The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I had been searching out this book for months. I had decided that Mind Flayers would make excellent enemies in the scifi, and horror, as well as fantasy genre. I was likening them to Cthulhoid beings, or a servant race of Babylon 5's Shadows. Tentacled, brain eating, psionic, subterranean and photophobic, what a great combination! When I finally received a copy, I was excited, a little disappointed but satisfied all the same.

The book is well laid out, with a generous amount of helpful art and easy to follow text. Done much better than the VanRichten's guide I read, the text shifts in and out of character. At times it is the text of a sage's work on Illithiad, other paragraphs are game related and still others are commentary on either as if by a third party.

My disappointment centers around some of the detailed explanations provided in the book. For example, Illithiad are born of other humanoids transformed via brain eating tadpoles from a central pool containing a sentient brain which itself is a conglomeration of brains from previous generations of Mind Flayers. I envisioned them a unique humanoid race. Other than that fact, I was enthralled (no pun intended, Illithiad view all other sentients as thralls) with the details provided in the text. The factions within Illithiad society are colorful and well detailed. Their belief system and social order make sense, from their point of view, and you can understand their confusion with other race's resistance to their dominance. After all, they treat their thralls very well, by there own standards, including the ones they keep for food. All in all, their society, habits and goals all follow a logical, believable path.

Racial variants are provided, including arcane (magic using), liches, vampiric and genetically superior Illithiad. Nonhumanoid tadpole transformations and the consequences of letting the tadpoles grow without melding with a humanoid are also detailed. Racial psionic powers expand the powers available to other psionic races and provide specific skills needed by Mind Flayers. Special equipment and a sample community round out the package and complete the picture of these noble horrors, so self-righteous in their ways.

If your gaming has room for a race whose society and ecology alone makes them monsters for going about their lives normally, then the Illithiad are for you. Scifi, fantasy and horror genres all have room for such beings, gauge your own interest and find a copy new or used.

This review appears in Alarums & Excursions #317 (see review archive for A&E) and appears here with permission.

The Illithiad
The Illithiad Capsule Review by Papyrus on 14/12/01 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Scifi, fantasy and horror genres all have room for such beings. Product: The Illithiad Author: Bruce R. Cordell Category: RPG Company/Publisher: TSR Line: AD&D Monstrous Arcana Cost: $19.95 Page count: 96 Year published: 1998 ISBN: 0-7869-1206-5 SKU: 9569 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Papyrus on 14/12/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Horror	I had been searching out this book for months. I had decided that Mind Flayers would make excellent enemies in the scifi, and horror, as well as fantasy genre. I was likening them to Cthulhoid beings, or a servant race of Babylon 5's Shadows. Tentacled, brain eating, psionic, subterranean and photophobic, what a great combination! When I finally received a copy, I was excited, a little disappointed but satisfied all the same. The book is well laid out, with a generous amount of helpful art and easy to follow text. Done much better than the VanRichten's guide I read, the text shifts in and out of character. At times it is the text of a sage's work on Illithiad, other paragraphs are game related and still others are commentary on either as if by a third party. My disappointment centers around some of the detailed explanations provided in the book. For example, Illithiad are born of other humanoids transformed via brain eating tadpoles from a central pool containing a sentient brain which itself is a conglomeration of brains from previous generations of Mind Flayers. I envisioned them a unique humanoid race. Other than that fact, I was enthralled (no pun intended, Illithiad view all other sentients as thralls) with the details provided in the text. The factions within Illithiad society are colorful and well detailed. Their belief system and social order make sense, from their point of view, and you can understand their confusion with other race's resistance to their dominance. After all, they treat their thralls very well, by there own standards, including the ones they keep for food. All in all, their society, habits and goals all follow a logical, believable path. Racial variants are provided, including arcane (magic using), liches, vampiric and genetically superior Illithiad. Nonhumanoid tadpole transformations and the consequences of letting the tadpoles grow without melding with a humanoid are also detailed. Racial psionic powers expand the powers available to other psionic races and provide specific skills needed by Mind Flayers. Special equipment and a sample community round out the package and complete the picture of these noble horrors, so self-righteous in their ways. If your gaming has room for a race whose society and ecology alone makes them monsters for going about their lives normally, then the Illithiad are for you. Scifi, fantasy and horror genres all have room for such beings, gauge your own interest and find a copy new or used. This review appears in Alarums & Excursions #317 (see review archive for A&E) and appears here with permission.

The Illithiad