WHAT IS AN ABERRATION?
CHAPTER 1
PERILOUS LORE Learning too much about an aberration race is dangerous in the extreme. Not only do the aberrations themselves object to any attempt to study their secrets, the actual results of the effort are injurious to the humanoid psyche. No mage sleeps better after learning the language of the aboleths, mastering spells devised by mind flayers, or exploring the alchemical science of the grell. There are things that humanoids were not meant to know. In order to truly comprehend some artifact of a master aberration’s mentality—its language, its magic, its own comprehension of the mundane world—it is necessary to absorb concepts and symbologies that are drastically at variance with human norms. The more one studies these things, the more difficult it is to set aside these concepts and return to normal modes of thought and speech. Eventually, it becomes impossible, and sanity (at least, as humans defi ne it) is lost altogether. As tempting as it might be to study the mighty spells or psionic powers of the mind flayers, these things carry a terrible risk for the reckless mage or psion.
The best thing to do with an aberration’s spellbook or power stone is to bury it someplace where it will never see the light of day again. In general, the more atypical the creature’s origin, the less healthy it is to know too much about it. Creatures such as beholders or umber hulks are frightening, but do not normally threaten one’s reason. On the other hand, creatures spawned in especially inimical places or times—previous universes, the Far Realm, the worlds around distant stars—are more dangerous. Aboleths, grell, psurlons, and tsochari are particularly alien and incomprehensible.
THE ABERRATION CAMPAIGN The most iconic aberrations in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game boast a number of traits that make them ideal as feature villains in a campaign. They possess the ability to enslave or dominate other creatures, so many disparate monsters can be found toiling in their service. Their magical and psionic powers
pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs FORTY ABERRATION ADVENTURE IDEAS Use the following list for quick adventure seeds or ideas for your own adventures. 1 Aboleths enslave a local lord. 2 Neogi slavers carry off the heir to the kingdom; civil war threatens. 3 Mind flayers seek an artifact that will extinguish the sun. 4 A beholder makes itself lord over all the monsters of a desolate frontier. 5 A gate opens to the shrieking madness of the Far Realm. 6 Tsochari subvert the leaders of a wizards’ guild. 7 A nest of cloakers takes over the city sewers. 8 A destrachan destroys a remote monastery. 9 Cultists prepare a rite designed to summon a Far Realm entity into the world. 10 An ancient mind flayer machine hurls the heroes into the dark, dying world of the far future. 11 Aboleths prepare a terrible spell designed to enslave all arcane spellcasters to their will. 12 Aboleths are building gigantic gates to the Elemental Plane of Water deep underground in order to drown the world above. 13 A grell colony needs mithral to produce some alchemical device. 14 A beholder cult seeks to overthrow the prevailing faith of a kingdom. 15 Mind flayers and their grimlock thralls raid the surface world. 16 A gate in a ruined castle leads to a demiplane on the Ethereal Plane that is haunted by ethergaunts. 17 A noted wizard visits the Far Realm and returns, completely insane. 18 Neogi secretly support a guild of disreputable human merchants so they can carry on their trade in a human city. 19 Mind flayers find a way to exchange brains between experimental subjects.
20 A terrible bandit lord turns out to be a half-farspawn monstrosity in human shape. 21 A secret cult of evil human monks follows a lama who worships Far Realm entities. 22 A beholder mage raids an arcane library. 23 Mind flayers are the secret masters behind a slave ring. 24 Aboleths experiment with new servitor monsters. 25 A vital prophecy includes a phrase written in a language known only to the aboleths. 26 Mind flayers experiment with using creatures other than humanoids for ceremorphosis. 27 A chuul waylays boat traffic on an important river. 28 Umber hulks burrow into a dwarf outpost in search of food and treasure. 29 An aboleth savant attempts to transform itself into a vampiric creature. 30 Untrustworthy drow offer the heroes the opportunity to infiltrate a mind flayer city and destroy the elder brain. 31 A mind flayer wizard uses polymorph any object to begin a long-term infiltration of human society, taking a human form. 32 A beholder allies itself with a blackguard. 33 Neogi enslave an androsphinx and use the creature to waylay rival caravans. 34 Human barbarians from the moon are engaged in a fierce war against spacefaring mind flayers. 35 A terrible Far Realm entity is imprisoned in the depths of a lake, soon to awaken. 36 Working through charmed agents, a beholder hires the heroes to attack a rival. 37 An evil naga guards the ruins of an unholy temple deep in the jungle. 38 A nest of destrachans haunts the windswept ruins of a buried desert city. 39 Psurlons breed a gigantic sandworm. 40 An aboleth sigil causes insanity in any who view it.
pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs
12
