Brainstealer dragon

* 3e

A **brainstealer dragon** was a mix of illithid and dragon. They sometimes ruled illithid settlements that did not have an elder brain or escaped elder brain control and surpassed their creators.

## Description

Like most illithids and their creations, brainstealer dragons had squid-like heads and brain-devouring maws. They possessed white bloated eyes above the four tentacles drooping from their heads. Their draconic bodies were covered in small purple scales and their wings reduced to fleshy flaps of eldritch skin.

## Personality

Brainstealers adopted the conniving personalities and manipulative minds of their mind flayer creators. They would dominate the minds of Underdark denizens, with even illithids joining the ranks of their minions. They were more skilled in deception and intelligence gathering than their normal dragon counterparts.

## Combat

The brainstealer's powerful draconic build was aided by its diverse array of mental abilities. Like their illithid kin, they could use a *mind blast* to mentally debilitate their prey, stunning them for ease of consumption. Then they would commence brain extraction, killing one-headed creatures as they hungrily swallowed their brains.

Their skin was immune to acid, and grew in resistance to non-magical means of attack as they grew older. The downside to their transformation was that their 'wings' were far less powerful, and so their flight was clumsy and more difficult. All but newborn brainstealers (if they were newborn at the time of their ceremorphosis) were capable of telepathic communication.

Depending on their stage of development, they had all conventional illithid psionics, capable of detecting thoughts, levitation, shifting between planes, and charming their enemies.

## Appendix

### Notes

As illithids are parasitic creatures that take over their host, this is likely the result of an illithid tadpole being implanted into a dragon.

### References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Kevin Baase, Eric Jansing, Oliver Frank, and Bill Halliar (November 2005). “Monsters of the Mind – Minions of the Mindflayers”. In Erik Mona ed. *Dragon* #337 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. {{#regex:25–35|%(,)(\S)%|$1 $2}}.

### Connections

Mind Flayers
The Scourge of Worlds
Alhoon • Elder brain • Ulitharid • Vampiric illithid

**Ceremorphs**
**Brainstealer dragon** • Mindwitness • Mozgriken • Tzakandi • Uchuulon • Urophion
**Related Creatures**
 Brain golem • Cranium rat • Nyraala golem • Illithidae • Illithocyte • Intellect devourer • Mind worm • Neothelid • Nerve swimmer • Oblex • Oortling • Ustilagor

Dragonkind
The Family of Dragons

True dragons**Metallic dragons:** Gold • Silver • Bronze • Copper • Brass • Iron • Mercury • Platinum • Steel
**Chromatic dragons:** Red • Black • Blue • Green • White • Brown • Gray • Purple • Yellow
**Gem dragons:** Amethyst • Emerald • Sapphire • Topaz • Crystal • Obsidian
**Lung dragons**: Chiang lung • Li lung • Lung wang • Pan lung • Shen lung • T'ien lung • Tun mi lung • Yu lung
**Planar dragons**: Astral • Battle • Chaos • Ethereal • Faerie • Howling • Mirage • Oceanus • Pyroclastic • Radiant • Rust • Shadow • Styx • Tarterian
**Miscellaneous dragons:** Air • Ascendant • **Brainstealer** • Dzalmus • Force • Mist • Prismatic • Radiant • Rattelyr • Song • Vishap

**Lesser dragons**Dragon turtle • Hellfire wyrm • Pseudodragon • Rock wyrm • Scalamagdrion • Sea wyrm • Sunwyrm • Wyvern
**Drakes:** Guard • Portal • Smoke • Vulture

**Related creatures**Abishai • Dracon • Dracosphinx • Dragonborn • Dragonkin
**Dragonbloods:** Draconic creature • Dragonborn of Bahamut • Dragonspawn • Dragonwrought kobold • Drow-dragon (shadow) • Drow-dragon (deep) • Half-dragon • Kobold • Urd • Zar'ithra • Zekyl
**Undead dragons:** Dracolich • Vampiric