Elder brain
| U elder brain (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 36 |
| Attacks |
Reach 1d4 int drain, Reach 1d4 int drain, Spellcast 0d6 mage spell, Spellcast 2d8 clerical spell |
| Base level | 30 |
| Base experience | 1284 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 0 |
| Base MR | 60 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 2250 |
| Nutritional value | 2250 |
| Size | gigantic |
| Resistances | sleep resistance, poison resistance, stoning resistance
|
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An elder brain:
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| Reference | dNAO 3.24.0 - src/monst.c, line 9006 |
An elder brain, U, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The elder brain is a telepathic aberration that serves as an overlord to mind flayer colonies: as an illithid, the elder brain is both demihuman and primordial, and seeing one impacts the hero's sanity and raises their insight.
Elder brains are stationary, but are still flagged to pick up items that they would come across, and can act at the same base speed as an unburdened and un-hasted hero. They are amphibious and capable of swimming, flying and levitation; they are strong, can see invisible, have infravision along with R'lyehian vision and darksight, and can be seen via infravision. An elder brain cannot be made tame, and one that is somehow tamed will turn traitor.
Elder brains have two intelligence-draining attacks that can reach targets anywhere within a 5x5 square area centered on the brain's location, and will cast one mage and one clerical monster spell during each of their turns with no cooldown—they can also emit special mind blasts. Elder brains possess sleep resistance, poison resistance and stoning resistance.
Elder brains can be warded by a fully-reinforced Elder Sign.
Generation
Elder brains are not randomly generated, and normally-generated ones are always hostile. They are not a valid polymorph form or genocide target, and cannot be wished for in figurine or statue form. Elder brains are set to be a unique monster at the start of each game unless the hero is an Anachrononaut, Android (which is a "clockwork" Anachrononaut) or Illithanachronounbinder.
In the Anachrononaut quest, an elder brain is generated at the center of each lower filler level during level creation, and three more are placed around the goal level to serve as boss enemies for Anachrononauts in lieu of a formal quest nemesis. These elder brains are also present in the Android quest, and Androids will encounter an additional elder brain on their quest's home level.
An elder brain serves as a "nemesis" for the female Drow Noble, and is always found waiting at the center of the Drow Noble Quest's goal level. This elder brain only guards the Bell of Opening—the quest artifact, the Web of the Chosen, is in the possession of the mindless A'gone, who is imprisoned in a cell on the level's edge.
A peaceful elder brain is generated on the Illithanachronounbinder quest within the massive pool in the eastern portion of the level.
Strategy
In addition to draining the intelligence of any target within its reach, an elder brain can also employ more straightforwardly lethal attacks such as the touch of death and turn to stone monster spells. As a result, most heroes are better off avoiding the brains unless they can quickly dispose of them from a reasonable distance, e.g. with a wand of death charge.
On the Drow Noble quest, as the hero ventures deeper into the colony, the elder brain they are tasked with eliminating will assault them with various telepathic messages from a special mind blast—on top of serving as discouragement, each mind blast increases the hero's insight, and all hostile telepathic monsters on the level are alerted of their position and given boosts to accuracy and damage.
Origin
An "elder brain" (or "Elder Brain") is a massive brain that appears in most works featuring illithids (or mind flayers), particularly the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The Elder Brain is the core of illithid society on a local scale, and lives in a pool of cerebral fluid in the center of an illithid city, acting as its "ruler". Illithids have their brain extracted and taken to the Elder Brain's pool upon death, which illithids commonly believe to be a path to immortality through incorporating their personality into the Elder Brain—in reality, their memories, thoughts and experiences are consumed and added to the collective, while all else is lost; this is a secret that Elder Brains guard closely. Psionic potential is thus an integral part of the illithid's identity.
As the Elder Brain contains the essence of every illithid that died in its community, it functions in part as a vast library of knowledge that can be drawn upon with a simple telepathic call; the Elder Brain in turn can communicate telepathically with anyone in its community, issuing orders and ensuring everyone conforms. An extremely ancient Elder Brain is known as a God-Brain, and possesses almost limitless psionic powers. The Elder Brain cannot absorb magical powers, however: illithids who delve into wizardry beyond acceptable bounds are often cast out, and such illithids will seek immortality through undeath instead.
Encyclopedia entry
The elder brain is a huge, fibrous mass of cognizant brain tissue covered with writhing feelers. A single elder brain floats within the depths of a briny pool found at the center of its illithid community.
The elder brain is the center of its illithid community, serving as an advisor and, most importantly, the living repository of the community's technology, history, and psionic expertise. It is the right and obligation of every illithid to merge with the elder brain after death - living in exalted mentality while guiding and shepherding its erstwhile community. While most illithids believe that their personality will survive the transition, individual egos are suborned to the gestalt consciousness suffusing the tissue mass.
