Special Conversion Thread: Aboleths

[Shade]

Sounds good. Updated saltwater aboleth and greater aboleth.

CR 9 or 10, as freyar inquired above?

 

[freyar]

Shade, did you catch bykov's comments above?

 

[Shade]

Nope...looks like I spent too much time crafting that reply.

I would give the Noble Aboleth Astral Caravan but give the Greater Aboleth Astral Passenger 1/day.

Good call!

Another thing I had seen was ESP, which translates to the spell detect thoughts, which the similar psionic power is read thoughts. Both of which I would give 3/day.

Sounds good.

Another item I saw in the main artical was a bonus vs. spells equal to 1/4 HD. Would you think this translates to an SR/PR? If so, I was thinking 11+ 1/2 HD....mind you, thought shield does this as well so it may just be a moot point.

Yeah, let's just leave this to thought shield. While I like the article, it's "no magic" approach doesn't fit in well with other material, which allows for aboleth spellcasters (like the aboleth savant and the fantastic aboleth chapter in Lords of Madness).

 

[bykov]

Good Morning...

Saltwater Aboleth - I didn't see the detect good/evil/magic (psionics) equivalent in the psionic write-up.

Also in the Ecology article, it makes mention of an aboleth being able to 'swallow whole' on a roll of a 20 on an attack. What do you all think of adding the Swallow Whole extraordinary ability to all aboleths?

In addition, if you all like it, since aboleths feed on the intellect, we could have any opponent swallowed whole subjected to a energy drain (mindwipe) spell-like (psi-like) affect each round it is in the "gizzard". I know this last bit is adding something that truly isn't there, but it was a random thought I should share.

Bykov.

 

[bykov]

Good call!

Sounds good.

Thanks...

Yeah, let's just leave this to thought shield. While I like the article, it's "no magic" approach doesn't fit in well with other material, which allows for aboleth spellcasters (like the aboleth savant and the fantastic aboleth chapter in Lords of Madness).

I felt the same. Thought it would be redundant, just thought I would mention it.

Bykov.

 

[Shade]

Saltwater Aboleth - I didn't see the detect good/evil/magic (psionics) equivalent in the psionic write-up.

I'll add detect psionics. Does an equivalent power exist for detecting alignment?

Also in the Ecology article, it makes mention of an aboleth being able to 'swallow whole' on a roll of a 20 on an attack. What do you all think of adding the Swallow Whole extraordinary ability to all aboleths?

In addition, if you all like it, since aboleths feed on the intellect, we could have any opponent swallowed whole subjected to a energy drain (mindwipe) spell-like (psi-like) affect each round it is in the "gizzard". I know this last bit is adding something that truly isn't there, but it was a random thought I should share.

Hmm...I wonder if that would be better handled by a feat.

Speaking of which, we might include an underbar suggesting some of the aboleth feats from Lords of Madness as replacements for the standard feats.

A few notable ones...

Memory Eater [General]
An aboleth with this feat is particularly adept at extracting memories and knowledge from the bodies of those it consumes.
Prerequisite: Aboleth, Cha 21.
Benefit: The aboleth possesses and remembers countless memories of those it has eaten. It can make untrained skill checks in any skill, including those in which it has no ranks and that normally cannot be used untrained.
Normal: Aboleths receive only random flashes of memory that quickly fade while eating the flesh of an intelligent creature.
Source: Lords of Madness, p. 22.

Powerful Bite [General]
An aboleth with this feat develops jaws that are much more muscular than normal, allowing it to bite more efficiently.
Prerequisite: Aboleth, Str 28, Weapon Focus (bite).
Benefit: An aboleth with this feat gains a natural bite attack that deals 2d6 points of damage plus half its Strength modifier. If the aboleth makes a full attack, this bite attack is a secondary attack and is made with a -5 penalty on the attack roll.
Normal: The aboleth's bite attack is an unarmed strike that takes a full-round action to use and deals 1d4 points of damage on a hit.
Source: Lords of Madness, p. 23.


Also, a couple of abilities from the aboleth savant prestige class that might be appropriate for some of the better aboleths...

Enlarged Enslave (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, the range of a savant aboleth's enslave special attack is doubled from 30 feet to 60 feet.

True Enslave (Su): Beginning at 4th level, a savant aboleth's enslave ability grows much more powerful. An enslaved creature can no longer make a new Will saving throw each day to break free from the enslavement; the condition is permanent until successfully dispelled. Additionally, the enslavement lasts no matter how far the savant aboleth moves from its slaves. Slaves on a different plane remain enslaved, but the savant aboleth cannot communicate with them telepathically until they return to the same plane.

 

[freyar]

I don't see any likely powers in the SRD...

I like the idea of the underbar for the feats. Including possibly swallow whole, although swallow whole seems weird since they're supposed to have small mouths, right?

We kind of have those two special abilities in the saltwater and greater aboleth enslave abiliites already.

 

[bykov]

I like the idea of the underbar for the feats. Including possibly swallow whole, although swallow whole seems weird since they're supposed to have small mouths, right?

Not small, per se. More inaccessible, being under their head, they would not be able to use their bite attack on land, only while swimming in the water as they would almost need to be above the target to use the bite effectively. Swallow whole usually has a caveat stating either two or more size categories smaller than the attacking creature.

Bykov.

 

[freyar]

Hmm, the Lords of Madness quote Shade posted says specifically that the mouths are small as well as inconveniently located. We have an edition conflict! Looking through LoM, it says the mouth is an equilateral triangle 2 ft on a side when fully opened. I dunno, maybe it could swallow a Medium creature whole. I'm undecided.

 

[Shade]

That's why I prefer a feat...something like "Enlarged Mouth" or "Oversized Maw".