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according to the lore, aboleths were always the way they are now, just prior to the gods whipping the majority of them out, more numerous, plus I doubt noodling would work given aboleths are easy way too smart for that
I would say cthulhu is cr10. It's a threat to the earth but not the whole universe. The great Yog-Sothoth might be more cr 15 threat to all the planes. The idiot god would be the cr 20-30 threat to the entire universe.
Callum Ballantyne it would depend upon what the god’s crs are. If the gods are cr 30, then the lovecraft gods will probably be around the high 10’s to mid 20’s.
Better yet, the Aboleth has been working on this plan for centuries, so he doesn't even need to mind control most of the town. He just needs to mind control enough people to make them argue that building a canal is in the best interests of the townspeople. So they end up doing it of their own volition (albeit manipulated volition).
@@crisoliveira2644 guess powerful enemies..knowing he would reform in the elemental plane if killed sent him into a magic slumber...but who could be so powerful?
Man all that high level d and d stuff is great, but I will always love this "heres a monster, heres ten ways to think of it that you may not just reading its stat block." great show guys
Exactly this. I like how these guys are able to generate unique scenarios by stitching together various ideas because it gives you the process for how to do it yourself, including examples on modifying the Aboleth statblock.
What about an urban aboleth? the average person, or even most experts, have no idea what they are. One could easily go to a city, pop out at the docks, and propose to work for the city as an adviser, pretending to be some good-alligned sea creature. With their massive knowledge and powers, they would easily become very popular, and slowly over time start enslaving the people in power, until they control the whole city in secret. Have a serie of channels venezia-style built in the city, and he's just created his own personal fortress. If you want to get him, you'll have to kill thousands of civilians that think he's a genius and a town hero, always spreading his immense knowledge and helping them.
Dude it is awesome of you to ask but..it is a random comment on a youtube video that are discussing how to make a game better...Steal with both hands and feet man!
Good idea, but I have one objection. I don't think the Aboleth should ever reveal its true appearance. It has Phantasmal Force, so it can create illusions of whatever is desires. Some people will be creeped out by any sort of giant catfish, no matter how benevolent it presents itself as. Moreover, it's just good practice to keep one's true nature and appearance a secret, so it's harder to find.
Agreed. Have the lives of the residents be inundated with visions pulled from their dreams, so they are slowly made to wonder what is dream and what is reality. Giving the Aboleth access to Mirage Arcana would also help, as it would allow it to subtly alter the appearance of the city in general. Make them Regional Effects, so the Aboleth's presence in the city slowly morphs it into one of its design (at least, in appearances). This sort of activity would also tend to be noticed by outsiders, and create some great plot hooks.
Dude, an aboleth that casts Clone on a minion and sends him out with the party. First downtime they have the minion says "I'm gonna visit my family" and gets devoured and is instantly revived. Rinse and repeat.
@@heathenpride7931 Aboleths get all of the memories of those they devour. Using a scout that would willingly get devouered by the aboleth was an idea they brought forth, I just added the clone part so it could be more than just a one and done deal.
Aboleths are the the best monsters. And I agree with Jim that the CR 10 aboleths shown in the monster manual are the "common" version. Adult aboleths in the same way a level 1 PC is an "adult". I think Lords of Madness talk about it, or maybe it's my personal canon, but I'm of the mind that aboleths never stop growing, so you can have a CR 20 gargantuan Great One who personally saw the arrival of the gods and has a couple of krakens enslaved to it. Love the idea of the scout that joins the party and is then eaten. One way to sidestep the enslavement range restriction is that this spy has been pressed into joining the adventurers because one of their loved ones is enslaved by the aboleth. The "God of the Lake" has promised the spy that it'll release the captive if they go and assist the heroes for a year and come back (without saying that it intends to eat their brain).
Another way to justify a difference in size (and CR) is to play into the fact that Aboleths return from death by reforming their bodies in the Elemental Plane of Water. When an Aboleth does this, it can be assumed that they must start over from the beginning of their growth cycle. So a CR 10 Aboleth is one that has recently been defeated and had to reform. "Recently" being relative for Aboleths who have memory dating back to untold epochs of antiquity. A CR 10 Aboleth might have been last killed 1000 years ago or thereabouts. Aboleths of greater CR represent ones that have stuck around for longer since their previous death, and thus reflects that they are not only bigger, but also more badass in general. A CR 20 Aboleth might represent an Aboleth who was never killed, or who was only ever killed once (and it took a god to do it). They've just spent the intervening period of eons waiting, growing, and amassing power. Under this model, there is assumed to be no "new" Aboleths. The same number have existed since the beginning.
The party I'm playing in fought and slew an aboleth. My half-orc monk character was affected by its disease, so I couldn't leave the water, but I also couldn't breathe underwater (I had a water breathing spell cast on me when we fought it). Basically what ended up happening was the party went for help, but the nearest source of help for this particular affliction was a few days away, so I had to stay in the water for several days. I basically lay in the shallows of this enormous lake meditating for several days, mostly submerged but coming up for air when I had to, and a villager living nearby came and brought me food, until the party returned with a remedy.
Interesting that in 5e Aboleth slime doesn't also grant you magical water breathing. It does in Pathfinder, which solves a lot of the associated problems.
"Mucous Cloud: While Underwater, the aboleth is surrounded by transformative mucus. A creature that touches the aboleth or that hits it with a melee Attack while within 5 ft. of it must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is diseased for 1d4 hours. The diseased creature can breathe only Underwater." If the aboleth is hitting you with a tentacle, you are touching it.
It's actually the Helms deep mini from the Games Workshop LotR tabletop wargame! There are some screens that actually look like a castle and and function as a screen, ie you can put papers and stuff in it,but as far as we know they're few and far between.
I picture Aboleths to be primordial supercomputers. If something was capable of perfectly recalling eons, I feel it would seek to expand that information indefinitely.
I like the idea of something like an aboling (baby aboleth) living in some random puddle that's about 10ft deep. The wet season is over and due to flooding in the area this poor little thing has gotten swept too far from the lake home it was born in and has become stranded. The puddle drying up by the day. So when some go-lucky adventurers pass its puddle on the road, it telepathically asks them for aid, with 'force' if necessary. Return it home and risk an encounter with a parent aboleth, potentially being enthralled to remain there? OR Leave it to 'die'/end up killing it, the party knowingly/unknowingly aware it will be reborn in the Plane of Water, only to remember them as it comes back older and stronger for revenge? PS: I don't even know how/if aboleth reproduce
Lords of Madness informs that they're hermaphroditic egg-layers, im pretty sure regardless, the one im running is, and has been laying eggs for hundreds of years and keeping them in stasis Soon^tm it plans on letting them all hatch at once to repopulate the planet it feels it has autochthonous right to 😈
I've been thinking arctic aboleth. Like Eskimos unconver this thing in the ice and it takes them all over. You could blend in that whole 'more fish eyed thing' into these little blizzard ridden villages. Plus, the aboleth wouldn't be the only thing the party has to worry about as frostbite slowly closes in on them. Howls in the night could just as easily be yetis, wind, or a mind-controlled frost witch here to summon the elder aboleth to the glacier. Plus, the aboleth itself isn't even the first thing that would come to the players. They would probably go for nature spirits, then catch on to this coven, then finally catch up to the aboleth, who in itself is trying to summon its own boss. Oh, and the aboleth could keep around mind controlled yetis, polar bears, ice wolves, villagers, and more. All the time, the aboleth trying to track down how it ended up frozen in the glacier, for even the all knowing beasts, it seems, cannot remember...
Be quite cool if you did a vid on the concept of the 'Quest' Campaign. Ie Kill Smaug, deliver the Droid. So its structured a bit like a movie in that you have an introduction adventure, then you give them a quest with a journey with cool obsitlces and different lands (flying / teleporting doesn't work) then have an extended goal at the end. They seem like quite fun campaigns.
what? a Web DM video on my favorite monster in the manual? I can't wait to hear you talk about psychic eels and why we should embrace our aquatic overlords
In our D&D game, our GM had an aboleth living in an ancient black dragon's tomb, which had frozen over. Said aboleth had found an orb of dragon kind in this place, and attuned to it, so when we were exploring it, it used it to revive the skeletal remains of the old dragon, and made for a HELL of a mid dungeon boss. Of course it was not as powerful as its original form, since we were only level 8, but it was pretty intense.
A campaign I’m thinking of running is centered in the underdark, the players are drawn in by dealing with a kuatoa village, then they encounter an army of the underdark races, duergar svirfneblin, drow. Which have been intellect devoured and are being led by illithids. Only to have the final reveal when they get to the Elder Brain that an aboleth had enslaved it, and through it, created this huge army of people readyone night to storm the surface world
And THEN it’s revealed that said Aboleth had opened portals to the Far Realm in order to bring in more Aberrations. And that’s when things go full Lovecraftian.
Thanks for all the inspiring rp options, you helped me change a throwaway line about an abolith into it being apart of the main story! The evil count that’s been subjecting his ppl was really the puppet of an abolith since birth.
I have loved these monster episodes since the beginning and they just get better and better. With aberrations specifically the lore and expectations for the monster are less easily extrapolated from other fantasy sources, so this episode was super helpful for getting some ideas going on about how to use Aboleth
oh wow this is new i just found you guys and have been watching all your content , its inspired me to write my own campaign. Thank you guys for the videos
You guys should do a video about Tucker's Kobolds. There's this famous story about a DM who filled his dungeon with a bunch of kobolds who were able to challenge a high-level party simply by using cunning and strategy. How would you guys implement something like that?
I like to think that when the Aboleth Elder dies, the other Aboleths eat it out of tradition to gain it's memories, which is why their memories are so vast.
Had a game where our party encountered an Aboleth that wasn't immediately hostile. We were looking for a way to slay a demon called "The Rune Breaker." On our quest we learned of a shrine of wisdom where a single question could be asked, and the answer given. So after much searching we found it. After navigating a large dungeon, and crossing a large pool of water to an island with a magic candle lighting the way. Once on the island and Aboleth emerged and asked up what wisdom we desired; and that the value of our wisdom gained, will be the value of a task preformed. My character being a straight shooter just asked about slaying the Arch Demon. Druid asked for the meaning of life. Wizard asked for the nature of the universe. Bard asked what he would be good for dinner. Bard was the only one, who's character didn't die or go crazy preforming the Aboleth's task.
Our DM had us fight a “sorcerer” (which turned Out to be an abolith) in the sewers of a city. The DM made it a set piece fight, where water would pour into a room, and the party had to drain the water, by turning a series of valves, while also fighting this abolith. It was great because as the water got higher the abolith would have better movement / likewise as it got smaller it would be easier for the party to get a hit in.
This has given me an idea for a character concept. An evil warlock that is pacted with an aboleth. Surely someone, somewhere has already done this but right now this has me really excited.
There was an adventure box in advanced 2nd edition called «Night Below», get your hand on it and adapt it if you can. Stranges things happen in a village, and the players following the trail of the missing persons have to go underground. Layers after layers, they get to the underdark... and even further, below that, they find an entire city of aboleth with their minions... Insane adventure, very very long campain, chance of survival near zero but crazy fun! This is the best campaign-thriller we ever played, the most frightening too. Each time you think you found the responsible of the disparitions, it goes deeper and deeper... You cross city of underground gnomes, drows, a shadow dragon, it has it all. Get your hand on it if you're a DM!
I like the idea of an Aboleth enslaving an Npc important to one or more pcs, and using that to blackmail the Pcs into taking a Warlock pact, granting a free Warlock level and forever giving it a glimpse into their minds. I see the potential to create a lovecraftian charlies angels campaign. Bosley would be a kraken priest. Charlie would be the Aboleth. Lols
You guys mentioned the Lords of Madness book and i just have to say, recently my party and i had a whole adventure in the far realm it i was sufficiently terrified the entire time.
I'm scripting an amusement park that the party will work for, for a couple levels and then the twist is that they've been working for an aboleth the whole time
A DM hit us with something with a similar enslave ability, but through a psychic mark (which I took to gain an alliance to fight off something bigger coming), it was able to retry the enslave as long as I was on the same plane. Somehow I saved for over a week before leaving the plane to go somewhere else.
Very much enjoy this channel. Binge watched a majority of your stuff within a couple days of finding it. Then I started noticing things like Whataburger cups and (to my pleasant surprise) a Maudie's Tex-Mex hoodie, meaning y'all were in my hometown. Then I learned y'all were part of the Season 1 campaign within a local gaming bar I happen to frequent (Currently playing in Season 2) and I was like, "Holy shit, what a small awesome world." Keep up the videos! You have a lot of support in the local community!
I was searching for help in an upcoming campaign I'm running and stumbled across this channel. First video I watched and I just subscribed. Keep up the good work!
Water sense 30 ft. Same as blind sense but only applicable in water. The creature uses electricity in the water like some fish to hunt in the depths of the ocean darkness
Aboleths are possibly my fav monster. Id love to see a video where you guys go really into the minuta of running a bad guy that has an alien mind set. Like the Mind Flayers experiencing time backwards, sounds really cool but I have no idea how Id run something like that or what it would really mean for their society, the way they plan or anything.
Aboleth would surely have electroperception, we could argue their electroreceptors are how they send/detect thoughts. The detection likely has more fidelity with proximity, doubtlessly works underwater, and mucus may be required for it. Sediment shouldn't be an issue for them but maybe they would face difficulty with target rich environments? Prey swim in schools which wreaks havoc on shark senses, likely even this one. Help me out if I'm wrong, ya know.
I think an Aboleth, at least a strong set piece aboleth, should have Mindsight from Lords of Madness. Have a brain? It knows exactly where you are. No one can shield those psychic waves your brain's giving off.
Any time people talk about aboleths I am happy. Currently working on an island city/state campaign where the big bad is a struggle deep below with illithids and an aboleth, both keeping each other in check and finding a way to get the party to choose a side.
Wow! What a surprising episode! It really gave me a lot of ideas for a campaign where i was having trouble finding a good crime lord. Blorcharvz haseth been borne. Great episode.
I made giant spiders have a funeral that my party didn't realize till midway they had killed someone at a Wake and enraged an entire family of Giant Spiders.
NewSheo the DMG there's a section dedicated to creating monsters and determining CR, but in general what I'd do is Increase the number of Hit Die, give them some psionically themed innate spells to cast like Telekinesis, maybe increase the proficiency bonus and some stats.
The Aboleth should be able to be a BBEG with minimal changes. I think the Aboleth works better as a weak villain that uses its vast knowledge and manipulation to be a threat, and maybe a powerful magic artifact or two. Perhaps it has something that allows it to better enslave aquatic animals for example. Maybe it uses mind controlled whales, sharks, and squids to attack trade routes a small island needs to survive. Without the import from the mainland the people on the island become desperate and are forced to turn to the Aboleth's minions for aid.The islanders have no idea the Aboleth caused the trade to stop, only that it was there to help them when it did. Soon the Aboleth begins to enslave key individuals like mayors, teachers, and priest so it can strengthen it's influence over the island. Soon the islanders are giving tribute to the Aboleth not because of fear, but to show their thanks for all the kindness it has shown. Now the Aboleth's influence isn't just limited to the sea, but now land also. If you want to have big boss fight scenario in the end you don't have to throw big numbers and spells on the Aboleth just think more about how you can use the environment and its minions to make the fight more memorable and epic. Perhaps it's lair is in a deep dark underwater cavern that limits the parties mobility, awareness, and options in combat. The Aboleth doesn't come straight at the party, it sends minions to weaken them, and constant illusions of itself so the party never knows if the Aboleth they see is real or not. Maybe it pops in for a round or two before the final fight to attempt to enslave a party member while the rest of the party is distracted. It only fights the party directly when it has no choice, or when the party is vulnerable. Give the Aboleth minions that can immobilize the players, or drag them away, that is when the Aboleth shows itself and gets its tentacles dirty.
In my campaign, I have an aboleth that dwells beneath a city in the sewer system. Sort of like the huge snake in Harry Potter chamber of secrets. From there it enslaved people of power in the city. My party was fond of a NPC there, left for an adventure, and when they returned that NPC was acting really weird. They slowly figured it out. Aboleths are really cool for being a small scale enemy. Great show btw.
Reminds me of an Eberron campaign I ran in 3.5, with an eight player table. I leveled it in psionics since the party had an airship. The players said "At least it can't fly" after the first encounter with it, to which I said "well actually..." Their faces, priceless.
One of my favorite twists on the Aboleth is from the Pathfinder Advanced Bestiary, it's basically a collection of templates, in it on called Airborne creature and the example they use is an Aboleth so now when it hits you and makes you need to stay in water you're on dry land in the middle of no where
If you really want to seed some long-term fun, one of the _players_ could offer to run an Aboleth's sleeper agent within the party. Works well for Clerics or Warlocks - who got their power from the Aboleth - but it could work for anyone. And this PC is just completely devoted to their Deep Master. They pal around with the rest of the party, going along with their adventures. Taking out villainous schemers - Beholders, Vampires, Illithids, evil cults, etc. - because they are competition for the Aboleth, and the Aboleth can't have that. So this PC is acting as their master's assassin, and the rest of the party thinks it's because they just want to do good. And finally, when the party destroys all the evil competition, the sleeper agent says they just got word about one last threat. So they lead the party down into the Aboleth's lair, having the lair's defenses soften up the party as it goes along. Until they finally come to the Aboleth's pool...and the PC reveals their real allegiance. So not only is the party fighting a boss monster and a load of minions that were kept waiting in the wings, but they also have to fight one of their old friends.
I am playing an Aboleth agent right now. I have already set up "my sister" a hag as adviser to the queen (king is dead) so she can be manipulated into destroying the country.
I'm using the old Lost City as a guide for a 5e adventure. Changing Zargon to an Aboleth. There's an enslaved populace that drinks elixirs (mucous?) and their city is by a large underground lake.
I like the analogy of the Doctor and River song. The older the Illithid get, the further back in time they try to jump. At some point the aboleth and illithid will know just as much about one another. When the Illithid first arrived they were mysterious and powerful, as time passed and colonies died the aboleth discover more colonies spontaneously appearing, each of them less familiar with the race of material. Eventually there will be an aboleth that sees it's end nearing and spawns a creature off it's own bioloy, but different. Watches in disappointment as it rampages mad and hungry, but tries again, this time with a host. This aboleth watches the first Illithid empire rise, and before the worst happens, make their first time jump.
I am with Jim 100% on the appeal of aberrations and weird monsters. Every time I think of what I want to do with my D&D campaign, I end up with an aberration like an aboleth being behind all the evil machinations. The body horror and grotesquery of them is so enthralling (hehe) to me.
I'm running it now and when they talked about making an aboleth stronger that's the place to look. They took the 8HD standard aboleth and raised it up to 40 HD, some magic resistance, heaps of spells, and ability to spew forth a golem
A great old one patron idea I've had was an nearly fossilized Aboleth in a large dry lake bed. It would appear to be a large thirsty rock that gives people near it visions of being buried alive in sand and salt.
I think the twist that the cursed swamp below the town is not 10ft deep and filled with tangling plants, but instead a 3000ft deep chasm in the earth lining to the plane of water.
what a perfect time for this video, i just started running a campaign on an archipelago setting and i was definitely planning to deploy an aboleth or two at some point (the idea of the base one in the MM being a footsoldier was a great twist that i'll probably steal)
Know I'm a little late to the party, but I just want to thank you guys! I've been making a massive dungeon crawl, sort of oldschool style.. and I had no idea what was gonna be the final boss or how to really end it, and with you guys help, I've decided it'll be an Aboleth!
Personally, while I think the idea of Illithids being created by Aboleths has merit, I think I'd much rather go with the idea that the two species are ancient, primordial rivals. Like Lovecraft's works, where Cthulhu spawn make war with the Elder Things, or the Great Race of Yith tangling with the Mi-Go, make Aboleths be eternal psychic enemies of the Mind Flayers. The Aboleths developed on the Prime Material Plane, whereas the Illithids come from the Far Realms. Terrestrial horror versus cosmic horror.
After accidentally watching Cthulhu and Aboleth episodes back to back I realized these two are like missing pieces to the puzzle of the other, and that gives a high level path of understanding and unlocking the power behind the hardest challenge in my Campaign of over 35 years, the coven of true dragons that run 1/2 the world that are really a company of pit fiends imprisoned in the planet with the patron demon of mankind (and Cthulu, unbeknownst). Even the Gods do not know the history of this planet, it is a feature of their cosmos that predates them, but the aboleth do. They actually worship Cthulhu, and are his only window to the universe. Their pantheon of celestials is just a screen. They'll have to be more powerful than the outer planes to defeat Cthulhu, but at least I finally have my end game, lol. Many thanks for this happy coincidence, I saw it coming only 1/2 way thru the first vid ;) The future of Batugrond, aka Batagren, the center of the heavens, where the Gods resolve their differences only remotely, if it has one, thanks to you immensely. It really is the most awesome place for any sylvan, fey, elf, half elf, oriental , or wood elf, be they wild or civilized. The sylvan cultures from around the galaxy come here in their afterlives, for the object lesson of how life could have been if they were all united as one and free, as in the world and in the heavens. On Bategron, there is no other survival strategy, it's all, or none. The Heavens intervene on this magic thick planet as often as they can to build advantage. Very large portals to the 8 main outer planes each form satellites of Battaegrun, the innermost is called Sun. Heaven and Hell are in the sky where one can see them during half their orbits. You can see them clearly against the background stars moving slowly to the North, especially when they turn in the sky and the astrologers all go crazy arguing about where they will stop. This is why Earthlings think the Earth is flat and the Sun goes around Earth. An almost flat horizon and the Baeteugroon centered universe is a deep racial memory. I'm finally sure I'm not joking when I say Cthulhu is driving this monstrosity. And the aboleth are the only key to even knowing he's there, or where this regime in the heavens, or on Bategrun itself, even came from? or what makes it all tick? much less why we wander the galaxy visiting other planes? Not even Mordenkainen nor even the Thendar know. Yuck, I don't want to play aboleth nor Cthulhu, but they have to be the keys :( Thank you immensely, I probably just forgot, but w/out you it would have stayed that way. Sure hope I can find a way to save the players from ever finding the aboleth, cuz I hates me some mind flayers and psionics pretty fierce. But what has got to be done, must be done. @ facebook.com/WebDMEntertainment/ re: ua-cam.com/video/ywkRYjgb5R8/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/qYBMHMc3ywg/v-deo.html
Oh man thank you for this one! I just introduced the hint of this unknown evil affecting the group. Not a demon but something else! I will be using your tips for this new villain.
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Web DM I’ve been wondering for awhile where are those big troll models behind Pruitt from I’ve been looking for something like those
How would you do to make a sudo campaign against bandits or turning a forest into a sudo dungeon
They're Mythic Legion trolls by 4 Horsemen Design!
according to the lore, aboleths were always the way they are now, just prior to the gods whipping the majority of them out, more numerous, plus I doubt noodling would work given aboleths are easy way too smart for that
Skum in 5e look way drastic from their original form, was released in the recent "Ghosts of Saltmarsh"
Aboleth, for when you think you will get Cthulhu but get catfished. Because who admits they are CR 10 on their profile.
I would say cthulhu is cr10. It's a threat to the earth but not the whole universe. The great Yog-Sothoth might be more cr 15 threat to all the planes. The idiot god would be the cr 20-30 threat to the entire universe.
Your post is why UA-cam needs something even stronger than a mere 'thumbs up'. Well done.
Callum Ballantyne I mean I don’t think the terrasque or even tiamat is a threat to the whole universe
Thank you.
Callum Ballantyne it would depend upon what the god’s crs are. If the gods are cr 30, then the lovecraft gods will probably be around the high 10’s to mid 20’s.
An aboleth trapped in a small lake mind controls villagers to build a canal linking his pond to the sea. How about that?
Cool
Better yet, the Aboleth has been working on this plan for centuries, so he doesn't even need to mind control most of the town. He just needs to mind control enough people to make them argue that building a canal is in the best interests of the townspeople. So they end up doing it of their own volition (albeit manipulated volition).
How did it get trapped there? Was it punished by its own kind? Are there other aboleths even more powerful that would be pissed if it got free?
@@crisoliveira2644 guess powerful enemies..knowing he would reform in the elemental plane if killed sent him into a magic slumber...but who could be so powerful?
They are ancient, the land mass and bodies of water could have shifted at some point in history and trapped it.
Big fan of the specific monster shows. Always gives so much inspiration for one shots and chapters to campaigns that I will never have time to run
That damn Aboleth conning me out of my tree fiddy
Yes
My genasi totem barbarian had a shark spirit as his totem. Turns out it was actually an Aboleth.
Man all that high level d and d stuff is great, but I will always love this "heres a monster, heres ten ways to think of it that you may not just reading its stat block." great show guys
Thanks!
Exactly this. I like how these guys are able to generate unique scenarios by stitching together various ideas because it gives you the process for how to do it yourself, including examples on modifying the Aboleth statblock.
What about an urban aboleth? the average person, or even most experts, have no idea what they are. One could easily go to a city, pop out at the docks, and propose to work for the city as an adviser, pretending to be some good-alligned sea creature. With their massive knowledge and powers, they would easily become very popular, and slowly over time start enslaving the people in power, until they control the whole city in secret. Have a serie of channels venezia-style built in the city, and he's just created his own personal fortress. If you want to get him, you'll have to kill thousands of civilians that think he's a genius and a town hero, always spreading his immense knowledge and helping them.
Can I use this? I was already planning a city kind of like Venice and this would make a great addition to it
Dude it is awesome of you to ask but..it is a random comment on a youtube video that are discussing how to make a game better...Steal with both hands and feet man!
Good idea, but I have one objection. I don't think the Aboleth should ever reveal its true appearance. It has Phantasmal Force, so it can create illusions of whatever is desires. Some people will be creeped out by any sort of giant catfish, no matter how benevolent it presents itself as. Moreover, it's just good practice to keep one's true nature and appearance a secret, so it's harder to find.
I prefer a Lovecraftian tilt to this, using phantasmal force and blurring the lines between their lives and their dreams and then utter control.
Agreed. Have the lives of the residents be inundated with visions pulled from their dreams, so they are slowly made to wonder what is dream and what is reality. Giving the Aboleth access to Mirage Arcana would also help, as it would allow it to subtly alter the appearance of the city in general. Make them Regional Effects, so the Aboleth's presence in the city slowly morphs it into one of its design (at least, in appearances).
This sort of activity would also tend to be noticed by outsiders, and create some great plot hooks.
Dude, an aboleth that casts Clone on a minion and sends him out with the party. First downtime they have the minion says "I'm gonna visit my family" and gets devoured and is instantly revived. Rinse and repeat.
I’m confused, what’s the point of this? I don’t understand the gets devoured part and what not.
@@heathenpride7931 Aboleths get all of the memories of those they devour. Using a scout that would willingly get devouered by the aboleth was an idea they brought forth, I just added the clone part so it could be more than just a one and done deal.
Plus this would be far less sospicious than a friend just vanishing, potential creating a fight to early for your party.
I have an Aboleth villain in my campaign and I am so happy you made this.
Same.
Same- bbeg for the last 2 years
Pruit: Aboleths, they love their slaves.
Davis: He he he he he he he yes they do!
Gave me a chuckle.
The gods: mom said it’s my turn dominating things on the material plane, move aboleth
Aboleths are the the best monsters. And I agree with Jim that the CR 10 aboleths shown in the monster manual are the "common" version. Adult aboleths in the same way a level 1 PC is an "adult". I think Lords of Madness talk about it, or maybe it's my personal canon, but I'm of the mind that aboleths never stop growing, so you can have a CR 20 gargantuan Great One who personally saw the arrival of the gods and has a couple of krakens enslaved to it.
Love the idea of the scout that joins the party and is then eaten. One way to sidestep the enslavement range restriction is that this spy has been pressed into joining the adventurers because one of their loved ones is enslaved by the aboleth. The "God of the Lake" has promised the spy that it'll release the captive if they go and assist the heroes for a year and come back (without saying that it intends to eat their brain).
Another way to justify a difference in size (and CR) is to play into the fact that Aboleths return from death by reforming their bodies in the Elemental Plane of Water. When an Aboleth does this, it can be assumed that they must start over from the beginning of their growth cycle. So a CR 10 Aboleth is one that has recently been defeated and had to reform.
"Recently" being relative for Aboleths who have memory dating back to untold epochs of antiquity. A CR 10 Aboleth might have been last killed 1000 years ago or thereabouts. Aboleths of greater CR represent ones that have stuck around for longer since their previous death, and thus reflects that they are not only bigger, but also more badass in general. A CR 20 Aboleth might represent an Aboleth who was never killed, or who was only ever killed once (and it took a god to do it). They've just spent the intervening period of eons waiting, growing, and amassing power.
Under this model, there is assumed to be no "new" Aboleths. The same number have existed since the beginning.
The party I'm playing in fought and slew an aboleth. My half-orc monk character was affected by its disease, so I couldn't leave the water, but I also couldn't breathe underwater (I had a water breathing spell cast on me when we fought it). Basically what ended up happening was the party went for help, but the nearest source of help for this particular affliction was a few days away, so I had to stay in the water for several days. I basically lay in the shallows of this enormous lake meditating for several days, mostly submerged but coming up for air when I had to, and a villager living nearby came and brought me food, until the party returned with a remedy.
Interesting that in 5e Aboleth slime doesn't also grant you magical water breathing. It does in Pathfinder, which solves a lot of the associated problems.
"Mucous Cloud: While Underwater, the aboleth is surrounded by transformative mucus. A creature that touches the aboleth or that hits it with a melee Attack while within 5 ft. of it must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is diseased for 1d4 hours. The diseased creature can breathe only Underwater."
If the aboleth is hitting you with a tentacle, you are touching it.
Guillermo del Toro, Mountains of Madness, Apocalypse Now, Medicine Man adventure. Now that's a project.
I just realized. That castle is a DM screen
It's actually the Helms deep mini from the Games Workshop LotR tabletop wargame!
There are some screens that actually look like a castle and and function as a screen, ie you can put papers and stuff in it,but as far as we know they're few and far between.
Web DM Oh. Cool! Thanks for the reply :D
(And the awesome vids of course)
Wait, so it was actually not made as a DM screen?
I picture Aboleths to be primordial supercomputers. If something was capable of perfectly recalling eons, I feel it would seek to expand that information indefinitely.
Your weekly uploads are usually the highlight of my week.
Christopher Brown Same!
I like the idea of something like an aboling (baby aboleth) living in some random puddle that's about 10ft deep. The wet season is over and due to flooding in the area this poor little thing has gotten swept too far from the lake home it was born in and has become stranded. The puddle drying up by the day. So when some go-lucky adventurers pass its puddle on the road, it telepathically asks them for aid, with 'force' if necessary.
Return it home and risk an encounter with a parent aboleth, potentially being enthralled to remain there?
OR
Leave it to 'die'/end up killing it, the party knowingly/unknowingly aware it will be reborn in the Plane of Water, only to remember them as it comes back older and stronger for revenge?
PS: I don't even know how/if aboleth reproduce
Lords of Madness informs that they're hermaphroditic egg-layers, im pretty sure
regardless, the one im running is, and has been laying eggs for hundreds of years and keeping them in stasis
Soon^tm it plans on letting them all hatch at once to repopulate the planet it feels it has autochthonous right to 😈
@@Star-pl1xs I am stealing your idea
I've been thinking arctic aboleth. Like Eskimos unconver this thing in the ice and it takes them all over. You could blend in that whole 'more fish eyed thing' into these little blizzard ridden villages. Plus, the aboleth wouldn't be the only thing the party has to worry about as frostbite slowly closes in on them. Howls in the night could just as easily be yetis, wind, or a mind-controlled frost witch here to summon the elder aboleth to the glacier. Plus, the aboleth itself isn't even the first thing that would come to the players. They would probably go for nature spirits, then catch on to this coven, then finally catch up to the aboleth, who in itself is trying to summon its own boss. Oh, and the aboleth could keep around mind controlled yetis, polar bears, ice wolves, villagers, and more. All the time, the aboleth trying to track down how it ended up frozen in the glacier, for even the all knowing beasts, it seems, cannot remember...
Be quite cool if you did a vid on the concept of the 'Quest' Campaign.
Ie Kill Smaug, deliver the Droid.
So its structured a bit like a movie in that you have an introduction adventure, then you give them a quest with a journey with cool obsitlces and different lands (flying / teleporting doesn't work) then have an extended goal at the end.
They seem like quite fun campaigns.
Every single one of your videos gives me so much inspiration and drive to write adventures. Every. Single. One.
what? a Web DM video on my favorite monster in the manual?
I can't wait to hear you talk about psychic eels and why we should embrace our aquatic overlords
In our D&D game, our GM had an aboleth living in an ancient black dragon's tomb, which had frozen over. Said aboleth had found an orb of dragon kind in this place, and attuned to it, so when we were exploring it, it used it to revive the skeletal remains of the old dragon, and made for a HELL of a mid dungeon boss. Of course it was not as powerful as its original form, since we were only level 8, but it was pretty intense.
Storm Giant noodling for Aboleths! Holy shit that's amazing lol
A campaign I’m thinking of running is centered in the underdark, the players are drawn in by dealing with a kuatoa village, then they encounter an army of the underdark races, duergar svirfneblin, drow. Which have been intellect devoured and are being led by illithids. Only to have the final reveal when they get to the Elder Brain that an aboleth had enslaved it, and through it, created this huge army of people readyone night to storm the surface world
And THEN it’s revealed that said Aboleth had opened portals to the Far Realm in order to bring in more Aberrations. And that’s when things go full Lovecraftian.
Holy shit what a plot!
Wait, this isn't Thursday-Wednesday, it is Wednesday-Wednesday...
I love the way Jim and Pruitt think about the sociology of evil.
Thanks for all the inspiring rp options, you helped me change a throwaway line about an abolith into it being apart of the main story! The evil count that’s been subjecting his ppl was really the puppet of an abolith since birth.
I have loved these monster episodes since the beginning and they just get better and better. With aberrations specifically the lore and expectations for the monster are less easily extrapolated from other fantasy sources, so this episode was super helpful for getting some ideas going on about how to use Aboleth
They'll come for your children, or your grandchildren. Or ten generations later.
PLOT HOOK
Oh heck yes! Love seeing new Web DM goodness.
oh wow this is new i just found you guys and have been watching all your content , its inspired me to write my own campaign. Thank you guys for the videos
Welcome!!! Glad you enjoy them!
they are the best honestly, take in everything they have to offer
Kraken Priest is a great Idea just change Voice of the Kraken to cause charmed condition rather than Frightened :D
You guys should do a video about Tucker's Kobolds.
There's this famous story about a DM who filled his dungeon with a bunch of kobolds who were able to challenge a high-level party simply by using cunning and strategy.
How would you guys implement something like that?
DabIMON their “war as combat/sport” video discussed Tucker’s Kobolds and adversarial dming
I like to think that when the Aboleth Elder dies, the other Aboleths eat it out of tradition to gain it's memories, which is why their memories are so vast.
Had a game where our party encountered an Aboleth that wasn't immediately hostile. We were looking for a way to slay a demon called "The Rune Breaker." On our quest we learned of a shrine of wisdom where a single question could be asked, and the answer given. So after much searching we found it. After navigating a large dungeon, and crossing a large pool of water to an island with a magic candle lighting the way. Once on the island and Aboleth emerged and asked up what wisdom we desired; and that the value of our wisdom gained, will be the value of a task preformed.
My character being a straight shooter just asked about slaying the Arch Demon.
Druid asked for the meaning of life.
Wizard asked for the nature of the universe.
Bard asked what he would be good for dinner.
Bard was the only one, who's character didn't die or go crazy preforming the Aboleth's task.
Bard is a simple man. Bard is a good man.
Typically it's the characters that don't take every situation super seriously that are the ones that survive till the end.
I truly do live for those after credits videos. they give me life.
Jim Davis looks like he's lost some weight! That's cool dude, stay with us and keep putting out inspiration! Love the specific monster shows.
Aboleth plots to get his hands on a magical artifact that can flood the world.
10:54 "DO YOU HAVE A DORSAL FIN?!"
Nice video as always guys!
you´re my favourite thing to listen while I hike or cycle !
Long Jim Silver.
No, wait.
Slim Jim Silver.
You’re welcome.
Colin Louderback Trust the Gooordon's Fishermeeen
Long Dong Sliver
Long Bong Jimmer
Loved the hell out of all the Monster-Episodes. Happy to see them return. Hope there is a Chunk more to come?
Thanks to you guys, I'm reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell for a school project!
This is the show I requested!
Guys this video is amazing! Just made my setting and have already used all of the great things you've posted here. thanks
Our DM had us fight a “sorcerer” (which turned Out to be an abolith) in the sewers of a city. The DM made it a set piece fight, where water would pour into a room, and the party had to drain the water, by turning a series of valves, while also fighting this abolith. It was great because as the water got higher the abolith would have better movement / likewise as it got smaller it would be easier for the party to get a hit in.
Lords of madness also displayed cloaker cities - it’s my fave source book
Oh baby, a monster show!? And featuring one of my favorite monsters!? Yes please
This has given me an idea for a character concept. An evil warlock that is pacted with an aboleth. Surely someone, somewhere has already done this but right now this has me really excited.
Glad we can help inspire!
There was an adventure box in advanced 2nd edition called «Night Below», get your hand on it and adapt it if you can. Stranges things happen in a village, and the players following the trail of the missing persons have to go underground. Layers after layers, they get to the underdark... and even further, below that, they find an entire city of aboleth with their minions...
Insane adventure, very very long campain, chance of survival near zero but crazy fun! This is the best campaign-thriller we ever played, the most frightening too. Each time you think you found the responsible of the disparitions, it goes deeper and deeper... You cross city of underground gnomes, drows, a shadow dragon, it has it all.
Get your hand on it if you're a DM!
I just made a fleshwarping/necrografting aboleth that runs experiments on his minions. Thank you for the video!
I like the idea of an Aboleth enslaving an Npc important to one or more pcs, and using that to blackmail the Pcs into taking a Warlock pact, granting a free Warlock level and forever giving it a glimpse into their minds.
I see the potential to create a lovecraftian charlies angels campaign. Bosley would be a kraken priest. Charlie would be the Aboleth. Lols
WebDM just thank you guys for just creating such a Joy of a show. I haven't watch the video yet but my day has already gotten way better :)
That Apocalypse now idea. . . May I use it for my game? Holy crap that is brilliant.
You guys mentioned the Lords of Madness book and i just have to say, recently my party and i had a whole adventure in the far realm it i was sufficiently terrified the entire time.
I really wanna see an aboleth otherworldly patron
I'm scripting an amusement park that the party will work for, for a couple levels and then the twist is that they've been working for an aboleth the whole time
A DM hit us with something with a similar enslave ability, but through a psychic mark (which I took to gain an alliance to fight off something bigger coming), it was able to retry the enslave as long as I was on the same plane. Somehow I saved for over a week before leaving the plane to go somewhere else.
I just started making a campaign like two weeks ago and this thing fits in so perfectly. Couldn't have had better timing with this video.
Very much enjoy this channel. Binge watched a majority of your stuff within a couple days of finding it.
Then I started noticing things like Whataburger cups and (to my pleasant surprise) a Maudie's Tex-Mex hoodie, meaning y'all were in my hometown.
Then I learned y'all were part of the Season 1 campaign within a local gaming bar I happen to frequent (Currently playing in Season 2) and I was like, "Holy shit, what a small awesome world."
Keep up the videos! You have a lot of support in the local community!
Always great to hear from our ATX Web DM fam!
I was searching for help in an upcoming campaign I'm running and stumbled across this channel. First video I watched and I just subscribed. Keep up the good work!
Water sense 30 ft.
Same as blind sense but only applicable in water.
The creature uses electricity in the water like some fish to hunt in the depths of the ocean darkness
Brilliant idea! I believe sharks have this, and I think it really shows that aboleth's are at the apex of aquatic evolution.
Aboleths are possibly my fav monster.
Id love to see a video where you guys go really into the minuta of running a bad guy that has an alien mind set. Like the Mind Flayers experiencing time backwards, sounds really cool but I have no idea how Id run something like that or what it would really mean for their society, the way they plan or anything.
I use that cartoon analogy so often when I’m talking about RPGs! I’m glad I’m in good company!
this is great.
to delve into the lore and the mind of some of these creature is amazing
thank you
Thanks! I just had some great inspiration for a mid level quest in my 3.5 campaign if the players move their characters near the seaside!
Aboleth would surely have electroperception, we could argue their electroreceptors are how they send/detect thoughts.
The detection likely has more fidelity with proximity, doubtlessly works underwater, and mucus may be required for it.
Sediment shouldn't be an issue for them but maybe they would face difficulty with target rich environments?
Prey swim in schools which wreaks havoc on shark senses, likely even this one. Help me out if I'm wrong, ya know.
I think an Aboleth, at least a strong set piece aboleth, should have Mindsight from Lords of Madness. Have a brain? It knows exactly where you are. No one can shield those psychic waves your brain's giving off.
Darkendrain that’s why you wear lead helmets.
Any time people talk about aboleths I am happy.
Currently working on an island city/state campaign where the big bad is a struggle deep below with illithids and an aboleth, both keeping each other in check and finding a way to get the party to choose a side.
Wow! What a surprising episode! It really gave me a lot of ideas for a campaign where i was having trouble finding a good crime lord. Blorcharvz haseth been borne.
Great episode.
Thank you!
I made giant spiders have a funeral that my party didn't realize till midway they had killed someone at a Wake and enraged an entire family of Giant Spiders.
I have a deep sea-ted fear of Aboleths
Love the idea of making an Aboleth BBEG! Could you elaborate a little more on how to make a greater entity than the CR 10 monster manual profile?
NewSheo the DMG there's a section dedicated to creating monsters and determining CR, but in general what I'd do is Increase the number of Hit Die, give them some psionically themed innate spells to cast like Telekinesis, maybe increase the proficiency bonus and some stats.
The Aboleth should be able to be a BBEG with minimal changes. I think the Aboleth works better as a weak villain that uses its vast knowledge and manipulation to be a threat, and maybe a powerful magic artifact or two. Perhaps it has something that allows it to better enslave aquatic animals for example. Maybe it uses mind controlled whales, sharks, and squids to attack trade routes a small island needs to survive. Without the import from the mainland the people on the island become desperate and are forced to turn to the Aboleth's minions for aid.The islanders have no idea the Aboleth caused the trade to stop, only that it was there to help them when it did. Soon the Aboleth begins to enslave key individuals like mayors, teachers, and priest so it can strengthen it's influence over the island. Soon the islanders are giving tribute to the Aboleth not because of fear, but to show their thanks for all the kindness it has shown. Now the Aboleth's influence isn't just limited to the sea, but now land also.
If you want to have big boss fight scenario in the end you don't have to throw big numbers and spells on the Aboleth just think more about how you can use the environment and its minions to make the fight more memorable and epic. Perhaps it's lair is in a deep dark underwater cavern that limits the parties mobility, awareness, and options in combat. The Aboleth doesn't come straight at the party, it sends minions to weaken them, and constant illusions of itself so the party never knows if the Aboleth they see is real or not. Maybe it pops in for a round or two before the final fight to attempt to enslave a party member while the rest of the party is distracted. It only fights the party directly when it has no choice, or when the party is vulnerable. Give the Aboleth minions that can immobilize the players, or drag them away, that is when the Aboleth shows itself and gets its tentacles dirty.
Just throw TWO aboleths at em!
In my campaign, I have an aboleth that dwells beneath a city in the sewer system. Sort of like the huge snake in Harry Potter chamber of secrets. From there it enslaved people of power in the city. My party was fond of a NPC there, left for an adventure, and when they returned that NPC was acting really weird. They slowly figured it out. Aboleths are really cool for being a small scale enemy. Great show btw.
Reminds me of an Eberron campaign I ran in 3.5, with an eight player table. I leveled it in psionics since the party had an airship. The players said "At least it can't fly" after the first encounter with it, to which I said "well actually..." Their faces, priceless.
My Aboleth's name is Old Gregg.
Dorkseid this killed me
Do you love me?
You ever drink Bailey's from a shoe?
good one.
Whatcha doin in my waters?
Gods showing up to the Aboleth controlled world.
"Mom said it was my turn to play with the world."
"No."
"Fight you for it."
Perfect jungle campaign. 19:00 I love this.
One of my favorite twists on the Aboleth is from the Pathfinder Advanced Bestiary, it's basically a collection of templates, in it on called Airborne creature and the example they use is an Aboleth so now when it hits you and makes you need to stay in water you're on dry land in the middle of no where
If you really want to seed some long-term fun, one of the _players_ could offer to run an Aboleth's sleeper agent within the party. Works well for Clerics or Warlocks - who got their power from the Aboleth - but it could work for anyone. And this PC is just completely devoted to their Deep Master. They pal around with the rest of the party, going along with their adventures. Taking out villainous schemers - Beholders, Vampires, Illithids, evil cults, etc. - because they are competition for the Aboleth, and the Aboleth can't have that. So this PC is acting as their master's assassin, and the rest of the party thinks it's because they just want to do good.
And finally, when the party destroys all the evil competition, the sleeper agent says they just got word about one last threat. So they lead the party down into the Aboleth's lair, having the lair's defenses soften up the party as it goes along. Until they finally come to the Aboleth's pool...and the PC reveals their real allegiance. So not only is the party fighting a boss monster and a load of minions that were kept waiting in the wings, but they also have to fight one of their old friends.
I am playing an Aboleth agent right now. I have already set up "my sister" a hag as adviser to the queen (king is dead) so she can be manipulated into destroying the country.
I'm using the old Lost City as a guide for a 5e adventure. Changing Zargon to an Aboleth. There's an enslaved populace that drinks elixirs (mucous?) and their city is by a large underground lake.
Jim, the correct plural of octopus is octopuses or octopodes but not octopi.
Great episode as always guys!
I like the analogy of the Doctor and River song. The older the Illithid get, the further back in time they try to jump. At some point the aboleth and illithid will know just as much about one another. When the Illithid first arrived they were mysterious and powerful, as time passed and colonies died the aboleth discover more colonies spontaneously appearing, each of them less familiar with the race of material. Eventually there will be an aboleth that sees it's end nearing and spawns a creature off it's own bioloy, but different. Watches in disappointment as it rampages mad and hungry, but tries again, this time with a host. This aboleth watches the first Illithid empire rise, and before the worst happens, make their first time jump.
Lords of Madness was probably my favorite 3.5 source book
I am with Jim 100% on the appeal of aberrations and weird monsters. Every time I think of what I want to do with my D&D campaign, I end up with an aberration like an aboleth being behind all the evil machinations. The body horror and grotesquery of them is so enthralling (hehe) to me.
Grab a copy of Night Below. Aboleth are the secret big bad. It's really cool.
I'm running it now and when they talked about making an aboleth stronger that's the place to look. They took the 8HD standard aboleth and raised it up to 40 HD, some magic resistance, heaps of spells, and ability to spew forth a golem
A great old one patron idea I've had was an nearly fossilized Aboleth in a large dry lake bed. It would appear to be a large thirsty rock that gives people near it visions of being buried alive in sand and salt.
I think the twist that the cursed swamp below the town is not 10ft deep and filled with tangling plants, but instead a 3000ft deep chasm in the earth lining to the plane of water.
what a perfect time for this video, i just started running a campaign on an archipelago setting and i was definitely planning to deploy an aboleth or two at some point (the idea of the base one in the MM being a footsoldier was a great twist that i'll probably steal)
If your Aboleth villain doesn't have blob fish as minions, you are doing it wrong.
Know I'm a little late to the party, but I just want to thank you guys! I've been making a massive dungeon crawl, sort of oldschool style.. and I had no idea what was gonna be the final boss or how to really end it, and with you guys help, I've decided it'll be an Aboleth!
What about krakens and what not? And ocean and sea campaigns?
Personally, while I think the idea of Illithids being created by Aboleths has merit, I think I'd much rather go with the idea that the two species are ancient, primordial rivals. Like Lovecraft's works, where Cthulhu spawn make war with the Elder Things, or the Great Race of Yith tangling with the Mi-Go, make Aboleths be eternal psychic enemies of the Mind Flayers. The Aboleths developed on the Prime Material Plane, whereas the Illithids come from the Far Realms. Terrestrial horror versus cosmic horror.
The number of ways the automatic subtitles have tried to render "aboleth" is both amusing and extremely diverse. :)
I personally like the idea of an aboleth enslaving a coven of sea hags and using them to gain access to surprisingly powerful magic
After accidentally watching Cthulhu and Aboleth episodes back to back I realized these two are like missing pieces to the puzzle of the other, and that gives a high level path of understanding and unlocking the power behind the hardest challenge in my Campaign of over 35 years, the coven of true dragons that run 1/2 the world that are really a company of pit fiends imprisoned in the planet with the patron demon of mankind (and Cthulu, unbeknownst).
Even the Gods do not know the history of this planet, it is a feature of their cosmos that predates them, but the aboleth do.
They actually worship Cthulhu, and are his only window to the universe. Their pantheon of celestials is just a screen.
They'll have to be more powerful than the outer planes to defeat Cthulhu, but at least I finally have my end game, lol.
Many thanks for this happy coincidence, I saw it coming only 1/2 way thru the first vid ;)
The future of Batugrond, aka Batagren, the center of the heavens, where the Gods resolve their differences only remotely, if it has one, thanks to you immensely. It really is the most awesome place for any sylvan, fey, elf, half elf, oriental , or wood elf, be they wild or civilized.
The sylvan cultures from around the galaxy come here in their afterlives, for the object lesson of how life could have been if they were all united as one and free, as in the world and in the heavens.
On Bategron, there is no other survival strategy, it's all, or none. The Heavens intervene on this magic thick planet as often as they can to build advantage.
Very large portals to the 8 main outer planes each form satellites of Battaegrun, the innermost is called Sun.
Heaven and Hell are in the sky where one can see them during half their orbits. You can see them clearly against the background stars moving slowly to the North, especially when they turn in the sky and the astrologers all go crazy arguing about where they will stop.
This is why Earthlings think the Earth is flat and the Sun goes around Earth. An almost flat horizon and the Baeteugroon centered universe is a deep racial memory.
I'm finally sure I'm not joking when I say Cthulhu is driving this monstrosity.
And the aboleth are the only key to even knowing he's there, or where this regime in the heavens, or on Bategrun itself, even came from? or what makes it all tick? much less why we wander the galaxy visiting other planes? Not even Mordenkainen nor even the Thendar know.
Yuck, I don't want to play aboleth nor Cthulhu, but they have to be the keys :(
Thank you immensely, I probably just forgot, but w/out you it would have stayed that way.
Sure hope I can find a way to save the players from ever finding the aboleth, cuz I hates me some mind flayers and psionics pretty fierce. But what has got to be done, must be done.
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Had to watch this again since I am running an underwater campaign where in the end the big bad guy is going to be an Aboleth.
Oh man thank you for this one! I just introduced the hint of this unknown evil affecting the group. Not a demon but something else! I will be using your tips for this new villain.