AlphaBeasts: I is for Illithid

This week's entry into the ongoing AlphaBeasts! project comes from the mind of Dungeons & Dragon's creator Gary Gygax given a serious dosage of influence administered by the writings of HP Lovecraft. It's a psionic, tentactular nightmare that will pluck your brain right out of your skull and eat it in front of your friends.

Those of you who are already familiar with this creature should make a Saving Throw versus Will. You know what's coming.

For those of you not retreating to the safety of the nearest nerdery, this week's beast is frequently called a "Mind Flayer" and its sinister, spirit-shattering powers are why...

I is for Illithid.

Illithids have a basically humanoid body, but their head is octopus-like. They have four tentacles around a lamprey-like mouth, and require the brains of sentient creatures as part of their diet. An illithid who snares a living creature in all four of its tentacles can extract and devour its living brain. Their eyes are pale white, and they can see perfectly well in both darkness and light. Their sense of hearing is slightly poorer than a human's; they have difficulty distinguishing between several sounds mixed together. Their skin is purplish blue to gray-green and covered in mucus, and is very sensitive to sunlight. Though sunlight does not actually harm them, they loathe it with incredible ferocity.

One of the most feared powers is the dreaded Mind Blast, where the illithid emits a cone-shaped psionic shockwave with its mind in order to incapacitate any creature for a short amount of time. Illithids also have other psionic powers, generally telepathic in nature, although their exact effects have varied over editions. Other powers include a defensive psionic shield and powers of psionic domination for controlling the minds of others.