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So now that Druids can wildshape into an Intellect Devourer, Great Old Warlocks with the Pact Of The Chain should have an option to have the Intellect Devourer, Us, as their familiar.

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Why? I get it Great Old One means a very old and powerful being (speak g mostly from my Lovecraft- and Cthulhu-mythos experience here. I don't see, how US would fall into this category or even the Mindflayers. Care to elaborate?


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They are listed in the MM as Mind Flayer Medium aberration , lawful evil and Intellect Devourer Tiny aberration , lawful evil and there enough lore to make me believe that they are could be from the Far Realm so I have no trouble believing they could be related to a Great Old One.

Chulthu as the god of the Mind Flayer

Were Illithids inspired by Cthulhu?

Mind Flayer Origin

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I'd rather Us come back as a companion tbh.

Now shovel could be interesting to make into a familiar or a companion, and he is already something thats summoned.

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Originally Posted by Merry Mayhem
They are listed in the MM as Mind Flayer Medium aberration , lawful evil and Intellect Devourer Tiny aberration , lawful evil and there enough lore to make me believe that they are could be from the Far Realm so I have no trouble believing they could be related to a Great Old One.

Chulthu as the god of the Mind Flayer

Were Illithids inspired by Cthulhu?

Mind Flayer Origin


OK, I see your point. I don't think, that Ilithids and Cthulhu have that much in common apart from the look. Mindflayers could be a servant race to Cthulhu or another Great Old One from Lovevrafts stories.


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I would not mind it honestly ...
As long as every NPC around Warlock with that pet summoned become instantly hostile.

Its weird enough that nobody cares about demon following our steps. :-/
But nobody caring about walking brain with claws and tentacles? O_o That would be ridiculous.


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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
I would not mind it honestly ...
As long as every NPC around Warlock with that pet summoned become instantly hostile.

Its weird enough that nobody cares about demon following our steps. :-/
But nobody caring about walking brain with claws and tentacles? O_o That would be ridiculous.

Well, Faerun is that kind of setting where Wizards and such are known to keep magical creatures as summons and familiars. Gale even mentions having a winged cat and burning down the house with a fire creature. That being said, there maybe should be more reactions to it, like a temporary Approval drop or people being cautious cause that person with a strange creature they have never seen before is obviously not normal. Illithids are rare enough that people likely would not know how to react upon seeing one and if it doesn't outright attack them then it might be a bad idea to be outright hostile as it is something they do not understand.

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Originally Posted by CJMPinger
Well, Faerun is that kind of setting where Wizards and such are known to keep magical creatures as summons and familiars.
I know and i agree that Wizards would probably not mind ... but how about others? :P
And if you will answer keep in mind that we are not moving around metropolis where is wizard with some weird familiar on every step ... but in middle of nowhere, where druids are allready pretty sick of "those who dont belong to them". wink
And also keep in mind that events when demons draged to hell whole town can be still fresh is some memories. wink

Originally Posted by CJMPinger
like a temporary Approval drop or people being cautious
At least yes ...
I would certainly add for vendors one extra line telling people that they REFUSE to talking with them, as long as that *thing* is here. laugh

Originally Posted by CJMPinger
Illithids are rare enough that people likely would not know how to react upon seeing one and if it doesn't outright attack them then it might be a bad idea to be outright hostile as it is something they do not understand.
On the contrary ...
People are more affraid of unknown, than known ... if you want proof, check the whole human history. laugh

I dunno ... for myself its part of the fun that i cant drag my undead army to town with my Necromancer, that people are suspicious about me if my character belong to one of "unusual" races, or do some suspicious stuff like sneaking around. laugh


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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by CJMPinger
Well, Faerun is that kind of setting where Wizards and such are known to keep magical creatures as summons and familiars.
I know and i agree that Wizards would probably not mind ... but how about others? :P
And if you will answer keep in mind that we are not moving around metropolis where is wizard with some weird familiar on every step ... but in middle of nowhere, where druids are allready pretty sick of "those who dont belong to them". wink
And also keep in mind that events when demons draged to hell whole town can be still fresh is some memories. wink

Originally Posted by CJMPinger
like a temporary Approval drop or people being cautious
At least yes ...
I would certainly add for vendors one extra line telling people that they REFUSE to talking with them, as long as that *thing* is here. laugh

Originally Posted by CJMPinger
Illithids are rare enough that people likely would not know how to react upon seeing one and if it doesn't outright attack them then it might be a bad idea to be outright hostile as it is something they do not understand.
On the contrary ...
People are more affraid of unknown, than known ... if you want proof, check the whole human history. laugh

I dunno ... for myself its part of the fun that i cant drag my undead army to town with my Necromancer, that people are suspicious about me if my character belong to one of "unusual" races, or do some suspicious stuff like sneaking around. laugh

I do think the lack of reaction is very jarring at times though. And yeah a necromancer would most certainly get at minimum hostile remarks unless they proved themselves to be good somehow or all those obvious corpses were of the things that were terrorizing the people OR the corpses just looked like sick people or alive people which would be a whole new can of worms. And yeah, I do agree that you might get more hostile looks or unhappy remarks from people not used to magic or monstrous creatures, though I don't think Merchants should outright not sell to the player. I think their prices however should go up and maybe little things like the narrator saying "He eyes the fiend floating near you, suspicious of your nature." should be added or in some cases where they would be intimidated enough, lower prices or more willing to help cause they are ignorant/fearful and thus scared of your ire.

Though most people, though afraid of the unknown, will tend to approach it cautiously until they have justification (sometimes made up) to go after it. Fear is a powerful motivator, and Us could be a powerful tool for fear.

Last edited by CJMPinger; 20/02/21 09:52 AM.
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Originally Posted by Merry Mayhem
So now that Druids can wildshape into an Intellect Devourer, Great Old Warlocks with the Pact Of The Chain should have an option to have the Intellect Devourer, Us, as their familiar.

Even if they do, Us still wouldn't be as good as the imp. The imp can fly and so covers far more ground, it can turn invisible at will and so is a sneak attack monster, and it hits harder.

Us just has more hp and would be a better damage soak, other than that, the imp wins. I would still choose the imp every time.

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The Imp is a better choice, but there are merits to the Intellect Devourer as well...
The real change that I would most like to see is to have the familiar be permanently there once summoned.

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Originally Posted by The_BlauerDragon
The Imp is a better choice, but there are merits to the Intellect Devourer as well...
The real change that I would most like to see is to have the familiar be permanently there once summoned.
Us' higher hp is about the only merit I can think of. It would be a better damage soak than the imp. But given all the other advantages the imp brings to the table, I don't see how Us can even compare.

What do you mean by permanently summoned? The Imp pretty much is unless you long rest, or it gets killed in combat. I like being able to resummon it because anytime it takes any damage I can just resummon a fresh one and it's back to full hp.

What would be the benefit to being permanently summoned?

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Originally Posted by DarkRob316
Originally Posted by The_BlauerDragon
The Imp is a better choice, but there are merits to the Intellect Devourer as well...
The real change that I would most like to see is to have the familiar be permanently there once summoned.
Us' higher hp is about the only merit I can think of. It would be a better damage soak than the imp. But given all the other advantages the imp brings to the table, I don't see how Us can even compare.

What do you mean by permanently summoned? The Imp pretty much is unless you long rest, or it gets killed in combat. I like being able to resummon it because anytime it takes any damage I can just resummon a fresh one and it's back to full hp.

What would be the benefit to being permanently summoned?

I think he might mean that familiars should not be dismissed during long rests, which in 5e I don't think they are supposed to be dismissed?

Also Us would be really cool if at a higher level he got the ability to possess a corpse by removing the brain cause I think that is something intellect devourers can do but I might be remembering wrong.

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Originally Posted by DarkRob316
Us' higher hp is about the only merit I can think of. It would be a better damage soak than the imp. But given all the other advantages the imp brings to the table, I don't see how Us can even compare.
If summoned as a familiar, I would hope they would add the other abilities of the Intellect Devourer that aren't currently in the game (such as the ability to teleport into a hollowed out skull and pilot a person as though they were the brain of that person) which would easily overpower the Imp in utility.

Originally Posted by DarkRob316
What do you mean by permanently summoned? The Imp pretty much is unless you long rest, or it gets killed in combat. I like being able to resummon it because anytime it takes any damage I can just resummon a fresh one and it's back to full hp.

What would be the benefit to being permanently summoned?
I mean permanent as in you have to keep the damned thing alive or else suffer the consequences of losing your familiar. It isn't a benefit, so much as an added challenge.

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In 5th Edition there isn't much of a penalty for your familiar dying. You don't lose them permanently not do you take a health penalty. There might be material costs, I forget, but otherwise a familiar dying means very little.

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Originally Posted by CJMPinger
In 5th Edition there isn't much of a penalty for your familiar dying. You don't lose them permanently not do you take a health penalty. There might be material costs, I forget, but otherwise a familiar dying means very little.
In 5e, Find Familiar is a 1-hour spell, the ritual for which requires a brass brazier that you use to burn 10gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs. You need to perform this ritual to initially summon your familiar, to change its form, or to summon a new familiar if your old one dies. Most details about how familiars are summoned and used and what they can do are quite different in BG3.

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I wasn't aware that they'd completely stupified familiars in 5e. Is there anything they didn't completely dumb down?

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Originally Posted by DarkRob316
Originally Posted by Merry Mayhem
So now that Druids can wildshape into an Intellect Devourer, Great Old Warlocks with the Pact Of The Chain should have an option to have the Intellect Devourer, Us, as their familiar.

Even if they do, Us still wouldn't be as good as the imp. The imp can fly and so covers far more ground, it can turn invisible at will and so is a sneak attack monster, and it hits harder.

Us just has more hp and would be a better damage soak, other than that, the imp wins. I would still choose the imp every time.

Silly me, I was thinking it would be nice to have a familiar that would fit into roleplaying a GOO Warlock. wink

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Originally Posted by The_BlauerDragon
I wasn't aware that they'd completely stupified familiars in 5e. Is there anything they didn't completely dumb down?

Its less they dumbed them down and more they buffed them to an extreme.
In 4e they were more or less a passive that provided a benefit so arguably there they got dumbed down compared to older editions.
In 5e, however, they became a lowlevel summon, not great for direct attack but allowing the caster to deliver touch based spells, which is very very strong considering if you somehow get one for your cleric, they became great for scouting partly because their death wasn't much of a penalty, and they could be different kinds of animals such as a snake.
Warlocks they are are buffed even more because they can be a small list of other creatures instead of a low cr animal, like an Imp or Pseudodragon, which is stronger in 5e than it was in older editions, and can gain certain invocation bonuses like being able to attack on a player's minor action instead of standard and allowing the caster to regain hitpoints.

It is less that they were dumbed down and more they are mechanically very different and have a lot more happening with them than before.
Arguably, it is BG3 that dumbs them down because now they have their own turns and have few of the benefits/complications they had before.

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Originally Posted by Merry Mayhem
Originally Posted by DarkRob316
Originally Posted by Merry Mayhem
So now that Druids can wildshape into an Intellect Devourer, Great Old Warlocks with the Pact Of The Chain should have an option to have the Intellect Devourer, Us, as their familiar.

Even if they do, Us still wouldn't be as good as the imp. The imp can fly and so covers far more ground, it can turn invisible at will and so is a sneak attack monster, and it hits harder.

Us just has more hp and would be a better damage soak, other than that, the imp wins. I would still choose the imp every time.

Silly me, I was thinking it would be nice to have a familiar that would fit into roleplaying a GOO Warlock. wink
It would be nice, not disagreeing there. For me it couldn't just be about role playing though. Us would have to be better than the imp for me to choose him, or at least overtake the imp at higher levels as some others in this thread have suggested.

Right now I can only go by how they are in the game currently, the rest is just speculation.
I'm not dumping on your idea though, I'm just adding to it by saying sure, it would be cool, but then let's make Us unique to the Great Old Ones pact of the chain, and make Us in some way better than the Imp for the incentive to actually use him.

Otherwise it is just a roleplay move, which, at least for me, means I'd never use him.


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