The Illithid of Ravenloft- how?

[Archedius]

Hi, I've always wondered how DM's actually use Illithid in the setting.

Do you use them as they're presented in the Monster Manual or have you tweaked them to fit the setting?

Have you changed their background or thematic presentation in any way?

Are you able to reconcile their use in the setting despite them being more Lovecraftian and not 'Gothic'? (In other words- do you use them at all? )

Have you changed Bleutspur in any way to make more sense for your campaign?

I'm basically looking for any and all input. I've come up with my own ideas but won't bother you all with them unless there's interest. Thnx in advance.

[The Giamarga]

For starters there's a great article on the godbrain and psionics in the Book of Sacrifices.

[Strahdsbuddy]

It wasn't originally my idea, but I moved Bluetspur to Ravenloft's moon. The Illithid are essentially the Invaders from Mars in my campaign. In this way, it is still "part" of the Core, though they cannot just overrun the human population due to their proximity. The BoSac entry on them is great, even better for an idea on their motivations and a quick way to introduce them into your campaign is Marcu Vasilis' entry in The Forgotten Children. It is still one of my players' favorite adventures.

If you treat them as a superior species and not as The Great Old Masters beneath the earth, you can capture a very gothic feel of human frailty in the face of an alien genius.

[impworks]

I did horrible things to them when the great conjunction dropped them out of the core

Since my campaign around that time was ship and suffered from a player who had issues with spoiling other peoples fun by printed material I reshaped their appearance, location and behaviour but kept their stats. First I moved them to live in an aquatic domain under the sea of sorrows. I changed their face so they had a five tentacled mouth that left a starfish like mark on victims foreheads. I used them as a lurking menace in the background whose actions were alien and incomprehensible.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

You know how paranoid schizophrenics sometimes hear "voices" in their heads, telling them to do terrible things? Or how they can sense they're being watched and menaced, everywhere and always, by a malignant, all-powerful "Them"? And how, if someone they know isn't around, they fear that their acquaintance has been covertly "disappeared" or subverted by Them?

The illithids are a perfect "Them". Use it.

[DocBeard]

Illithids are an alien conspiracy of brilliant, amoral beings who feed off of other sentient beings's brains and use their bodies to reproduce. They pursue sinister goals in order to mentally, spiritually, and physically dominate the world, bringing together cults of slaves, armies of bullied or manipulated criminals and monsters, unholy experiments, and all done with the ice cold detachment of a scientist experimenting. They want to blot out the sun.

What can't you do with a proactive villain like that?

[Troile]

A little lovecraft goes a long way.

Most adventures I run deal with humanoids and so if the PCs face something truly bizarre it is often quite horrifying.

[Archedius]

Nice stuff here so far. What I did with the Illithid IMC was to think of what the grand conjunction meant to them in combination with the Godbrains preoocupation with his own condition (as per BoS). Since Bleutspur's an island of terror now the access to prey is restrictred.

Since an illithid needs a fairly constant supply of grey matter and meat (yes they eat organs and meat in addition to brains and yes that's canon) they now have to rely on their slaves for food. Even for a group of 100 or so Illithid they'll need probably several thousand slaves for food, protection and labor. This raises the question- can they even support that many in the underground of Bluetspur? Most likely not (that's how I see it).

Ravenloft Illithid for me differ from the normal dnd stock in several ways:
-Necromancy would be seen as a necessity to provide labor and protection.
- Every Illithid life is precious, even the tadpoles. (They need as many around to reproduce otherwise the Godbrain will starve)
- Those capable of becoming Alhoons are allowed to do so, especially as it will preserve their abilities past their normal lifespan.
- They are more willing to deal with outsiders through intermediaries. They simply cannot be self-sufficient materially. I can see them dealing with the Corvara tribe of Vistani often.
- I highly doubt that all of the Illithid tolerate the Godbrains selfishness; the Grand conjunction was what broke the camels back so to speak. I can see handfuls of them gaining passage out of Bluetspur and going to other lands.

Things I've been contemplating so far have included:
- Illithid insinuating themselves into the Western Core and offering their services as surgeons to the rich (through intermediaries of course). The surgeries are always performed perfectly and recovery is quick. What is not realized is that the patients are being implanted with engineered organs to allow for long distance control.
- Emissaries that have been bred to have both physical appeal and a quick tongue are sent to various nations in the core to attempt to establish a new image for Bleutspur. They try to portray it as simply an exotic land. Their goal is to garner an aggreement to establish a penal colony on Bleutspurs surface.
They espouse rehabilitation and progressive treatment of prisoners- if nothing else they won't be as big of a burden to take care of. In exchange for taking the incarcerated off of the domains hands they trade for shipments of food, wood, metals and glass etc. The true goal is to gather more people for a thrall breeding program to assuage the Illithid food problem. This is both a high-profile and desperate plan.

Just throwing this stuff out there. The important part is keeping Illithid in the background I think.

[Antifascist]

I assumed that the reason that the terrain and envrionment of Bluetspur is so harsh is because that is the way the universe looks in the far, far future when the Illithid run everything, but it's from the moment just before the imminent cataclysm of their society. (You know, the reason they came back in time.)

Hence, I play the illithid as stoic and somewhat nihilistic. They know that in the end they rule everything, but are hampered/antagonized by a (which was expertly aformentioned in posts) lack of brain matter resources, an inability to escape the demiplane, and the knowledge that there really may not be anything which to escape for them anyhow. Those three elements that tie the society can lead to any number of personalities for the illithid to embrace, either as a race, or as individuals.

I always play them as individuals much more than a collected race or nation. It's hard for me to imagine that this particular enclave of illithid have any reason to strive for the good of Bluetspur as a collective based on the scenario that I use.

But this is probably all wrong.

[Mouseferatu]

A little lovecraft goes a long way.

Exactly. Last Halloween, the WotC website published a short story I wrote--my attempt at a Lovecraft pastiche, if you will, including a shift toward his style of writing--that may help illustrate. (I wouldn't normally pimp my work quite this blatantly, but it really is appropriate to the discussion. )

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4dnd/20071031a

[Archedius]

Mr. Marmell, this is why I've had A Crown of Ashes on my Amazon Wish list for months. Great stuff.

[alhoon]

I use them with the Expanded Psionic Handbook. I give them a 1-3 levels depending on maturity. These levels are usually psion, expert or psychic warrior.

How I use them? As masterminds. A couple of them hiding beneath the village/in basements/nearby cave. Enthralled guards (usually a few monsters like werewolves) a few enthralled humans-in-the-know (those that have seen, speak with the masters) and a guild influencing a large region, stealing people or valuables to send back home.

Much like a reclusive thieves guild/ slave ring guild that holds a nasty tentacle surprise for the heroes.