The Illithiad

From Greyhawk Wiki
Revision as of 08:07, 15 April 2025 by Abra Saghast (talk | contribs) (Text replacement - "Dungeon Masters Guild" to "''Dungeon Masters' Guild''")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Greyhawk Source
Monstrous Arcana:
The Illithiad
Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Cover of The Illithiad (1998), art by Fred Fields.
Type: Monster sourcebook
Code/Abbreviation: TSR 9569
Edition: Second edition
Author(s): Bruce R. Cordell
Editor(s): Keith Francis Strohm
Cover Artist(s): Fred Fields
Interior Artist(s): Glen Michael Angus, James Crabtree, David Martin, Mark Nelson, William O'Connor, Amie Swekel
Cartography: Sam Wood
Series: Monstrous Arcana
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
First Published: April 1998
Pages: 98
ISBN: ISBN 0-7869-1206-5
Class: Officially published source

Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad (also seen as simply The Illithiad) is a 98-page sourcebook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition released in April 1998 covering mind flayers (illithids), and relates to the World of Greyhawk campaign setting.

Cover text

The Illithiad is a visually stunning tome that details important information on mind flayers, their mental powers, and their dire plans to control the multiverse.

This "complete book of illithids" covers:

  • The anatomy and physiology of the mind flayer.
  • The terrible truth about the mind flayer life cycle.
  • Illithid-kin, undead mind flayers, and new' flayer-kin monsters.
  • A balanced look at illithid psionic powers.
  • a detailed description of a typical mind flayer community
  • Unique mind flayer psionic abilities and items.

The Illitiad is the third volume in the popular Monstrous Arcana game accessory series and is indispensable to DMs who want to add these terrifying creatures to their campaigns. The Illithiad supports the mind flayer adventure trilogy: A Darkness Gathering, Masters of Eternal Night, and Dawn of the Overmind.

Description

The Illithiad is part of the Monstrous Arcana series and provides extensive details about mind flayers.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Illithids: What They Are
  • Chapter 2: Life Cyle and Variations
  • Chapter 3: PsionicsL Options, Abilties and Drawbacks
  • Chapter 4: History and Theology
  • Chapter 5: Psychology and Society
  • Chapter 6: An Illithid Community
  • Chapter 7: Illithid Technology
  • Chapter 8: Mind Flayer Quick Stat References
  • Chapter 9: Monsters

"The Illithiad includes an extensive set of mind flayer variants. The ulitharid (noble mind flayer) first appeared in Dungeon #24 (July/August 1990); the alhoon (mind flayer lich) premiered in Menzoberranzan (1992); and the illithid vampires had previously been seen in RQ2: Thoughts of Darkness (1992) and other Ravenloft supplements. Related creatures such as the brain golems, the cranium rats, the gohlborn, and the grimlocks had appeared in a variety of other magazines and supplements. The Illithiad reprinted all of these creatures and also statted up a few new illithid-related monsters, including the arcane illithid\]s, the elder brains, the neothelids, and the urophion."[1]

Development and release

Development

The book was written by Bruce R. Cordell. Art was provided by Fred Fields, Glen Michael Angus, James Crabtree, David Martin, Mark Nelson, William O'Connor and Arnie Swekel.

Release

Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad was released by Wizards of the Coast in April 1998 for $$19.95USD or $26.95 CAN.

On July 08, 2014, it was re-released in digital format. It is currently available on DriveThruRPG and Dungeon Masters Guild for $5.99.

Reception and influence

Critical reception

In 2023, Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad reached the rank of Platinum seller on DriveThruRPG.

Influence on other works

"Wizards hyped The mind flayer books with a simultaneous magazine article: "Mindstalkers" in Dragon #245 (March 1998), also by Cordell, describes the "secrets of the dwarven illithid-hunters". The Illithiad was then followed by three adventures: "A Darkness Gathering" (1998), "Masters of Eternal Night" (1998), and "Dawn of the Overmind" (1998). In more recent years, The Illithiad has continued to be an important source for books like the Psionics Handbook (2001), "The Speaker in Dreams" (2001), and Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations (2005). Even years after its release, it's an important part of D&D history."
—Shannon Applecline, OneBookShelf (July 2014)[1]

See also

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ a b Applinecline, Shannon. Monstrous Arcana: The Illithiad. DMsguild.com. OneBookshelf, 8 July 2014. Retrieved on 23 September 2024.

Bibliography

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic Type Description Product Page/Card/Image
Retrieved from "https://gateway.greyhawk.city/greyhawkwiki/index.php?title=The_Illithiad&oldid=92316"