Aboleths. Least loved core aberration? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Aboleths. Least loved core aberration? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Xaxor
05-09-07, 07:48 PM There's an odd thing I notice a few days ago. The Aboleth is the in SRD, while the Mind Flayer and Beholder are not. Do Aboleths suck that much? :P

It's still a serious question. Is it not iconic enough? They've been around since 1981 (from Dwellers in the Forbidden City (which also introduced the Yuan-Ti, which are not in the SRD.)) Just plain weird.
Dead_Weasel
05-09-07, 07:57 PM SRD FAQ (http://www.d20srd.org/faq.htm) question #2.
SRD Legal Info (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/legal.html) OGL items.
Whichever SRD you use, the critters that are not there, are not supposed to be, for legal reasons.
Apparently, they are not iconic enough.
Xaxor
05-09-07, 08:43 PM Dude, I get that. I'm more wondering why they aren't considered product identity. I'm just waiting for a good reason. Even if it's completely made up. ;)
Return of the Flumph
05-09-07, 09:51 PM I like aboleths.
preacher of nothing
05-10-07, 04:18 AM I'm not a huge Aboleth buff myself but off the top of my head I can say that their picture in the MM (since 3.0) has been one of a large disgusting fish, their two single Ex abilities are called "slime" and "Mucus Cloud" so that's not really gonna appeal to that many people, and they pretty much make the average player think of a big fish with some psionics whose only goal in life is to eat stuff.

I think this common misperception was changed with the apparition of LoM (Lords of Madness) but I have only recently gotten it myself so I haven't had a chance to check it out (work, college, etc.).

Most other "psionic chaotic critters" like yuan-ti, mind flayers and such have a well organized and well layed out (since the user-friendliness is all that matters) society and hierarchy and being used in many modules as well as DnD novels and books doesn't hurt their PR either.

Hell, I think even the damn Hook Horrors have gotten more publicity than Aboleths :P
Return of the Flumph
05-10-07, 04:34 AM Read the chapter on them in LOM. I guarantee, you will be using them in a campaign after that.
Rerecros
05-10-07, 04:35 AM That's an odd list. I get some of them, but carrion crawlers?
kuo-toa: frog men
slaad: also frog men
yuan-ti: snake men
yes, very original :rolleyes:

And they practically ripped of mind flayers from HPL's the old ones.

I'm surprised Aboleths aren't on here, I can actually see how they are an original creation.
Return of the Flumph
05-10-07, 04:37 AM The aboleth are actually more Lovecraftian than the illithids. The mind flayers might look all cthulhuish, but their personality and atmosphere is much more of a "modern scifi TV horror" theme than "1930's pulp horror" like the aboleth.
preacher of nothing
05-10-07, 04:41 AM Read the chapter on them in LOM. I guarantee, you will be using them in a campaign after that.

I will, just have too many things to be done at this time to focus on that ;)
Ebonyte
05-10-07, 07:21 AM I've been a big fan of Aboleths. Slavery, mutation, aquatic settings... that's good stuff to twist an otherwise ordinary game into something special. I had a game that went totally aquatic when an aboleth slimed the only human in the party, and she was the only one able to trade in the racist human city they were trapped in. So they had to go underwater into the nearby bay to seek out mer alchemists to cure her. Lotta fun, and I owe all that to an aboleth.
Evil DM Mk3
05-10-07, 08:07 AM Funnest item to introduce to a game? Aboleth mind well, an artifact I made that basicly lets you tap into the memory of the aboleth who made it. Insanity is almost garanteed but almost any question could be answered.

They spent the whole champain after finding it nicking it off each other.
Naderion
05-10-07, 08:48 AM That's an odd list. I get some of them, but carrion crawlers?
kuo-toa: frog men
slaad: also frog men
yuan-ti: snake men
Kuo-toas aren't even original creations. They are simple copies of Lovecrafts Deep Ones, completely with their own Demon Lord Dagon.

And yes, I thought Aboleths to be completely useless which changed somewhere around the time I read LoM. :D
LivingShadow
05-10-07, 02:48 PM Also being aquatic makes use of Aboleths somewhat restricted to near underground water, oceans, and lakes. Thus they wouldn't have as much control over civilization as any of the other aberrations would.

Personally I don't use them because I dislike underwater battles. My brain works best in 2D but can handle flight, but the physics change for being underwater is a pain for me to use so I don't do it often.

Maybe I'll use one of the flying variants of the aboleth.
EvilPheemy
05-10-07, 02:58 PM I, for one am thrilled the Aboleth is in the SRD. They're one of my favorite monsters. I've ported them over to Sci-Fi campaigns, Cthulhu games, Superhero campaigns, Pulps...

They're better than Illithids as a "psionic slaver race" *because* they're so ancient and alien. Aboleth don't just eat your brain, they slice it into paper-thin sheets and build massive bio-technological computers with it. They don't just enslave your people, they mutate them into semi-aquatic labor species.

What's not to love?
JulesCARV
05-10-07, 03:23 PM So i herd u liek aboleths.

I don't really view being in the SRD as way of indicating lameness or unpopularity, exactly. A variety of quite popular, iconic monsters are in the SRD: liches, dragons, balors, pit fiends, rakshasas, ogre magi and, most terrifyingly of all, gnomes.

I don't really know exactly what the logic is of what is considered product identity and what isn't. In some cases, it's fairly obvious, but in other cases, it's a bit weird. I guess aboleths seem like a plausible candidate for product identity, but I guess WotC concluded that they weren't. Which is, ultimately, a good thing for most of us.
EvilPheemy
05-10-07, 04:38 PM Well, inclusion in the SRD doesn't really affect anyone other than publishers (or those with dreams of publishing).
Naderion
05-10-07, 05:17 PM I'm not that sure about it. When I want to create a new original setting and write adventures for it (I do) and want to make them downloadable for free, using anything from D&D would be a copyright violation in the strict definition, except for those things that were fortunately placed into the SRD.
I doubt they would really care about that but in theory one could be sued for it, what I am not really that anxious for. Which is sad, because I love Carrion Crawlers... :(
Now I made my own Deep One-Copies and Snakes with arms (they can't claim these general concepts as their own property), but I think Ilithids, Beholders and Grell are just too unique to make anyone belive any original creatures are not direct copies of those owned by Wizards. :D

Currently I'm not actually playing PnP but creating a D&D-Mod for PC, with underwater fighting completey out of choice and no chance of actually getting a good looking abloeth-model into the game. But I think I'll still use them because to cause troubles, they don't even have to appear in person.
Fighting Aboleths is not like holding a knife between the teeth and jumping into the water. They are not the white shark, but extermly old, almost all-knowing psionically mind-slavers and they schemes take years or centuries to develop. It's not really neseccary to meet them face to face to have them as the villians in a campaign (though it is clearly quite cool to fight a slave overseer from time to time :D)
TheAngryFish
05-10-07, 05:36 PM Slime, or Eat Brains. Both of them are cool, but I think there's something about the instant kill is more appealing to me.
Venenum
05-10-07, 07:09 PM But iz means u can haves a mind flayer ilithed, with the half illithed template.

[ end leet ]

But aboloths are cooler than mind flayers, the fish that looks gross, is gross, yet totally creepy, makes the perfect villian, along with the alien mind set( as an all knowing creature should)

Mind flayers are a lot like martions overgrown squids, and over used.
Return of the Flumph
05-10-07, 08:44 PM Best aboleth I ran was a spy who was gathering information about the humans. To do so, he had swam into the sewers (think It) and created a small army of skum to expand the lower sewer areas to make a little palace for him. People in the city above were reporting sightings of slimy, dripping humanoids with mouths and teeth that cover their entire heads (how I describe skum) appearing in their basements and dissapearing moments later, and some people had bizarre nightmares or went insane as the aboleth telepathically probed their minds from below. The officers of the city watch in charge of the area were Enslaved, of course.

Good times.
grandinquisitorkris
05-11-07, 03:23 AM the problem is that they are kinda restricted to staying in the water . if i recall they had a slow land speed , but for the most part they are to restricted . i would love to see a d&dminis fig for it because i would love to play it , and have it for a campaign , but in reality there just arent that many games that are so tied to the water . even a campain that is set on the water is kinda restricted . in the savage tide the encounter on the sargasso float , would have been perfect for an aboleth and scum in place of the plant monster . but most campaigns set on the water as savage tide is call for more adventures on land and farther in than the aboleths are really practical for . its the same reason more campaigns dont revolve around dragon turtles and krackens ; they are better for encounters than for a long running campaign and reoccuring villan . :(

even as cool as aboleths are , they just arent as versital as most other races to be inserted into a campaign anywhere as a big baddy .
AffableDoomwalker
05-11-07, 04:09 AM I've only ever seen an Aboleth appear in one D&D product: that encounter with the one in Baldur's Gate 2. The encounter wasn't very interesting or entertaining, but still, you get to meet one, which is kinda cool.
dfarnsworth
05-11-07, 09:08 AM Whose ever seen C.H.U.D.?

I think of them when I describe Skum or other horrors.

I ran a campaign that involved an ancient aboleth ruin unearthed when a mudslide came down on a village in a "valley" just a short distance from the sea. A few aboleth's still survived in underground lakes that were beginning to deepen due to torrential rains. Kind of Shadows over Innsmouth meets Dagons Bell.
elondir
05-11-07, 09:50 AM I've only ever seen an Aboleth appear in one D&D product: that encounter with the one in Baldur's Gate 2. The encounter wasn't very interesting or entertaining, but still, you get to meet one, which is kinda cool.

I remember that one. Yeah it wasn't that memorable; I wanted to hack it to pieces.

It's kind of funny because as soon as it threatened to reveal my identity to the drow I went ahead and wiped out every last hostile being in the city (the advantage of going through all the side quests including most of Watcher's Keep before leaving Amn). Yeah I know I probably missed some stuff but I had gone through that chapter before and just wanted to get back to the surface. I forget whether I saved the eggs or not.
Werral
05-11-07, 02:02 PM Ever seen Dune? You could have an Aboleth ambassador in a huge glasssteel tank wheeled in to meet the king by psion eunuch slaves. It makes it's demands then wheels out.

By the time this happens the aboleths have already created a situation such that the king capitulates to their demands.

Oh yeah and the tank is a huge decanter of endless water (so it produces serious gallons) the PC's break it and they flood the castle.
Xaxor
05-11-07, 02:39 PM Now that is a great idea Werral.
FatMonkey13
05-12-07, 08:37 PM Funny The Aboleth in BGII:ToB was an ambassador in a huge tank.
Monsco
05-13-07, 02:05 AM Ha Ha Ha... Aboleths

You know, I used to think Aboleths were useless too, but then I read LOM, and boy, now they are my second favorate abberation.

Do you care? I think not.

Anyway, Aboleths, dispite mostly being trapped underwater, can still be used nicely. For example, A fishing hamlet the PC's visit are starving, as all the fishermen are obsessed with catching the big fish, with is the Abolth. The aboleth is actually controling the fishermen, making the fish population grow, to the point that the Aboleth can make a golem that can swim and walk on land. He makes it with all the fish, and sends it to capture four people, two men and two women. Normally, he would use mind controling, but prolonged exposure to the Abberations powers gave all but the oldest members, the fishermen, a resiliance to his power. When captured, the aboleth can drown them to open a dementonal gate to the far relm, where he can corrupt the water in the lake so that it is deadly poison and turns whoever drinks it into a Skum. the lake is connected to the ocean, so the only way to stop the spread is to confront the aboleth and have him tell you the names of his ansestors, so the PC's can call their names into the gate, causing it to collaps, but it also backfires and sends millions of telepathic messages to other Aboleths, making them go slowly crazy, and so forth. :teach:

That was much to much work just to prove a point...
Return of the Flumph
05-13-07, 02:31 AM Anyway, Aboleths, dispite mostly being trapped underwater, can still be used nicely. For example, A fishing hamlet the PC's visit are starving, as all the fishermen are obsessed with catching the big fish, with is the Abolth. The aboleth is actually controling the fishermen, making the fish population grow, to the point that the Aboleth can make a golem that can swim and walk on land. He makes it with all the fish, and sends it to capture four people, two men and two women. Normally, he would use mind controling, but prolonged exposure to the Abberations powers gave all but the oldest members, the fishermen, a resiliance to his power. When captured, the aboleth can drown them to open a dementonal gate to the far relm, where he can corrupt the water in the lake so that it is deadly poison and turns whoever drinks it into a Skum. the lake is connected to the ocean, so the only way to stop the spread is to confront the aboleth and have him tell you the names of his ansestors, so the PC's can call their names into the gate, causing it to collaps, but it also backfires and sends millions of telepathic messages to other Aboleths, making them go slowly crazy, and so forth.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Tetsubo
05-13-07, 04:07 AM I like aboleths. I've even used them in Gamma World before, they fit in quite well. Seventy percent of our planet is covered in water... that's a lot of room to move around in... not to mention that the vast bulk of cargo and people move by ship prior to the advent of commercial planes... lots of chances for encounters. How about pirates that are controlled by aboleth slavers...?
nox
05-13-07, 08:05 AM the problem is that they are kinda restricted to staying in the water. We once encountered an Aboleth mage that was carried overland, covered in a water elemetal.

I don't know how much this collided with the rules, but it was a cool picture (IIRC a water elemental can't leave the body of water it has been conjured from, but OTOH I'm not sure what happens if they are summoned from an elemental plane).
cog_n_taz
05-13-07, 08:49 AM In case it's at all relevant, the first entry here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=763308) is on aboleths, enjoy.
Andyr
05-13-07, 12:52 PM I like aboleths a lot. :) I also like all the other iconic aberrations, though, so make of that what you will. The thing I never quite understood was that although they are stated to be amphibious in the description, they have the Aquatic subtype but not the Amphibious special quality--meaning they're not actually amphibious. Unless I'm reading it wrong; I let them be amphibious for short periods of time in my game anyway.
UnrelentingHoror
05-14-07, 01:54 AM The aboleth are actually more Lovecraftian than the illithids. The mind flayers might look all cthulhuish, but their personality and atmosphere is much more of a "modern scifi TV horror" theme than "1930's pulp horror" like the aboleth.

I agree, heck I have this whole running story line planned using aboleths that completely rips off the lovecraft story "Shadow Over Innsmouth". Yaknow, skum interbreeding with the populace to control it, Esoteric Order of Dagon, Fish people conspiracy!!!!!
umm.....yeah lol.
LivingShadow
05-14-07, 01:30 PM I like aboleths a lot. I also like all the other iconic aberrations, though, so make of that what you will. The thing I never quite understood was that although they are stated to be amphibious in the description, they have the Aquatic subtype but not the Amphibious special quality--meaning they're not actually amphibious. Unless I'm reading it wrong; I let them be amphibious for short periods of time in my game anyway.

The aboleths are somewhat amphibious and can last on land until their mucus dries up at which point the enter a stasis until they enter the water again. Somewhat like the lung fish. (I think)
Naderion
05-14-07, 07:25 PM But I doubt they would do that voluntary in any situations but to avoid certain death. In this coma, they are completely vulnerable and can be killed by a 1st level commoner with a rusty knife. As I see them, aboleths are complete controll-freaks and they would never trust their slaves to carry them over land.
the_Luggage
05-14-07, 07:35 PM I looooove aboleths!
They're my favourite abberations.
They hooked me into D'n'D actually- first thing I saw when I opened the monster manual, made me go "coooooool!".
But then I was raised in a fishing village, and spent too much time thinking about what could be down there...
Ront Iron-Roar
05-15-07, 08:23 AM The aboleths are somewhat amphibious and can last on land until their mucus dries up at which point the enter a stasis until they enter the water again. Somewhat like the lung fish. (I think)

You know Aboleth are like a combination of a sturgeon, a catfish, a hagfish, and a lungfish....
cog_n_taz
05-15-07, 08:47 AM Nonsense, there's only one deep sea monster you people should be really afraid of...

MURGLEGURGLEBLAARGH!

/murloc :D
Evil DM Mk3
05-15-07, 08:52 AM Abolthes have been given an interesting if so far limited write up here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=295)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Xaxor 05-09-07, 07:48 PM	There's an odd thing I notice a few days ago. The Aboleth is the in SRD, while the Mind Flayer and Beholder are not. Do Aboleths suck that much? :P It's still a serious question. Is it not iconic enough? They've been around since 1981 (from Dwellers in the Forbidden City (which also introduced the Yuan-Ti, which are not in the SRD.)) Just plain weird.
Dead_Weasel 05-09-07, 07:57 PM	SRD FAQ (http://www.d20srd.org/faq.htm) question #2. SRD Legal Info (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/legal.html) OGL items. Whichever SRD you use, the critters that are not there, are not supposed to be, for legal reasons. Apparently, they are not iconic enough.
Xaxor 05-09-07, 08:43 PM	Dude, I get that. I'm more wondering why they aren't considered product identity. I'm just waiting for a good reason. Even if it's completely made up. ;)
Return of the Flumph 05-09-07, 09:51 PM	I like aboleths.
preacher of nothing 05-10-07, 04:18 AM	I'm not a huge Aboleth buff myself but off the top of my head I can say that their picture in the MM (since 3.0) has been one of a large disgusting fish, their two single Ex abilities are called "slime" and "Mucus Cloud" so that's not really gonna appeal to that many people, and they pretty much make the average player think of a big fish with some psionics whose only goal in life is to eat stuff. I think this common misperception was changed with the apparition of LoM (Lords of Madness) but I have only recently gotten it myself so I haven't had a chance to check it out (work, college, etc.). Most other "psionic chaotic critters" like yuan-ti, mind flayers and such have a well organized and well layed out (since the user-friendliness is all that matters) society and hierarchy and being used in many modules as well as DnD novels and books doesn't hurt their PR either. Hell, I think even the damn Hook Horrors have gotten more publicity than Aboleths :P
Return of the Flumph 05-10-07, 04:34 AM	Read the chapter on them in LOM. I guarantee, you will be using them in a campaign after that.
Rerecros 05-10-07, 04:35 AM	That's an odd list. I get some of them, but carrion crawlers? kuo-toa: frog men slaad: also frog men yuan-ti: snake men yes, very original :rolleyes: And they practically ripped of mind flayers from HPL's the old ones. I'm surprised Aboleths aren't on here, I can actually see how they are an original creation.
Return of the Flumph 05-10-07, 04:37 AM	The aboleth are actually more Lovecraftian than the illithids. The mind flayers might look all cthulhuish, but their personality and atmosphere is much more of a "modern scifi TV horror" theme than "1930's pulp horror" like the aboleth.
preacher of nothing 05-10-07, 04:41 AM	Read the chapter on them in LOM. I guarantee, you will be using them in a campaign after that. I will, just have too many things to be done at this time to focus on that ;)
Ebonyte 05-10-07, 07:21 AM	I've been a big fan of Aboleths. Slavery, mutation, aquatic settings... that's good stuff to twist an otherwise ordinary game into something special. I had a game that went totally aquatic when an aboleth slimed the only human in the party, and she was the only one able to trade in the racist human city they were trapped in. So they had to go underwater into the nearby bay to seek out mer alchemists to cure her. Lotta fun, and I owe all that to an aboleth.
Evil DM Mk3 05-10-07, 08:07 AM	Funnest item to introduce to a game? Aboleth mind well, an artifact I made that basicly lets you tap into the memory of the aboleth who made it. Insanity is almost garanteed but almost any question could be answered. They spent the whole champain after finding it nicking it off each other.
Naderion 05-10-07, 08:48 AM	That's an odd list. I get some of them, but carrion crawlers? kuo-toa: frog men slaad: also frog men yuan-ti: snake men Kuo-toas aren't even original creations. They are simple copies of Lovecrafts Deep Ones, completely with their own Demon Lord Dagon. And yes, I thought Aboleths to be completely useless which changed somewhere around the time I read LoM. :D
LivingShadow 05-10-07, 02:48 PM	Also being aquatic makes use of Aboleths somewhat restricted to near underground water, oceans, and lakes. Thus they wouldn't have as much control over civilization as any of the other aberrations would. Personally I don't use them because I dislike underwater battles. My brain works best in 2D but can handle flight, but the physics change for being underwater is a pain for me to use so I don't do it often. Maybe I'll use one of the flying variants of the aboleth.
EvilPheemy 05-10-07, 02:58 PM	I, for one am thrilled the Aboleth is in the SRD. They're one of my favorite monsters. I've ported them over to Sci-Fi campaigns, Cthulhu games, Superhero campaigns, Pulps... They're better than Illithids as a "psionic slaver race" because they're so ancient and alien. Aboleth don't just eat your brain, they slice it into paper-thin sheets and build massive bio-technological computers with it. They don't just enslave your people, they mutate them into semi-aquatic labor species. What's not to love?
JulesCARV 05-10-07, 03:23 PM	So i herd u liek aboleths. I don't really view being in the SRD as way of indicating lameness or unpopularity, exactly. A variety of quite popular, iconic monsters are in the SRD: liches, dragons, balors, pit fiends, rakshasas, ogre magi and, most terrifyingly of all, gnomes. I don't really know exactly what the logic is of what is considered product identity and what isn't. In some cases, it's fairly obvious, but in other cases, it's a bit weird. I guess aboleths seem like a plausible candidate for product identity, but I guess WotC concluded that they weren't. Which is, ultimately, a good thing for most of us.
EvilPheemy 05-10-07, 04:38 PM	Well, inclusion in the SRD doesn't really affect anyone other than publishers (or those with dreams of publishing).
Naderion 05-10-07, 05:17 PM	I'm not that sure about it. When I want to create a new original setting and write adventures for it (I do) and want to make them downloadable for free, using anything from D&D would be a copyright violation in the strict definition, except for those things that were fortunately placed into the SRD. I doubt they would really care about that but in theory one could be sued for it, what I am not really that anxious for. Which is sad, because I love Carrion Crawlers... :( Now I made my own Deep One-Copies and Snakes with arms (they can't claim these general concepts as their own property), but I think Ilithids, Beholders and Grell are just too unique to make anyone belive any original creatures are not direct copies of those owned by Wizards. :D Currently I'm not actually playing PnP but creating a D&D-Mod for PC, with underwater fighting completey out of choice and no chance of actually getting a good looking abloeth-model into the game. But I think I'll still use them because to cause troubles, they don't even have to appear in person. Fighting Aboleths is not like holding a knife between the teeth and jumping into the water. They are not the white shark, but extermly old, almost all-knowing psionically mind-slavers and they schemes take years or centuries to develop. It's not really neseccary to meet them face to face to have them as the villians in a campaign (though it is clearly quite cool to fight a slave overseer from time to time :D)
TheAngryFish 05-10-07, 05:36 PM	Slime, or Eat Brains. Both of them are cool, but I think there's something about the instant kill is more appealing to me.
Venenum 05-10-07, 07:09 PM	But iz means u can haves a mind flayer ilithed, with the half illithed template. [ end leet ] But aboloths are cooler than mind flayers, the fish that looks gross, is gross, yet totally creepy, makes the perfect villian, along with the alien mind set( as an all knowing creature should) Mind flayers are a lot like martions overgrown squids, and over used.
Return of the Flumph 05-10-07, 08:44 PM	Best aboleth I ran was a spy who was gathering information about the humans. To do so, he had swam into the sewers (think It) and created a small army of skum to expand the lower sewer areas to make a little palace for him. People in the city above were reporting sightings of slimy, dripping humanoids with mouths and teeth that cover their entire heads (how I describe skum) appearing in their basements and dissapearing moments later, and some people had bizarre nightmares or went insane as the aboleth telepathically probed their minds from below. The officers of the city watch in charge of the area were Enslaved, of course. Good times.
grandinquisitorkris 05-11-07, 03:23 AM	the problem is that they are kinda restricted to staying in the water . if i recall they had a slow land speed , but for the most part they are to restricted . i would love to see a d&dminis fig for it because i would love to play it , and have it for a campaign , but in reality there just arent that many games that are so tied to the water . even a campain that is set on the water is kinda restricted . in the savage tide the encounter on the sargasso float , would have been perfect for an aboleth and scum in place of the plant monster . but most campaigns set on the water as savage tide is call for more adventures on land and farther in than the aboleths are really practical for . its the same reason more campaigns dont revolve around dragon turtles and krackens ; they are better for encounters than for a long running campaign and reoccuring villan . :( even as cool as aboleths are , they just arent as versital as most other races to be inserted into a campaign anywhere as a big baddy .
AffableDoomwalker 05-11-07, 04:09 AM	I've only ever seen an Aboleth appear in one D&D product: that encounter with the one in Baldur's Gate 2. The encounter wasn't very interesting or entertaining, but still, you get to meet one, which is kinda cool.
dfarnsworth 05-11-07, 09:08 AM	Whose ever seen C.H.U.D.? I think of them when I describe Skum or other horrors. I ran a campaign that involved an ancient aboleth ruin unearthed when a mudslide came down on a village in a "valley" just a short distance from the sea. A few aboleth's still survived in underground lakes that were beginning to deepen due to torrential rains. Kind of Shadows over Innsmouth meets Dagons Bell.
elondir 05-11-07, 09:50 AM	I've only ever seen an Aboleth appear in one D&D product: that encounter with the one in Baldur's Gate 2. The encounter wasn't very interesting or entertaining, but still, you get to meet one, which is kinda cool. I remember that one. Yeah it wasn't that memorable; I wanted to hack it to pieces. It's kind of funny because as soon as it threatened to reveal my identity to the drow I went ahead and wiped out every last hostile being in the city (the advantage of going through all the side quests including most of Watcher's Keep before leaving Amn). Yeah I know I probably missed some stuff but I had gone through that chapter before and just wanted to get back to the surface. I forget whether I saved the eggs or not.
Werral 05-11-07, 02:02 PM	Ever seen Dune? You could have an Aboleth ambassador in a huge glasssteel tank wheeled in to meet the king by psion eunuch slaves. It makes it's demands then wheels out. By the time this happens the aboleths have already created a situation such that the king capitulates to their demands. Oh yeah and the tank is a huge decanter of endless water (so it produces serious gallons) the PC's break it and they flood the castle.
Xaxor 05-11-07, 02:39 PM	Now that is a great idea Werral.
FatMonkey13 05-12-07, 08:37 PM	Funny The Aboleth in BGII:ToB was an ambassador in a huge tank.
Monsco 05-13-07, 02:05 AM	Ha Ha Ha... Aboleths You know, I used to think Aboleths were useless too, but then I read LOM, and boy, now they are my second favorate abberation. Do you care? I think not. Anyway, Aboleths, dispite mostly being trapped underwater, can still be used nicely. For example, A fishing hamlet the PC's visit are starving, as all the fishermen are obsessed with catching the big fish, with is the Abolth. The aboleth is actually controling the fishermen, making the fish population grow, to the point that the Aboleth can make a golem that can swim and walk on land. He makes it with all the fish, and sends it to capture four people, two men and two women. Normally, he would use mind controling, but prolonged exposure to the Abberations powers gave all but the oldest members, the fishermen, a resiliance to his power. When captured, the aboleth can drown them to open a dementonal gate to the far relm, where he can corrupt the water in the lake so that it is deadly poison and turns whoever drinks it into a Skum. the lake is connected to the ocean, so the only way to stop the spread is to confront the aboleth and have him tell you the names of his ansestors, so the PC's can call their names into the gate, causing it to collaps, but it also backfires and sends millions of telepathic messages to other Aboleths, making them go slowly crazy, and so forth. :teach: That was much to much work just to prove a point...
Return of the Flumph 05-13-07, 02:31 AM	Anyway, Aboleths, dispite mostly being trapped underwater, can still be used nicely. For example, A fishing hamlet the PC's visit are starving, as all the fishermen are obsessed with catching the big fish, with is the Abolth. The aboleth is actually controling the fishermen, making the fish population grow, to the point that the Aboleth can make a golem that can swim and walk on land. He makes it with all the fish, and sends it to capture four people, two men and two women. Normally, he would use mind controling, but prolonged exposure to the Abberations powers gave all but the oldest members, the fishermen, a resiliance to his power. When captured, the aboleth can drown them to open a dementonal gate to the far relm, where he can corrupt the water in the lake so that it is deadly poison and turns whoever drinks it into a Skum. the lake is connected to the ocean, so the only way to stop the spread is to confront the aboleth and have him tell you the names of his ansestors, so the PC's can call their names into the gate, causing it to collaps, but it also backfires and sends millions of telepathic messages to other Aboleths, making them go slowly crazy, and so forth. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Tetsubo 05-13-07, 04:07 AM	I like aboleths. I've even used them in Gamma World before, they fit in quite well. Seventy percent of our planet is covered in water... that's a lot of room to move around in... not to mention that the vast bulk of cargo and people move by ship prior to the advent of commercial planes... lots of chances for encounters. How about pirates that are controlled by aboleth slavers...?
nox 05-13-07, 08:05 AM	the problem is that they are kinda restricted to staying in the water. We once encountered an Aboleth mage that was carried overland, covered in a water elemetal. I don't know how much this collided with the rules, but it was a cool picture (IIRC a water elemental can't leave the body of water it has been conjured from, but OTOH I'm not sure what happens if they are summoned from an elemental plane).
cog_n_taz 05-13-07, 08:49 AM	In case it's at all relevant, the first entry here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=763308) is on aboleths, enjoy.
Andyr 05-13-07, 12:52 PM	I like aboleths a lot. :) I also like all the other iconic aberrations, though, so make of that what you will. The thing I never quite understood was that although they are stated to be amphibious in the description, they have the Aquatic subtype but not the Amphibious special quality--meaning they're not actually amphibious. Unless I'm reading it wrong; I let them be amphibious for short periods of time in my game anyway.
UnrelentingHoror 05-14-07, 01:54 AM	The aboleth are actually more Lovecraftian than the illithids. The mind flayers might look all cthulhuish, but their personality and atmosphere is much more of a "modern scifi TV horror" theme than "1930's pulp horror" like the aboleth. I agree, heck I have this whole running story line planned using aboleths that completely rips off the lovecraft story "Shadow Over Innsmouth". Yaknow, skum interbreeding with the populace to control it, Esoteric Order of Dagon, Fish people conspiracy!!!!! umm.....yeah lol.
LivingShadow 05-14-07, 01:30 PM	I like aboleths a lot. I also like all the other iconic aberrations, though, so make of that what you will. The thing I never quite understood was that although they are stated to be amphibious in the description, they have the Aquatic subtype but not the Amphibious special quality--meaning they're not actually amphibious. Unless I'm reading it wrong; I let them be amphibious for short periods of time in my game anyway. The aboleths are somewhat amphibious and can last on land until their mucus dries up at which point the enter a stasis until they enter the water again. Somewhat like the lung fish. (I think)
Naderion 05-14-07, 07:25 PM	But I doubt they would do that voluntary in any situations but to avoid certain death. In this coma, they are completely vulnerable and can be killed by a 1st level commoner with a rusty knife. As I see them, aboleths are complete controll-freaks and they would never trust their slaves to carry them over land.
the_Luggage 05-14-07, 07:35 PM	I looooove aboleths! They're my favourite abberations. They hooked me into D'n'D actually- first thing I saw when I opened the monster manual, made me go "coooooool!". But then I was raised in a fishing village, and spent too much time thinking about what could be down there...
Ront Iron-Roar 05-15-07, 08:23 AM	The aboleths are somewhat amphibious and can last on land until their mucus dries up at which point the enter a stasis until they enter the water again. Somewhat like the lung fish. (I think) You know Aboleth are like a combination of a sturgeon, a catfish, a hagfish, and a lungfish....
cog_n_taz 05-15-07, 08:47 AM	Nonsense, there's only one deep sea monster you people should be really afraid of... MURGLEGURGLEBLAARGH! /murloc :D
Evil DM Mk3 05-15-07, 08:52 AM	Abolthes have been given an interesting if so far limited write up here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=295)