Elder brain
| U elder brain (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 36 |
| Attacks |
Reach 1d4 int drain, Reach 1d4 int drain, Cast 0d6 mage spell, Cast 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, poison, petrification
|
|
An elder brain:
| |
| Reference | dNetHack src/monst.c, line 8174 |
An elder brain, U, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The elder brain is a sessile and telepathic aberration that serves as a prince to mind flayer colonies. Elder brains are strong and amphibious with the ability to swim, fly and see invisible, and have infravision and can be seen via infravision.
Elder brains have two intelligence-draining attacks that can reach targets anywhere within a 5x5 square centered on the brain, and will also cast one mage and one clerical monster spell during each of their turns. They possess sleep resistance, poison resistance and stoning resistance.
An elder brain cannot be made tame, and one that is somehow tamed will turn traitor.
Generation
Elder brains are not randomly generated, and normally-generated ones are always hostile. They are not a valid form for polymorph, and are set as a unique monster at the start of each game unless the hero is an Anachrononaut or an Illithanachronounbinder.
In the Anachrononaut quest, an elder brain is generated at the center of each lower filler level upon level creation; three more are placed around the goal level, serving as boss enemies for Anachrononauts in lieu of a formal quest nemesis. Androids (which are "clockwork" Anachrononauts) will encounter an additional elder brain on their quest's home level.
An elder brain serves as a boss enemy for the female Drow Noble, 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, the role's nemesis 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
Though elder brains do not move from their square, they will act at the same default speed as the hero does: 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 characters are better off avoiding them unless they can quickly dispose of the brains 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.
[ Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition
Complete Monstrous Manual, TSR ]
