Customer Reviews

The Illithiad (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition: Monstrous Arcana, Accessory/9569)

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This book satisfies the role-player's ultimate hunger - that for the out of the ordinary. While we are all happy and joyous about the Lammasus, the Kuo-Toa, and the ever-present kobolds in the Monstrous Manuals and Appendices, nothing holds our attention ( whether out of disgust or out of simple curiosity) quite like the alien Mind Flayers. These demi-cephalopods are too alien in nature to stay flat on the page. This is where the Illithiad comes in: it gives us the full scope of the bizzarre Illithid( the second name of the Mind Flayer race) society, allowing us to construct all-the-more bizzarre adventures based on this strange culture. The text deals with all possible aspects of the species; biological as well as social deatails are covered with surprising originality. The wording is as scientificly plausible as it is possible in an RPG ( i.e. you will never read a sentence like " the Illithid heart is just like a human's - six-chambered and green"). The material as well as the subject matter is most enjoyable and is highly recommended to those who enjoy Twilight Zone-style gaming.

First off, let me say that Wizards of the Coast should let TSR continue with these Monstrous Arcana books. If you are a fan of the "Dragon Ecologies" in Dragon Magazine as I am, the Monstrous Arcana series are for you.

This book covers the Illithiad race, also known as "mind flayers" because of their psychic abilities, as well as their penchant for eating the brains of living creatures. While the Monstrous Manual and its appendixes has information on these beings, the Monstrous Arcana expands on so much more so.

This book gives a complete ecology of the Illithid race, including religion, social interaction, eating habits, anatomy, genetic deviations, alliances and hatreds. Diagrams include a typical Illithid village and disection. New Illithid-only psychic powers are in here to, including the harmless, but no less freaky, ability to project the taste of food to another living being (considering these things eat brains like cans of Spam, and that the victims of their brain-eating are alive when the feeding commences, you can see why it can be disturbing) and the ability to "negate" the magic that animates lesser undead creatures, such as skeletons and zombies. Game stats cover the different variation of the mind flayer, brain golems (avatars of their god) and other creatures used by the illithids.

The only disappointment I had was the lack of humor. The first Arcana book I read, "I, Tyrant," had a few funny passages ("What is the best way to kill a beholder? Hire someone far stronger than you to do it."). This book was completely serious (well, as serious as a role-play game can be).

This book talks about the life cycle of the illithid, their form of reproduction, rituals such as the coming of age, entertainment, structure of society, new psionic disciplines for illithids exclusively, their view of life and the world surrounding them (individually and as a community).......... Also about ancient history, theology, forms of communication they use beyond telepathy and even more. Although the artwork is pretty average, the information presented here is really ALL you need to know about mind flayers. Excellent work!

I bought this book and the adventure trilogies that support it to run with my gaming group. It has been an excellent experience. The players really liked the adventures, and found out that Illithids were a lot harder than expected. Plus the new monsters and Psionic powers give the DM something new to throw at experienced players. If you want to have many sessions of great gaming play, DEFINATLY buy this guide and the supporting trilogy