Mind flayer (dNetHack)
h mind flayer 
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|---|---|
| Difficulty | 11 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 9 |
| Base experience | 293 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 5 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | poison resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | telepathy, +1 intelligence (50%) |
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A mind flayer:
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| Reference | dNAO 3.24.0 - src/monst.c, line 965 |
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the mind flayer is a much different type of monster from its incarnation in NetHack. As in NetHack, mind flayers are omnivorous humanoids with octopus-like tentacled heads that are capable of flight, telepathy, and the ability to see invisible monsters, and can also be seen via infravision. They will pick up gold, gems, weapons, food, and similar items that they come across.
In contrast to their NetHack traits, mind flayers in dNetHack and its derivatives lean more into the eldritch concept of their origin: as illithids, they are a form of demihuman primordial, and a hero that sees one loses sanity and has their insight raised. Instead of normal infravision, a mind flayer has darksight and R'lyehian vision—this means that they can see as well in unlit areas as normal creatures can see in light, but are rendered blind in lit areas, and they also cannot see beyond moats and pools of water and are effectively rendered blind while within water themselves. Mind flayers have 5 points of AC in the "special" category. A tame mind flayer may turn traitor.
A mind flayer has a single weapon attack and a single intelligence-draining tentacle attack, in contrast to the three tentacle attacks it has in NetHack, and has basic prowess in martial combat. Mind flayers also possess poison resistance. They are capable of emitting mind blasts that can lock on to the hero and/or other monsters on the same level as them: these mind blasts inflict d15 damage and affect monsters that are close enough to the mind flayer with a 1⁄10 chance (10%), or monsters that have telepathy with a 1⁄2 chance (50%), and the damage is subject to the half spell damage property. A tame or peaceful mind flayer will not deal damage to the hero this way unless they are under conflict.
Eating a mind flayer corpse or tin, or quaffing their blood, grants telepathy and has an additional 1⁄2 chance (50%) of raising the hero's or raise intelligence by 1 point.
Generation
Randomly-generated mind flayers are always created hostile. A mind flayer can grow up into a master mind flayer.
7⁄20 of the monsters randomly generated on both Nightmare Temple floors of the Chaos Temple Quest will be mind flayers.
Mind flayers that are generated in the Drow Healer quest will always be zombified, and they make up 4⁄105 of randomly generated monsters in the branch for Drow Healers after the quest is completed.
Several mind flayers are encountered in the Drow Noble quest, which involves the hero infiltrating a colony of mind flayers and retrieving their quest artifact, the Web of the Chosen: there are 16 mind flayers scattered about the goal level during level creation, generally situated around the elder brain guarding the Bell of Opening. The quest artifact's actual 'owner', A'gone, is locked up in a cell on the edge of the level, with her mind almost completely gone as a result of the mind flayers.
In the "age before ages", the mind flayers discovered and worshipped an eldritch "nascent thought" known as Ilsensine—in bringing knowledge of it back to the past, they set off a chain of events that caused the end of the world. While the mind flayer empires were overthrown and brought low, the gods of Law discovered Ilsensine and were consumed, followed by the other gods of the heavens: this is why Anachrononauts do not worship gods and cannot make use of altars. In order to change the future and gain a full-scoring ascension, an Anachrononaut hero must gain access to the Quest from their quest leader Sara, the Last Oracle before she dies, retrieve the Annulus and obtain the Amulet of Yendor, then reach the lawful high altar on the Astral Plane and invoke the Annulus to purge Ilsensine's influence once and for all before ascending on the correct high altar as normal.
Mind flayers are one of the many quest monsters: 1⁄7 of the randomly generated monsters are mind flayer-related, and of those 1⁄8 are mind flayers, 1⁄8 are master mind flayers, and the remaining monsters are either umber hulks or brain golems. Mind flayers are among the various H.P. Lovecraft-inspired r'lyehians that can appear as well, with a 1⁄7 chance of a r'lyehian generating and a further 1⁄16 chance of the r'lyehian being a mind flayer. Many mind flayers are also generated below the home level of the Quest during level creation: four are generated on the locate level, eight are generated on each of the lower filler level(s), and sixteen are generated on the goal level.
The following applies to mind flayers generated in the future (i.e. the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest):
- Mind flayers may accompany the groups of monsters generated alongside a randomly-created dokkalfar eternal matriarch.
- Master mind flayers generated in the future are accompanied by 2-6 mind flayers.
- Mind flayers that are placed by random monster selection during level creation will always occur in a small group of 2-4, while mind flayers generated randomly after level creation have a 1⁄2 chance of occurring in these small groups.
Barrow wights generated in the future have a 9⁄10 chance of being generated with a worn mask of a mind flayer.
Monster starting inventory
Mind flayers are generated with different inventories and different stats depending on where they are encountered in the dungeon.
- Mind flayers generated on R'lyeh, the lowest floor of the Lost Cities and the Neutral Quest, are created with cursed and medium-sized armor and weapons—an erosion-proofed +0 bullwhip, a set of erosion-proofed +1 scale mail, an erosion-proofed +1 leather helm, an erosion-proofed +1 pair of gloves, an erosion-proofed +1 pair of high boots, and an oilskin cloak. They are also given various offensive and utility items as well, including wands, potions and scrolls:
- One item randomly selected from a wand of draining, death, striking, magic missile, or sleep.
- One item randomly selected from a wand of speed monster, make invisible, teleportation, digging, or create monster.
- Two random selections from a potion of invisibility, speed, confusion, gain level, extra healing, or a scroll of remove curse.
- Three random selections from a potion of acid, confusion, blindness, sleeping, or paralysis, with acid having twice as much chance of being selected as the other potions.
- Finally, if the mind flayer is not a temporarily summoned monster (e.g. created via summon nasties or Eurynome), they have a 1⁄60 chance of generating with a crystal skull.
- Mind flayers generated in the future are given poison resistance (which they normally already have) and have their monster level increased by 2, with their maximum HP adjusted accordingly. They are generated with a cursed +1 robe, a cursed +1 pair of high boots, and a blessed and erosion-proofed +1 lightsaber that has one of four random hilt types and an equal probability of a ruby, green flourite or a worthless piece of red glass serving as the focus gem. If the mind flayer is not a temporarily summoned monster, they also have a 1⁄30 chance of generating with a crystal skull.
- Mind flayers generated elsewhere in the dungeon are generated with a quarterstaff, a cloak that is either magenta (2⁄3 chance) or bright magenta (1⁄3 chance), a pair of gloves, a pair of high boots, a leather helm, and a 1⁄20 chance of a R'lyehian faceplate. If the mind flayer is not a temporarily summoned monster, they also have a 1⁄120 chance of generating with a crystal skull.
Strategy
A commonplace strategy when dealing with mind flayers in R'lyeh is to read a scroll of genocide upon entering the level, which is usually a blessed one targeting h unless the hero is a dwarf: this eliminates many of the mind-blasting threats that otherwise will not only constantly assault a telepathic hero as they traverse the level, but potentially awaken the deadly Great Cthulhu as well and leave them in dire straits, (if not dead outright or worse). The mind flayers and other humanoids on the level also carry a plethora of valuable loot: potions of confusion and blindness that can be made into water with a dipped unicorn horn; potions of extra healing and gain energy to stock up on and perform alchemy with; potions of full healing to bless for later use; and potions of space mead that grant 5,000 turns of slow digestion and magical breathing, among other benefits.
Remember that genocide does not apply to monsters generated in the Quest branch of the hero's role, so Anachrononauts (and Androids) cannot use it to preemptively kill off the mind flayers within!
Origin
Master mind flayers are derived from Dungeons & Dragons, where they appear in all editions, and are also known as illithids; the illithid is considered "Product Identity" by Wizards of the Coast, and as such is not released under its Open Game License. Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax stated that one of his inspirations was the cover painting of the Titus Crow book The Burrowers Beneath by Brian Lumley. The first mention of illithids is found in the first issue of TSR Games' official newsletter The Strategic Review; they were included in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement for the original white box edition of the 1976 Dungeons & Dragons game, where they were depicted as Lawful Evil; they also appear in the first edition's Monster Manual; and the 3rd and 3.5 editions introduce playable illithids.
The illithid is "a super-intelligent, man-shaped creature with four tentacles by its mouth which it uses to strike its prey"— a tentacle that hits penetrates to the brain and draws it out, allowing the monster to devour it. Its major weapon is the 'mind blast', a short-range wave of "PSI force" which affects each opponent differently based on how intelligent it is, and can induce many ailments from confusion and insanity, up to coma and even death.
In-universe, the origins of the illithids are subject to many conflicting stories. Illithid society is structured around a creature called an "Elder Brain", which lives in a pool of cerebral fluid in the center of a city. Dead illithids have their brain extracted and taken to this pool to have its contents absorbed, which illithids believe a form of immortality; this Brain also functions as a vast library of knowledge that an illithid can call upon with a simple telepathic call. Psionic potential is thus an integral part of the illithid identity, and they typically communicate by projecting thoughts and feelings to each other.
While illithids do have a patron deity, known as Ilsensine, few of them actively worship her—both because they believe themselves the most powerful creatures in the universe, and because Ilsensine is more of an "abstract" deity that represents universal knowledge and one’s mastery of their own mind, a state that all illithids seek. Outcast illithids that turn to wizardry are often known to become alhoons.
Encyclopedia entry
The emotions of the flesh were strong. The greed and hates, the pains and joys, the jealousies and doubts, all of these served as a guiding stone to enemies. In becoming flesh, the First People became enslaved to those who *knew* flesh only as tools for their will. *Know* these beasts were the *illithids.*
The *illithids* were a race that had come not to *know* themselves. They had learned how to make other races not *know* themselves.
They were the tentacled ones. They lived in flesh and saw flesh as tools for their will. Their blood was as water and they shaped minds with their thoughts. When the *illithids* came upon the People, the People were a people no more. The People became slaves.
This creature has a humanoid body, tentacles around its covered mouth, and three long fingers on each hand. Mind
flayers are telepathic, and love to devour intelligent beings,
especially humans. If they hit their victim with a tentacle,
the mind flayer will slowly drain it of all intelligence,
eventually killing its victim.
