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Does anyone know which adventures have Illithids? I am looking for a tier two adventure or one for levels 7-9 in other editions.

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    \$\begingroup\$ @Akixkisu Both ask for adventures that have a certain feature, here, Mind Flayers, there Sun Blade. To me this sounds like exactly the same question, just exchanging what the thing is you are looking for. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 8, 2022 at 11:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, this seems to be a bounded list question, with some pretty specific criteria. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 8, 2022 at 11:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ I am looking for adventures that primarily focus on Illithid as a faction, major plot part, side quest etc. I just want to run a fun game with Illithids and a sun blade, but this site does not seem to be welcoming to asking questions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Homunculus
    Oct 9, 2022 at 5:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ On the side of the "Related" is an open quest, "Which published D&D adventures take place in the Astral Sea/Plane?" How is that a different open-ended question with 12 likes and I have 4 negatives?? Another one is "Are there any published adventures located in Geb" which is opened-ended as well, with +7 likes. Just asking a general question about a place. Mine is just asking a general question about a creature. How are these different? \$\endgroup\$
    – Homunculus
    Oct 9, 2022 at 5:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Homunculus While you are welcome to use title case for your questions if you wish, we do not follow APA guidelines here. Nor do we acknowledge APA per se as arbiters of “proper” English—just as you are welcome to have title case if you want, someone else is allowed to not have it if they wish, and it would be improper for you to change it. In this case, Groody probably should not have edited it, but let’s assume a little good faith here and not jump to accusations of bullying—there is a valid case to be made that title case here makes the top question mildly ambiguous. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Oct 10, 2022 at 1:51

2 Answers 2

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"Adventure Lookup" lists 25 modules containing illithids, although a number of them are re-releases of the classic first edition GDQ series.

In G3 (first edition, Hall of the Fire Giant King) there was a chamber on the third level (cave level, more like a 'dungeon' then part of the Hall proper) with a group of illithids who are there observing the drow - they have little affect on the plot or story arc. This encounter is then repeated in G1-3 (first edition), GDQ1-7 (first edition), Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff (second edition) and Against the Giants (fifth edition, as contained in Tales of the Yawning Portal).

In D3 (first edition, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, there is a second illithid observation point. This one is more significant, as one of only three planned encounters for the module. The illithids have wererat minions , a drow prisoner, and substantial treasure. This encounter is reprinted in GDQ1-7 (first edition).

S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks features a single illithid as the BBEG for the adventure on the deepest level of a crashed spaceship. If you are looking for spelljammer connections this module has many tie-ins, but the illithid itself is not particularly well-developed. I keep a campaign journal of one of my games, so if you are interested in how that adventure could play out you might have a look. It is pretty true to the first edition original but adapted for fifth edition rules; the module starts in Post 157.

I do not have first hand experience with any of the other modules listed, but many of them appear to have illithids as much more central elements rather than one-off encounters.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I have never heard of this "adventure lookup". Really neat, thank you. \$\endgroup\$
    – Homunculus
    Oct 9, 2022 at 5:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also, instead of bickering about how nuanced I phrased a question for the exact way one mod would read it, instead of using basic reasoning to help out, this is exactly the advice I was looking for. Does this site exist to pick on how people ask questions or help GMs? This is way more bullying than helpping. What are the "correct ways" to ask questions with the "correct language" that you exactly want, mods? Should I get a template on how to ask questions for your exact reading? \$\endgroup\$
    – Homunculus
    Oct 9, 2022 at 5:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ That campaign journal is quite engrossing. I think it would have been quite something to be a fly on the wall at these sessions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tom
    Oct 9, 2022 at 19:19
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Homunculus As with any collaborative content editing platform, there is some back and forth on what content to allow and what not to. Unfortunately, there are some very active editors here who are very focused on gatekeeping, in my opinion to the detriment of the site itself. It sometimes seems more important to them to punish a newcomer for not dotting all i's and crossing all t's than it is to help them find the best phrasing and welcoming them to the site. Charitably, I'd call it "editorial fatigue" from having dealt with countless newbies prior. \$\endgroup\$
    – From
    Oct 9, 2022 at 20:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Tom Thanks. The game is ongoing, and I try to post updates once a week on Sunday. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Oct 9, 2022 at 22:42
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Waterdeep Dragon Heist for 5e

The hard part for your request is the tier of play. Mind flayers are pretty nasty, so adventures that sport them as an entire faction tend to be higher level. For example Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, has an entire level dedicated to them, but it is for character level 14, well beyond your tier 2 or level 7-9 target.

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist does have a prominent Mind Flayer in one of its factions. The recommended range just barely touches tier 2 towards the end, but as the villain lair for this faction sports Xanathar himself as a possible opponent, it should not be an issue to play this adventure with a higher level group. We ran a heist mission against Xanathar's operation with 7th level characters, had a blast of fun doing it, and barely made it out alive. And that mind flayer with his kaggle of Intellect Devourers was a scary, scary opponent, that nearly killed two of our characters, and made our escape very difficult.

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    \$\begingroup\$ A "blast" of fun. I see what you did there. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Nov 3, 2022 at 16:42

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