Illithocyte
- Thread starter BOZ
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Shade
Monster Junkie
Here's a stab and cleaning up the flavor text:
Illithocytes are squirming lifeforms that subsist solely on random psychic energy, but whose lashing tentacles are capable of delivering painful stings to those that encounter them.
Mucous-coated eyeless slugs, illithocytes are mottled violet and brown, pushing their way through darkness with four long tentacles. Illithocytes are four feet long with tentacles comprising one fourth of that length, but they generally move only in groups of 3 to 30 individuals, entwining bodies and tentacles in an undifferentiated mass of squalid flesh, leaving behind a wide track of slowly drying mucous.
Since the fall of the illithid empire, what were once tadpoles have evolved into an entirely self-contained species. Forced to adapt or die, a minuscule population of bereaved illithid tadpoles managed the former. Illithocytes divorced themselves from the need to swim through liquid, and instead squirm in family masses across the bare substare. In fact, these family masses are made up of members that have budded from other members: illithocytes are not illithid tadpoles, but in fact are an entirely new species able to reproduce in their own limited fashion.
Illithocytes are the chief source of nutrition for ravening neothelids (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook). Their aggressive tendencies sometimes cause a predator neothelid to move on in search of smaller illithocyte masses on which to dine. Its possible that enough illithocyte masses could bring down a neothelid.
Illithocytes are squirming lifeforms that subsist solely on random psychic energy, but whose lashing tentacles are capable of delivering painful stings to those that encounter them.
Mucous-coated eyeless slugs, illithocytes are mottled violet and brown, pushing their way through darkness with four long tentacles. Illithocytes are four feet long with tentacles comprising one fourth of that length, but they generally move only in groups of 3 to 30 individuals, entwining bodies and tentacles in an undifferentiated mass of squalid flesh, leaving behind a wide track of slowly drying mucous.
Since the fall of the illithid empire, what were once tadpoles have evolved into an entirely self-contained species. Forced to adapt or die, a minuscule population of bereaved illithid tadpoles managed the former. Illithocytes divorced themselves from the need to swim through liquid, and instead squirm in family masses across the bare substare. In fact, these family masses are made up of members that have budded from other members: illithocytes are not illithid tadpoles, but in fact are an entirely new species able to reproduce in their own limited fashion.
Illithocytes are the chief source of nutrition for ravening neothelids (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook). Their aggressive tendencies sometimes cause a predator neothelid to move on in search of smaller illithocyte masses on which to dine. Its possible that enough illithocyte masses could bring down a neothelid.
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Ooh yeah, but kinda long. And too derivative – we can’t simply do this the lazy way we normally do it on the CC. 
(I’m very guilty of this, as you know.) It’s got to be freshly rewritten. I don’t think they’re going to print something if it’s obvious that all we did was rearrange or replace certain words.
How about this:
This squirming mass of fetid, mottled violet and brown flesh could be one enormous sluglike creature, or several smaller ones. Tentacles dripping foul mucous flick and lash back and forth from every conceivable opening the snaky forms allow.
Illithocytes are deformed, eyeless things that push their way through the moist darkness with their tentacles, leaving a wide track of foul mucous behind them. They spend most of their time in large family masses, entwining their bodies and moving as a group. They gain their sustenance solely from whatever psychic radiations they find.
Illithocytes were once illithid tadpoles that survived the fall of a mind flayer empire. With no warm bodies to inhabit, the tadpoles were forced to adapt or die. Those that survived learned how to grow new life on their own, and evolved into a new self-contained species. Illithocytes now bud new members of their species from their own bodies, rather than other creatures.
An individual illithocyte is 4 feet long, and weighs 20 pounds.
Combat
Illithocytes are aggressive, preferring to strike before their adversaries can react. Groups of illithocytes direct their attacks against a single target, maximizing the benefits of their ability to fight in close quarters. Being the chief source of nutrition for the ravening neothelids (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook), illithocytes use their aggression to drive these predators off.
(I’m very guilty of this, as you know.) It’s got to be freshly rewritten. I don’t think they’re going to print something if it’s obvious that all we did was rearrange or replace certain words.How about this:
This squirming mass of fetid, mottled violet and brown flesh could be one enormous sluglike creature, or several smaller ones. Tentacles dripping foul mucous flick and lash back and forth from every conceivable opening the snaky forms allow.
Illithocytes are deformed, eyeless things that push their way through the moist darkness with their tentacles, leaving a wide track of foul mucous behind them. They spend most of their time in large family masses, entwining their bodies and moving as a group. They gain their sustenance solely from whatever psychic radiations they find.
Illithocytes were once illithid tadpoles that survived the fall of a mind flayer empire. With no warm bodies to inhabit, the tadpoles were forced to adapt or die. Those that survived learned how to grow new life on their own, and evolved into a new self-contained species. Illithocytes now bud new members of their species from their own bodies, rather than other creatures.
An individual illithocyte is 4 feet long, and weighs 20 pounds.
Combat
Illithocytes are aggressive, preferring to strike before their adversaries can react. Groups of illithocytes direct their attacks against a single target, maximizing the benefits of their ability to fight in close quarters. Being the chief source of nutrition for the ravening neothelids (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook), illithocytes use their aggression to drive these predators off.
Shade
Monster Junkie
Odd, I was thinking just the opposite. Normally, I'd fear plagiarism, but since this is an official outlet, I'd think a straight copy would be fine. No worries, though. 
I like your rewrite. Do you think we should explain "psychic energies" a little better, so it is not assumed that they feed on psionic creatures and characters? Maybe they feed on the residue of manifestations of psionic abilities or in the wake of powerful psionic creatures?
I like your rewrite. Do you think we should explain "psychic energies" a little better, so it is not assumed that they feed on psionic creatures and characters? Maybe they feed on the residue of manifestations of psionic abilities or in the wake of powerful psionic creatures?
BOZ
Creature Cataloguer
Shade said:Odd, I was thinking just the opposite. Normally, I'd fear plagiarism, but since this is an official outlet, I'd think a straight copy would be fine. No worries, though.
better safe than sorry?
it’s not that the company would be plagiarizing itself – but that we, as authors, would be plagiarizing other authors that worries me and might make the Paizo editors cringe at the idea of using our article… and anything else we do in the future. 
If I’m off base with that idea, let me know. Shade said:
I don’t know that they don’t feed on psionic entities!
but the text does not say that they do… any idea how to explain psionic residue with a brief explanation, or is that covered somewhere in the ExPsiHB?
Shade
Monster Junkie
BOZ said:better safe than sorry?
"Better safe than sorry" is a good credo to live by.
BOZ said:I don’t know that they don’t feed on psionic entities!
Psionics are one of those areas that I'm not really knowledgeable. Every time I get ready to dig into the XPH and try to learn 'em, some new supplement comes out and distracts me.
Knight Otu
First Post
Uhh, psionic displays...? ectoplasm...? astral matter in general...?
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