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Brain Collector

The grotesque brain collectors (or neh-thalggus, as they call themselves) originate from worlds far beyond the known solar system, and are part of a conglomeration of hostile aliens known collectively as the Dominion of the Black. Whether driven by their own schemes or directives from sinister overlords, brain collectors arrive in living starships to harvest the brains of intelligent creatures. These aberrations draw no nutrition from brains, instead storing them for analysis and as vessels for occult magical energies.

A brain collector’s form evokes that of a tailless scorpion, but the pulsing brain-filled blisters that glisten along its back make them impossible to mistake for merely oversized arachnids. Baleful eyes glare from the joints on their legs, and the unsettling, intrusive whisper-thoughts they telepathically broadcast into the minds of those they seek to feed on can be interpreted as threats or promises alike.

Brain collectors have very little empathy for the denizens of any world they visit, despite the fact that certain cults venerate them, or the Dominion they hail from, as if they were gods. To brain collectors, terrestrial creatures are simply resources for their magical needs and occult powers. They have little interest in worshipping gods or being worshipped themselves, yet they do practice strange forms of religion of their own, in which they consider the primordial forces of deep space as worthy of faith and fear.

Recall Knowledge - Aberration (Occultism): DC 26

Brain CollectorCreature 8

UncommonCELargeAberration
Source Bestiary pg. 46
Perception +18; darkvision
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Draconic, Protean, Undercommon; telepathy 100 feet
Skills Acrobatics +17, Arcana +18, Athletics +16, Lore +18 (all subcategories), Occultism +21, Stealth +17
Str +6, Dex +3, Con +5, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +3
AC 26; Fort +15, Ref +13, Will +18; +1 status to all saves vs. magic
HP 140; Immunities confused; Weaknesses brain loss
Brain Blisters A brain collector has seven brain blisters on its back that it uses to house stolen brains. A brain collector without all seven blisters full is stupefied with a value equal to the number of empty blisters.
Brain Loss If a brain collector takes 30 damage from a critical hit or takes 25 mental damage, it must succeed at a DC 26 save (Fortitude for critical damage or Will for mental damage) or one of its brain blisters is destroyed.
Speed 25 feet, fly 30 feet
Melee Single ActionSingle Action jaws +20 [+15/+10], Damage 2d12+6 piercing plus brain collector venom Melee Single ActionSingle Action claw +20 [+16/+12] (agile), Damage 2d8+6 slashingOccult Spontaneous Spells DC 26, attack +18; 4th confusion, phantasmal killer (2 slots); 3rd dispel magic, haste, paralyze (3 slots); 2nd humanoid form, invisibility, mirror image, paranoia (4 slots); 1st mindlink, ray of enfeeblement, true strike, unseen servant (4 slots); Cantrips (4th) dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
Brain Collector Venom (poison) Saving Throw DC 26 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 6 rounds; Stage 1 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round); Stage 2 1d6 poison damage, enfeebled 1, and slowed 1 (1 round); Stage 3 2d6 poison damage, enfeebled 2, and slowed 1 (1 round)Collect Brain Single ActionSingle Action (manipulate) The brain collector collects a brain of a creature that has been dead for no more than 1 minute. It can then use an Interact action to secure the brain in one of its empty brain blisters

Sidebar - Additional Lore Dominion of the Black

Brain collectors typically hunt alone, yet some adopt morbid cults that include followers who hope to have their own brains harvested by these alien invaders. The Dominion of the Black includes a wide array of monstrous aliens, of which the brain collectors are merely the most commonly encountered on terrestrial worlds. Many of these aliens have affinities for stealing thoughts, inhabiting bodies, or feeding on memories—the focus on the consumption of brains and of identities suggesting disturbing truths about their coalition.