i know right!!! The intro primes you to expect(and i say this as someone who loves metal and has hung out with metalheads for literally 2/3 of their entire life) some bushy-bearded, longhaired, tatted-up, gruff-voiced hardcore dude and instead you get this unfathomably wholesome, clean and proper father-figure with both a voice and a heart of gold. It's the biggest bait-and-switch on youtube lol
I played alongside an Aberrant Soul Sorcerer, and one of the most memorable moments was when he caught some badguys in those tentacles and then my Bard dropped Stinking Cloud on top of it. So, they couldn't see, they couldn't move, were restrained, and taking damage, and they had to pass a Saving Throw just to get a chance to attempt another Saving Throw to escape. From the outside, it was just an opaque ball of gas, slurping sounds, and screams... until the screams fell silent. The entire party just kinda stood outside the ball, going, "Wow. That... sounds... horrifying..."
i love how the silvery barbs mob bit has been going on for so long, its so cute. i imagine colby at the dinner table with his family, and just going "oh yeah, can you swarm me again tomorrow? its for the youtube channel."
I could see rolling this character up as a reborn and re-theming the tentacles as whips of hair, and then playing this as an adaptation of Kayako from The Grudge or Sadako from Ring.
- I vote the alternate build name should be "The Tentickler". - You could say opponents of this player would be caught between tentacles and a sticky place. - I very much considered how formidable a boss this would make. - I'm not super big on horror in general, but cosmic horror is definitely my favorite subgenre.
Love the builds around a concept! It's not always about building the most powerful character for me, rather it's about building the character that best fits the concept and is still strong in the assigned role. That's why your channel is so great. You come up with these awesome concepts and then also make them viable. Keep up the great work!
For the lore bit at 14 min, it is actually a established fact in the 3 main settings that mind flayers often take some personality quirks of what was the tadpoles host/incubator body AND, in case of FR, that strong enough ego's with just as strong innate magic (such as the vast majority of brainstealer dragons; which btw are NOT the elder brain dragon of 5e aka a elder brain implanted on the corpse of a dragon) can in fact flip the ceremorphosis process where the brain "consumes" the tadpole instead during the metamorphosis process, retaining their mind and personality with a more evil and brain hungry twist... and typically if the creature is strong enough, try to murder the elder brain responsible for the tadpoles and take over the illithids till everyone but said person starve out under threat of their nervous system getting exploded.
This was so good, Colby. I usually object to spellcaster builds, because I feel spells are too scarce/expendable a resource, but this mitigates that complaint just a tad. The focus on crowd control instead of just nova damage is very nice
It is easy to miss, but you pitched a really cool idea when you pointed out how a Mindflayer that broke off from its hive mind would have a lot in common with the Gith. That would be an interesting dynamic as the Mindflayer might want to befriend the Gith, but they'd be met with hatred by default. Cool character!
This is one of the things I love so much about Warlocks. Drop a strong control spell, fry brains, and throw people back into the control spell. You may not get the burst damage of a Paladin or spell slots of a Wizard, but the value you can get with just concentration and a single cantrip is insane.
For Skyrim fans, I can't help but imagine this character as being from Apocrypha, and your tentacle is one of the random tentacles that attack you while you walk around rummaging for books.
Hey! Brazilian huge fan here! I love your builds! And I can't figure why people watch your videos in 2x. You have a so smooth and cozy voice. I know RPG a long time, but until 2020 never had a regular group to play with. So my favorite part of any system is to build characters, optimizing or just having fun with some unusual mechanic, thats why I enjoy your channel so much. Thank you!
I love the idea of adding 1 level of Order Cleric and you turn all these AoE spells (and Silvery Barbs) into attack granting with Careful Spell. They think the attacks are made of their own free will, but it was under your influence.
After Colby mentioned the Githyanki/Illithid lovechild, I had to turn my phone off and go outside to counteract that horror imagery with the visual beauty of nature.
I took advice from The Shadow Sorcerer last night in a one-shot. Started at lvl 10, so spell choice was rather liberal. I took Lightning Bolt and Mind Sliver to take advantage of Doggo’s save debuff, but I went a couple steps further. Took Magic Initiate for Find Familiar, and took Summon Draconic Spirit to fully lean into the pet build. Take Wither and Bloom to keep the dragon alive, and Silvery Barbs to give your DM a hard time, and boom- you now play very similarly to a warlock in WoW.
I so loved how surprised (and in some cases, shocked) my fellow players were the first time my Bardlock summoned a 10 foot tentacle and started smacking our foes with it!
First, loving the return of the old intro music! Second, props to Randall Hampton for giving the mind flayer a unicorn-spiked psionic mohawk! Both of these really add to the vibe of this character concept. ^^
For an interesting 2nd level spell choice, consider Vortex Warp...which can be twinned. Sure it's a CON save, but with Mind Sliver, Silvery Barbs, and a really long range; it can grab a very distant ennemy and plop them in you CC...maybe just 60 feet though if you want to debuff resistance. Also, it can be used on friends for mobility and problem solving.
I got so excited watching this video Colby. You basically just built the character I'm currently playing! And oh, it's SO MUCH FUN!!! I took inspiration from your kobold sorcerer blaster video when I built him, but I was really excited by the aberrant mind features and bonus spells. I'm currently a lvl 11 kobold (MOM version) with 2 lvls in fighter, 2 in Hexblade (for Hexblade's Curse and Shield), 7 in aberrant mind. Taking metamagic adept early is huge for all sorcerers, but it's even bigger on this build! The flexibility with converting spell slots to sorc points and casting spells with those sorc points is ridiculous. I have so many great options in combat among buffing, debuffing, control, and damage, and being able to quicken and do multiple at the same time, often every turn, is both awesome and extremely effective. Your spell selections were also right on point with how I've built this PC, and it was interesting to hear you struggle with many of the same decisions I've struggled with (I'm going straight sorcerer from now on to get to higher level spells, though the extra sorc points from more warlock levels is a huge temptation. I did take Incite Greed, since it's both effective and very flavorful). Another great spell option to switch in is Modify Memory. I'm taking Synaptic Static as a regular sorc spell so I can get Modify Memory with a psionic spell. I'm very excited about the opportunity to cast it with no verbal, somatic, or material components. No chance of a counterspell or any other person even knowing I did it. It just happens. It will be great fun, both in and out of combat!
Remember, you can not have more sorcery points than your maximum... so until you have used some of them, you are kinda unable to convert your spell slots
Wouldn't that also negate the ability to take the Metamagic Adept feat as well? It also gives you 2 additional points thus tipping you over your max for your level. Or would you just rule that the feat gives you the metamagic options but not the points?
@@davidsweet5094 Metamagic Adept explicitly states that it raises your sorcery point maximum by 2: "You gain 2 sorcery points to spend on Metamagic *(these points are added to any sorcery points you have from another source* but can be used only on Metamagic). You regain all spent sorcery points when you finish a long rest."
As a reminder, you can only have a number of sorcerer points equal to your level (+2 if you take metamagic adept) so you need to use the bonus action font of magic to turn spellslots into points as you use them. Not much difference, but bonus action heavy.
@@digitalbeing you are required to use sorcery points if you want the feature to do anything, you can cast using a spell slot like normal but it would require the vsm components as per usual
I was thinking this as well. I see so many sorcerer builds that say to convert your slots but don’t take into account that you can’t do that if you currently have the max listed by your level.
I’m all for this! This is awesome! Ten-tacular build! 😂 Loving it Colby! Edit: Sidenote, this is one of my favorite builds put out thus far. It checks all the boxes for me. Flavorful, effective, and it has other things it can do beyond the burst round.
If it were up to me I’d start with a variant human race, and 1st level Fighter which gives you the Constitution proficiency, and then with the variant human feat I would take half feat Resilient and put it into Charisma. This gives you the +1 ASI and proficiency in constitution saving throws, while also giving you proficiency with all armors. Later on I’d probably also take the Warcaster feat for more buff to your constitution and so that you can cast spell while your hands are full. This way you can use medium (or heavy armor) and shield for a 18-20 AC.
I would rather take Fey Touched instead of Resilient (Cha). I think getting free spells and free castings of them is much better then getting proficiency in a save that is almost never rolled
Hi Colby, so happy to have another video to listen to on my commute! If you see this I was hoping you'd give some consideration to making a Magical Manhandler character. Bigby's Hand does 4d8 on a bonus action and can have a ton of hitpoints too.. I'd love to see your take on it!
I love this, and I just started playing an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer in a Spelljammer campaign, so I'm highly interested in the picks and strategies you laid out. That said, I feel obligated to point out a few things: · You suggest getting Tasha's Hideous Laughter at level one (apparently) from the normal sorcerer list, but it isn't available there. · Your DM may or may not allow you to move between Eldritch Blasts. I believe that RAW the divided attack rule only applies to the Attack action. · You can't just turn a bunch of spell slots into sorcery points at the start of the day. The rule stipulates that you cannot have more SP at any time than the amount granted by your level in the Sorcerer class table. Still, great build and a fun video!
Mind Spike into Mind Whip has been one of my fave combos for a while. When i build INT casters (or Bards) i generally focus INT Saves on my enemies, cos "fun times". :D
I'm literally already playing this right now! I'm in a wonderful Strixhaven campaign and playing a human mark of making who was on a ship when it was attacked by some psionic being, all he saw was three red eyes looking back at him (I know it's an aboleth but my character doesn't) and now he has telekinesis and other spells and is at Strixhaven to hone his new magic and figure out what this creature is and what it wants
I'm in love with both the "Shadowthrone" shadowcaster and "Psion of Madness" insanity psychic magic user tropes, and these two respective sorceror builds have me slavering. Yes, each of my tentacles drip with the anticipation of decouring the emotional resonance stored within the synapses of the imaginations of all who have watched this video and beheld the grandeur of the Eldritch Truth. "Eyes on the inside" indeed...
Yeah, I like starting with a concept or something "silly". That's why I am so interested in a gun-wielding bladesinger - I like the idea of playing a "Gunsinger" 🙂
I know it may have been sub optimal, but I think flavor wise this would have been a good fit for a simic hybrid. Becoming more alien and otherworldly as you level up
If you dont like tentacles just reflavor them: - Pasta/noodles and have your patron be the flying spaghetti monster. - Go Plasmoid and tentacles become slimy/oozy tendrils. - Go with a colony of flumphs for less threatening tentacles.
One of the big strengths of the Aberrant Mind sorcerer (in my opinion anyhow) is the fact that you can swap any of spells you gain from the subclass with a divination or enchantment spell from the wizard and warlock spell lists.
Honestly, I think the true Eldritch horror Cthulhu warlock subclass would be a mix of great old one and fathomless warlock. The great fathomless warlock.
I like the idea of a Reborn Mind Flayer (probably switch out Fathomless for Undead) who therefore loses most of their Illithid powers being brought back to life for a mystery purpose (and also the weakness of getting too close to an Elder Brain and rejoining the hive mind, also doesn't have to feed either). This would let the player play a Mind Flayer witbout having to retcon why their powers don't dwarf their companions.
I love the aberrant mind sorcerer and illithid lore. They are all amazing, but I also have a love for lovecraftian horror monsters too. I will be using the tentacle buddy build if my current character meets an unfortunate end
At last I can make Dr. Voidberg to go with my party that includes a pizza delivery bard, female cyclopian monk, automaton cleric, and elderly wizard/artificer!!!
The other thing to keep in mind here would be to aim for the level 10 ability for Fathomless Warlock, if you decide to drop Fighter and or Sorc levels. This would give you 10 temp HP when casting Evard's Black Tentacle and also means you don't break concentration on damage too
Man.... I so look forward to these builds every week. I love the tone of your videos, and because I never actually get to play it gives me something to look forward to around it. Thank you for all the work you put into these.
“We are going to be a terror on the battlefield for our enemies AND OUR DM!” Absolutely!! Your DM will hate you! My Sorlock is very similar but Hexblade dip for the armour and shield early, but yeah, always Hexblade! 🤣
As an alternative race, I can see a slightly reflavored Dhampir, as surviving off of the essence of your victims is their whole shtick and goes fairly well with the Illithid vibe
I'm so stoked for this video. I just built a character based partially on your frost mage video but much more focused on the tentacle/control side of the fathomless warlock. Excited to see how I can blend these concepts
Maybe the Silvery Barbs Mob has finally realized that the resource and action economy cost of the spell balances out the effects that make it sem broken on the surface.
Colby: 1) we can't smell you so you're always good (at least as far as we are concerned). 2) that green D20 you are missing is behind you, under the chair for guests nearest the window. 3) synaptic snatic is one of my favorite spells. 4) WE LOVE YOU TOO!
You have no idea how ironic this is I made a strikingly similar build at around the same time as this, that was indeed a half Illithid half Githyanki. I used the "An Elf and an Orc Had A Little Baby" and its sequel by the same name, with a 2 on the end, homebrew materials from the Dungeon Master's Guild as these books allow you to create hybrids of most races and even a few monsters in 5e. That's besides the point I think C'thulu touched both of us and decided we would bring mind flayers into the world. The similarities between the builds and the fact that you said "Half Illithid half Githyanki" has me shocked! You had 2 options when it came to Gith and you happened to choose the exact same one as me.
Good timing! I’ve been working on an Aberrant Mind Kalashtar for an Eberron campaign and trying to figure out how to Incorporate some Psi Warrior for that Jedi flair 😅
I always love the long form content. I love listening to it all while doing my day to day stuff. Perfect build! I am excited to play this in my next one shot. As always, thanks for all you do for the community.
on Mind Sliver for debuffing saves - i like to combo that one with "Unsettling Words". tho if you wanted to also cast your own spell then you would need action surge. but that is -1d4 and -1d6 (later more) on a save, and you can still bring silvery barbs. But Bards dont get Mind Sliver (for some reason, seems very fitting for bards messing with other peoples minds) So you would need to multiclass with Sorcerer or Warlock (both good options)
Snake Eyes Shirt! That is the Kan Trigram, one of the 8 trigrams of the Book of Changes. In the martial art of Yin Style Baguazhang the Kan Trigram represents the Snake System; Zhǒu (Elbow) 探 5- Tàn (Shooting) 握 6- Wò (Gripping/ Binding) This character means to hold; grasp. 刁 7- Diāo (Clasping/ Entrapping) This character means to be tricky; artful; sly; 拿 8- Ná (Grasping) Now considering this build mechanically, I consider putting a Chinese Mythological spin on the build, incorporating elements of the Kan Trigram into the build. Fun Stuff, thanks!
I am playing an Illithid in Adventure League by a simple skinchanging of thri-kree calling the secondary arms Tenticles and the Cephalopoda color changing skin into the carapaces
The singing at the end was just epic Colby. I was driving when you started and in my head I was picturing your mind flayer character just busting out in song with tentacles dancing in the background like background dancers. And I have to say you need to hire an animator because I want that music video
This sounds like so much fun, I've always loved Mind Flayers, and will be considering this and the battlefield Medic build. You have a very soothing voice, planning on watching much more. Thank you for all you do!
if you are a githyanki custom lineage from MotM, you can get the Githyanki Psionics feature, which effectively gives you an invisible Mage Hand, Jump and Misty Step, although it doesn't grant you the benefit of telekinetically moving a creature or object against their will, probably into an AoE spell you are concentrating on! I might be tempted to take the Magic Initiate or Telepathic feats instead
For single targets you *could* take the Telekinetic feat. Though that is a 5 foot move resisted by strength and gives you an invisible hand as well. Though if you are playing Gith you might not get that much out of it.
very cool and reminiscent of the Divine Soul/Fathomless character I just started playing! Definitely excited to push some poor fools around the battlefield
sometimes you just have to collect some rations: human rations such as vegetables. dwarven rations, mushrooms and ale. gnome rations for the gnome in the party and also all the cow brains the butcher has...
this is really the way i like to optimize. like yeah, it's not the best raw numbers you can output, but you have so much additional control and a lot of flexibility and also THE FLAVOR THERE'S SO MUCH FLAVOR
I've always wanted to make a tentacle master character but I've only ever considered a straight Fathomless warlock build. You've totally opened my eyes to the possibilities and power with this multiclass and I really want to play it now!
There is nothing in oceanic soul that says you have to share a language for the communication to take place as long as you're both submerged completely underwater you can communicate with each other.
I was just gonna do 2 levels of Warlock but this has made me reconsider. Also, I'm with you on being tentacle averse. I'm gonna be taking inspiration from Critical Role's Imogen and reflavoring a lot of it to be like... Wind/Storm themed. Gonna use Djinni Warlock instead of Fathomless, but yeah, another banger build!
Awesome work. As an alternative background, you could lean in to the custom lineage and flavor this as some sort of kraken-spawn. The first four levels focus on developing your natural abilities before developing a deeper connection to your cultural elders. Like a deep sea version of a vision quest. “Go seek adulthood on the dry lands. Only then will you earn your place in our society “
Hmmm infected with a Mind Flayer tadpole you say... sounds like a perfect build for BG3!! (At least on a run where you choose to give in to the tadpole 😁)
I tend to gravitate a lot towards gish/martial characters (reason why my favorite build on the channel is the Eldritch Blademaster) and never really considered playing a full spellcaster but I'm absolutely in love with this one, just so potent, flavorful and fun. Great video as always, Colby!
Ive been wanting an aberrant mind build from Colby since i found the channel and i am not disappointed!! Love it! Thanks for the work you do and the ideas you inspire in me for characters!
I was really hoping it would have been a Aberrant Mind/GOOlock multiclass. Alas so close. But while I love doubling down on the aberration and psionic theme the mechanics are really pretty redundant. This is pretty cool, complementary without being redundant.
Unless there is a Schtick I want to achieve, When I make a character, I have a back story (Ealey life and why he/she want to go out and adventure). Then I look at my miniature collection to see what I want the character to look like. Then I work on a build.
Hey Colby! I know you like monk and I thought of a solid build with the Astral self. Short form: you have a wisdom ability of 20 by level five, me singing your attacks, defense, and stunning strike are absolutely incredible and by seventeenth level, your ac can be 22 baseline and making five strikes per turn with reach and stunning on all of them. I think you could make this really interesting.
Thanks, I feel like I missed an opportunity, now. My rogue got hit by a bunch of mindflayer tadpoles about 6 sessions back. Totally could have taken some abberant mind sorcerer levels after that!
Another way to play a mind flayer is the psychic dragonborn from fizban's, which gives you all the basics (mind blast AOE, levitation, psychic resistance, telepathy), and then doing any of the psychic themed subclasses. I would do enchantment wizard for the classic high-int-low-hp feel, but this is really a pyf situation.
I like how the music is so hard core, and then Colby comes in with a soft "Hi".
That radio voice needs a nerf. Lmao
i know right!!! The intro primes you to expect(and i say this as someone who loves metal and has hung out with metalheads for literally 2/3 of their entire life) some bushy-bearded, longhaired, tatted-up, gruff-voiced hardcore dude and instead you get this unfathomably wholesome, clean and proper father-figure with both a voice and a heart of gold. It's the biggest bait-and-switch on youtube lol
The feeling of going from head banging to being kindly welcomed into someone's home is very nice indeed lol
Yeah..
When did he switch back to the rock intro?
Colby is mathematical, good guy Homelander!
I played alongside an Aberrant Soul Sorcerer, and one of the most memorable moments was when he caught some badguys in those tentacles and then my Bard dropped Stinking Cloud on top of it. So, they couldn't see, they couldn't move, were restrained, and taking damage, and they had to pass a Saving Throw just to get a chance to attempt another Saving Throw to escape. From the outside, it was just an opaque ball of gas, slurping sounds, and screams... until the screams fell silent.
The entire party just kinda stood outside the ball, going, "Wow. That... sounds... horrifying..."
except, Tentacles of the Deep has no stats and is incapable of restraining. you are welcomed.
Interesting to note: this is the only Sorcerer that gets Tasha's Hideous Laughter. And you can twin it. Standout selection for control.
i love how the silvery barbs mob bit has been going on for so long, its so cute. i imagine colby at the dinner table with his family, and just going "oh yeah, can you swarm me again tomorrow? its for the youtube channel."
I like to imagine the "web" of this character flavored as tentacles bursting from the walls/floor to restrain and impede your enemies
I was thinking it was sprayed mucus from out tentacled maw.
@@grizzlednerd4521 my thoughts exactly!
I picture ectoplasmic ooze.
The Mind Flayer: d4 #109
Level 1:(see above) [sorcerer 1, sub-class & race]
Level 2:(see above) [sorcerer 2]
Level 3:(@20:20) [sorcerer 3 & metamagic]
Level 4:(@23:51) [sorcerer 4 & ASI]
Level 5:(@24:11) [warlock 1 & sub-class]
Level 6:(@28:04) [warlock 2 & eldritch invocations]
Level 7:(see above) [sorcerer 5]
Level 8:(@35:04) [sorcerer 6]
Level 9:(@37:39) [sorcerer 7]
Level 10:(see above) [sorcerer 8 & ASI]
Level 11:(@45:27) [sorcerer 9]
Level 12:(@47:57) [fighter 1 & fighting-style]
Level 13:(@49:12) [fighter 2]
Level 14:(see above) [warlock 3 & pact]
Level 15:(@54:28) [warlock 4 & ASI]
Level 16:(@54:58) [warlock 5 & eldritch invocation]
Level 17:(@56:08) [warlock 6]
I could see rolling this character up as a reborn and re-theming the tentacles as whips of hair, and then playing this as an adaptation of Kayako from The Grudge or Sadako from Ring.
I love long form content for work, I drive and stock, so I love seeing an hour long vid on Tuesdays, it’s a real treat
Oh man though… I could go without hearing my favorite RUclipsr say “tentacle fetish” so much 😂
Ditto. I have an hour to 90min drive home and I love putting on a d4 drive to keep my thoughts pleasant while dealing with the long deive.
- I vote the alternate build name should be "The Tentickler".
- You could say opponents of this player would be caught between tentacles and a sticky place.
- I very much considered how formidable a boss this would make.
- I'm not super big on horror in general, but cosmic horror is definitely my favorite subgenre.
Flavor is free: eldritch blasts flavored as tentacles lashing out and pushing enemies into the waiting tentacles you've conjured...
"He's smart." I love this little note. I mean, you're not wrong. I've learned a lot from Chris, especially his analysis of spells.
Love the builds around a concept! It's not always about building the most powerful character for me, rather it's about building the character that best fits the concept and is still strong in the assigned role. That's why your channel is so great. You come up with these awesome concepts and then also make them viable. Keep up the great work!
I 100% am planning on using this as a villain in my campaign and you called me out 😂
I knew it!
For the lore bit at 14 min, it is actually a established fact in the 3 main settings that mind flayers often take some personality quirks of what was the tadpoles host/incubator body AND, in case of FR, that strong enough ego's with just as strong innate magic (such as the vast majority of brainstealer dragons; which btw are NOT the elder brain dragon of 5e aka a elder brain implanted on the corpse of a dragon) can in fact flip the ceremorphosis process where the brain "consumes" the tadpole instead during the metamorphosis process, retaining their mind and personality with a more evil and brain hungry twist... and typically if the creature is strong enough, try to murder the elder brain responsible for the tadpoles and take over the illithids till everyone but said person starve out under threat of their nervous system getting exploded.
Was unfamiliar with brainstealer dragons, absolutely badass.
This was so good, Colby. I usually object to spellcaster builds, because I feel spells are too scarce/expendable a resource, but this mitigates that complaint just a tad. The focus on crowd control instead of just nova damage is very nice
It is easy to miss, but you pitched a really cool idea when you pointed out how a Mindflayer that broke off from its hive mind would have a lot in common with the Gith. That would be an interesting dynamic as the Mindflayer might want to befriend the Gith, but they'd be met with hatred by default. Cool character!
This is one of the things I love so much about Warlocks. Drop a strong control spell, fry brains, and throw people back into the control spell. You may not get the burst damage of a Paladin or spell slots of a Wizard, but the value you can get with just concentration and a single cantrip is insane.
For Skyrim fans, I can't help but imagine this character as being from Apocrypha, and your tentacle is one of the random tentacles that attack you while you walk around rummaging for books.
Hey! Brazilian huge fan here! I love your builds! And I can't figure why people watch your videos in 2x. You have a so smooth and cozy voice.
I know RPG a long time, but until 2020 never had a regular group to play with. So my favorite part of any system is to build characters, optimizing or just having fun with some unusual mechanic, thats why I enjoy your channel so much. Thank you!
I love the idea of adding 1 level of Order Cleric and you turn all these AoE spells (and Silvery Barbs) into attack granting with Careful Spell. They think the attacks are made of their own free will, but it was under your influence.
After Colby mentioned the Githyanki/Illithid lovechild, I had to turn my phone off and go outside to counteract that horror imagery with the visual beauty of nature.
😂😂
I took advice from The Shadow Sorcerer last night in a one-shot.
Started at lvl 10, so spell choice was rather liberal. I took Lightning Bolt and Mind Sliver to take advantage of Doggo’s save debuff, but I went a couple steps further.
Took Magic Initiate for Find Familiar, and took Summon Draconic Spirit to fully lean into the pet build. Take Wither and Bloom to keep the dragon alive, and Silvery Barbs to give your DM a hard time, and boom- you now play very similarly to a warlock in WoW.
I love building Characters so much, even though I am a forever dm and don't get to play often thanks Colby
I so loved how surprised (and in some cases, shocked) my fellow players were the first time my Bardlock summoned a 10 foot tentacle and started smacking our foes with it!
First, loving the return of the old intro music! Second, props to Randall Hampton for giving the mind flayer a unicorn-spiked psionic mohawk! Both of these really add to the vibe of this character concept. ^^
For an interesting 2nd level spell choice, consider Vortex Warp...which can be twinned. Sure it's a CON save, but with Mind Sliver, Silvery Barbs, and a really long range; it can grab a very distant ennemy and plop them in you CC...maybe just 60 feet though if you want to debuff resistance. Also, it can be used on friends for mobility and problem solving.
I got so excited watching this video Colby. You basically just built the character I'm currently playing! And oh, it's SO MUCH FUN!!! I took inspiration from your kobold sorcerer blaster video when I built him, but I was really excited by the aberrant mind features and bonus spells. I'm currently a lvl 11 kobold (MOM version) with 2 lvls in fighter, 2 in Hexblade (for Hexblade's Curse and Shield), 7 in aberrant mind. Taking metamagic adept early is huge for all sorcerers, but it's even bigger on this build! The flexibility with converting spell slots to sorc points and casting spells with those sorc points is ridiculous. I have so many great options in combat among buffing, debuffing, control, and damage, and being able to quicken and do multiple at the same time, often every turn, is both awesome and extremely effective.
Your spell selections were also right on point with how I've built this PC, and it was interesting to hear you struggle with many of the same decisions I've struggled with (I'm going straight sorcerer from now on to get to higher level spells, though the extra sorc points from more warlock levels is a huge temptation. I did take Incite Greed, since it's both effective and very flavorful). Another great spell option to switch in is Modify Memory. I'm taking Synaptic Static as a regular sorc spell so I can get Modify Memory with a psionic spell. I'm very excited about the opportunity to cast it with no verbal, somatic, or material components. No chance of a counterspell or any other person even knowing I did it. It just happens. It will be great fun, both in and out of combat!
Remember, you can not have more sorcery points than your maximum... so until you have used some of them, you are kinda unable to convert your spell slots
Wouldn't that also negate the ability to take the Metamagic Adept feat as well? It also gives you 2 additional points thus tipping you over your max for your level. Or would you just rule that the feat gives you the metamagic options but not the points?
@@davidsweet5094 Metamagic Adept explicitly states that it raises your sorcery point maximum by 2: "You gain 2 sorcery points to spend on Metamagic *(these points are added to any sorcery points you have from another source* but can be used only on Metamagic). You regain all spent sorcery points when you finish a long rest."
As a reminder, you can only have a number of sorcerer points equal to your level (+2 if you take metamagic adept) so you need to use the bonus action font of magic to turn spellslots into points as you use them. Not much difference, but bonus action heavy.
You can create more spell slots than just the ones you typically have since font of magic creates spell slots rather than refilling.
Psionic Sorcery feature of Aberrant Mind Sorceror does not require bonus action conversion.
@@digitalbeing you are required to use sorcery points if you want the feature to do anything, you can cast using a spell slot like normal but it would require the vsm components as per usual
I was thinking this as well. I see so many sorcerer builds that say to convert your slots but don’t take into account that you can’t do that if you currently have the max listed by your level.
I’m all for this! This is awesome! Ten-tacular build! 😂 Loving it Colby!
Edit: Sidenote, this is one of my favorite builds put out thus far. It checks all the boxes for me. Flavorful, effective, and it has other things it can do beyond the burst round.
If it were up to me I’d start with a variant human race, and 1st level Fighter which gives you the Constitution proficiency, and then with the variant human feat I would take half feat Resilient and put it into Charisma. This gives you the +1 ASI and proficiency in constitution saving throws, while also giving you proficiency with all armors.
Later on I’d probably also take the Warcaster feat for more buff to your constitution and so that you can cast spell while your hands are full. This way you can use medium (or heavy armor) and shield for a 18-20 AC.
I would rather take Fey Touched instead of Resilient (Cha). I think getting free spells and free castings of them is much better then getting proficiency in a save that is almost never rolled
I can’t believe you just put this out. I just last week made basically this exact character for a one shot next Tuesday. Get out of my abhorrent mind!
Hi Colby, so happy to have another video to listen to on my commute! If you see this I was hoping you'd give some consideration to making a Magical Manhandler character. Bigby's Hand does 4d8 on a bonus action and can have a ton of hitpoints too.. I'd love to see your take on it!
i would also love a handmancer
I love this, and I just started playing an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer in a Spelljammer campaign, so I'm highly interested in the picks and strategies you laid out.
That said, I feel obligated to point out a few things:
· You suggest getting Tasha's Hideous Laughter at level one (apparently) from the normal sorcerer list, but it isn't available there.
· Your DM may or may not allow you to move between Eldritch Blasts. I believe that RAW the divided attack rule only applies to the Attack action.
· You can't just turn a bunch of spell slots into sorcery points at the start of the day. The rule stipulates that you cannot have more SP at any time than the amount granted by your level in the Sorcerer class table.
Still, great build and a fun video!
Mind Spike into Mind Whip has been one of my fave combos for a while. When i build INT casters (or Bards) i generally focus INT Saves on my enemies, cos "fun times". :D
I'm literally already playing this right now! I'm in a wonderful Strixhaven campaign and playing a human mark of making who was on a ship when it was attacked by some psionic being, all he saw was three red eyes looking back at him (I know it's an aboleth but my character doesn't) and now he has telekinesis and other spells and is at Strixhaven to hone his new magic and figure out what this creature is and what it wants
"Say that five times fast." Dude, you had trouble saying it once! Lol.
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how proud and happy it makes me when people intend their puns! Thank you, friend!
I'm in love with both the "Shadowthrone" shadowcaster and "Psion of Madness" insanity psychic magic user tropes, and these two respective sorceror builds have me slavering. Yes, each of my tentacles drip with the anticipation of decouring the emotional resonance stored within the synapses of the imaginations of all who have watched this video and beheld the grandeur of the Eldritch Truth. "Eyes on the inside" indeed...
Yeah, I like starting with a concept or something "silly". That's why I am so interested in a gun-wielding bladesinger - I like the idea of playing a "Gunsinger" 🙂
Lmao colby has discover that every single character he did became a mini boss in my campains haha my favorite to use was the Battlefiled commander
I know it may have been sub optimal, but I think flavor wise this would have been a good fit for a simic hybrid. Becoming more alien and otherworldly as you level up
If you dont like tentacles just reflavor them:
- Pasta/noodles and have your patron be the flying spaghetti monster.
- Go Plasmoid and tentacles become slimy/oozy tendrils.
- Go with a colony of flumphs for less threatening tentacles.
I love the aberrant mind sorcerer. I love the combining of it and fathomless warlock. Very intriguing build.
One of the big strengths of the Aberrant Mind sorcerer (in my opinion anyhow) is the fact that you can swap any of spells you gain from the subclass with a divination or enchantment spell from the wizard and warlock spell lists.
Honestly, I think the true Eldritch horror Cthulhu warlock subclass would be a mix of great old one and fathomless warlock. The great fathomless warlock.
I like the idea of a Reborn Mind Flayer (probably switch out Fathomless for Undead) who therefore loses most of their Illithid powers being brought back to life for a mystery purpose (and also the weakness of getting too close to an Elder Brain and rejoining the hive mind, also doesn't have to feed either). This would let the player play a Mind Flayer witbout having to retcon why their powers don't dwarf their companions.
I love the aberrant mind sorcerer and illithid lore. They are all amazing, but I also have a love for lovecraftian horror monsters too. I will be using the tentacle buddy build if my current character meets an unfortunate end
At last I can make Dr. Voidberg to go with my party that includes a pizza delivery bard, female cyclopian monk, automaton cleric, and elderly wizard/artificer!!!
This is definitely my favorite build you have created. I want to play this. Thanks! 🤘
The other thing to keep in mind here would be to aim for the level 10 ability for Fathomless Warlock, if you decide to drop Fighter and or Sorc levels. This would give you 10 temp HP when casting Evard's Black Tentacle and also means you don't break concentration on damage too
Man.... I so look forward to these builds every week. I love the tone of your videos, and because I never actually get to play it gives me something to look forward to around it. Thank you for all the work you put into these.
“We are going to be a terror on the battlefield for our enemies AND OUR DM!”
Absolutely!! Your DM will hate you! My Sorlock is very similar but Hexblade dip for the armour and shield early, but yeah, always Hexblade! 🤣
As an alternative race, I can see a slightly reflavored Dhampir, as surviving off of the essence of your victims is their whole shtick and goes fairly well with the Illithid vibe
I love this concept. A campaign I ran a couple years back had mindflayers as the big baddies. They were so much fun to RP
I'm so stoked for this video. I just built a character based partially on your frost mage video but much more focused on the tentacle/control side of the fathomless warlock. Excited to see how I can blend these concepts
Maybe the Silvery Barbs Mob has finally realized that the resource and action economy cost of the spell balances out the effects that make it sem broken on the surface.
Colby:
1) we can't smell you so you're always good (at least as far as we are concerned).
2) that green D20 you are missing is behind you, under the chair for guests nearest the window.
3) synaptic snatic is one of my favorite spells.
4) WE LOVE YOU TOO!
You have no idea how ironic this is
I made a strikingly similar build at around the same time as this, that was indeed a half Illithid half Githyanki.
I used the "An Elf and an Orc Had A Little Baby" and its sequel by the same name, with a 2 on the end, homebrew materials from the Dungeon Master's Guild as these books allow you to create hybrids of most races and even a few monsters in 5e.
That's besides the point
I think C'thulu touched both of us and decided we would bring mind flayers into the world. The similarities between the builds and the fact that you said "Half Illithid half Githyanki" has me shocked!
You had 2 options when it came to Gith and you happened to choose the exact same one as me.
Good timing! I’ve been working on an Aberrant Mind Kalashtar for an Eberron campaign and trying to figure out how to Incorporate some Psi Warrior for that Jedi flair 😅
Great idea!
And as a mini boss goes, the fact that the party wizard or sorcerer can't countspell it just makes me happy
Tuesday is the best day of thé week 🥰
Every Tuesday, 11:45am. Refresh, refresh, refresh.
I always love the long form content. I love listening to it all while doing my day to day stuff.
Perfect build! I am excited to play this in my next one shot. As always, thanks for all you do for the community.
On going a bit more down the Sorc road. At 14th you get non-concentration flight at your walking speed for 1 sorcerer point and a BA for 10 minutes.
on Mind Sliver for debuffing saves - i like to combo that one with "Unsettling Words". tho if you wanted to also cast your own spell then you would need action surge.
but that is -1d4 and -1d6 (later more) on a save, and you can still bring silvery barbs.
But Bards dont get Mind Sliver (for some reason, seems very fitting for bards messing with other peoples minds)
So you would need to multiclass with Sorcerer or Warlock (both good options)
Snake Eyes Shirt! That is the Kan Trigram, one of the 8 trigrams of the Book of Changes. In the martial art of Yin Style Baguazhang the Kan Trigram represents the Snake System; Zhǒu (Elbow) 探 5- Tàn (Shooting) 握 6- Wò (Gripping/ Binding) This character means to hold; grasp. 刁 7- Diāo (Clasping/ Entrapping) This character means to be tricky; artful; sly; 拿 8- Ná (Grasping) Now considering this build mechanically, I consider putting a Chinese Mythological spin on the build, incorporating elements of the Kan Trigram into the build. Fun Stuff, thanks!
Build idea based on the end segment, Bob Marbs, mastery of silvery barbs. The build goal is to cast silvery barbs as many times as possible in a day
"I see DMs using this build as a boss or something"
- me a dm laughing hysterically
I love your builds focus. Done well and thematic
I am playing an Illithid in Adventure League by a simple skinchanging of thri-kree calling the secondary arms Tenticles and the Cephalopoda color changing skin into the carapaces
The singing at the end was just epic Colby. I was driving when you started and in my head I was picturing your mind flayer character just busting out in song with tentacles dancing in the background like background dancers. And I have to say you need to hire an animator because I want that music video
😂😂😂 - thanks! Ok, let's do it.
@@DnDDeepDive hell yeah Colby!
Love reading the captions. Also love those Elder chin vocations! :D
This sounds like so much fun, I've always loved Mind Flayers, and will be considering this and the battlefield Medic build. You have a very soothing voice, planning on watching much more.
Thank you for all you do!
I haven't thought of it before, but abberant soul + glamour bard could be sick.
if you are a githyanki custom lineage from MotM, you can get the Githyanki Psionics feature, which effectively gives you an invisible Mage Hand, Jump and Misty Step, although it doesn't grant you the benefit of telekinetically moving a creature or object against their will, probably into an AoE spell you are concentrating on! I might be tempted to take the Magic Initiate or Telepathic feats instead
For single targets you *could* take the Telekinetic feat. Though that is a 5 foot move resisted by strength and gives you an invisible hand as well. Though if you are playing Gith you might not get that much out of it.
very cool and reminiscent of the Divine Soul/Fathomless character I just started playing! Definitely excited to push some poor fools around the battlefield
This is almost 100% what I’ve been playing for the last few months. Super fun build.
never thought the silvery barbs mob would be that cute
I built a 10/10 split warlock sorcerer with this concept last night. Iam excited to see how it stacks up to yours.
sometimes you just have to collect some rations: human rations such as vegetables. dwarven rations, mushrooms and ale. gnome rations for the gnome in the party and also all the cow brains the butcher has...
I’ve been trying to build a control mage for so long and this FINALLY gave me a great blueprint. Thanks as always for the awesome content!
this is really the way i like to optimize. like yeah, it's not the best raw numbers you can output, but you have so much additional control and a lot of flexibility and also THE FLAVOR THERE'S SO MUCH FLAVOR
I've always wanted to make a tentacle master character but I've only ever considered a straight Fathomless warlock build. You've totally opened my eyes to the possibilities and power with this multiclass and I really want to play it now!
Colby: Keep it respectable in the comments please.
Me: Giggles like child.
There is nothing in oceanic soul that says you have to share a language for the communication to take place as long as you're both submerged completely underwater you can communicate with each other.
I was just gonna do 2 levels of Warlock but this has made me reconsider. Also, I'm with you on being tentacle averse. I'm gonna be taking inspiration from Critical Role's Imogen and reflavoring a lot of it to be like... Wind/Storm themed. Gonna use Djinni Warlock instead of Fathomless, but yeah, another banger build!
Awesome work. As an alternative background, you could lean in to the custom lineage and flavor this as some sort of kraken-spawn. The first four levels focus on developing your natural abilities before developing a deeper connection to your cultural elders. Like a deep sea version of a vision quest. “Go seek adulthood on the dry lands. Only then will you earn your place in our society “
Oh... my table is going to think I'm really werid when I bring this to the table XD
Hmmm infected with a Mind Flayer tadpole you say... sounds like a perfect build for BG3!!
(At least on a run where you choose to give in to the tadpole 😁)
On this, the day that I have Covid, I really needed this. Thank you, Colby, for supplying what I needed to survive the day
Get better soon!
I tend to gravitate a lot towards gish/martial characters (reason why my favorite build on the channel is the Eldritch Blademaster) and never really considered playing a full spellcaster but I'm absolutely in love with this one, just so potent, flavorful and fun. Great video as always, Colby!
Ive been wanting an aberrant mind build from Colby since i found the channel and i am not disappointed!! Love it! Thanks for the work you do and the ideas you inspire in me for characters!
Pathfinder curious huh? As a 2e enthusiast myself, I would love to see what you do with the system. I can't recommend the system enough!
I was really hoping it would have been a Aberrant Mind/GOOlock multiclass. Alas so close. But while I love doubling down on the aberration and psionic theme the mechanics are really pretty redundant. This is pretty cool, complementary without being redundant.
Unless there is a Schtick I want to achieve, When I make a character, I have a back story (Ealey life and why he/she want to go out and adventure). Then I look at my miniature collection to see what I want the character to look like. Then I work on a build.
Hey Colby! I know you like monk and I thought of a solid build with the Astral self. Short form: you have a wisdom ability of 20 by level five, me singing your attacks, defense, and stunning strike are absolutely incredible and by seventeenth level, your ac can be 22 baseline and making five strikes per turn with reach and stunning on all of them. I think you could make this really interesting.
When you need a bbeg and colby delivers a fantastic idea.. thx pal, my players will thank you
Sorry players! 😂
Thanks, I feel like I missed an opportunity, now. My rogue got hit by a bunch of mindflayer tadpoles about 6 sessions back. Totally could have taken some abberant mind sorcerer levels after that!
the card for treantmonk: he smart LMAO I love this ; )
Another way to play a mind flayer is the psychic dragonborn from fizban's, which gives you all the basics (mind blast AOE, levitation, psychic resistance, telepathy), and then doing any of the psychic themed subclasses. I would do enchantment wizard for the classic high-int-low-hp feel, but this is really a pyf situation.