Amphibious. The ancient aboleth can breathe air and water.
Mucous Cloud.
While underwater, the ancient aboleth is surrounded by a transformative cloud of mucous. A creature that touches the ancient aboleth or that hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is diseased for 2d4 hours. The diseased creature can breathe only underwater.
Probing Telepathy. If a creature communicates telepathically with the ancient aboleth, the ancient aboleth learns the creature's greatest desires if the ancient aboleth can see the creature.
Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The ancient aboleth's innate spell casting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 20, +18 to hit with spell attacks). The ancient aboleth can cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: detect thoughts, clairvoyance
2/day each: scrying
1/day each: dominate monster, black tentacles, modify memory, telekinesis,control weather, feeblemind, weird
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the ancient aboleth fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Multiattack. The aboleth makes three tentacle attacks and a bite attack.
Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. Hit: 43 (8d8 + 7) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or become diseased. The disease has no effect for 1 minute and can be removed by any magic that cures disease. After 1 minute, the diseased creature's skin becomes translucent and slimy, the creature can't regain hit points unless it is underwater, and the disease can be removed only by heal or another disease-curing spell of 6th level or higher. When the creature is outside a body of water, it takes 12 (2d12) acid damage every 10 minutes unless moisture is applied to the skin before 10 minutes have passed.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 20 ft. one target. Hit: 42 (10d6 + 7) bludgeoning damage.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +16 to hit, reach 20 ft. one target. Hit: 26 (3d12 + 7) piercing damage. The creature being bitten must be in front of the ancient aboleth for it to make a bite attack. If the target is a creature, it is grappled (escape DC 20). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the ancient aboleth can't bite another target.
Enslave (3/Day). The ancient aboleth targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 19 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed by the ancient aboleth until the ancient aboleth dies or until it is on a different plane of existence from the target. The charmed target is under the ancient aboleth's control and can't take reactions, and the ancient aboleth and the target can communicate telepathically with each other over any distance.
Whenever the charmed target takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends. No more than once every 24 hours, the target can also repeat the saving throw when it is at least 1 mile away from the ancient aboleth.
Frightful Presence. Each creature of the ancient aboleth's choice that is within 120 feet of the ancient aboleth and aware of it must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the ancient aboleth Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours.
Void Shift. The ancient aboleth can transition between the far realm and the material plane at will, but the ancient aboleth must have a source of corruption in which to travel. The corruption, must be large enough for the ancient aboleth to fit its body through when it becomes a portal. This otherwise functions as the plane shift spell.
The aboleth can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The aboleth regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Detect. The aboleth makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Swipe. The aboleth makes one tail attack.
Psychic Drain (Costs 2 Actions). One creature charmed by the aboleth takes 21 (6d6) psychic damage, and the ancient aboleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes.
Lair and Lair Actions
Aboleths lair in subterranean lakes or the rocky depths of the ocean, often surrounded by the ruins of an ancient, fallen aboleth city. An aboleth spends most of its existence underwater, surfacing occasionally to treat with visitors or deranged worshipers.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair, an ancient aboleth can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the ancient aboleth takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- The ancient aboleth casts phantasmal force (no components required) on any number of creatures it can see within 60 feet of it. While maintaining concentration on this effect, the ancient aboleth can’t take other lair actions. If a target succeeds on the saving throw or if the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the ancient aboleth’s phantasmal force lair action for the next 24 hours, although such a creature can choose to be affected.
- Pools of water within 90 feet of the ancient aboleth surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone. The ancient aboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
- Water in the ancient aboleth’s lair magically becomes a conduit for the creature’s rage. The ancient aboleth can target any number of creatures it can see in such water within 90 feet of it. A target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or take 21 (6d6) psychic damage. The ancient aboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
- A creature that comes within 15 feet of the ancient aboleth or in an area of corruption must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, on a failure, they gain a level of exhaustion.
Regional Effects
The region containing an ancient aboleth’s lair is warped by the creature’s presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Underground surfaces within 6 miles of the ancient aboleth’s lair are slimy and wet and are difficult terrain.
- Water sources within 6 miles of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the ancient aboleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes.
- As an action, the ancient aboleth can create an illusory image of itself within 6 mile of the lair. The copy can appear at any location the ancient aboleth has seen before or in any location a creature charmed by the ancient aboleth can currently see. Once created, the image lasts for as long as the ancient aboleth maintains concentration, as if concentrating on a spell. Although the image is intangible, it looks, sounds, and can move like the ancient aboleth. The ancient aboleth can sense, speak, and use telepathy from the image’s position as if present at that position. If the image takes any damage, it disappears.
- Corruptive tears appear within 6 miles of the ancient aboleth's lair. The wildlife becomes more exotic and erratic the closer they reside to these tears, and the larger tears have even more influence. These exotic variants are a result of corruptive mutations, any thing not native to the area must make a DC 18 Wisdom save or suffer a random effect from the long term effect madness tables, if they failed by 5 or more they instead gain an indefinite madness, a failure of 10 or more they gain both a long term effect and an indefinite madness effect.
If the ancient aboleth dies, the first two effects fade over the course of 12d10 days.
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