_Michael_
Explorer
So, I'm looking to build-out the stats for a creature similar to an illithid, called a "Gloomfetch," but not as malevolently evil simply for evil's sake. No idea where to even begin, and I'd love to hear suggestions for its stats in 3.5e rules. If there's any aspects that seem overpowered, I may tone it downwards a bit. However, they can't cast magic that requires verbal components as they themselves do not have the mouth parts required for it to make the proper sounds, and when attached to a thrall body, the thrall's vocal cords are unable to do so; however, if this is too limiting, that could be altered. I do sort of see them as having psionic abilities as well, and very likely extraordinary and possibly supernatural abilities, but again, I'm open to suggestions. This is an apex predator in the deepest reaches of the Evergloom (my own version of the Underdark), and terrify even really strong creatures such as the Ebynai (my own version of the drow) and other monsters. I sort of got the idea from the old pulp novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs called, The Chessmen of Mars.
Some of the various abilities I was thinking of are the ability to (when detached from a host body) change the color of their skin similar to how an octopus can to blend into the background and camouflage themselves from detection. They would likely have darkvision and low-light vision, and probably spell-like abilities to some degree, such as Detect Thoughts or other nasty surprises. They'd have limited telepathy, both between themselves and other creatures for communication, and with their host bodies to better facilitate control. They'd also probably have bonuses to Hide and Move Silently when not attached to a host body, and bonuses to Sense Motive, Spot and Listen checks.
This is not likely a monster players will be able to just play as they're very rare, and do not just hang out and go on adventures. I wanted to make its motives more inscrutable than the illithid's as they're not just strip mining planets and moving on. They're likely dwelling near the Chthonian Meridian (a zone where gravity shifts and magic goes awry, separating the surface from the inner Pelucidar-like hollow world) due to its magical properties, but I've left it vague on purpose so I can later on fill those details in when I have more of the Evergloom and the world itself fleshed out.
The images I've made on AI sites to go with it:
The description I have come up with:
No creature conjures up visions of terror quite like the enigmatic gloomfetches. An alien presence veiled in shadows, these subterranean cephalopods embody the very essence of stealth and cunning. Their unworldly forms are of a land-crawling octopus straight out of the realm of nightmares who glide through the unseen corners of the underworld, leaving only silence in their wake. None who tread the lightless passages are safe from their chilling touch, for the gloomfetches wield an uncanny ability to blend into their surroundings, vanishing into the obsidian tapestry of the Evergloom and striking terror into the hearts of those who dare to confront the shadows they embody.
A large, octopus-like creature, the gloomfetch is a sentient and extremely intelligent apex predator in the Evergloom that is capable of changing the color and patterns of its skin to blend into the backgrounds, though this ability does not extend to the host creature. It is a symbiote, in that while it can survive without a host body just fine, it prefers the use of bipedal beings for ease of agency. It does prefer to stay near water to keep itself damp as its skin can dry out if it goes too long without moisture, but this is not a major problem in the Evergloom due to the prevalence of underground springs and lakes.
Ebynai scouts often report gloomfetches not attached to a body drift near ceilings and travel above most threats, though they are not entirely defenseless in such a state. They can still draw upon potent magics and can use their chameleon-like camouflage to ambush unsuspecting prey. Typically, they lure their victims to an ambush by mimicking human calls for help, then drop onto their victim from the ceiling, quickly enveloping the target's head and seizing control of the creature to then use as its body, including the use of weapons and magic. Even more disturbing, Ebynai wizards have theorized that gloomfetches seem to share a collective memory that is added to by the absorption of each host's memories and knowledge. Thus, they learn anything they need from their hosts to add to the collective memories they all share, making them extremely intelligent and deadly foes.
Sensitive to light, gloomfetch settlements are typically found in the Undergloom's deepest reaches. Living in a subterranean environment, there's the usual mix of adaptations such as the ability to see in low-light and no-light conditions, as well as their chameleon-like ability to blend in. Once they attach to a host body, they take over the breathing for the thrall, allowing them to go underwater to great depths as well as filter out toxins and gases. They are also capable of administering chemical rewards and punishments to encourage the host body to go along with the gloomfetch's instructions (and even chemicals to speed the body's healing rates), and they can converse with their host body via telepathy.
Communication consists of limited telepathic communication, as well as using color and patterns on their skin to communicate visually. Killing the host body does not kill the gloomfetch, either, and both must usually be destroyed in the course of a battle as the host body will fight to defend, and seek to re-attach to, a bodiless gloomfetch due to their inculcated dependency, with those who are were captured more likely to attempt to escape and break away from the gloomfetches. Typically, their cities have a communal area where their host bodies are kept locked in a secure building with an atrium, though they are given food and water, and kept comfortable. Their city of Nar-Zâlek exemplifies this, with large creche ponds near hot springs for breeding and expansive and comfortable but modest communal homes for their thralls. Often, the composition of their thralls consist of a variety of humanoid species, where they are left to their own devices until needed, though gloomfetches prefer stronger and bigger humanoids, or those with inherent qualities that they can exploit, such as elves.
Omnivorous creatures, gloomfetches prefer protein in the form of meat such as fish and the small yak-like draf, but don't eat it raw. They will cook their foods like any other sapient species, and favored host bodies are often fed lavishly and enjoy privileges not afforded to the other thralls. As gloomfetches live centuries, it is not uncommon for them to enjoy several favorite host bodies throughout their lifetimes. These thrall are bred like cattle for specific traits and qualities.
Careful selective breeding over the course of generations has lead to an inbred docility and compatibility in thralls, giving the gloomfetch greater control over a thrall bred specifically to be a host, than one they have ambushed and taken over by force. They often have active breeding programs in place with extensive records to track traits and abilities they seek to isolate and exploit. Like any intelligent species, they have favorites among the thralls, particularly intelligent ones who show willingness to submit to their control—such thralls are singled out for specialized training. These adaptations have resulted in incredibly stronger and fast host bodies, but at a cost of intelligence and will—the hosts, when freed, tend to have the minds of children at best, and at worst, are oafish brutes no better than beasts.
Those rare ambush victims who have escaped report that the gloomfetch is capable of telepathic communication and can read their minds, but uses chemical rewards and punishments of varying intensities until the will is utterly broken. They also indicate nothing the gloomfetches do is geared specifically towards pain or punishment, and the process of attachment isn't painful, just frightening for the unprepared. They don't use torture or terror as a tool of control, preferring a symbiotic relationship—so long as a thrall submits to their will.
Despite their xenophobia, gloomfetches engage in limited trade with other species, primarily seeking rare magical texts or items infused with eldritch energy or are found in the countless slave markets of the Evergloom, seeking the best thrall-bodies money can buy. Why they seek such merchandise, like the motives and aspirations of the gloomfetch empire itself, remain shrouded in mystery; not even escaped thralls are able to decipher their grand designs.
Reports indicate that the empire's vastness surpasses common knowledge and boasts an ancient lineage. Gloomfetches exhibit a relentless pursuit of scientific and magical knowledge, evident in their clandestine activities within the Evergloom. The peculiar magical saturation resulting from the Chthonian Meridian's proximity renders traditional scrying or magical translocation to the Evergloom's depths impossible. This magical barrier contributes to the painstakingly slow and arduous task of acquiring comprehensive information about these elusive creatures. Fortunately, this is likely what keeps them from invading the surface, for which the High Council is thankful as our resources are better used on restoring lost knowledge than battling yet another existential threat once again.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you ahead of time!
Some of the various abilities I was thinking of are the ability to (when detached from a host body) change the color of their skin similar to how an octopus can to blend into the background and camouflage themselves from detection. They would likely have darkvision and low-light vision, and probably spell-like abilities to some degree, such as Detect Thoughts or other nasty surprises. They'd have limited telepathy, both between themselves and other creatures for communication, and with their host bodies to better facilitate control. They'd also probably have bonuses to Hide and Move Silently when not attached to a host body, and bonuses to Sense Motive, Spot and Listen checks.
This is not likely a monster players will be able to just play as they're very rare, and do not just hang out and go on adventures. I wanted to make its motives more inscrutable than the illithid's as they're not just strip mining planets and moving on. They're likely dwelling near the Chthonian Meridian (a zone where gravity shifts and magic goes awry, separating the surface from the inner Pelucidar-like hollow world) due to its magical properties, but I've left it vague on purpose so I can later on fill those details in when I have more of the Evergloom and the world itself fleshed out.
The images I've made on AI sites to go with it:
The description I have come up with:
No creature conjures up visions of terror quite like the enigmatic gloomfetches. An alien presence veiled in shadows, these subterranean cephalopods embody the very essence of stealth and cunning. Their unworldly forms are of a land-crawling octopus straight out of the realm of nightmares who glide through the unseen corners of the underworld, leaving only silence in their wake. None who tread the lightless passages are safe from their chilling touch, for the gloomfetches wield an uncanny ability to blend into their surroundings, vanishing into the obsidian tapestry of the Evergloom and striking terror into the hearts of those who dare to confront the shadows they embody.
A large, octopus-like creature, the gloomfetch is a sentient and extremely intelligent apex predator in the Evergloom that is capable of changing the color and patterns of its skin to blend into the backgrounds, though this ability does not extend to the host creature. It is a symbiote, in that while it can survive without a host body just fine, it prefers the use of bipedal beings for ease of agency. It does prefer to stay near water to keep itself damp as its skin can dry out if it goes too long without moisture, but this is not a major problem in the Evergloom due to the prevalence of underground springs and lakes.
Ebynai scouts often report gloomfetches not attached to a body drift near ceilings and travel above most threats, though they are not entirely defenseless in such a state. They can still draw upon potent magics and can use their chameleon-like camouflage to ambush unsuspecting prey. Typically, they lure their victims to an ambush by mimicking human calls for help, then drop onto their victim from the ceiling, quickly enveloping the target's head and seizing control of the creature to then use as its body, including the use of weapons and magic. Even more disturbing, Ebynai wizards have theorized that gloomfetches seem to share a collective memory that is added to by the absorption of each host's memories and knowledge. Thus, they learn anything they need from their hosts to add to the collective memories they all share, making them extremely intelligent and deadly foes.
Sensitive to light, gloomfetch settlements are typically found in the Undergloom's deepest reaches. Living in a subterranean environment, there's the usual mix of adaptations such as the ability to see in low-light and no-light conditions, as well as their chameleon-like ability to blend in. Once they attach to a host body, they take over the breathing for the thrall, allowing them to go underwater to great depths as well as filter out toxins and gases. They are also capable of administering chemical rewards and punishments to encourage the host body to go along with the gloomfetch's instructions (and even chemicals to speed the body's healing rates), and they can converse with their host body via telepathy.
Communication consists of limited telepathic communication, as well as using color and patterns on their skin to communicate visually. Killing the host body does not kill the gloomfetch, either, and both must usually be destroyed in the course of a battle as the host body will fight to defend, and seek to re-attach to, a bodiless gloomfetch due to their inculcated dependency, with those who are were captured more likely to attempt to escape and break away from the gloomfetches. Typically, their cities have a communal area where their host bodies are kept locked in a secure building with an atrium, though they are given food and water, and kept comfortable. Their city of Nar-Zâlek exemplifies this, with large creche ponds near hot springs for breeding and expansive and comfortable but modest communal homes for their thralls. Often, the composition of their thralls consist of a variety of humanoid species, where they are left to their own devices until needed, though gloomfetches prefer stronger and bigger humanoids, or those with inherent qualities that they can exploit, such as elves.
Omnivorous creatures, gloomfetches prefer protein in the form of meat such as fish and the small yak-like draf, but don't eat it raw. They will cook their foods like any other sapient species, and favored host bodies are often fed lavishly and enjoy privileges not afforded to the other thralls. As gloomfetches live centuries, it is not uncommon for them to enjoy several favorite host bodies throughout their lifetimes. These thrall are bred like cattle for specific traits and qualities.
Careful selective breeding over the course of generations has lead to an inbred docility and compatibility in thralls, giving the gloomfetch greater control over a thrall bred specifically to be a host, than one they have ambushed and taken over by force. They often have active breeding programs in place with extensive records to track traits and abilities they seek to isolate and exploit. Like any intelligent species, they have favorites among the thralls, particularly intelligent ones who show willingness to submit to their control—such thralls are singled out for specialized training. These adaptations have resulted in incredibly stronger and fast host bodies, but at a cost of intelligence and will—the hosts, when freed, tend to have the minds of children at best, and at worst, are oafish brutes no better than beasts.
Those rare ambush victims who have escaped report that the gloomfetch is capable of telepathic communication and can read their minds, but uses chemical rewards and punishments of varying intensities until the will is utterly broken. They also indicate nothing the gloomfetches do is geared specifically towards pain or punishment, and the process of attachment isn't painful, just frightening for the unprepared. They don't use torture or terror as a tool of control, preferring a symbiotic relationship—so long as a thrall submits to their will.
Despite their xenophobia, gloomfetches engage in limited trade with other species, primarily seeking rare magical texts or items infused with eldritch energy or are found in the countless slave markets of the Evergloom, seeking the best thrall-bodies money can buy. Why they seek such merchandise, like the motives and aspirations of the gloomfetch empire itself, remain shrouded in mystery; not even escaped thralls are able to decipher their grand designs.
Reports indicate that the empire's vastness surpasses common knowledge and boasts an ancient lineage. Gloomfetches exhibit a relentless pursuit of scientific and magical knowledge, evident in their clandestine activities within the Evergloom. The peculiar magical saturation resulting from the Chthonian Meridian's proximity renders traditional scrying or magical translocation to the Evergloom's depths impossible. This magical barrier contributes to the painstakingly slow and arduous task of acquiring comprehensive information about these elusive creatures. Fortunately, this is likely what keeps them from invading the surface, for which the High Council is thankful as our resources are better used on restoring lost knowledge than battling yet another existential threat once again.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you ahead of time!