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.
im new to this
How am I supposed to beat this guy without a Cleric?
How have they not regained power? They can produce offspring and can't really die. Which means every single aboleth that has ever existed - since before the gods until this very moment - still exists. There should be tons of these creatures. They're smart and charismatic. They can brainwash you with a look without even having to mention the perfect temptation for you, which they also know. Just in case the rest of your party has dragged you away, chances are they've already physically transformed you enough that you can't survive out of the water.
So I'm dming a campaign and my friend is a level 7 fighter eldritch knight with a vorpal sword and it didn't even have a chance to attack, he killed it in one turn, he did his action, then his bonus action, then his action surge and in the end after doing the math it was at -61 hit points, my other friend and I were just laughing so hard, gg dude XD
And then when the friend that destroyed this thing was dming a different campaign(this was a month ago i think) I got eaten by it- Yup ;v;
Yup it was awsome
It would use many strong water attacks.
Oh yes. This will do nicely. The heroes are winding their way down a river to do some kind of heroic deed. They've sailors and such to operate their ship. The Master wants more slaves. A ship full of them will be so nice. So nice indeed.
Anyone know how long enslave lasts for?
Fhgyvvhdngbh
Using this monster as the main encounter of circus act gone wrong. Once its' caretaker is assassinated, it breaks out of its tank and begins enslaving the members of the freak show circus to fight for it. Thanks! I've been searching for the right terror for an hour now.
Used one with a swamp in a dungeon I’m making
I like it
and how often does that happen? if I had to guess almost never!
So, the aboleth disease appears to be different based on how you get it; from the mucous cloud, it only lasts a number of hours, and from the tentacle, it lasts until healed, and it's effects are much stronger. This is probably a potency thing? Much stronger if you're hit from the source of the mucous.
This being said, my actual point: The mucous cloud disease only mentions that you can't breathe unless underwater. If that is true, and it does not have the effects as the tentacle disease, a bottle of aboleth mucous could be used as a method of water-breathing. Not that water-breathing spells are particularly hard to come by in dungeons and dragons, but the point stands! It's interesting flavor wise, limits the player to a certain number of hours--thereby increasing their creativity-- and gives you another reasonable item they could loot from a corpse.
Even if the mucous disease has the same effects as the tentacle disease, the mucous disease explicitly lasts for 1d4 hours, so it could still be a reasonable method of underwater breathing, with even MORE flavor and story charm.
I think it would also make an interesting ingredient that a player could use to try and make a better potion of water breathing, or perhaps a potion of Alter Self.
That's all, but I think it's interesting!
is that marisha ray i hear??
Wait if a aboleth can change peoples bodies at will why does it not change itself so it can beath air and walk on land?
commenting for later
Does the aboleth gain the effect of Probing Telepathy if it speaks telepathically to a creature visible to it, or does the creature need to telepathically say something to it?
I find the fact that these are the size of horses rather than whales hilarious
Because it may only alter others in a very specific way.