Lawful Mind-flayers ?

Mind-flayers are truly a fascinating monster. Their diet of brains, their psionic powers, their cthulhoïd look... And their background (they practice slavery, particularly on githzerai and githyanki ; and

they are at war with the Dark elves). 

They are now firmly embedded in the D&D players' mind as the "bad guys". What if... it was a completely false assumption ? What Gygax had in mind when he created illithids ? 

"Law :
Mind flayer [...] highly evil but otherwise lawful."
-Gary Gygax in OD&D, Supplement III : Eldritch Wizardry. 

It could hardly be more confusing... 

I spoke about OD&D alignment in my last post.
It means that mind-flayers fight alongside the Law against Chaos (and possibly the Great Old Ones if they exist in your world. In mine, that's the case).

These creatures created by Gary Gygax appear only in one set of modules which had been writen by EGG : D1-2, Descent into the Dephts of the Earth. In D1, we learn that they are opposed to the dark elves (Chaos), have Were-rat servants (Chaos) and beholder allies (Chaos). Strange dating.

Lately, porphyre77 (a faithful commentator of this blog) rewrote the mind-flayer for Epées & Sorcellerie (we both work with snorri to realease the version 2 of E&S which is the first French retro-clone - I'd probably review it this week) and came with the following interpretation :

"Cette race souterraine à l'allure humanoïde possède une intelligence supra-humaine. Bien que loyaux, ils agissent d'une façon perçue en général comme maligne pour les races plus jeunes qui ignorent tout de leurs objectifs et façon de penser."
-porphyre77 in E&S v2.

"This subterranean humanoid race has superhuman intelligence. Although loyal, they act in a way generally regarded as malignant by younger races who know nothing about their goals and way of thinking."
-porphyre77 in E&S v2 (english translation).

That's brilliant !

Before interpreting the oddity, I must admit it made ​​me think of the Carcosa Space Aliens :

"SPACE ALIENS [Law]: Roughly human in shape and size, though unmistakably alien, these invaders from outer space have hairless, light gray bodies. They tend to be slender, and they have unblinking, bulbous eyes with black irises. Thousands of years ago, an armada of them made a hard landing on the planet of Carcosa. Since then, others of their race have come and gone while establishing bases on the planet—undoubtedly for some nefarious purposes. The Space Aliens possess a highly advanced technology, though they mostly lack such things as art, emotions, religion, philosophy, etc.
[...]

Law is the alignment of those who oppose the Great Old Ones. This opposition need not be (and is usually not) active. If, however, an Old One were to be released from imprisonment, those of lawful alignment would fight against it."

-Geoffrey McKinney, Supplement V : Carcosa (emphasis added).

So basically, we have two solutions (not necessarily exclusive) to handle the situation. Let me develop them to see where they lead :

• Mindflayers are geniuses without morality who plan ahead the downfall of Chaos. Their devious plans may include providing assistance to their Chaotic enemies or may even include attacking other Lawful races if it can help them to strengthen their position. This disregard of their natural allies can be explained by their excessive pride that drives them to make light of the inferior races little able to fight against the Chaos and meant to be their slaves. This attitude may also be explained by their paternalism towards other races that they educate by reducing them to slavery in order to "civilize" them. 
• Mindflayers are evil beings who oppose Chaos with a highly advanced science. Why are they fighting Chaos and the Great Old Ones that they resemble physically and mentally (they have great evil in common)? Nobody really knows. Maybe the mindflayers were previously a servant race of the Old Ones... They may have rebelled and now seek revenge. Or maybe they were the ones that the dawn of time, have imprisoned the fouls Old Ones because of a feud? Perhaps they are the immemorial Elder Ones!

 

Their high technology relies certainly on the minds they consume. Perhaps even navigators of their spaceships are giant brains with surnatural perceptions and terrifying mental powers immersed in vats of amniotic fluid... This is undoubtedly the reason why they enslave the inferior races: they need a lot of brain matter to create such horrors!

Petty Gods - Maharb'aal

Here is another entry for the Petty God project. This Lovecraftian deity was inspired by Jean Paul Sartre's Flies. 

Maharb'aal

The One Who Buzzles in the Dark,
The Ten Thousand Faces

Petty god of remorse

Name: Maharb'aal
Symbol: A dilated pupil.
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120'
Armor Class: 10
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 100 hp (25 HD)
Attacks: Special
Damage: Special
Save: None
Morale: 12

Far beneath the surface, in the depths of the earth, in the midst of scorching miasmic vapors, hums a huge swarm of flies. Here is the Maharb'aal's realm, The One Who Buzzles in the Dark. This semi-conscious entity is the hive mind of the insect cloud, and only pays attention in its apathy to the remorse from above. He feeds on these thoughts of harming themselves, theses thoughts of guilt which are a pleasant balm for its demented and incomprehensive mind. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that Maharb'aal is not satiated. It then releases a pestilential breath from its underground caverns to stride the land and provide for its wicked wants. This cloud of flies haloed in an atmosphere of decay prowls in search of innocent humans. Few are those who try to worship such an abomination: these fools are in fact the first targets of the little grateful monstrosity.

The swarm attacks unfortunates who cross his path, surrounding them, as if they were swallowed by the cloud of flies. The ever-changing creature takes various forms, but all disturbing for the viewer : gaping maw, crabbed hand... Once the victim is thus surrounded (after a successful hit – one hit per opponent per round - ), he must make a saving throw every round to avoid becoming deeply melancholic and ruminating thoughts so dark that she no longer pays attention to his surroundings, allowing flies penetrate into his body through his mouth and her nose, and he slowly suffocates (death occurs three rounds later). The swarm can surround one person per ten of its remaining hit points (at the beginning, the swarm can surround ten people). Once the victim is killed, his body disintegrates into numerous flies that strengthen the ranks of the swarm. The flies of the swarm are not normal : they have the faces of the previous victims (although they retain the faceted eyes of flies).

Weapons, even magic can do nothing against the cloud of flies. Only lawful clerical spells and vade retro (treat as the god the swarm as a lich) can affect it.

Maharb'aal Reaction Table (Do not use any Modifier)
Roll (2d6)	Result
2-7	Hostile: Attack the PCs.
8-11	Indifferent: Does not take care of the PCs, but attacks a nearby settlement
12	Neutral: The god is satiated, the swarm vanishes.

Petty Gods - Bokrug and the Beings of Ib

These days, I do not have much time to blog so here are some of the entries that I sent to Greg Gorgonmilk for his project Petty Gods.

Bokrug
The Great Water Lizard,
The Doom of Sarnath
Petty god of millennium revenge

Name: Bokrug
Symbol: A gibbous moon
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60'
Armor Class: 0
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 120 hp (35 HD)
Attacks: 1 and special
Damage: 4-24
Save: M30
Morale: 12

The general appearance of Bokrug's idols is those of very large lizards or a blue-green iguanas. But no one knows what it is like in reality. The fact that it is one of the great old ones suggests that its appearance is much more disturbing than that, to the point of maddening a mere mortal (maybe it is a terrifying octopus-headed lizard with tentacles or even worse). This god dwells in the depths of a vast still lake that is fed by no stream, and out of which no stream flows. This strange lake is opaque and green as the damnable mists that rise above it, and the water level fluctuates because of the phases of the moon, revealing sometimes sinister ruins and half-buried monoliths of antother time. Wandering through the haze can lead to a horrible death : first, there is a sea-green stone idol chiseled in the likeness of Bokrug buried in the rushes of the marsh. Woe to the man who finds it : the dreaded god will visit the fool on the next gibbous moon. Second, ghosts of the beings of Ib roams on the shores of the lake, looking for a prey to scare it to death.

Bokrug is half covered by sediments at the bottom of the lake. In a deep sleep, he will not awake until the moon is gibbous, when black clouds will descend from the inclement sky. It is only then that he is vulnerable and can hurt those who dare enter the dark waters. Its main characteristic is its almost infinite patience, especially when it comes to affronts that are done to him and his meager worship. It can wait for centuries before manifesting her divine wrath upon the unaware.

Its gaze has the same effect (at will) as the spell fear, and he has the following spells abilities : wish (every other year to punish those who offended him), confusion (2 per day), hold person (3 per day). It can use telepathy at will.

Bokrug Reaction Table (Use Opposite Charisma Modifier instead of Charisma Modifier)

Roll (d4+d8)

Result

2	Antagonistic : Curse the Pcs (will use his wish to cause them trouble in the future).

3-5	Indifferent: Does not take care of the Pcs. But his gaze is still dangerous.

6-8	Neutral: If the PCs are Chaotic, he instills in their minds the desire to revere him. If they aren't, treat this result like Indifferent.

9-11	Unfriendly: He tries to drive insane the Pcs with his gaze.

12	Hostile: Attack the PCs.

Name: Being of Ib
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 30'
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1
Damage: special
Save: F6
Morale: 12

These elongated creatures are the minions of Bokrug, petty god of millennium revenge and Doom of Sarnath. They have bulging eyes, greenish rough skin, flabby lips, and curious ears. Voiceless, they do not seem to communicate in any way visible or audible. They seem to move while dancing in a strange way on a rhythm known to them alone.

These servants are the ghosts of the members of an extinct race. These creatures lived in the prehuman city of Ib, when the world was young, and worshipped Bokrug. But men came and slaughtered them, throwing their bodies into the vast still lake that is fed by no stream, and out of which no stream flows. Bokrug then recalled the beings of Ib so that they can wreak their vengeance as achieving the will of their inhuman deity. Since then, they haunt the banks and the depths of the lake, attentive to their master's orders that send them sometimes unleash its wrath on a sinful city or civilization. The servant's cohort is then led by the cleric-like Magisters (CA 3 ; HD 6) who brandish in their paws golden platters set with rubies and diamonds where shines the livid light of a pale will-o'-wisp* as a sinister banner. The mere sight (once a fight) of a being of Ib drains one hit dice (saving throw against death applicable) and only one hit dice: no loss of level or abilities (the hit dice cannot be recovered by rest). The chilled touch of Bokrug's minions ages of 1-10 years.

*refer to its description in the Monster Manual.