Overmind (3.5e Monster)



''After fighting through so many mindless hordes of assimilated people, you finally come upon the source, and it is horrible to behold. It is little more than a malformed mass of gray matter in the vague shape of some bloated insect, covered in a translucent brown covering too runny to be called skin, too thick to be all mucus. Eight black eyes stare at you without emotion, and a single massive talon extends what can only be assumed to be a mouth, dripping with poison. And somehow you knew... it was expecting you.''

Mysterious controllers of those afflicted by the Assimilated template, these alien beasts act as psychic hubs of the hiveminds that bind them, and through it only they have the power to control them. It is not known if they are alien overlords, magical mutations, or worse, but it is known that unlike their minions they have free will and a cold, calculating, and utterly heartless soul, moving their troops in unfathomable Xanatos gambits for unscrupilous purposes.

Rarely are overminds seen, not when they are always attended by loyal minions ridden by parasites. It is from their body parasites are born, birthed from cancerous pseudo-skin that surrounds their massive neural networks.

Combat
An overmind is never surprised, for if there is to be combat you can be sure that an overmind has already prepared for it, knows who will attack him, when, where, and how, what their weaknesses are, what their strengths may be, and already have a counter or escape on hand. Speaking only through telepathy, they taunt their opponents, allowing waves after waves of minions to wear them down before striking out with spell-like abilities, dominating the opposition, and assimilating them. They almost never use their talons, but when they do the poison saps away at their foes' mental stability in preperation for domination.

Assimilate (Ex): As a touch attack at will, an overmind can release parasites which attempt to enter the target. The victim takes 1d10 damage and must make a DC 21 Fortitude save or become dominated as dominate monster spell. The duration is only 20 rounds, after which they must make a DC 21 Will save or fall victim to the corruption, gaining the Assimilated template. The infestation is mundane, but the dominating effect is a mind-affecting effect and may be prevented with appropriate spells. The save is Charisma based.

Poison Sting (Ex): The injury poison deals 1d3 Wis/1d3 Wis damage, with a DC 27 Fortitude save to negate.

Spell-like Abilities (Sp): At will- charm person, comprehend languages, Daze, detect magic, dimension door, obscuring mist, silent image; 3/day- cloudkill, contagion, dispel magic, hypnotic pattern, major image, true seeing; 1/day-dream, fear, feeblemind, haste, mind fog, nightmare, phantasmal killer. The save DCs are Intelligence based.

Hive Knowledge (Su): Access to a multitude of minds grants the overmind a sort of bardic lore skill. It may make any Knowledge check, using 1d20 + HD + its Int modifier to determine the result.

Hivemind Master (Su): When an assimilated creature is within range of an overmind, it can control its actions indirectly, directly, or even use it as a scrying point. An overmind can control up to 10 HD of creatures per HD the overmind possesses (200 HD of creatures at 20 HD), giving them empathic orders up to a range of 1 mile per HD (20 miles at 20 HD). The commanded creatures follow their orders to the best of their ability, until out of range of the overmind at which point they seem to forget their purpose. As a full-round action taken on part of both the overmind and target, an overmind may attempt to assume direct control of an assimilated creature. Doing so causes the creature's eyes and mouth to blaze with unholy light. The creature gains the special qualities of the overmind, and its mental ability scores, but retains all other abilities of the original creature. An overmind may exist in this state for as long as it likes, until it ends it or switches to a new body (both of them full round actions). While inhabiting another body, the overmind's body is in a trance and helpless, so it usually uses this function when its body is in a safe location. At the distance it may perform this, it is very safe indeed. It often performs this ability to directly spy on or taunt its opponents.

If an overmind attempts to take control over an assimilated creature already dominated by another overmind, it may do so with an opposed Charisma check. Of course, overminds hate competition and would likely kill each other if another came into its territory.