Thought Eater

Thought Eater (CR 2)

Pure Evil - Small - Outsider

Lore:	Know (Planes)
4		19
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

4

Perception:
14	+4
Passive	Active

Ambush:

8+

on a d20

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Low-Light Vision

Movement Types:

• Hover 20 ft.

Defense

AC

16

Man Def

15

Monster Health
41	20	3
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+0
Refl:	+0
Will:	+5

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Small
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+4

Man Off

+3

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Creepy Beak +4 (1d6/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 1x Creepy Beak +4 (1d6/x2)
  as slashing (physical, common)
• 2x Flipper Flap +4 (1d3/x2)
  as Bludgeoning (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Psychic Vortex +8 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (1d6/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 30 ft.)
  plus Absorb Aura

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Psychic Vortex +8 vs. AC (always hits on a 17+ on the die) (1d6/x2)
  as psychic (energy, uncommon)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 30 ft.)
  plus Absorb Aura

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

8

STR

10

DEX

16

CON

24

INT

8

WIS

8

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 4
• All other skills: 0 (no ranks)

Languages: Djöfulleg

Feats:

Special Abilities

Absorb Aura (Su) Auto upon making or receiving attack

Up to once per round, a Thought Eater may Absorb Aura from an enemy creature. This power may be triggered if the Thought Eater makes a successful Psychic Vortex attack, or, it may be triggered if the Thought Eater is subject to any effects from an Arcane, Divine, or True Dweomer spell. When triggered, the Thought Eater absorbs either one spell of its choice from the target of its attack, or, it absorbs the spell it was targeted with. The Thought Eater gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the level of the spell absorbed. Thought Eaters cannot absorb cantrips (or powerful cantrips), since those are a renewing resource. All other spells absorbed by a Thought Eater are lost from the caster as if cast to no effect, and the spell slot is now emptied. In addition, the process of Absorbing the aura causes the caster or possessor of the spell to suffer Ability Dilution to their Intelligence, making their INT score effectively 2 lower. This loss will stack, and the victim should keep track of their temporary Effective Intelligence Score to determine if the Thought Eater will continue to attack them.

Thought Eater

A Thought Eater is one of the oddest and most hated of all monsters. They appear out of nothing, surrounded by a wavy distortion in the air as if they are surrounded by massive heat-ripples (even though they are cold), and they hover a few feet above the ground. They appear emaciated, even skeletal, ribs and pelvis standing out against translucent ectoplasmic 'skin'. Their heads are ghastly, a large round skull with huge eye sockets that may or may not evidence eyes, and a vast jagged beak on the front. Their skeletal limbs are stunted, and they have a paddle-like tail and wide-flippered feet as if they are meant to swim.

It is speculated they live in the Ether, and after sensing prey in the Prime they force their way into our world to feed.

Their feeding is ghastly, as they create sucking vortexes that target spell casters and feed on their very minds, damaging their intellects, aura, and bodies in equal measure. Once they have fed upon a hapless caster enough, they will then switch their attacks around, leaving a ghastly mental numbness behind.

Thought Eaters are well-suited to feed on spellcasters, as they have defenses against the effects of spells and even destroy a caster's ability with spells at the same time. If you are attacked by these awful things, stab them. Spells are of little use.

Combat Tactics

Thought Eaters always strive to pop out of the Ether somewhere near, but not too near, their targets. They have a fairly good ambush chance due to this behavior, but that's where their normality ends.

Thought Eaters have some mysterious ability to know the exact Int score of all intelligent creatures they can see. Since they 'feed' by eating thoughts, they will always attack the member of their foes who has the highest Int score, that they can currently reach. If two or more foes have the same Int in range, they will share their attacks as evenly as they can between them.

However, since each successful attack lowers the victims Effective Intelligence Score by -2, Thought Eaters will often switch targets after they've pounded a high-int caster, and switch targets at seeming random as they use psychic Vortex on the highest INT score that remains.

If they are attacked with spells, they simply use Absorb Aura on the spell, dispelling it to no effect and draining the caster. Even worse, every successful Absorb Aura they make as a consequence of their Psychic Vortex empties a memorized spell slot, if the target has one. Thought Eaters are not exceptionally deadly, but they are exceptionally damaging, as they can reduce a spellcaster to the use of cantrip and bloodline powers with frightening speed, before they switch to other, smarter, victims.

The best way to deal with Thought Eaters is to mob them fast and hard with ranged or melee attacks, as the 'meat shields' try their best to drop the awful things before their casters are reduced to drooling husks. When hard-pressed this way, Thought Eaters might resort to their poor melee attacks, but they usually stick with their Psychic Vortex as long as they can.

Thought Eaters are very intelligent, but they seem to go into a hunger daze when they are feeding. Once they have begun an attack, they press home fearlessly, hovering away from melee attackers if they can and relentlessly using their Psychic Vortex on the smartest remaining foes they can reach, until they are destroyed.

Out of Combat

Thought Eaters are incredibly smart, despite their appearance, but they are also extremely alien and weird. They have been known to make common cause with many other kinds of monsters, such as orcs, gnolls, kobolds, and the like, where they use the prime monsters as cannon fodder to keep the melee fighters off them.

Thought Eaters seem to have a weird affinity for souterrains as well, and have often been seen in areas where those other monsters infest. Why this is so is completely unknown, and might even be unknowable.

Rewards

XP: 600

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 500 gp.

Weight: 20 lbs.     Volume: 0.8 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)