D&D 5E Preview: Intellect Devourer

[Mouseferatu]

It seems to me that it has a pretty good chance of seriously crippling parties of much higher level than 2. And honestly, god help you if you meet more than one.

My 6th-level players (party of four) took on four of them--plus the IDs' backup muscle--and won handily. Honestly, only one person (the aforementioned cleric) ever even failed the initial save. (It helps to have a paladin in the party to grant bonuses. )

Point being, IDs are scary, but not as much as they may initially seem.

 

[MarkB]

While I like the intellect devourer itself, and even found the quote amusing in its own right, I have to agree with this. My view of mind flayers has always been cold and alien. They don't do humor; they aren't even capable of grasping the concept, as we understand it. They're too different. It'd be like one of Cthulhu's star-spawn cracking one-liners.

One way the line could play well with that version of Mind Flayers is if it wasn't delivered as a joke. The Mind Flayer genuinely considers the Intellect Devourer's existence to be a "wonderful journey", and honestly believes that its victim would find the concept attractive.

 

[the Jester]

I don't usually read many after action reports, because they get too lengthy. I'd read this, though.

I second the motion.

 

[Mouseferatu]

One way the line could play well with that version of Mind Flayers is if it wasn't delivered as a joke. The Mind Flayer genuinely considers the Intellect Devourer's existence to be a "wonderful journey", and honestly believes that its victim would find the concept attractive.

That's closer, definitely, but still not what I'm talking about. The MFs (heh) as I see them wouldn't really get--or at least wouldn't care about--the concept of what their victims would find attractive. We're cattle who occasionally also have useful information, and make good beasts of burden because we have opposable thumbs. It has no care for--or any more than the barest conception of--victim's feelings.

But now we're getting way into personal preference and story-telling.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I thought they were getting rid of ability damage in this edition?

 

[Falling Icicle]

This monster is beyond ridiculous for a CR 2 creature. It has an effective save-or-die (I thought this edition was getting rid of that nonsense). It can spam devour intellect every single round, and it has a very good chance of instantly taking out most characters, even high level ones. Worse, characters paralyzed by it can't even be fixed until they have greater restoration, a 5th level spell.

This creature has me very concerned about the monster design in this game.

 

[the Jester]

I thought they were getting rid of ability damage in this edition?

The shadow and the intellect devourer are the only examples we've seen that I know of, so it seems as though it is mostly gone, with a few notable exceptions.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Well... They look the same so cheese popcorn is still a go as a suitable mini.

 

[Grazzt]

The shadow and the intellect devourer are the only examples we've seen that I know of, so it seems as though it is mostly gone, with a few notable exceptions.

Lamia drains Wisdom doesn't it? I believe I read that somewhere.

 

[trystero]

Lamia drains Wisdom doesn't it? I believe I read that somewhere.

According to Rob Donoghue, the lamia's touch intoxicates the victim and gives it disadvantage on Wisdom checks, rather than draining Wisdom.