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{{Dnd-stub}}
[[File:Aboleth B1 PF.png|thumb|right|300px|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSqYeQHJbn0| Hi guys.  How's it going?]]]
[[File:Aboleth.jpg|right|frame]]
{{topquote|Readers will notice a thematic resemblance between the aboleths, the [[Elder Evils]], and various creatures or beings found in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. This is, of course, completely intentional. Of all the major aberration races in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, the aboleths best personify the sense of cosmic horror and the ultimate insignificance of humankind expressed in Lovecraft’s writings. In fact, it’s quite easy to treat the aboleths themselves as a Lovecraftian race akin to the [[Elder Thing|elder thing]]s featured in “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Dreams in the Witch House.”|Lords of Madness}}
'''Aboleth''' are aquatic aberrations with impressive [[Psionics|psionic]] abilities (or magic, depending on edition). Can Dominate, as well as force you to lose the ability to breath air. Creators of the Skum, descendants of humanoid slaves that are enthralled to the aboleth. Also, their species is older than the world and ''the gods themselves'', and they can back up that claim thanks to their ancestral memory, meaning that they are incapable of forgetting and all their memories are passed down from parent to offspring. They can also absorb the memories of anything they eat. The only thing they don't recall is the genesis of the [[mind flayer]] species (since they're from the distant future) so of course this freaks the aboleths out a little bit since they have no idea where the fuck they came from.


They first appeared in the ''Dwellers of the Forbidden City'' [[adventure module]] in 1981, and then in ''[[Monster Manual]] II'' a few years later. ''[[Dragon Magazine]] #131'' has an article called Ecology of the Aboleth. The normal aboleth are merely well... normal.  There are larger and more powerful aboleth.  With psychic abilities that would put [[The Emperor]] and [[/co/|Professor X]] to shame. [[/v/|Mother Brain]] aint got SHIT on the most powerful one. Sadly this article has seemed to have been ignored by everything that came after it, even though [[Advanced_Dungeons_&_Dragons#AD&D_2nd_Edition|2nd edition]] had some fantastic campaign and lore books for a lot of races.
'''Aboleths''' are aquatic [[aberration]]s with impressive [[Psionics|psionic]] abilities (or magic, depending on edition). Can Dominate, as well as force you to lose the ability to breath air. They created the [[Skum]] and [[Chuul]], from enthralled humanoid slaves. Also, their species is older than the world and ''the gods themselves'', and they can back up that claim thanks to their ancestral memory, meaning that they are incapable of forgetting and all their memories are passed down from parent to offspring. They can also absorb the memories of anything they eat. The only thing they don't recall is the genesis of the [[illithid]] species (since they're from the distant future) so of course this freaks the aboleths out a little bit since they have no idea where the fuck they came from.


Unlike the [[beholder]] and [[illithid]], aboleth are [[OGL]] content. For this reason, ''[[Pathfinder]]'' uses them as the main shadowy, manipulative, aberration with innate mind control magic.
They first appeared in the ''[[Dwellers of the Forbidden City]]'' adventure module in 1980-81, and then in ''[[Monster Manual]] II'' a few years later. ''[[Dragon Magazine]] #131'' has an Ecology article.  The normal aboleth are merely well... normal; we're here for larger and more powerful iterations. With psychic abilities that would put [[The Emperor]] and [[/co/|Professor X]] to shame. [[/v/|Mother Brain]] ain't got SHIT on the most powerful one. Sadly this article got ignored by everything that came after the ''[[Dungeoneers Survival Guide]]''.
 
[[Carl Sargent]], midway through [[Advanced_Dungeons_&_Dragons#AD&D_2nd_Edition|2nd edition]], tried again: with ''[[Night Below]]''. The Savant and Grand Savant overlapped (so supplanted) the Greater and Noble Aboleth from the ''Dragon'' article, also introducing the Blood Queen to supplant the Grand Aboleth. Sargent-Aboleth are further handy with [[Glyph]] magic. Sargent did "forget" to include the skum but nobody cared because he'd used dominated [[kuo-toa]] for that niche.
 
For 3e ''[[Lords of Madness]]'' introduced a few new kinds of Aboleths and also contained some great lore on them. An amphibious aboleth is an aboleth that has adapted to be able to live both in and out of water, at the cost of not being as good at swimming.  Uobilyths are aboleths don't live in water at all and can fly, and also are never lawful aligned.  Stygian aboleths are aboleths that have been mutated as a result of living a long time in [[Baator|Stygia]].  Most aboleths do not worship gods, but do pay respects to five beings known as the [[Elder Evils]].
 
if a race with perfect ancestral memory, including every slave eaten was not bad enough, the 5e entry also snuck in a tidbit that thier spirit flees and reforms in the plane of water when slain, making them an even longer-term resepicall of knowledge and schemes.
===Gallery===
<gallery>
Aboleth I1.jpg|I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Aboleth MM2 1e.jpg|1e
Aboleth Dungeon 12.png|Saltwater Aboleth, Dungeon #12
Greater Aboleth Dragon 131.jpg|Greater Aboleth, Dragon #131
Noble Aboleth Dragon 131.jpg|Noble Aboleth, Dragon #131
Ruler Aboleth Dragon 131.jpg|Ruler Aboleth, Dragon #131
Grand Aboleth Dragon 131.jpg|Grand Aboleth, Dragon #131
Aboleth MCV2.jpg|2e
Aboleth and friends Night Below.jpg|Aboleth & Friends, Night Below
Savant aboleth MCAV2.jpg|Savant Aboleth, Night Below
Grand savant Night Below.jpg|The Grand Savant, Night Below Reference Card 6
Fatty Night Below.jpg|The Blood Queen, Night Below Reference Card 5
Fat aboleth tokens Night Below.jpg|Blood Queen and Grand Savant tokens, Night Below Reference Card 7
Shaboath Night Below.jpg|Shaboath (Aboleth city), Night Below
Aboleth MM 2e.png|Monstrous Manual (Premium Edition)
Aboleth MM 3.5e.jpg|3e
Stygian aboleth.jpg|Stygian Aboleth
Aboleth Revealed.png|[[Lords of Madness]]
Aboleth Dungeon 144.jpg|Dungeon #144
Aboleth 4e.jpg|4e
Aboleth.jpg|5e said "Get this man a bite attack"
</gallery>
 
===Further Reading===
; Books<!--Roughly organized by edition-->
* [[Dwellers of the Forbidden City]] pp. 7, 24
* [[Monster Manual#Monster Manual II (AD&D)|Monster Manual II (AD&D)]] p.8
* Monstrous Compendium Volume Two p. 14
* [[Lords of Madness]] Book of Aberrations pp. 15-36
 
; Magazines
* [[Dragon Magazine]] #131 "Ecology of the Aboleth" pp. 36-39
* [[Dragon Magazine]] #222 "Secrets of the Sunless Seas" pp. 90-94
* [[Dungeon Magazine]] #12 "Intrigue in the Depths" pp.34-47
* [[Dungeon Magazine]] #144 "The Lightless Depths" pp. 29-66
* [[Polyhedron Magazine]] #87 "Eye of the Leviathan" pp. 10-19
 
==Pathfinder==
Unlike the [[beholder]] and [[illithid]], aboleth are [[OGL]] content. For this reason, ''[[Pathfinder]]'' uses them as the main shadowy, manipulative aberration with innate mind control magic. In fact, Pathfinder aboleths are just the most common member of a whole family of psychic fish monsters known collectively as '''alghollthus''' (If you look at the gallery below you can see they ran out of design ideas and just started to put red eyes on random aquatic animals). Aboleths have also been renamed ''Alghollthu Masters'' in Pathfinder 2e, just in case WotC decides to copyright the name.
 
{{pf-stub}}
===Gallery===
<gallery>
Aboleth Pathfinder.jpg
Aboleth rune.jpg
Aboleth RoA1.png
Aboleth RoA3.png
Aboleth RoA5.png
Aboleth RoA6.png
Aboleth PF 2e.png
Veiled master.jpg|Vidileth
Vidileth RoA1.png
Vidileth RoA6.png
Omnipath.jpg|Omnipath
Omnipath RoA6.png
Uldraaghu RoA1.png|Uldraaghu
Plizeazoth RoA5.png|Plizeazoth
Enisysian RoA4.png|Enisysian
</gallery>
 
==GURPS==
In Dungeon Fantasy for [[GURPS]] 4e, aboleths are called '''Deep Beyonders'''. They are not restricted to the water, and can in fact innately levitate in the air just like a [[beholder]]!
<gallery>
deep beyonder DF Monsters 2.png
</gallery>


[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Monsters]]

Latest revision as of 10:43, 17 June 2023

Hi guys. How's it going?

"Readers will notice a thematic resemblance between the aboleths, the Elder Evils, and various creatures or beings found in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. This is, of course, completely intentional. Of all the major aberration races in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, the aboleths best personify the sense of cosmic horror and the ultimate insignificance of humankind expressed in Lovecraft’s writings. In fact, it’s quite easy to treat the aboleths themselves as a Lovecraftian race akin to the elder things featured in “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Dreams in the Witch House.”"

– Lords of Madness

Aboleths are aquatic aberrations with impressive psionic abilities (or magic, depending on edition). Can Dominate, as well as force you to lose the ability to breath air. They created the Skum and Chuul, from enthralled humanoid slaves. Also, their species is older than the world and the gods themselves, and they can back up that claim thanks to their ancestral memory, meaning that they are incapable of forgetting and all their memories are passed down from parent to offspring. They can also absorb the memories of anything they eat. The only thing they don't recall is the genesis of the illithid species (since they're from the distant future) so of course this freaks the aboleths out a little bit since they have no idea where the fuck they came from.

They first appeared in the Dwellers of the Forbidden City adventure module in 1980-81, and then in Monster Manual II a few years later. Dragon Magazine #131 has an Ecology article. The normal aboleth are merely well... normal; we're here for larger and more powerful iterations. With psychic abilities that would put The Emperor and Professor X to shame. Mother Brain ain't got SHIT on the most powerful one. Sadly this article got ignored by everything that came after the Dungeoneers Survival Guide.

Carl Sargent, midway through 2nd edition, tried again: with Night Below. The Savant and Grand Savant overlapped (so supplanted) the Greater and Noble Aboleth from the Dragon article, also introducing the Blood Queen to supplant the Grand Aboleth. Sargent-Aboleth are further handy with Glyph magic. Sargent did "forget" to include the skum but nobody cared because he'd used dominated kuo-toa for that niche.

For 3e Lords of Madness introduced a few new kinds of Aboleths and also contained some great lore on them. An amphibious aboleth is an aboleth that has adapted to be able to live both in and out of water, at the cost of not being as good at swimming. Uobilyths are aboleths don't live in water at all and can fly, and also are never lawful aligned. Stygian aboleths are aboleths that have been mutated as a result of living a long time in Stygia. Most aboleths do not worship gods, but do pay respects to five beings known as the Elder Evils.

if a race with perfect ancestral memory, including every slave eaten was not bad enough, the 5e entry also snuck in a tidbit that thier spirit flees and reforms in the plane of water when slain, making them an even longer-term resepicall of knowledge and schemes.

Gallery[edit]

  • I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City

    I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City

  • 1e

    1e

  • Saltwater Aboleth, Dungeon #12

    Saltwater Aboleth, Dungeon #12

  • Greater Aboleth, Dragon #131

    Greater Aboleth, Dragon #131

  • Noble Aboleth, Dragon #131

    Noble Aboleth, Dragon #131

  • Ruler Aboleth, Dragon #131

    Ruler Aboleth, Dragon #131

  • Grand Aboleth, Dragon #131

    Grand Aboleth, Dragon #131

  • 2e

    2e

  • Aboleth & Friends, Night Below

    Aboleth & Friends, Night Below

  • Savant Aboleth, Night Below

    Savant Aboleth, Night Below

  • The Grand Savant, Night Below Reference Card 6

    The Grand Savant, Night Below Reference Card 6

  • The Blood Queen, Night Below Reference Card 5

    The Blood Queen, Night Below Reference Card 5

  • Blood Queen and Grand Savant tokens, Night Below Reference Card 7

    Blood Queen and Grand Savant tokens, Night Below Reference Card 7

  • Shaboath (Aboleth city), Night Below

    Shaboath (Aboleth city), Night Below

  • Monstrous Manual (Premium Edition)

    Monstrous Manual (Premium Edition)

  • 3e

    3e

  • Stygian Aboleth

    Stygian Aboleth

  • Lords of Madness

    Lords of Madness

  • Dungeon #144

    Dungeon #144

  • 4e

    4e

  • 5e said "Get this man a bite attack"

    5e said "Get this man a bite attack"

Further Reading[edit]

Books
Magazines

Pathfinder[edit]

Unlike the beholder and illithid, aboleth are OGL content. For this reason, Pathfinder uses them as the main shadowy, manipulative aberration with innate mind control magic. In fact, Pathfinder aboleths are just the most common member of a whole family of psychic fish monsters known collectively as alghollthus (If you look at the gallery below you can see they ran out of design ideas and just started to put red eyes on random aquatic animals). Aboleths have also been renamed Alghollthu Masters in Pathfinder 2e, just in case WotC decides to copyright the name.

This article related to Pathfinder is a stub. You can help 1d4chan by expanding it

Gallery[edit]

  • Vidileth

    Vidileth

  • Omnipath

    Omnipath

  • Uldraaghu

    Uldraaghu

  • Plizeazoth

    Plizeazoth

  • Enisysian

    Enisysian

GURPS[edit]

In Dungeon Fantasy for GURPS 4e, aboleths are called Deep Beyonders. They are not restricted to the water, and can in fact innately levitate in the air just like a beholder!

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