Amphibious. The aboleth can breathe air and water.
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 feet 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.
Probing Telepathy. If a creature communicates telepathically with the aboleth, the aboleth learns the creature’s greatest desires if the aboleth can see the creature.
Multiattack. The aboleth makes three tentacle attacks.
Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 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 6 (1d12) acid damage every 10 minutes unless moisture is applied to the skin before 10 minutes have passed.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft. one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Enslave (3/Day). The aboleth targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed by the aboleth until the aboleth dies or until it is on a different plane of existence from the target. The charmed target is under the aboleth’s control and can’t take reactions, and the 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 aboleth.
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 10 (3d6) psychic damage, and the aboleth regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes.
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 worshipers.
Lair Actions
When fighting inside its lair, an aboleth can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the aboleth takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- The 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 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 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 aboleth surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone. The aboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
- Water in the aboleth’s lair magically becomes a conduit for the creature’s rage. The 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 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage. The aboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
Regional Effects
The region containing an aboleth’s lair is warped by the creature’s presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Underground surfaces within 1 mile of the aboleth’s lair are slimy and wet and are difficult terrain.
- Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the aboleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes.
- As an action, the aboleth can create an illusory image of itself within 1 mile of the lair. The copy can appear at any location the aboleth has seen before or in any location a creature charmed by the aboleth can currently see. Once created, the image lasts for as long as the aboleth maintains concentration, as if concentrating on a spell. Although the image is intangible, it looks, sounds, and can move like the aboleth. The 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.
If the aboleth dies, the first two effects fade over the course of 3d10 days.
THIS is why I got the ring of mind shielding, I always seem to find one of these.
yes, it does
Ehhh it's one of the oldest races in D&D... How can you make it into something it already is?
The aboleth posted here is the weakest one of it's kind. A mere baby. Aboleths are one of the most dangerous foes in d&d. The oldest of them nothing short of god-like in power. They are close to all knowing and should not be used as a random monster in an undergroud lake or something like that. They know what you know. Not your character, but you as a player. I really think it's a shame that it isn't stated more obvious, that this example is very weak compared to others of it's species
Regarding ENSLAVE: I understand the CHARMED condition effect, but it also says "The charmed target is under the aboleth's control..." What does this mean exactly? Basically can the Aboleth make the character do anything he wants? Or does the Aboleth has to pass a persuasion check with ADVANTAGE first? Thanks in advance.
Once the Aboleth has enslaved a creature, that's it. The Aboleth's will is the creature's will until and unless the mind control is broken. Mechanically, it's a form of PC "death-that-isn't-death" alongside effects such as feeblemind, petrification or demiplane banishment. That's part of what makes the Aboleth one of the most infamous creatures in D&D.
Of course, everything is dependent on how the DM at the table actually wants to call it. If they decide to weaken it and make the Aboleth still need social checks to control a creature? Sure, they can run it that way. It might be what that table needs!
I'd say maybe, you can put them wherever you want! I think by "default" faerun lore they're mostly interested in the prime material plane. They were the first and oldest species, and part of their schtick is that the young races have mostly forgotten them and started worshipping other gods. BUT. You can also run into these things on the elemental plane of water, having built a base away from the prime material. So maybe you would run into one that's found a reason to swim down into the lower planes!
thank you
Interesting
Hmm. Them being like hagfish is almost certainly intentional. They are among the oldest beings in D&D, and hagfish are among the oldest “vertebrates” in the world, if you can even call them vertebrates. They don’t actually have vertebrae. Instead they have a stiff cord down their bodies.
They do have a skull though.
I need to see this.
Niche. Very much a niche. It could be used in combination with phantasmal force for some fun, though.
Nope. It can be within 60 feet of the aboleth but only visible to the image, however.
It's psychic. You can't really have an unintelligent creature that can read minds and control people. Also, there whole story is that they are reborn with all their memories if they die. They have a lot of time to work on their IQ.
LEVEL THREE!!! These should't be fought until level 8, and even then its going to be a very hard fight.
Thats in interesting idea... they do have a connection with memories, so styx would be a cool choice...
Ok, so I'm trying to picture this lair ability in a fully underwater encounter:
"Pools of water within 90 feet of the aboleth surge outward in a grasping tide. Any creature on the ground within 20 feet of such a pool must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet into the water and knocked prone. The aboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one."
Any suggestions, other then pools of water in the lair itself.
Seems kinda week needs more hp and a reliable attack.
Charm lasts until the person takes damage though, right? As in a comrade smacks the charmed person to shake them out of it... triggering a saving throw?
Wellllll... yes, but also no. DC 14 is still not nothing - probably 50/50 at best for characters at a level they'll be fighting this thing.
But a huge part of this effect's danger comes from how creatively cruel the DM is with it. The aboleth COULD have their enslaved puppet dive into the water and just swim away from the fight. That would be the "rocks fall everyone dies" move. Get them out of combat so they can't be saved by their friends. Then, every 24 hours they don't even need to literally mind control them again. You're 5,000 feet below the surface and you need my mucus to breathe. Better stay near daddy-aboleth, because that's all that keeps you alive.
As for how the mind control, is handled at the table, does the DM literally take control of their character sheet or do they lean into the lore/roleplay? Understanding that the specific flavor of mind control aboleths use is "Illusions that you have achieved your greatest desire, and now you want to protect it" can let good-natured players keep their agency while playing into the psychic paradigm shift.
edit: Btw, I did run an encounter with these things and it went exactly as well as I expected it to. I actually had someone hand me their character sheet the first time (just to give them that feeling), then I gave it back and said "You feel like a new person. You are a Master/High/Legendary <Whatever role they want to be> Of the aboleth empire. These little intruders are trying to harm your sovereign! Protect your master and your empire!"