Description
(From Fizban's Treasury of Dragons - 2023):
One of the few consolations available to those who must contend with a mind flayer colony is the limit of its reach, which spreads only as far as the influence of the colony’s elder brain. But this small solace withers away when a colony manages to capture a dragon. Teams of mind flayers bind the dragon, which is subject to a gruesome transformation as the elder brain latches onto the dragon’s back and digs its tentacles into the dragon’s brain. An elder brain dragon is the nightmarish result.
Using the mobility of the dragon’s body, the elder brain can now serve as a powerful general to illithid armies, free from the confines of its brine pool. The elder brain dragon becomes a psychic threat in addition to a physical one, its body rife with aberrant influence and pulsing with psionic power. Even the elder brain dragon’s breath weapon mutates during its transformation, becoming a stream of briny liquid roiling with illithid tadpoles. These tadpoles can swiftly slay victims and transform them into mind flayers, allowing the elder brain dragon to grow its own roving colony.
Alternate Versions
Size
Hero Forge: 3' (8') (XL)
Lore: Gargantuan
Suggested: Gargantuan
Other Monikers
None
Abilities
- Brine breath inflicts psychic damage and infests victims with tadpoles, causing more damage over time and eventual mind flayer transformation
- Bite, claw, and grappling tentacle attacks
- Shatters concentration on grappled targets and inflicts psychic damage
- Legendary Resistance
- Legendary Actions
- Siege Monster
- Immune to psychic, charmed, frightened
- Requires no air or sleep
- Blindsight
- Telepathy up to 5 miles
Appearance
Teams of mind flayers bind the dragon, which is subject to a gruesome transformation as the elder brain latches onto the dragon’s back and digs its tentacles into the dragon’s brain. An elder brain dragon is the nightmarish result.
Sources
