Intellect Devourer Dominator

Intellect Devourer Dominator (CR 30)

Pure Evil - Medium - Aberration

Lore:	K. (Dungeoneer)
60		75
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

51

Perception:
61	+51
Passive	Active

Ambush:

7+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: Very good at ambushes when other creatures are present, otherwise, their chance is normal.

Senses:

• Blind to Vision
• Blind to Sound
• Blind to Smell
• Mindsense 300 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 80 ft.
• Vaulting 120 ft.

Defense

AC

57

Man Def

63

Monster Health
3,466	1,733	63
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+33
Refl:	+28
Will:	+33

Strong Against:

• Hardened (½ damage): Psychic damage

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+41

Man Off

+51

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Savage Claws +41 (6d8+56/18-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Savage Claws +41 (6d8+56/18-20 x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Mind Ray +45 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (6d8+56/19-20 x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 150 ft.; Max Range: 300 ft.)
  plus Controlled Flesh

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Mind Ray +45 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (6d8+56/19-20 x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 150 ft.; Max Range: 300 ft.)
  plus Controlled Flesh

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

32

STR

24

DEX

34

CON

32

INT

18

WIS

12

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 51
• Stealth: 55 (Only usable when using Body Thief or Enslavement power to move.)
• All other skills: 46 (no ranks)

Languages: Gurahn'lloig, Krieg, Telepathy

Feats:

Special Abilities

Controlled Flesh (Su) Automatic after successful attack

Up to once per round, after a successful Mind Ray attack, the Intellect Dominator may choose to over-ride the fabric of their target's very existence. The Intellect Devourer uses their Telepathy to drive home a simple command to the victim, usually along the lines of 'move away', 'walk to me', "drop your items', or 'attack your ally'. This is embodied as the Charmed condition placed by the Devourer. There is no saving throw against this ability. If a creature gets the Charmed condition twice in a round (or more), it does not stack, only the last command holds sway.

Body Thief (Ex) Standard Action, see below.

At the GM's discretion, an Intellect Devourer can choose to begin an encounter while wearing the body of another creature. This can be any sort of monster, including Constituents, up to CR 32. Note that Intellect Devourers only take bodies for...personal reasons, and are not good at all at pretending to be other creatures. While driving a stolen body, an Intellect Devourer gains access to that body's abilities, senses, movement, defenses, AC, and saves. No one will ever mistake a stolen body for a 'normal' member of that species, except perhaps cursorily, or at a distance. Note that Dominators tend to target the rich and powerful, and weirdly enough, wealthy merchants and powerful nobles are often 'eccentric' enough that Dominators have a better time of 'passing' for their victims than lesser Intellect Devourers. Indeed, many 'mad rich' are actually Intellect Devourer victims! If an Intellect Devourer using Body Thief is engaged in combat, it will typically attack aggressively using their stolen flesh's most damaging ranged attack. If the Intellect Devourer takes any damage to its hit points while using Body Thief, it loses control of its meat puppet and returns to full size, bursting messily from the head of the unfortunate victim in a shower of gore. Once driven out, it loses access to all the abilities of the thefted body and reverts to using their own abilities...which are formidable. If there are dead bodies of non-Intellect Devourers available (most corporeal monsters are eligible), then the Intellect Devourer may attempt to use Body Thief in combat to take over a new ride. This is a standard action, during which it shrinks itself down to size Fine, teleports up to 180 feet to the body it wants, and then clambers into its nose, ear, or mouth, pushing the existing brain matter out of the head in a messy display. After spending the Standard Action it is now inside the new body and can act normally, using that body's abilities, although it usually arrives with only a Move and Swift action available. If it has Action Points, it may use one the same round it uses Body Thief to have a full round of actions immediately upon arrival. Note that the long-distance teleport in this action often means that Devourers will 'stage' battles with some convenient corpses in fairly distant locations, to allow themselves an escape route or some heavy-hitting abilities. Also see 'Enslavement', below.

Enslavement (Su) Standard Action

Enslavement is a power that is almost identical to 'Body Thief' (see above), except that it can be used upon living creatures, as long as their CR is equal to or less than the Intellect Devourer's plus 2 (up to CR 32). Any damage inflicted upon a non-allied, non-player, Enslaved creature while it is occupied by a Devourer counts only against the Devourer's hit points, and forces the Devourer out of the body, teleporting to a space within 8 squares at their normal size. If used against a non-allied monster or NPC, the GM can consider Enslavement to automatically succeed, allowing the Intellect Devourer to teleport from creature to creature as a standard action, up to 180 feet per leap, leaving numbed slaves in its wake. Even more terribly, the Intellect Devourer may roll a Stealth roll as part of this action to conceal their movement from the heroes, and thus attempt escape, or launch a surprise attack. When an Intellect Devourer leaves a monster or NPC, that monster is considered to have had it's Intelligence and will sapped by the experience, and is operating under a strong status condition called Enslaved: Enslaved: This is a strong status condition that applies only to monsters with an INT score. The monster becomes subservient to the Devourer and will do whatever it is told by the Devourer. This condition lasts for a day, and Devourers will frequently sell creatures in this state to a slave trader for money or favors. If an Intellect Devourer uses Enslavement upon a player character, or any NPC or Monster that is allied to the players, then the victim is allowed a Will saving throw against a DC of 41 to resist. If they make this saving throw, then the Enslavement is nullified, the Intellect Devour returns to their normal size in their original space, and they inflict 6d10+83 points of mutilation (physical, rare) damage as they are torn free of their perch. Ouch. If the saving throw is failed, then the player or allied creature suffers the Dominated condition, with the horrific addition that the Intellect Devourer is removed from the field of play and is considered to be 'inside' the players or allied creature's space, meaning it is extremely difficult to remove the Devourer. While in this state, the Intellect Devourer can only be harmed by attacks that inflict psychic damage on the space of their victim. Such attacks automatically do no harm to the victim, and damage only the Devourer. Although they are highly resistant to such attacks, they will usually still force the monster to leave their victim. Luckily, in the absence of Psychic damage, the Enslaved victim, if they are a player or allied monster or NPC, is allowed a follow up save each round during their turn as a swift action, and succeeding on any of these forces the Devourer to return to full size and exit their body, although the Devourer may teleport to any safe space within 8 squares of their victims space when they are thus evicted. Once evicted, the victim may then use their remaining actions to act normally. Sadly, as above, evicting an Dominator in this fashion inflicts 6d10+83 points of mutilation (physical, rare) damage as they are driven out. Ouch, again. Tactically, Enslavement is tremendously more powerful than Body Thief, even if the Devourer limits itself to only jumping to non-allied creatures, especially if there are no convenient dead bodies nearby. Given that in many environments, the living are much easier to locate than the dead, Enslavement often gets used much more than Body Thief.

Selfless Scourge (Su) Swift Action 2/Enc

Up to twice per encounter, as a swift action, an Intellect Devourer Dominator that has been forced out of a stolen body (either thefted or enslaved), or who never had one in this encounter, may blast forth a huge surge of psychic energy. This power affects all enemy creatures who are not currently Charmed (See above) in a 60 foot cone (a 12x12x12 square space that must share an edge or a corner with the Dominator's space). Affected creatures suffer 6d10+83 points of psychic (energy, uncommon) and gain the Charmed condition. Embedded in the psychic power of the Selfless Scourge is the telepathic command, which must be the same command for all affected creatures. All affected creatures are allowed a Will save against a DC of 41. Those who make this save are not Charmed, and only suffer half the Psychic damage.

Intellect Devourer Dominator

Intellect Devourers look like a rounded fleshy mass, usually a glistening grey-pink, with four powerfully clawed legs holding it up. Savants who know such things claim that they look exactly like large human brains, torn from their skulls, with legs. They have no evident heads or eyes, no muscles or ribs or evidence of breath. It is obvious that they are very alien indeed.

Intellect Devourers are suspected of being from another Plane, although which it might be is speculative at best. What is known, is that Intellect Devourers possess weird, eldritch abilities, able to shrink and grow in size, project shimmering attacks like heat-waves in the air, and they are known for crawling into the dead and 'wearing' their bodies in a manner most horrid.

Intellect Devourers are inimical to all life, but they particularly target sentient beings. They greatly relish those with the Spark, but they will attack and inhabit anything intelligent. In a pinch, they have even been known to attack and wear animals, but such things are apparently rare.

If an Intellect Devourer attacks, kill it with sword and fire, because if you are defeated, your flesh will become the property of the...thing.

Intellect Devourer Dominators are much larger and more dangerous than lesser Intellect Devourers, not least because of their ability to bind others to their awful alien will. Dominators are especially awful for their powers to leave their victims alive enough to serve 'useful purposes' even after the Intellect Devourer has chosen another body to steal. This power endears them to slavers and other dealers in flesh, such as Hobgoblins, Aranea, and occasionally even Bandits.

Dominators, like lesser Devourers, may haunt ruins and wildernesses, dungeons and caves and swamps, all manner of semi-deserted places, where intelligent creatures go, but not often, and often alone. Unlike lesser Devourers, Dominators are sly and clever enough that they prefer to hunt right in the heart of Civilization. They are bad at mimicing the normal behavior of their victims, but they can be extremely effective at kidnapping those who draw their interest...to the extreme detriment of their victims. If Dominators are suspected to have infested an area or, heaven forbid, a city, getting powerful heroes to root them out is a very high priority, as an Dominator infestation can easily 'core out' even sizeable communities, even entire nations, very quickly indeed.

Intellect Devourers are far more destructive to communities than other flesh-stealing monsters. Wise governors act immediately and vigorously to any suspicions.

The size of a man, Dominators can attack in a massive wave of eldritch rays, or they can sneakily cause all manner of havoc by forcing others to act. If they are victorious in battle, they wear the bodies of their victims like horrific trophies, and will privately revel in them in ways most unwholesome, until they grow bored and sell them on, or murder them for sport.

Like other Intellect Devourers, Dominators delight in all manner of debauchery, and will frequently use their meat, when it is ending its useful fun, to attack neighboring cities, begin wars to cover their tracks, or seek to insinuate their way into nearby nations, in search of more flesh to wear. Dominators tend to target the rich and powerful, making the damage they can inflict with their vile behavior very severe indeed.

Combat Tactics

Intellect Devourer Dominators are surprisingly adroit and graceful, especially considering their awkward body shape. They are capable of astonishing leaps, due to their powerfully clawed legs, but due to their awful Enslavement power, in crowded settings they are more likely to teleport from creature to creature, leaving glassy-eyed, stuporous victims behind. Indeed, when there are victims available, Dominators are extremely good at 'swimming' through a crowd without anyone noticing, although typically, the wake of Enslaved victims they leave behind (assuming the fiend doesn't use them up in distractions, or march them away for re-sale) will allow their movements to be recreated after the fact. Indeed, in crowds they are quite good at launching surprise attacks, which can be quite the surprise for the unwary.

They will bound about in combat, either via teleports or vaulting leaps, staying out of melee if at all possible, if they are caught outside of a thefted or enslaved body. They are more comfortable with ranged attacks than melee, and will do their best to begin combat at range, and will strive to keep enemies at bay by using their Controlled Flesh charming power to make the closest attackers run away, drop their weapons, or attack their friends. That said, their Savage Claws are much more damgerous than the unwary might assume, despite the pedestrian nature of the attack.

They can use Controlled Flesh once each round, so they will often begin an attack with one or several of them using their terrible 'Selfless Scourge' power to gain as many Charms as they can manage as early as they can. They can use Selfless Scourge and still move and attack if they wish, making for a heavy 'alpha strike' ability that is deadly indeed. They will seek to 'spread around' their Mind Rays to the Un-Charmed, making close attackers move away, and distant attackers drop their weapons or attack their friends. That's about the limits of their combat prowess.

However, if they begin a fight inside the body of another creature, all bets are off as regards tactics, except, they always work to stay at range. They will recklessly use up their most potent abilities and often will seek to flee immediately, as they have no wish to take damage and thus, lose their ride. The variety of encounters that can be made with Intellect Devourer Dominators is almost without limit, and GM's are encouraged to be creative, always with an eye to fun and challenge. Note that Intellect Devourers gain no defensive advantage from either Body Thief or Enslavement when used against a monster: All damage they take is suffered upon their normal base hit points, and any damage whatsoever ends that ability immediately. Enslavement against a player or player ally is a gamble, but if it works, all sorts of tense moments can be expected!

Out of Combat

Intellect Devourers are extremely alien, but their most common motivation appears to boil down to sheer hedonism. Intellect Devourers are utterly blind, and deaf, and apparently have no sense of smell or touch or...anything else. They seem driven to take other creatures bodies to attain a full sensorium.

Intellect Devourers are, frankly, bad at pretending they are something else. In a meat ride, they act in an utterly alien fashion, and their behavior, honestly, is revolting, as they indulge their every urge with little in the way of limits or boundaries. The horrors they inflict upon themselves and all around them do not bear mention in polite company.

Intellect Devourers, as a result of their bad habits with the flesh of others, are hard-pressed to find much in the way of allies. They have been known to work with Aboleths, as far as outsiders can determine what those fiends are up to. Doppelgangers and Intellect Devourers have some commonality, but they seem to be both hostile to each other and allies of convenience, and Devourers have been known to hijack the bodies of victims of Doppelgangers, which Doppelgangers seem to find very irritating. Hobgoblins and Aranea, unsurprisingly, often find Intellect Devourers arriving with slaves for sale, and occasionally they are even among their customers for purchases, and those fiends take their coin just as they take everyone else's.

Rewards

XP: 9,840,000

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 1,246,929 gp.

Weight: 300 lbs.     Volume: 12 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)