Brain Gorger

Medium aberration, lawful evil

Armor Class 16 (breastplate)
Hit Points 84 (13d8 + 26)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	17 (+3)	15 (+2)	20 (+5)	18 (+4)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Int +9, Wis +8, Cha +7
Skills Arcana +9, Deception +7, Insight +8, Perception +8, Persuasion +7, Stealth +7, Survival +8
Senses darkvision 180 ft., passive Perception 18
Languages Deep Speech, Undercommon, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Magic Resistance. The brain gorger has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The brain gorger’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
  • At will: detect thoughts, levitate, hypnotic pattern
  • 1/day each: dominate monster, dominate person, plane shift (self only)
• Spellcasting. The brain gorger is a 10th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). The brain gorger has the following wizard spells prepared:
  • Cantrips (at will): blade ward, dancing lights, mage hand, shocking grasp
  • 1st level (4 slots): detect magic, disguise self, shield, sleep
  • 2nd level (3 slots): blur, invisibility, ray of enfeeblement
  • 3rd level (3 slots): clairvoyance, lightning bolt, sending
  • 4th level (3 slots): confusion, dimension door
  • 5th level (2 slots): telekinesis, wall of force

ACTIONS

• Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 16 (2d10 + 5) psychic damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 17) and must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or be stunned until this grapple ends.
• Brain Gorge. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one incapacitated humanoid grappled by the brain gorger. Hit: 60 (10d10 + 5) piercing damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the brain gorger kills the target by opening up its skull and feasting on the target’s brain.
• Stunning Pulse. The brain gorger emits a wave of mind-rending magical power in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence saving throw or take 23 (4d8 + 5) psychic damage and be stunned for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Enslave (1/Day). The brain gorger targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed by the brain gorger until the brain gorger dies, it voluntarily releases the target, or until it is on a different plane of existence from the target. The charmed target is under the brain gorger’s control and cannot take reactions. The brain gorger and the target can communicate telepathically with each other over any distance. Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. on a success, the effect ends. No more than once every 24 hours, the target can also repeat the saving throw when it is at least 1 mile away from the brain gorger.

TACTICS

• Initial Round– They lead all confrontations with their stunning pulse and by commanding their slaves to defend them.
• Defensive Round-Should things be going unfavorably for the brain gorger, they will attempt to use their enslave ability upon any powerful warrior, turning them against their allies and on the following round becoming invisible.
• Victorious Round-On a victorious round, often when the brain gorger’s opponents are unconscious; they use their tentacles to grapple an unresisting opponent and then gorge on their brain.

ABOUT

Brain gorgers are among the most feared denizens of the deep dark. Like their lesser cousin flayers, they are ruthlessly amoral and live to feed on other sentient beings’ psychic energy and brains.

Brain Gorgers are relatively few in number and depend on enslavement to further their goals. They have no real form of government or structure, being primarily ruled by those with the greatest mental powers. They will, of course, adopt forms of control required to maintain order in those they have enslaved.

While brain gorgers will work together to protect a colony or a city, they are most commonly encountered alone. They do occasionally interact with other psionic or psychic feeding creatures. Much like their kin, they regard all other sentient races as food sources suitable only for dominating and consuming.

Brain gorgers are not much for physical combat, vastly preferring to order their minions to attack while using their devastating psionic and spell abilities at a distance.

Few know that the brain gorgers are the true power behind their lesser cousins, the Flayers-Who-May-Not-Be-Named. Extradimensional, despicable beings of truly malignant, alien evil. They use their paramount psychic powers to dominate the flayers, the brain gorger spawn, and subjugate all other races to their will, forcing them into servitude as minions in their ever-growing machinations.

d6	Brain Gorger Treasures
1	A platinum orb covered in alien runes (worth 100 platinum pieces).
2	Five tentacle rings, each worth 1d4 x 100 silver pieces.
3	A manual filled with alien writings, bound in a leather-like covering that appears all-too- familiar (worth 250 gold pieces).
4	A potion of greater healing (worth 100 gold pieces).
5	Five white onyx carved in the shape of brains (worth 50 gp each).
6	2400 gold coins of differing ages from a wide array of civilizations.