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Intellect Devourers have Detect Sentience, which lets them psychically know where someone is through walls. They have Multiattack for Claws and Devour Intellect. The latter requires sight, and their sight is blindsight, which can't see around full cover.

Therefore, Meld Into Stone should prevent them from using this ability even though they will psychically know where you are.

Meld into stone shouldn't protect against Body Thief, assuming you are somehow incapacitated while in Meld Into Stone. Body Thief doesn't require sight.

I assume this is like how magical darkness protects against spells that require sight but people still know where you are unless you take the Hide action.

So the Intellect Devourers could mass up outside of a Meld Into Stone, but unable to attack until you leave unless you are incapacitated.

Does this all sound correct?

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    \$\begingroup\$ What game are you playing? \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Nov 26, 2022 at 11:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ My best guess is that it is D&D 5e though I do not wish to edit the game tag based on assumptions so I am going to be voting to close this until OP adds the tag of the game they are playing. Also I would recommend adding hyperlinks to monsters as a way to improve the question. \$\endgroup\$
    – Maiko Chikyu
    Commented Nov 26, 2022 at 12:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MaikoChikyu Everything in the question is consistent with 5e terms, but none of them jump out to me as being uniquely 5e terms, so it could be another edition for all I know. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Markov
    Commented Nov 26, 2022 at 13:08
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    \$\begingroup\$ This post refers to an ability called "Detect Sentience". I do not see that abililty on the Intellect Devourer in D&D 1e/2e, D&D 3e, 3.5e, 4e, or Pathfinder or Pathfinder 2e. I think it is safe to tag this dnd-5e, and have done so for you. Please roll back and provide edition information in case this is incorrect. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nobody the Hobgoblin
    Commented Nov 26, 2022 at 13:45

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This answer is for

Meld into Stone does not block Body Thief

The Intellect Devourer's Body Thief ability states:

The intellect devourer initiates an Intelligence contest with an incapacitated humanoid within 5 feet of it. If it wins the contest, the intellect devourer magically consumes the target's brain, teleports into the target's skull, and takes control of the target's body.

There is nothing in there about the devourer needing to see the target, or needing line of effect. Teleportation effects also typcially do not require line of effect. So all that is required is that the devourer is within 5 feet of the target, and the target is humanoid and incapacitated.

Meld into Stone does not give detail on how far into the stone the body is melded, it merely states that you are melding yourself and all the equipment you carry with the stone for the duration, and that You can use your movement to leave the stone where you entered it, which suggests that the melded character for purposes of measuring distances or movement is adjacent to the space where they entered the stone, and would be within 5 feet of the devourer, if the devourer would occupy a space right next to the stone.

However, Meld Into Stone does not incapacitate the caster. It does not say so, and it explicitly says that the caster can cast spells on themselves, which they could not if incapacitated. So it would require some pretty unusual circumstances for the caster to be incapacitated while melded in stone, and when they are not incapacitated, there is little the Intellect Devourer can do to harm them.

Attacking the stone

Well, they could try attacking the stone with their claws: in 5e, stone by default rules has no hardness, only AC and hp (see p. 246 DMG for more details); it would be up to the DM to rule the claws of the devourer are ineffective against it. If they do not rule so, the devourers will eventually damage the stone enough to harm the caster -- the spell says that "Minor physical damage to the stone doesn't harm you, but its partial destruction or a change in its shape (to the extent that you no longer fit within it) expels you and deals 6d6 bludgeoning damage to you."

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