The Aboleth!!

[pogre]

I am in the decided minority in that I do not find Aboleths all that interesting. I'm not a big mind flayer or beholder fan either - so hate me now

I guess it's the whole alien intelligence thing - a little close to sci-fi for me. I know it's a ridiculous criticism, but there it is.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I am in the decided minority in that I do not find Aboleths all that interesting. I'm not a big mind flayer or beholder fan either - so hate me now

I guess it's the whole alien intelligence thing - a little close to sci-fi for me. I know it's a ridiculous criticism, but there it is.

BURN THE HERETIC!!

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

BURN THE HERETIC!!

No you burn an APOSTATE

A HERETIC you draw and quarter

 

[Rel]

No you burn an APOSTATE

A HERETIC you draw and quarter

I love a good public service announcement.

I also love a good Aboleth and any body of subteranean water deeper than a mudpuddle is BOUND to contain one in my games. But the PC's seem to avoid those areas like the plague. They run into the Skum Thralls fairly frequently and I've been known to toss in some aquatic ogres that are also slaves to the Aboleth as well. But the party always manages to avoid the Aboleth's themselves.

I should fix that...

 

[paradox42]

I love a good public service announcement.

I also love a good Aboleth and any body of subteranean water deeper than a mudpuddle is BOUND to contain one in my games. But the PC's seem to avoid those areas like the plague. They run into the Skum Thralls fairly frequently and I've been known to toss in some aquatic ogres that are also slaves to the Aboleth as well. But the party always manages to avoid the Aboleth's themselves.

I should fix that...

I can sympathize with this. I think it's a consequence of the fact that, by the time characters are of a level to reasonably face Aboleth plots, they either already have or shortly will have teleportation magic. My PCs have tended to only visit the Underdark for short hops, always POOFing in exactly where their divination/clairsentience effects tell them the search object is, and spending only as much time as is needed to get it before POOFing out again. I guess they just don't like the underground!

Even when I've laid out adventure hooks for them in the Underdark, they always go for the surface or planar ones instead somehow. I'd do a thing of laying out only the Underdark hook, except that in that case it would (A) feel a bit like railroading to me and (B) they'd probably use it as an excuse to just raid the Abyss or some other Lower Plane again and blow up demons or other Evil outsiders. Sigh.

 

[Raven Crowking]

IMC, there was a wizard (Amoreth the Arcane) who was believed to be responsible for sinking about a quarter of a town (Selby-by-the-Water), making spellcasters suspect in that district. In reality, Amoreth and his friends were opposing a triad of aboleth that were using their Skum to eat away at the town's foundations, with the ultimate goal of collapsing the city entirely. One of the aboleth was killed by the wizard, who died on that same expedition.

Move forward in time, and the PCs enter the area. One of the PCs wrote in his background that his parents were henchmen of the wizard, to his shame. During campaign play, another quarter of the town collapsed. This caused a plague that the PCs recovered a cure for. As a result, they were asked to enter the wizard's tower and find out what was happening (until now, the penalty for doing so was death, as the townsfolk were concerned that another collapse might be triggered).

The PCs meet the ghost of Amoreth the Arcane, who explains what happened. The PC feels that his family is redeemed. Then they go and kill one of the aboleth, leaving the last one alive and in hiding.

Fun times.

 

[GreatLemur]

I also love a good Aboleth and any body of subteranean water deeper than a mudpuddle is BOUND to contain one in my games. But the PC's seem to avoid those areas like the plague. They run into the Skum Thralls fairly frequently and I've been known to toss in some aquatic ogres that are also slaves to the Aboleth as well. But the party always manages to avoid the Aboleth's themselves.

See, I think the awesomeness of the aboleth is that it doesn't really need to be in the spotlight at all. They make really great mastermind characters, I'd think.

But, if you really want to put them in the players' faces, why keep them in underground lakes? If all they need is water and darkness, and they have the power to dominate humanoid slaves and gain power and influence in other civilizations, then hell, you could give one and indoor pool in the middle of a city.

Just picture it: You've got an aboleth or an affiliated group of aboleths running some kind of criminal organization / secret society / political faction / etc., and the players would mostly just see their mentally-dominated slaves (as rycanada pointed out, giving them some more potent kind of control might be a good idea). The nature of the group's true masters is a complete secret; the non-dominated members think that some other humanoid (who is, of course, totally mind controlled) runs the show. But they do own a big, darkened warehouse in the middle of their territory, and the PCs might observe regular deliveries of seafood and fresh water to the place, as well as the fact that only certain members of the organization are ever allowed to enter...

Also, the image of an aboleth in a big, mobile fishbowl-type thing is awesome. Kind of a guild-navigator-from-Dune bit. I keep imagining it with with thick, image-distorting glass; kinda art nouveau ironwork all over it; rubbery, waterproof cuffs to reach tentacles through; and either some kind of floaty magic to move it around, or maybe just big, metal wheels. And there'd have to be some big, complicated water filtration system at the back of it. The players could see it for the first time from a distance, and be totally unable tomake out just what's in it. Let them wonder why a tentacle just dragged someone inside, and none of the people standing around it even reacted.

 

[Ulrick]

The Aboleth were really cool in the "Night Below."

However, I think to emphasize their strangeness is to have them seemingly act illogically. According to the book "Lords of Madness" Aboleth have memories that stretch to the time before gods. So they'll act according to their own logic.

For comparison, think of the Lich and how "lich plots" may take centuries. With all those memories that an aboleth have, would their plots take thousands of years to reach fruition?

For example, aboleth have been sending their minions to destroy a forest and convert it into farmland--cotton. Cotton will further deplete the soil and cause a dustbowl and maybe a desert. Why? Because the aboleth's allies the (insert strange abberation here) will fall from space day to aid the aboleth in scouring the world of the lesser races. However, these allies are allergic to water (like in the movie "Signs").

Thus, the aboleth promote the advancement of civlization. Because they know (from history) that wherever civilization has been centered, eventually that area becomes waste, perfect for their allies.

Second Example:
Other things would be like having aboleth kidnap random people in a village for no apparent reason at all. The kidnapped are treated very well, are fed, clothed and then returned with no obvious signs of harm. And, if the PCs further inspect them, no inward signs of harm either! Though, if the aboleth do well, the PCs won't expect them at all.

Why would the aboleth do this?

Memories tell them that adventurers have this nasty tendency to disrupt well-laid plans. Also, adventurers have tendency to become somewhat famous. So they might as well be put to good use. Upon entering the lair where the adventurers are somehow implanted with a parasite that allows the aboleth to keep track of them.

Later, when the characters become famous, the aboleth will send minions to kill them, causing all who looked up to them to despair. Why? Nobody but the aboleth knows...

 

[DMH]

Beyond skum and illithids, has anyone created allies and slaves for aboleth? For being so old, they seem to be lacking in this area.

 

[Ibram]

Illithids and Aboleths are closely related IMC, they are part of the same evolutionary cycle...

In the distant future, as the sun turned red, the beings who were once Aboleths created the first Illithid Larva. These Larva were sent into the past, scattered across the history of the world. In the deepest past, when the world was still young, the Illithid Larva found home in a ancient fish like creature. These creatures became the first Aboleths.