# Illi-Touched #### A Gothic Lineage by Beskarbonite # ## The dreaded Mind Flayer: bane of all sentient life across the multiverse. Originating from the Far Realm, these creatures have spread to countless worlds, bringing vile corruption with them. The process by which these tyrants reproduce is nothing short of horrific: a small tadpole is inserted into the head of a humanoid, and over the course of a few hours, it completely consumes and replaces the brain, taking over the body and shaping it into that of the Illithid. This process is known as Ceremorphosis. However, this process doesn't always go as planned. Sometimes, Ceremorphosis is interupted, leading the to creature only being partially transformed. These individuals still retain their memories and personality, but have most of their species' traits replaced by aberrant powers. These individuals are known as Illi-Touched, and are shunned and feared like unto the full Mind Flayers that corrupted them. Mechanically, the Illi-Touched functions like the Gothic Lineages from *Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft*. A player can select Illi-Touched as their species at 1st level, or they might gain it later as a result of undergoing partial Ceremorphosis. The *Ancestral Legacy* trait in the traits section states what aspects of the original species are kept: the rest are replaced with with the Illi-Touched Traits. ### Aberrant Appearance The process of Ceremorphosis is excruciating: as the host creature's brain is consumed, their body begins to stretch and contort to become that of a Mind Flayer. Creatures that only undergo partial Ceremorphosis still have physical characteristics akin to the Illithids that corrupted them. If you are playing as a Illi-Touched, you can determine in what way your character looks different by rolling on or choosing an option from the Aberrant Appearance table below. #### Aberrant Appearance |d8| Appearance| |-|-| |1| Your eyes are pupiless and glow slightly| |2| You only have three fingers per hand, and each finger is unusually long| |3| You lose all of your hair, scales, feathers, etc.| |4| Your skin takes on a purplish hue, and you excrete a thin layer of slime| |5| Your cranium becomes incredibly bulbous | |6| You become unnaturally boney and lithe| |7| You have four tentacles, each between six inches and a foot long, growing around your mouth| |8| You only have two toes per foot, and they are webbed \columnbreak ### Illi-Touched Traits You have the following traits. ***Creature Type.*** You are a Aberration. ***Size.*** You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you gain this lineage. ***Speed.*** Your walking speed is 30 feet. ***Ancestral Legacy.*** If you replace a species with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that species: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it. If you don't keep any of those elements or you choose this lineage at character creation, you gain proficency in two skills of your choice. ***Darkvision.*** You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray. ***Magic Resistance.*** You have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against spells. ***Telepathy.*** You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 60 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. ***Mind Blast.*** When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an emission of psychic energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Intelligence saving throw (DC = 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, the creature takes 1d6 Psychic damage and has disadvantage on the next d20 test it makes before the beginning of your next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and doesn't take the disadvantage. This damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.