it.

Thanks for all the work you've put into this so far, fourthmensch.

 

[fourthmensch]

Actually, where I first got that idea was by going over the Fiend Folio (granted, 3.0 rules, but the update to 3.5 made no amendment) entry of the half-illithid. In that description, the mind blast ability was exactly the same save format as I proposed for minor mind blast. So there is precedent.

However, if you believe that the ability is too powerful with that save, lower the DC. My thought was that, for a racial ability, it should be a little more useful over the course of the first five levels or so. That's why I agreed with the Fiend Folio DC 13 + Int mod.

Ah, I stand corrected. It still seems a little weird to me that they did that with the half-illithids, but apparently I was wrong when I said every single save DC is base 10.

I really do like the idea of skill bonuses; I think they should be included. I just couldn't make them fit with the extras I added, and I thought the extra flavor of the abilities was worth the sacrifice. If you can think of a way to make them all work together, I'll be happy to see it.

My approach would be to have the skill bonuses, nix the detect thoughts ability, make the mind blast base 10, and then give any illithid-touched character the option of selecting the following feats:

Detect Thoughts
You can tap your illithid heritage in order to scan the surface thoughts of intelligent nearby creatures.
Prerequisite: Cerebrate
[font=&quot]Benefit: [font=&quot]The character gains the ability to use detect thoughts as a spell-like ability three times per day. The DC is Charisma based.[/font][/font]

[font=&quot]Extra Mind Blast[/font]
You have disciplined your mind so that you can use your mind blast ability more often.
Prerequisites: Cerebrate.
Benefit: You may use your mind blast ability two extra times per day.
Normal: You may use your mind blast ability twice per day.
[font=&quot]Special[/font]: You may select this feat more than once. Each time you select it, you may use your mind blast an additional two times per day.

[font=&quot]Improved Mind Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained yourself to focus your mental powers, making your mind blast more powerful.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequistes: Cerebrate. [/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Add +2 to the DC for your mind blast ability.[/font]

[font=&quot]Improved Ranged Mind Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained with illithid masters in order to project your mental attacks outward even further.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequisite: Cerebrate, Ranged Mind Blast.[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Your mind blast affects all creatures in a 30-foot cone.[/font]
[font=&quot]Normal: Your mind blast affects all creatures in a 15-foot cone (as per Ranged Mind Blast). [/font]

[font=&quot]Improved Stunning Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained with illithid masters in order to prolong the effects of your mind blast.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequisite: Cerebrate, Stunning Blast.[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Opponents affected by your mind blast ability are stunned for 2d4 rounds.[/font]
[font=&quot]Normal: Opponents affected by your mind blast ability are stunned for 1d4 rounds (as per Stunning Blast).[/font]

[font=&quot]Mind Blast Mastery[/font]
[font=&quot]You have mastered the art of focusing your mental powers to disable enemies.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequisites: Cerebrate, Improved Mind Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Add +2 to the DC for your mind blast ability. This bonus stacks with the bonus from Improved Mind Blast.[/font]

[font=&quot]Ranged Mind Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained with illithid masters in order to project your mental attacks outward.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerquisite: Cerebrate.[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Your mind blast affects all creatures in a 15-foot cone.[/font]
[font=&quot]Normal: Your mind blast affects only one creature.[/font]

[font=&quot]Ranged Mind Blast Mastery[/font]
[font=&quot]You have achieved such mastery of your mind blast that it affects nearly as many creatures of a true illithid.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequisites: Cerebrate, Improved Ranged Mind Blast, Ranged Mind Blast.[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Your mind blast affects all creatures in a 45-foot cone.[/font]
[font=&quot]Normal: Your mind blast affects all creatures in a 30 ft-cone (as per Improved Ranged Mind Blast)[/font]

[font=&quot]Stunning Blast[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained with illithid masters in order to improve your mental attack.[/font]
[font=&quot]Prerequisites: Cerebrate.[/font]
[font=&quot]Benefit: Opponents affected by your mind blast are stunned for 1d4 rounds.[/font]
[font=&quot]Normal: Opponents affected by your mind blast are dazed for 1 round.[/font]

[font=&quot]Stunning Blast Mastery[/font]
[font=&quot]You have trained with illithid masters in order to fully overload the mental defenses of your opponents.[/font]
Prerequsities: Cerebrate, Improved Stunning Blast, Stunning Blast.
Benefit: Opponents affected by your mind blast are stunned for 3d4 rounds.
Normal: Opponents affected by your mind blast are stunned for 2d4 rounds (as per Improved Stunning Blast).
​

Now, that's a lot of feats, I know. No cerebrate would even be able to take them all; this just allows different characters to customize their abilities based on their priorities. With this set of feats, it is possible for any character to make one aspect of their mind blast nearly as powerful as that of a true illithid's--DC, range, duration, or frequency of use--but it would still be impossible for any one cerebrate to compete with a true mind flayer's mind blast.

Thanks for all the work you've put into this so far, fourthmensch.

No problem! I'm just glad that other people are actually interested in this--it gives me some people to bounce my ideas off of, and hopefully to tell me when I'm starting to sound crazy .