Inspired by Lords of Madness (Updated with 65% more ideas, and 74% more confusion)!

[James Jacobs]

Neat! The thought of aboleths evolving into mind flayers is an interesting idea. I've always thought that the two races were too similar in goals and abilities that there had to be some sort of connection.

If you go with this concept, I'd consider making the aboleth the ones who don't really know about this while the mind flayers do. The fact that mind flayers confound the aboleth so much (they can't remember where they came from) gets even better if you have a big moment in your campaign when the PCs prove to some savant aboleth that they'll eventually turn into mind flayers.

Also... the aboleth have been around for a loooooong time. I'd even say millions of years (although of course, not all campaings have histories that go back that far so your mileage may vary). And in those millions of years, they haven't changed much. They'd know, cause they'd remember. So, if I were running with this concept, I'd set it up so there was some monumental change or magical event that caused aboleth eggs to hatch mind flayers. Maybe the mind flayers are themselves responsible, having gone back in time to illithid-up some eggs? Since illithids from the future can go back into the past, there's no reason they can't go back before the point of their genesis (in the future from the present), so you can set up this event as a campaign climax and still have mind flayers fighting the PCs before they were technically created.

Crazy stuff!

 

[Geoffrey]

I read this line:

"In a way, the aboleths and the illithid are like cosmic bookends: two similar races with similar goals, one from the ancient past and one from the doomed future."

And the thought that immediately occured to me was this:

Two ends of the universe? Or two ends of an evolutionary process??

Think about it. Assuming a fantasy world in which evolution holds true, life on land would have originated from creatures of the sea. We know that the aboleth can briefly survive on land, and they've already spawned one amphibious offshoot. They're races that both have four tentacles that don't really map to the limbs of "normal" creatures. They've similar personalities, similar goals, even some similar abilities. What if the aboleth and the illithid are not merely the alpha and omega of the universe, but are literally two ends of the same cycle?

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be."

 

[Ashy]

Stellar ideas in this thread, Mouse, et. al. Simply stellar!

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

That's it, I'm getting this book.

Ditto.

And by the way, Mouse, the article on polearms in Dragon #331 was excellent. Atlatls! Woot!

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Hmmmm... that makes the evolutionary path very different, but you can still do it with the "drying out their habitats" routine. They pulled a standard juvenilization schtick, keeping the larval form into the adult stage (I forget what it's actually called).

It's called neoteny. Why, oh why do I know this stuff?? *shakes head and wanders away*

 

[Mouseferatu]

And by the way, Mouse, the article on polearms in Dragon #331 was excellent. Atlatls! Woot!

Well, thank you.

But in the spirit of honesty and giving credit where credit is due, I wasn't the one to include the atlatl. (You'll note that the article has more than one contributor listed.) I contributed the article concept itself, most of the feats, and most of the Western European pole arms.

Still, the thought is much appreciated.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

How "original". They say it in the book itself, in the write-up of the variants

 

[Mouseferatu]

How "original". They say it in the book itself, in the write-up of the variants

Umm...

Like I said in my first post, I haven't gotten past the aboleth chapter. I fully acknowledged the possibility that the idea might come up later.

The aboleth chapter itself, however, does not discuss the possibility of an evolutionary link between aboleths and illithid. Or if it did, I clearly missed it.

In either case, if you could point out the precise page where it's mentioned, so I can see what they have to say about it, I'd appreciate it.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I did notice multiple authors, but not knowing who wrote what, you get the kudos! Same goes for Hamunaptra! That lil' ol' boxed set rocks!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

How "original". They say it in the book itself, in the write-up of the variants

Oh, and I just wanted to add: Sorry, couldn't resist. Of course I haven't read anything about it, and it's a great idea.


Of course they can look quite different, and no intermediate species can ge found. The reason for that is simple: The intermediate species don't exist yet. The mind flayers come fromt he distant future. The very distant future. It will be aeons before the difference between "modern" aboleths and later aboleths will be noticable. And even longer before they change like they did to become mind flayers.

Or, they could have remained what they were for much longer than they already have. (Or is that "maybe they will have remained"? Damn time travel grammar). They will continue to increase their influence slowly but steadily, and at one time in the future (maybe 100.000 years in the future or a similarly long time), they will have enough influence to openly oppose the humanoids. A big, terrible war erupts, and the humanoids were losing. Badly. In a desperate measure, they used high magic to alter their enemy. Not one at a time, but the whole race. Suddenly, the mighty aboleths were unable to survive, their forms transformed into small, squishy things unable to house the huge brains required to store the vast racial momory aboleths possess.

It could have been victory for the humanoids. It should have been victory. But somehow, these pitiful little worms managed to keep just a shred of their former power to overcome humanoids for a short time. Long enough to creep into their heads and replace first their brain and then their whole body. Inside these "donor bodies", they were able to gain vast mental powers again - different from their old set of powers, but awesome nonetheless
The aboleths - who didn't remember their names any more, and called themselves only "mind flayers". They somehow created elder brains to have a better coordination this time around, and thus quickly subdued the humanoids, reducing them to pitiful slaves that are either eaten or used to "house" the next generations of mind flayers.

Then, they turned their mind's eyes to the sun - that hated orb that hurt their new forms so much. They finally succeeded to close the connection to the elemental plane of fire the gods installed to enflame the big rock and give light to the planet. And only then, they realized that they brought their own downfall! For the sun does not only grant light, it also grants warmth, and their humanoid slaves needed that sun, directly and indirectly. As their source of food and hosts died in the billions, as did the animals and plant life all around them, they realized that they had initiated armageddon, just as their dream of world domination came true. In a desperate gamble, they sacrificed most of their elder brains, including the master overbrain that controlled the elder brains as they controlled the mind flayers, and tossed themselves back in time far enough to prevent their mistake. They did it, but only their youngest elder brains survived, and found themselves in a time where their kind was not known in their current form.

Their plans:
Observe the humanoids and study their ruling methods, so they can rule better in the future, when they once again achieve total domination.
Slowly gather power, and increase the power of their elder brain to once again rival their old elder masters. Ultimately, they desire to create another master overbrain to create the perfect order for their race.
When strong enough, they will wage war on their ancestors, the aboleths of this time, and eradicate them. This should be easy enough for when their elder brains increase in power, so do they: Even now, there is the occasional ulitharid born, though they are very rare. Their birth rate and ration will increase with the power of their race. By the time they can create another overbrain, most if not all mind flayers will be ulitharids. They want to destroy their ancestors so they never start the war they started before, as this was the key event that triggered the chain of events that eventually destroyed the sun. This time, they know better.