Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 223 - Monster Series - Aboleths and Algholthu

Episode Date: May 12, 2024

Aboleths and Algholthu are amphibious creatures who feel they are gods whose domains have been wrongfully stolen from them by those who they feel should be their slaves.  They are extremely savvy fighters who remember eons of combats and use those lessons when the PCs show up to try to kill them.  In this episode we talk about these huge aberrations and how to use them in your game.   #dnd #5e #pf2e #aboleths #algholthu #aberrations Resources: D&D 2025 - Creative Commons - https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/edition-2024-sourcebooks-srd-creative-commons Riches and Liches - D&D Lore: Monster Lab - Aboleth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwHRDlgi5QI&t=298s The Monsters Know What They’re Doing - Aboleths by Keith Amman - https://www.themonstersknow.com/aboleth-tactics/ The Lords of Madness - The Book of Aberrations

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Aboleths are amphibious. They can breathe air. But it's kind of hard to be inconspicuous as a 20-foot long fish-looking creature with three eyes. They use their thralls to act on their behalf on land and blend into the cities and towns. Towns. Thank you for listening to The Taking Twenty Podcast, episode 223, continuing the Monster series this week, all about Abileths and Algolthu. I want to thank this week's sponsor, Interior Decorators.

We hired an interior decorator and they suspended a lot of cloth in front of our windows. I guess it's curtains for me. Do you like this podcast? If so, please consider sharing an episode on social media platform of your choice. That helps get the word out to people who may be interested in listening to an old man ramble about random RPG topics. If you've listened to me for the past, oh, I'll say 18 months or so, you know I was pretty critical of Wizards of the Coast for some of their decisions made under former CEO Cynthia Williams. I think

many of the decisions made were anti-player and anti-DM as they sought to monetize any and everything related to D&D by, well, among other things, attempting to get rid of the open gaming license to the detriment of so many third-party publishers. Ms. Williams stepped down in April and I was curious to see if Wizards of the Coast would go a different direction. Well, praise where praise is due, it sounds like they listened to the hue and cry of the content producers and announced that they will release the changes from the D&D edition coming out later this year into version 5.2 of the SRD and here's the important part, under the Creative Commons license.

This is coming in 2025, supposedly within weeks of the new Monster Manual being released. That means that the rules in Monsters will likely be usable by third party content creators going forward. If it follows what Wizards have done in the past, then certain class progressions and feats and things like mind flayers and beholders, and maybe certain other aspects of the game will not be in the SRD and will be exclusive

to their printed materials. It was probably a vocal minority that were upset by the original OGL shenanigans in 2023, and most players don't worry about licensing for their home games. For some though, the damage is done and they've moved on to other game systems. I'm going to take a wait and see approach to see if Wizards actually delivers on its promises and what gets held back from the SRD, but tentatively, for right now,

I want to praise Wizards of the Coast for reversing field on this. I expect it will be released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license since that's what the previous SRD version 5.1 was released under. If you're a long time listener, you probably know what I'm about to say. Play what you enjoy, and if you're playing a home game and not releasing commercial products, you probably don't need to worry about what license allows you to do what as long as you have access to the game mechanics that you need. But happily, I'm cautiously more optimistic about Wizards future than I was about a week

ago. Thank you for listening, now on to the episode. What if I told you there were creatures in the deep oceans who predate most civilizations on the surface world? They're brilliant, they're wise, they're strong. They had psionic powers and could allow surface dwellers and to breathe water whenever they needed to. You'd probably think this ancient race was guiding humanity

and the other humanoids to a brighter tomorrow, right? Boy, you couldn't be more wrong. But I'm getting ahead of myself. What are Aboleths and Algolthu? They resemble enormous fish-like creatures but are amphibious, about 20 feet long and weigh about 6,500 pounds or about 3,000 kilos. They have three slit-like red-purple eyes arrayed vertically on their foreheads and protected by bony ridges.

They're lurkers throughout the ocean, down in the abyss of the deep where the light doesn't even reach. They tend to dwell in underwater ruins or sunken cities surrounding themselves with slaves and guardians. I mean it's all very Thalassophobic. You know that feeling when you're swimming in the ocean and you look down and you realize just how much is down there that you can't possibly see. Even relatively close to shore, just past where the title shelf drops off to the abyss. You're swimming there, spending time with family or friends, and willingly push it out of your mind that some benthic monster could reach up and drag you into the airless inky blackness below. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, aboleths. Before I go too far, I want to heap praise on a video made by a YouTube channel called Riches and Liches.

They have a great video on Aboleths that goes far deeper into the topic than I have time to do so in 20 minutes. I'll include a link in the description and in the corner of the YouTube video and would encourage you to go give that a listen if you want to know more. Aboleths are old in every sense of the word. When it comes to D&D, Aboleths date back to D&D 1e adventure called Dwellers of the Forbidden City which was released in 1981. They have undergone a few changes and expanded their lineup to include more types of Aboleths, but they're some of the oldest creatures still used in RPGs. They have stats and lore scattered throughout rulebooks all the way through 5th edition, as well as various published modules like Night Below and periodicals

like Dragon Magazine throughout the years. Also, Abolus are old and most gaming worlds, in some lore even being the oldest sentient beings in existence, being birthed by something called an Elder Evil. Ancient lore, fourth edition, states that they predate even the gods and migrated to the planet thousands of years ago, coming to the 5e planet Toril when the planet was very young. Where did they come from? 5e states that they return to the elemental plane of water when they die, so that's one option, but they're aberrations, which would indicate being from a place called the Far Realm. Wherever they're from, while on Toril, they had absolute rulership of the planet from their ocean-y thrones and had their own science and technology and a

golden age. Well well to them. Of course, Golden Ages are all about perspective, aren't they? And the primitive humans and elves and dwarves who were the Aboleth slaves probably don't view this as a great time. According to some lore, the prayers of those in bondage gave birth to the gods who used their power to cast the Aboleth Empire down into ruin

and banish them to the deepest parts of the ocean and to the lakes of the Underdark. Aboleths are filled with resentment for losing their dominion over the world. And in short, they hate everybody. And I mean everybody. The gods, the creatures that used to be their slaves, the creatures they wish were their slaves, even people like Mr. Rogers. How can you hate that man? He was so nice. I bet they'd even criticize Bob Ross's paintings as being simplistic and uninspired. They are monsters in every sense

of the word. To tell you what their ego is like though, the word Aboleth in the Aboleth language literally means God with a little G. Now most of what I'm going to talk about pertain to Aboleths and Algolthu, which are the Aboleths in Pathfinder 2E world. So bear that in mind as I'm going through, if there's something that's specific to one or the other, I will make sure I call that out. Aboleths and Algolthu have perfect memories.

They are psionic masters with memories of their entire lives and even those of their forebears for those who weren't original occupiers of the world. Their recollection of past events is for lack of a better term perfect. They have eidetic memories that can recall the finest details of their and their ancestors experiences. This means that they are rarely surprised by combat and ambush tactics of those with shorter lifespans. It doesn't mean it's impossible to surprise them, but it is extremely difficult to do so. I mentioned the psionics. They are psionic masters. They can command a massive number of thralls over a great distance, enslave minds, drive victims insane, and unleash psychic blasts that can

wither and destroy the enemies around them. Aboleths in Algolthu produce a mucus. While underwater, they're surrounded by this transformative mucus for lack of a better term. Anybody that inhales that mucus or gets caught up with it and fails a saving throw, or anybody that the Aboleth hits with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it, or anybody that hits the Aboleth with a melee attack within 5 feet must make a Constitution saving throw or Fortitude save, and if they fail the creature is diseased during which the creature can only breathe underwater.

Continued exposure to the slime eventually changes the skin to a pale membrane that can cause pain when exposed to air. This, along with requiring the victim to breathe water, even if they somehow resist the Aboleth's influence over time and try to return to their home on land, they'll suffocate and possibly die. However, Aboleths don't only keep slaves under the water, they also keep thralls, which are people who are under control of the Aboleth, either willingly or with free will to operate in society. Thralls are no less servants of the Aboleth as those who can never leave the ocean again, and they seek to help their Aboleth master accomplish their goals. Some thralls are under a mental domination effect that makes them want to serve the Aboleth. There are even tales of Aboleths who have sunk entire islands and infected humanoids with

a psionic virus that makes them walk into the sea to find the Aboleth if they ever leave. Remember Aboleths are amphibious, they can breathe air, but it's kind of hard to be inconspicuous as a 20 foot long fish looking creature with three eyes. They use their thralls to act on their behalf on land and blend into the cities and towns. The thralls are used to acquire items and knowledge that otherwise they wouldn't be able to easily retrieve on their own. With Abeleth's ability to create minions you can bet that they're never without a group of minions somewhere around them. Most of them will usually resemble whatever races and ancestries are in the nearest big cities. So an area close to sea

elves they'll likely have a lot of sea elf minions, humans near human cities and so forth. This is of course due to proximity of those creatures as potential prey but also a calculated strategy that enables these minions to access the nearby city unnoticed. Depending on how deep you want to go into the lore, by the way, there are tales of lost Aboleth cities under the waves that demonstrate technology, philosophy, magic, and an entire civilization ruled by extremely powerful telepathic Aboleths. Speaking of which, in various 5e books there are Aboleths of different strengths and different power levels.

Same goes for the Al'Golthu in Pathfinder 2e. If you're looking for a mastermind for your campaign, there's probably an Aboleth or Al'Golthu that you can drop in as the master behind everything going on. So speaking of Al'Golthu, let's focus on them for a minute. In many ways they're just like Aboleths with a different name. They're creatures in Pathfinder 2e, they have many of the same traits as Aboleths, they have huge egos, angry towards humanoids, produce slime that can only make you able to breathe water, etc. etc. etc. They are aberrations with bizarre and alien

motives. Most of it revolves around revenge. As I talked about in episode 121 the Al-Ghulthu were responsible for the cataclysm known as Earthfall which wiped out much of the life on the surface of the planet and created the inner sea region of Galarian. Their former thralls rebelled against them, found religion and to Al-Ghulthu there should be a no other god than the Al-Gholthu. So they brought a comet and tried to destroy the world and they probably would have if not for the sacrifice of two gods. Go give episode 121 a listen if you're interested in the lore of Earthfall on Golarion. Like Aboleth's, Al-Gholthu are masters of manipulation and influence and prefer to

use these abilities to control others rather than a straight-up fight. That being said, it won't necessarily shy away from one. It prefers to fight under water, obviously, especially in areas of pitch black because of its dark vision. It's a huge creature so it likes having room to move. After all, most surface dwellers can't swim as fast as an Al'Golthu can. They are potent spellcasters and can cast a number of illusion and mind affecting spells, many of them at will.

This makes them dangerous opponents that can turn attackers' minds against them or force them to attack their friends. Some of their spells, by the way, are rank five, meaning their illusions can affect all senses simultaneously So you may be asking great Jeremy, but how do I use Aboleth and Algolthu in my campaigns? Good question in my campaigns Algolthu make great big bads for multiple reasons one They're powerful so they make for great boss fights

They're powerful, so they make for great boss fights. Two, with their mental manipulation ability, it's easy to explain why the Big Bad would have a wide variety of creatures serving it. Humans and elves, scum and merfolk, hobgoblins, lizardfolk, anything else that you want to bring to bear on the party or any other types of intelligent creatures that you would love to use in your campaign, they are potentially prey for Al-Gholthu to use and control and become thralls of the Big Bad. And three, they are aberrations with motivations that are hard to understand. That means you can make them completely, unrelentingly, irredeemably evil without needing a reason for it.

Without needing an explanation as to why they're doing what they're doing. They're attempting something that's at odds with the party and you don't have to come up with a logical argument where the Aboleth explains where it's doing. My Aboleths don't monologue. They don't need to explain what they're doing any more than human beings try to explain city planning to an anthill. Mortals are these insignificant playthings to Aboleths and Algolthu and they're used like tools when needed and discarded just as freely. My tips?

If you're going to have an Aboleth or an Algolthu, keep them in the shadows, controlling their thralls and slaves, using them to thwart the party's attempts to find out who's at the heart of this big evil scheme being done in the world. Al-Gholthu and Aboleth should be pulling strings from afar, and you should keep their existence hidden for as long as you can so that the reveal is a dramatic moment. In combat, here once again is where I'll praise the great blog and books The Monsters Know What They're Doing by Keith Amon. I'll put a link to the Aboleth entry in the resources and description of the episode. Go check that out.

Aboleths are intelligent and strategic. Much like dragons, they will prepare for fights and only have them at the right place and the right time. They are in 5e effectively immortal and will happily wait for weeks, months, years, or even decades to see plans to come to fruition. Because time is on their side, much like I discussed in a litched episode, number 60, they generally don't throw away their lives needlessly. Heck, in 5e, if they're slain, they reform in the elemental plane of water, so as difficult as it is to kill an Al'Golthu in Pathfinder 2E, killing an Aboleth in 5E is much more difficult. Regardless, both of them are all about self preservation

and they're not afraid to use their magic, their slime, or their thralls to cover their retreat. The tactics I use for Al'Golthu, similar what I use for Aboleths, even if they appear to be more easily killed. The reason I say that, by the way, there's no notes about where Al'Golthu similar what I use for Aboleths even if they appear to be more easily killed. The reason I say that by the way there's no notes about where Al'Golthu reformed when slain so in my mind that means that dead is dead for Al'Golthu. There's no returning from another plane of existence. Both species like wide open underwater spaces they'll do what they can to

fight in a known location like their Pelagic Lair and barring that option they'll use every trick they know from illusion magic to their powerful athletic abilities to get combatants in the water where they have the advantage. I've mentioned before that intelligent foes should use intelligent tactics. This should absolutely be true for these creatures. They know the trappings of the various classes and while they may not know the character stat blocks, they know that people in plate mail are usually weaker to mental attacks and sink like a rock in the water.

They will understand barbarian tactics and turn their mental effects against them. They resent anything and everything having to do with the gods and love taking clerics down a peg or ten. Abaleths I mentioned are at home in the water and much more so than the vast majority of PC races. Consequently, whenever possible, the Abaleth wants to bring the fight to the water, especially

near their lair where they have additional actions in 5e and will have treasure and items stashed in Pathfinder 2e. Their lair is usually pitched black so the Al'Golthu can use it darkvision to its advantage. Also, per the Monster Manual, Aboleths affect water within one mile of their lair. The entire area takes on aspects of the Aboleth and indicative of the corruption that Aboleths constantly emit. The region takes on one or more of the following effects. Underground surfaces within one mile are slimy and wet and considered difficult

terrain. Water sources within one mile of the layer are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the Aboleth who drink the water will vomit back up within minutes. And as an action the Aboleth can create an illusory image of itself within one mile of its layer. This copy can appear at any location the Aboleth is seen before and remember their perfect memory, 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. It looks, sounds and can move like the Aboleth.

The Aboleth can sense, speak, and use telepathy from the image's position as if it were at that position. If the image takes any damage though, it does disappear. So if fighting within a mile of their lair, they will use their illusory image for two important reasons. One, they're gonna use it to fool the party into thinking combat is starting and have them burn some of their limited fighting resources like consumables and per day or per rest abilities. Two, they will use it to scout out how the party fights. If the illusion survives for more than one round, the original will telepathically view what the party does

and it'll prepare appropriately for the real fight later. These creatures will keep their slaves with them underwater and if a fight appears inevitable they will use the thralls and the underwater slaves as cannon fodder and will throw them at the PCs to thwart them any way that they can. They'll do this to try to damage the party and try to reduce their capabilities when they have to fight the creature itself. Aboleths have reach generally more than your standard PC at a minimum. It'll use that reach to its advantage in those wide open spaces. Further, in 5e, they can take three legendary actions at the start of their turn.

The most combat-oriented, by the way, is the Tail Swipe, which does a large amount of damage, and the Psychic Drain, or the Aboleth, can heal itself at the cost of damaging a charmed creature. You can bet that if it feels threatened, it will have no qualms about doing that to any of its slaves or any of the PCs that it's Charmed. Again, focusing on 5e only, Aboleths have lair actions to cast Phantasmal Force, control water, and damage any number of creatures within 90 feet of it. They prefer fighting in their lair because these lair actions are extremely powerful and can be used to hamper those who would dare

fight the mighty Aboleth. Finally, Aboleths and Al'Golthu always have an escape plan in case they're overwhelmed. They will attempt to confuse those attacking it and will sacrifice the lives of their slaves to get away if they have to, retreating down to the deepest part of the ocean, where even if the party chases and can breathe water and see in the pitch black, they still make freeze to death from the cold water. There is a lot to talk about with Aboleths and to be honest I have barely scratched the surface. This could be a 15 minute episode, 75 minute episode, or probably two hour episode and still would not cover a significant percentage of what's interesting about these creatures. They are ancient and the lore is just as deep and complex as any other creature in the D&D and Pathfinder worlds. If you really want to

take a deep dive on Aboleths, I heartily suggest reading the Lords of Madness. It's the book of aberrations. It was written for 3.5e, but most of the knowledge in the book would be easy to translate to modern gaming systems. Plus, there's some great videos available to discuss these fascinating creatures. If you're looking for a big bad with inscrutable motives that seem irredeemably evil, consider now a go through on Abalef. Make them tough, brilliant planners who have absolute contempt for the lesser creatures the PCs are playing, I'd be willing to bet that you and your players would have fun doing it.

Hey, please like, rate, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to find it. And by the way, speaking of deep lore, tune in next week when I'm going to give DMs some tips for handling and giving lore from your game world to your players. But before I go, I want to thank this week's sponsor, Interior Decorators. The interior decorator we hired actually brought their own ladder to our house. I guess they're taking their decorating work to the next level. This has been episode 223, continuing the Monster series all about Apple, Etc. and Al-Ghulthu. My name is Jeremy Shelley, and I hope that your next game is your best game.

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