Statting Aboleths

[JungleChicken]

Hello. i was thinking of trying to flesh out a game idea and like the primary antagonist to be an aboleth, the Monster manual has a nice basic stat for aboleths but coming from 2nd edition and liking the lore the i feel like "older" aboleths would should have a higher CR and such. Thoughts and aboleth discussion in general highly encouraged. :smallbiggrin:

[JungleChicken]

obviously the party would be wreaking havoc on mindflayers on the Aboleths behalf, just through intermediaries and not knowing it

[Kyutaru]

The stats and CR for the aboleth are for if you face one in direct combat. They're kind of weak there. But they are already manipulators and millions of years old. They can easily be the bad guy of your campaign working behind the scenes and causing eternal hell on the heroes. Lots of villains are like this in comics, anime, and television. Skeletor is puny next to He-man and Rita is a joke compared to the Power Rangers. But they serve to be excellent villains despite having puny combat stats.

[Xihirli]

Feel free to have the MM aboleth be the weak, young Aboleth and buff them up to make the older ones.

You could even have the Eldest Aboleth appear as a GOO patron who's powerful enough to not have stats, like gods in 5e. I have Eldest featuring in my campaign, she'll probably be introducing the concept of True Names and the Dawn War to the party, and she might end up being the BBEG of the campaign if I can hold onto my players up to level 20.

One thing I really think the Aboleth want is to eat an Elder Brain, still-living, to try and learn about the origins of Illithid. That's a quest the Eldest has ready for my party if they manage to impress her. So that's an option that's open if you want them to be Lawful Evil quest-givers.

[JungleChicken]

Feel free to have the MM aboleth be the weak, young Aboleth and buff them up to make the older ones.

You could even have the Eldest Aboleth appear as a GOO patron who's powerful enough to not have stats, like gods in 5e. I have Eldest featuring in my campaign, she'll probably be introducing the concept of True Names and the Dawn War to the party, and she might end up being the BBEG of the campaign if I can hold onto my players up to level 20.

One thing I really think the Aboleth want is to eat an Elder Brain, still-living, to try and learn about the origins of Illithid. That's a quest the Eldest has ready for my party if they manage to impress her. So that's an option that's open if you want them to be Lawful Evil quest-givers.

I like that. I was playing with the idea of an illithid implanting a brain bug in an aboleth, or attempt. and yes, indeed I can only see that aboleths would be more than happy to find a living elder brain.

Given their psyonics I was thinking of adding a lair action Wall of Force and Prismatic spray as psionic effects, maybe on a 5-6 recharge.

Given that they hate the gods I was thinking, in broad strokes, Aboleths finding various parties of varying factions and alignments, testing them out to make "heros" and using them to keep illithid populations in check.
The exceptional heroes (High level) are groomed by thralls in high position to take on gods that their particular culture or faction finds evil...and for evil humanoids vice versa

It's all about culling the gods