Mind Flayer Meets the Nerdarchy Homebrew Campaign Setting

I started talking about using the mind flayer and beholder in our homebrew campaign setting in a previous article. Mainly I covered the beholder re-imagined as dread spheres. In the previous article I talked about the idea of a Chaos Realm and powerful beings known as Travelers. One of these creatures took control of an elven city named Karsha Luceen.

Inspired by a mind flayer, but creepier

Our D&D monster then sculpted the flesh of the elves, pulling their bodies like taffy until they were well over 7 ft. tall and ghastly thin. Every rib, vertebrae, and other bones are quite visible through their pale dead white flesh. Ears and eyes elongated and stretched as well. Ears sweep back to either side of their head by a good foot.

Their eyes have no pupils and are a solid black. Only a tiny thin gash for a mouth with no visible lips. A head rests upon a long graceful neck, and beneath it on the upper chest, shoulders, and back is a star or fool’s motley looking protrusion of the flesh. This and the black eyes are the only color to break up the pale white flesh of our Dungeons & Dragons monster. This strange marking varies from creature to creature. It can be sickly yellows, purples, blacks, and browns. Any color of a bruise you’ve seen is a possibility. The skin itself isn’t these colors — it is whatever lies beneath the skin that holds the coloring. If look closely you can see it writhe beneath the skin and change color. Arms and legs are extremely long and gangely. Fingers are elongated with multiple joints and maintain their elven dexterity. They are as anatomically correct as a Ken doll. These creatures have a completely alien biology.

The experiment that warped their flesh also destroyed their minds, twisting them to cruelty and a wish to inflict pain and horror on others. As a matter of fact it is what nourishes these creatures. They are psychic vampires that feed upon negative emotions. Fear, pain, and anger are like milk and honey to them.

The only thing more disturbing is how they actually feed. Remember that strange protrusion I mentioned a bit ago? It has several functions. They use it communicate with each other through its movements and color changes, and it also identifies them to each other. Lastly and by far the most disturbing is how they use it to feed.

When they get close enough to their prey, this D&D monster can vomit up what looks like the bottom half of a slimy, mucus covered squid attached to a tendril. At the center of the eight tentacles is a lamprey like orifice. They attach it to a sentient creatures head where it begins to feed off their emotions. The mucus acts as a contact poison, paralyzing most creatures to prevent them from getting away during meal time.

One of the few vestiges they have left from their elven heritage is their name. Their creator left them with not only new horrific bodies, but it dubbed them the Karceen.

Homebrew campaign setting inspiration

The great thing about D&D is taking it and making it your own. We love the game and the lore it’s inspired. One of the ways we like to show our appreciation for it is by letting an iconic Dungeons & Dragons monster like a beholder or mind flayer inspire us to create new wonders and horrors to entertain and challenge our players with. From here I’ll delve into the Chaos Realm, Travelers, or even the thing that may or may not be directing it all. Feel free to let us know in the comments where you’d like these worldbuilding articles to go next.

 Video that spawned ideas for this Dungeons & Dragons monster

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