Here is a creature I have developed for
Urbis. Basically, it's a replacement for mind flayers, since those aren't in the SRD - but I hope I have made these creatures interesting in their own way.
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Daresh
Daresh are a species of aberrations that have been created as scouts by aboleths. They have been seeded on various worlds and formed their own communties deep in the bowels of the earth or below the habitats of other beings - without knowing their ultimate purpose.
Daresh change drastically during their life cycle, and thus are represented by several entries.
Daresh, Larval
Larval daresh look like tiny, slimy grey worms 2 inches in length with a large mouth filled with sharp teeth.
The larval stage of the daresh have only one goal: The acquisition of a host body. To this end they hide near places where larger creatures congregate and try to catch one sleeping so that they can slither into their nose, ears, or mouth and burrow into their brains. Usually, however, adult daresh plant them directly on a captured victim.
Larval daresh are almost helpless against a determined opponent, and accordingly avoid direct combat at all costs. They will always try to catch a potential host unaware.
Brain burrow (Ex): If a larval daresh makes a successful attack against a prone living creature, it slithers into the nose, ear, mouth, or similar orfice and burrows into the target's brain after an additional 1d4 rounds, doing 1 point of damage per round and 1 point of permanent Wisdom and Intelligence damage once it arrives in the brain. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex save to get the daresh off it before it is too late (DC 20 if the target was previously unaware of the Daresh). Once it is within the target's brain, the daresh can cast a suggestion at will against the target (DC 12). The suggestion will usually be: "There is nothing wrong with you apart from a headache, which will go away on its own eventually. The daresh will then start devouring the brain of the target, causing a permanent loss of 1 point of permanent Wisdom and Intelligence damage to the target every six hours. Once either Wisdom or Intelligence reach zero, the target is dead and the daresh enters the juvenile stage of its life.
Aboleth servitor (Ex): The larval daresh automatically fails any saving throws against psionic powers manifested against them by aboleths.
Skills: Larval daresh have a +8 racial bonus on Climb, Hide, Move Silently and Swim checks. A larval daresh can always choose to take 10 on Climb or Swim checks, even if rushed or threatened.
Daresh, Juvenile
Juvenile daresh are daresh that have recently (within the last two years) found a host body and eaten its brain. They have attained complete access to the host's memories and control the body like a puppet. While they are often still weak in this form, they are nonetheless very dangerous because they look just like the host creature and can perfectly imitate it.
Creating a Juvenile Daresh
"Juvenile Daresh" is a template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Special Qualities: A juvenile daresh has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities:
- Aboleth servitor (Ex): The juvenile daresh automatically fails any saving throws against psionic powers manifested against them by aboleths.
- Consume memories (Ex): The juvenile daresh gains access to the memories of any creatures whose brains it has eaten. This works as the speak with dead spell, except that there is no limit to the number of questions the daresh can ask and that the target creature does not get a saving throw.
Daresh, Adult
Adult Daresh have fully transformed their host body into something capable of housing their vast intellect. The brain case is visibly swollen to twice its size, which makes it impossible to mistake the daresh for an ordinary member of the host species, and the host's skin is now covered with a disgusting, grey slime. While they now can no longer hide among members of the host creature's species, they often make up for this by developing potent psychic powers, usually gaining levels in the psion (telepath) class.
Daresh are usually considered "Adult" until they have reached an age of approximately one hundred years.
Creating an Adult Daresh
"Adult Daresh" is a template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Special Qualities: An adult daresh has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities:
- Aboleth servitor (Ex): The adult daresh automatically fails any saving throws against psionic powers manifested against them by aboleths.
- Consume memories (Ex): The adult daresh gains access to the memories of any creatures whose brains it has eaten. This works as the speak with dead spell, except that there is no limit to the number of questions the daresh can ask and that the target creature does not get a saving throw.
Daresh, Elder
The brain cases of Elder Daresh have swollen so much that their bodies have great difficulties in supporting their weight, and as a result they prefer to spend most of their time sitting, with various braces relieving the pressure on their bodies. They might not be very mobile, but their massive mental powers ensure that they are usually in control of any daresh communities.
Elder daresh usually live to an age of 150 years. At this point, their brain cases burst and reveal 50-100 new larval daresh. Not surprisingly, many elder daresh try to delay this fate, with some even turning to undeath to avoid it.
Creating an Adult Daresh
"Elder Daresh" is a template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Special Qualities: An elder daresh has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities:
- Aboleth servitor (Ex): The elder daresh automatically fails any saving throws against psionic powers manifested against them by aboleths.
- Consume memories (Ex): The elder daresh gains access to the memories of any creatures whose brains it has eaten. This works as the speak with dead spell, except that there is no limit to the number of questions the daresh can ask and that the target creature does not get a saving throw.
I've snipped information that only revolves around game stats, but you can see the full writeup
here.
