So much fun! I liked the discussion on mind flayer ecology and psychology. For some reason, having a group name ("a sept of mind flayers") really tickles my fancy.

It is possible that someone who played 3E might find less value in this product than I did, since I think some of the ideas like ceremorphosis that I found really cool actually originated in 3E--but I liked reading about the details, and I just found this product really cool.

I did find one piece of psychology a little bit flat though: the "goals and desires" section basically says they're power-hungry munchkins focused on growing their power at all costs. Ho hum. It's a bit of a missed opportunity--too bad the writer couldn't come up with something more inspiring, but oh well, neither can I.

BTW, the Elder Brain can create Intellect Devourers as a Legendary Action, which I find terrifying and pleasing. :)

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Monsternomicon: Mind Flayers

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product-Monsternomicon: Mind Flayers System-DnD 5e Producer-DM Guild Price- $1.49 here http://www.dmsguild.com/product/172230/Monsternomicon-Mind-Flayers&affiliate_id=658618 TL; DR-An awesome product that shows the DM Guilds problems. 93%

Basics-Let me pick you brain…. Mind flayers! This product provides some background on the illithids that stalk the Underdark from elder brains to lich mind flayers. This product is firmly a GM only product but provides a ton of different creatures for the DM to throw at his/her players as well as whole campaign of ideas for the players to combat.

Mechanics or Crunch-I love mind flayers, and this book provides some awesome new crunch to their bag of tricks. This book is primarily a monster manual focusing on these evil monsters, but the monsters it does provide all look great in terms of their stats. This product stays away from the psionic side of things and introduces new monsters like a lich mind flayer. Nothing quite like an undead brain eater to throw at the party! What’s here is a fun bag of tricks for the DM to surprise the players with. 5/5

Theme or Fluff-Here is where things are slightly off kilter, but not by much. There are no pictures of any on the creatures from this book. I’d like a few more pictures so I can throw these to my players to instill the sheer horror of what’s ahead of them. What is here though does have some great fluff to build on the world and the mythos of the purple fiends from underground. Also, by focusing on the arcane, the book misses a bit of the psionic fun that these creatures have. The arcane monsters that are here are great, so while I might not be as enthralled with the magic of them they do have their own world built around them. 4.75/5

Execution- What’s here is good, but I’d like a bit more art to show the players and break up the text. The major problem I have is some systemic problems that can’t really be fixed. The DM guild provides an awesome platform for creators to build onto the world that Wizards of the Coast has. However, it comes with limits, and this book runs into them and it hurts the product a bit. I’d like this product to start with the basic mind flayer. The book can’t as that’s not allowed by the terms of the DM Guild. I’d like to include the current psychic ideas, but that also can’t be added as that isn’t part of the DM Guild as well. Overall, it’s a great product, but I feel it’s fighting a bit of an uphill battle to be as amazing as it is. 4.25/5

Summary-Mind flayers are my second favorite enemy after the undead, so this book hit the best parts of my evil soul. I love new options to make my players cringe and cry as horrors beyond time and space devover commoners in horrific ways, and this book provides those new abominations to make that happen. However, I feel that a few changes would help this product get to its potential. Some are minor things like more pictures of the monsters, but some are things that can’t be fixed because of the platform it's placed on. The DM Guild is a phenomenal resource, but some of its restrictions will hurt products. And, I feel that those restrictions hurt the product here. It doesn’t damage the product in a real tangible way. You will enjoy this from cover to cover, but you can feel the problems it presents in this tome. 93%

With all the rich history Mind Flayers have enjoyed in the game’s lore, I had always hoped someone would take the reins and expand the offering in the MM with more varied creatures like the “illithilich”. Here it is!

The layout is clear; the history and background sections were good refreshers of the lore surrounding these beasties. The stat blocks are well done and will offer greater higher- level challenges for any party exploring the underdark.

It’s nice to know when you plunk down a dollar or two here you do sometimes find your $ well spent for a work the author did real work on and didn’t just ‘throw together’. Great job.

Mind flayers are scary and one of the best tools in the DM's box of available monsters. This is a fun article with lots of juicy information on the basic societal structures of illithids, their life cycles, and their overarching plans. Mind flayers are definitely a "high level threat" and the new monsters in this article bear that out - the alhoon is CR 21! Elder brains, brain golems, ulitharids, and vampiric illithids round out the rest of the new monsters, which are nice additions to the 5th Edition roster of available monsters. The articles includes details on an illithid lair (a sept) that fits easily into a high-level campaign, and gives enough good and useful information to create your own with little difficulty.

Overall this is type of article I hope to see more of in the DMsGuild and represents the best of what Dragon Magazine and its ilk could provide to a Dungeon Master.

My only quibbles are more esoteric in nature - no references to Ilsensine or Maanzecorian the ilithid gods? :) Maanzecorian was "killed" by Orcus in his incarnation as Tenebrous which seems like a pretty interesting hook for a particular sept of illithids.