On the way to becoming BAMFs, mind flayers made more than a few enemies. And there’s a variant rule listed for the mind flayer arcanist who, “supplements their psionic power with arcane spells”. There’s also the mind flayer language, called Qualith, which is similar to braille. In other words, they are bad ass, one definite reason why they would be great as characters.Īnother reason for mind flayers as characters is being able to play with psionics, an innate spellcasting ability that includes telepathy, and being able to control the minds of lesser creatures. They created Intellect Devourers, and are responsible for Grimlocks being the monstrosities they are today. They’ve enslaved entire races, including the Gith, Duergar, and Kuo-toa. MIND FLAYERĪlso known as Illithid, they are arguably the most nefarious race in the MM.

Instead, I chose creatures with backgrounds and personalities I think could work for one-shot adventures, or an entire campaign if you’re willing to put in more work. I didn’t choose what I feel are obvious choices, such as goblins, kobolds, half-dragons, half-ogres, lycanthropes, and others. Add imagination and some work, and you have yourself a new race to play.įollowing are five of my top picks for Monster Manual creatures who could be your next character. The MM has many creatures with extensive histories and detailed stats, just about all that’s needed to turn them into bona fide PCs. It doesn’t take much to imagine many of the MM creatures as PCs it’s one of the ways we got the half-orc race, after all. But we also love the creatures presented in the Monster Manual. We Dungeons & Dragons players all love the character races available in the Player’s Handbook, no doubt.

D&d monster sheet