Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DeSkyggeKriger 09-10-06, 12:56 AM	I recently bought Lords of Madness, and saw mention of an Aboleth plot to drown the world by creating gates to the elemental plane of water. I think it would be a good concept for a nice long campaign, but I suck at coming up with campaigns. Other than that, I've been told I'm a good DM. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how I could flesh out this idea a little bit, like a general progression of events that eventually leads to the heroes preventing the Aboleths from actually drowning the world.
Hydryh 09-10-06, 01:10 AM	I love the concept of Aboleths, so I'll try my hand... 1) BBEG = Aboleth Wizard. Wiz 20 if the party won't EVER be fighting him directly. Maybe hibernating/in stasis. Progenitor of all the Aboleths in your campaign. 2) The Aboleths seek an artifact that will make the flooding of the world easier; call it, say, the Sea Sapphire. 3) Assuming that the party is low-mid level, have them find out about this first by running into land-dwelling agents of the Aboleths. 4) Read all the Lovecraft you can get your grubby paws on; Aboleths and Lovecraft plots get on like toast and butter.
Andrew 09-10-06, 04:15 AM	Maybe in order to achieve this, some artifact/temple/eldritch machine needs to be constructed/transported as far from the sea as possible, like in the middle of a desert or on top of a frozen mountain.
sullaz 09-10-06, 08:59 AM	See if you can find a copy of the old 2e campaign "The Night Below". In that, the Aboleths try to blot out the sun, but you could probably adapt that pretty easily. We played this campaign through and while you'll want to resketch some of the world context to meet your own needs (our DM gave us the opportunity to do a bit of politics and stronghold building in the non-dungeon story sections) the underdark segments had some prettty tough and interesting fights (trying to destabilize a kup-toa city being one of the highlights).
NightfireRaven 09-10-06, 10:27 AM	Love the ideia. If I were to do it, I would create a story in which the Aboleths, desiring to conquer the Material Plane by infusing it with the essence of the Plane of Water. For that, the Aboleths, conspiring with sea creatures such has krakens, begin to search for the missing pieces of a mysterious map which leads to the Lost Fortress of Indicus, a massive weapon shaped like a submerged gothic island, created eons ago, which when activated, begins to convert basic matter into pure, raw, elemental matéria. The PC's must find the map pieces first and avoid the human cohorts of the aboleths, before the horrific beasts unleash a dreaded devastation across the Planar Sphere: The fusion of planes goes out of control, and soon, large parts of the sea burn in wretching flame, massive mountains eclode out of the clouds, gigantic wind hollowing gales echoe trought the empty volcano craters, and above the City of Indicus, suspended in the sky, a gargantuan sphere of pure elemental water begins to form, threatening to explode a submerge a world without rules or laws. And deep within the water sphere, in it's darkest recesses, a new life form begins to form, alien and unseen troughtout the universe, a being of pure elemental cruelty ... a new species of Aboleth ... ... Sometimes I get carried away. Sorry.
Cryforge 09-10-06, 11:24 AM	a being of pure elemental cruelty ... a new species of Aboleth ... That's a neat idea. Isn't there are template in one of the books that turns creatures in to elementals? If you add the water elemental template to an aboleth...BINGO!
MarkB 09-10-06, 01:23 PM	Make a campaign with a twist - all the early signs point to the aboleths forming planar pacts to try and drown the earth, and the clues - and simple logic - lead the players to think the alliance is with the elemental plane of water. But then comes the revelation - the aboleths were only negotiating with the creatures of the plane of water so that they could betray them. This betrayal seals a pact between them and the forces of the plane of fire - who, in return, have agreed to open planar portals and unleash massive waves of fire and heat at the world's poles, thus melting the ice caps and drowning the land. The world will end up much warmer, thus more comfortable for fire creatures, and the only remaining outcrops of dry land will be mountains - many of them volcanic - which the princes of the plane of fire will rule as lords, while the Aboleths rule the sunken lands below the sea.
Cryforge 09-10-06, 02:25 PM	Make a campaign with a twist - all the early signs point to the aboleths forming planar pacts to try and drown the earth, and the clues - and simple logic - lead the players to think the alliance is with the elemental plane of water. But then comes the revelation - the aboleths were only negotiating with the creatures of the plane of water so that they could betray them. This betrayal seals a pact between them and the forces of the plane of fire - who, in return, have agreed to open planar portals and unleash massive waves of fire and heat at the world's poles, thus melting the ice caps and drowning the land. The world will end up much warmer, thus more comfortable for fire creatures, and the only remaining outcrops of dry land will be mountains - many of them volcanic - which the princes of the plane of fire will rule as lords, while the Aboleths rule the sunken lands below the sea. To make this even cooler, you could replace the ally with the planes with the Archomentals, the evil unique elementals that "rule" those planes. The water plane is ruled by Ilhydra, and she can be the one betrayed by the aboleths. The fire plane is ruled by Imix, and he can be the one that the aboleths really make the pact with. They're both statted (as well as Ogremoch, Cryonax, and Yan-C-Bin) in Dragon 347.
Sildatorak 09-10-06, 02:45 PM	To make this even cooler, you could replace the ally with the planes with the Archomentals, the evil unique elementals that "rule" those planes. The water plane is ruled by Ilhydra, and she can be the one betrayed by the aboleths. The fire plane is ruled by Imix, and he can be the one that the aboleths really make the pact with. They're both statted (as well as Ogremoch, Cryonax, and Yan-C-Bin) in Dragon 347. Have they statted the good archomentals in 3e? I know that in 2e there was a war being waged for dominance over the elementals within each element. The good fire archomental, Zaaman Rul, is the weakest of the good bunch, but is also the only one to directly assault his opponent, Imix, who some say is also his father. Imix and his forces routed Zaaman Rul's army with ease, and now Zaaman Rul is in hiding, biding his time. Sounds like an ally the PC's could rally after the fire lords start to melt the poles.
BOZ 09-16-06, 11:16 PM	To make this even cooler, you could replace the ally with the planes with the Archomentals, the evil unique elementals that "rule" those planes. The water plane is ruled by Ilhydra, and she can be the one betrayed by the aboleths. The fire plane is ruled by Imix, and he can be the one that the aboleths really make the pact with. They're both statted (as well as Ogremoch, Cryonax, and Yan-C-Bin) in Dragon 347. Olhydra, yes. Besides the elemental princes, you could also involve Juiblex - i think in 2E he was also worshipped by many aboleths (IIRC).
Paladinslayer 09-17-06, 12:53 AM	I like "race against time" campaigns where the aboleths start building gates to the Elemental Plane of Water, and the PC's have to stop them before they are completed. This would be practically impossible with the aboleth's security, but if the PC's might be able to attack them by entering the Elemental Plane of Water. Just a suggestion.