D&D General what is it that make certain monsters of certain categories?

[Voadam]

Well, before yesterday, I would have said an Aberration is an unnatural entity, from beyond space/time, which has a Blue/Orange morality system.

Today I would say, 'oo creepy tentacles/eye stocks, I hope we can be friends!'

 

[BookTenTiger]

So aberrations seem to be focused on two things:

1) alien nature

2) magic that originates from the mind

A player race based on Aberrations should focus on those things above all else... What about something like:

Xenokin

Xenokin are a race born of blood from beyond the known world.

Appearance: Xenokin look overall humanoid, but each has features that make them distinctly alien. Roll on the following table (or choose) for your alien feature:

Alien Features
1) One single eye, with vertical lids, in the center of the forehead.
2) A lamprey-like mouth surrounded by writhing tentacles.
3) Shimmering fish scales for skin.
4) A wide mouth full of sharp teeth.
5) Long, boneless limbs ending in tentacle-like fingers.
6) Skin the color of a night sky, in which glimmers distant stars.

Xenokin Features

Ability Score Improvement: Choose +2 / +1

Alien Mind: Other creatures have a difficult time understanding the workings of your mind. Creatures suffer Disadvantage when attempting to make Insight Checks against your character.

Psionic Adaptation: Your powerful brain is trained to adapt to and resist magic. When you fail a Saving Throw against a magic effect, you may choose to reroll with Advantage. You may use this feature once per Short Rest.

Shifting Form of Chaos: Choose one of the following features for your Xenomorph. After a long rest, roll a d20. On a roll of 1 or 20, choose a new feature.

Eyes of Black Starlight: You gain Darkvision (60 ft), and do not suffer Disadvantage when using Perception in Dim Light. You can see invisible creatures and objects.

Strength of the Ancients: You gain a climb speed equal to half your walking speed. You have advantage on Athletics checks made to grapple opponents.

Gifts of the Deep: You gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed, and may breathe underwater.

Hunger of the Endless Void: When you succeed on a Saving Throw, you absorb some of the magic or kinetic energy of the effect. As a reaction, you may spend a Hit Die to heal. If you are at maximum Hit Points, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the total rolled.

Psionic Power: You learn one Cantrip from the Enchantment, Illusion, or Divination schools. Your casting ability is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.

Boundless Levitation: You gain a fly speed equal to your walking speed. This flight is powered by your mind.



That's what I came up with off the top of my mind. Alien, Psionic, and inspired by the Aberrations of the Monster Manual.

 

[Mind of tempest]

So aberrations seem to be focused on two things:

1) alien nature

2) magic that originates from the mind

A player race based on Aberrations should focus on those things above all else... What about something like:

Xenokin

Xenokin are a race born of blood from beyond the known world.

Appearance: Xenokin look overall humanoid, but each has features that make them distinctly alien. Roll on the following table (or choose) for your alien feature:

Alien Features
1) One single eye, with vertical lids, in the center of the forehead.
2) A lamprey-like mouth surrounded by writhing tentacles.
3) Shimmering fish scales for skin.
4) A wide mouth full of sharp teeth.
5) Long, boneless limbs ending in tentacle-like fingers.
6) Skin the color of a night sky, in which glimmers distant stars.

Xenokin Features

Ability Score Improvement: Choose +2 / +1

Alien Mind: Other creatures have a difficult time understanding the workings of your mind. Creatures suffer Disadvantage when attempting to make Insight Checks against your character.

Psionic Adaptation: Your powerful brain is trained to adapt to and resist magic. When you fail a Saving Throw against a magic effect, you may choose to reroll with Advantage. You may use this feature once per Short Rest.

Shifting Form of Chaos: Choose one of the following features for your Xenomorph. After a long rest, roll a d20. On a roll of 1 or 20, choose a new feature.

Eyes of Black Starlight: You gain Darkvision (60 ft), and do not suffer Disadvantage when using Perception in Dim Light. You can see invisible creatures and objects.

Strength of the Ancients: You gain a climb speed equal to half your walking speed. You have advantage on Athletics checks made to grapple opponents.

Gifts of the Deep: You gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed, and may breathe underwater.

Hunger of the Endless Void: When you succeed on a Saving Throw, you absorb some of the magic or kinetic energy of the effect. As a reaction, you may spend a Hit Die to heal. If you are at maximum Hit Points, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the total rolled.

Psionic Power: You learn one Cantrip from the Enchantment, Illusion, or Divination schools. Your casting ability is Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.

Boundless Levitation: You gain a fly speed equal to your walking speed. This flight is powered by your mind.



That's what I came up with off the top of my mind. Alien, Psionic, and inspired by the Aberrations of the Monster Manual.

I do not want an equivalent to 2e teiflings I wanted a whole functioning race, not a one-off mutant as I have seen this idea before across the net.
but thank you for trying.

 

[Voadam]

If you want a non-mythos PC appropriate race with alien bizarre anatomy I would suggest Dralasites, which are plasmoids, essentially a sentient semi-humanoid ooze. They are an alien PC race from TSR's Star Frontiers sci-fi game with culture and history that you can use, adapt, or ignore.

D&D has a history of taking the Star Frontiers races and throwing them into D&D and d20 modern/space, particularly with the Yazirian/Hadozee and Vrusk/Rastipedes making it into 2e spelljammer and then Hadozee in 3.5 Stormwrack.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I am trying to find the qualities that make aberrations somehow different to monstrosities.

Intentional Lovecraft ripoffs vs unintentional or retroactive ones? Like an ankeg is just a big bug and should be an animal, but they tried infusing cosmic horror into it for some reason, so it's a monstrosity now.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Intentional Lovecraft ripoffs vs unintentional or retroactive ones? Like an ankeg is just a big bug and should be an animal, but they tried infusing cosmic horror into it for some reason, so it's a monstrosity now.

all three will do if you are able to?

If you want a non-mythos PC appropriate race with alien bizarre anatomy I would suggest Dralasites, which are plasmoids, essentially a sentient semi-humanoid ooze. They are an alien PC race from TSR's Star Frontiers sci-fi game with culture and history that you can use, adapt, or ignore.

D&D has a history of taking the Star Frontiers races and throwing them into D&D and d20 modern/space, particularly with the Yazirian/Hadozee and Vrusk/Rastipedes making it into 2e spelljammer and then Hadozee in 3.5 Stormwrack.

They seem excellent from a biology department but socially they seem two cooperative and well normal.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I do not want an equivalent to 2e teiflings I wanted a whole functioning race, not a one-off mutant as I have seen this idea before across the net.
but thank you for trying.

I'd say take a few of the Xenokin Features and wrap them up in a race that comes from the Far Realms.

 

[Voadam]

all three will do if you are able to?

They seem excellent from a biology department but socially they seem two cooperative and well normal.

My intention was to suggest a cooperative PC race, so success.

Tie their backgrounds to Shoggoths instead of Star Frontiers and you get a different view of them. Or to Juiblex (even if they have escaped Juiblex's control and just want to get along with the statics).

 

[Mind of tempest]

My intention was to suggest a cooperative PC race, so success.

Tie their backgrounds to Shoggoths instead of Star Frontiers and you get a different view of them. Or to Juiblex (even if they have escaped Juiblex's control and just want to get along with the statics).

shoggoths strike me as closer to a man of war jellyfish merged with a bio-robot than an ooze race.

 

[Mind of tempest]

anyone got advice on location for these guys as just the Underdark seems overdone as does the sea also no one ever does anything cool with the sea and this bugs me.