written by Bruce R. Cordell
published by TSR
96 pages
$19.95

This is the third book in the fully illustrated Monstrous Arcana series. Like the previous two books, there are some problems with this one, the first of which is wasted space. There are three different fonts within the book. One of them is a handwritten font which uses up a lot of pages without seeming to reveal too much information. The other two are both type written, but seem to be double or triple spaced in places where information is lacking.

Despite these flaws, however, the book still shines like a gem. The illustrations are high quality; the black and white illustrations are all great in detail and clarity and the writing is easy to read.

The book gives the Gamemaster information on important aspects of the Illithiad, like how do they see? How do they breed? What types of Illithiads are there? In this book, there are the standard, the "arcane", the Ulitharids, Alhoons (Illithiad liches), and Illithiad Vampires. There is no tear out poster, but instead there is a double page spread covering the various types of mind flayers.

To make sure that the Gamemaster can use the psionic type of Illithiad, this book has another version of psionics, this time a streamlined version from Skills & Powers. The only problem is that using it with the Complete Book of Psionics may force the DM to tinker with the costs for the sake of game balance. Psinoics are an integral part of the mind flayer community, so this chapter bears special note and begs repeated reading.

The chapter on History and Theology often leaves the reader with more questions than answers. The good thing about this is that a clever DM may incorporate several elements of their origin, only to change them - the players will never be sure if those origins are exactly correct. The theology section is short and to the point. For the most part, Illithid do not worship and only have one god -- Iisensine. The other god is Maanzecorian, who was killed by Orcus in the recent Dead Gods adventure.

There is a lot of information on how the illithiad live in their day to day lives. They have such entertainment as Dominance Tournaments where two opposing mind flayers control two slaves via psionics and have the slaves battle to the death. More gruesome than that however, is Performance Eating, where the mind flayer feeds upon the brain of a slave in a specifically designed chamber, to show case the eating.

For culture, the mind flayers are a race bent on domination. Each mind flayer has at least one slave, or thrall, and those with higher status have more. This is a prime concept to the mind flayers as those without slaves are seen as having little power or influence on the world about them, much less any community that they might live in.

Illithiad language is a system of writing and touch that takes into account the illithiads' four tentacles, which makes it very difficult for nonillithiad to read. The mind flayers are broken up into Creeds, which are guilds. Each Creed has a specific goal in mind and the individual mind flayers use their resources to bring about that goal. The Creatives create new psionic items and psionic powers and the Tamers are the military arm of the Illithiad; to name a few.

The psionic nature of the illithiad is fully explored here. There are numerous psionics listed in the book, but the book truly shines with respect to the psionic magic items. Finally, we have magic items that do not just repeat what a psionic power does, but add to the overall feel of psionics in the campaign. There are some great things here, from dampsuits which keep the illithiad from suffering in daylight, to psionic seals which are similar to body runes that can have a number of different effects. A found only one problem with the magic, and it is the use of concepts such as Circuitry and Exoskeleton - ideas which are more properly suited to a science fiction setting. However, Alternity? may not a bad place for illithiad.

The GM may be saying at this point "It all sounds great, but what do I do with it?" The answer lies in the small community they have provided for instant play. Abstemious is mapped out with enough characters and ideas to keep a campaign going for at least a month of play. In addition, there are three support modules coming out latter this year. For those who own but have not run Night Below, this book will allow some greater role playing opportunities for the Illithiad.

The book can be used in any of TSR's worlds and can easily be fitted into an original campaign without too much difficulty. The book is a must have for those who find the mind flayers interesting, for those wishing to see some great examples of psionic magic items, or for those looking for something new in the world of psionics! Now if TSR would only get on to the Flump...

who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? the illithiad do!