The Aberration Campaign

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 fl ayers, 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 diffi cult 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 fl ayers, 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.

T HE ABERR ATION C AMPAIGN

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 f layers 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 f layer 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 f layers 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 f layers 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 f layers 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 f layers 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 f layer city and destroy the elder brain. 31 A mind f layer 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 f layers. 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

make a variety of tactics viable, so multiple encounters with monsters of the same race play and feel different. They have the intelligence and insidiousness to contemplate campaign-spanning plots to destroy kingdoms, subvert good organizations, or bring ruin and horror to the entire world. Finally, their goals and desires are innately repulsive to humanoids of all sorts, and heroes need little in the way of special motivation to take up arms against them. Creating a “featured villain” in your campaign is a powerful way to build a central theme for the game. It provides continuity from scenario to scenario and gives your players a clear foe for their characters to strive against. A memorable villain is an essential part of any D&D game, and few villains are as memorable or as dangerous as a master aberration.

HEROIC VS. HORRIFIC ADVENTURE

The typical pacing of an adventure presumes that the threat gradually gathers, and the heroes in turn fi rst face relatively simple challenges that grow more dangerous the deeper they proceed into the plot. In effect, the heroes grow to meet the challenge, and by the time they confront the ultimate encounter, they have been strengthened by their efforts. They are more capable, more courageous, and hopefully equal to the task of defeating the ultimate threat. In game terms, a heroic adventure built around fi ve key encounters might follow a progression like this:

First encounter EL –1 Second encounter EL +0 Third encounter EL +0 Fourth encounter EL +1 Fifth encounter EL +3

Heroic adventures grow more challenging and offer a climactic battle when the heroes are ready for it. Aberration adventures are not heroic. Instead, they are horrifi c. They start badly, and end worse. The heroes’ fi rst encounter with their adversary teaches the heroes that they are up against a threat that likely exceeds their capabilities. Resolving a horrifi c adventure almost certainly requires terrible sacrifi ce on the part of the heroes; the best they can hope for is to return things to the way they were before. A horrifi c adventure built around fi ve key encounters follows a much harder progression:

First encounter EL +3 Second encounter EL +2 Third encounter EL +1 (+2) Fourth encounter EL +1 (+3) Fifth encounter EL +4 (+5)

The parenthetical Encounter Levels represent the difference between informed and uninformed characters. If the characters take steps to understand their foes and plumb their horrible secrets, they have an easier time in dealing with them, at least at fi rst. Comprehension should come at a frightful price—a character who willingly fl irts with madness, or allows herself to be captured and experimented on by her foes, or who abandons her moral and ethical anchors in order to win the knowledge necessary. The adventure begins with a diffi cult, possibly lethal, encounter that shakes the players’ confi dence in their characters’ ability to meet the threat. It slowly becomes “easier” as the characters acquire more information and understanding of the enemy they face, but ultimately their preparations are insuffi cient in the face of the cosmic evil they have chosen to oppose. The horrifi c adventure is a bleaker, more challenging game in which characters die (or suffer other incapacitating dooms) more frequently than they do in conventionally heroic games.

COMPONENTS OF AN ABERR ATION CAMPAIGN

Not only does an aberration-centric campaign feel different from a campaign featuring mundane enemies, it also plays differently. Aberration races include extremely powerful individuals, creatures with access to mighty mental powers, and creatures steeped in evil so relentless and sinister that only the strongest and most courageous of characters can face them without retreating.

Epic-Level Play

Terrible creatures rule over the aboleth and mind fl ayer cities.

An aboleth savant-lord or mind fl ayer elder brain is a foe that only the most accomplished of characters can challenge with any hope of survival. Moreover, master aberrations frequently entertain plots and schemes of truly epic scale. These two facts imply that aberration-focused campaigns eventually enter the realm of epic-level play. Characters who have not yet achieved epic levels themselves might fi nd that they cannot defeat the lurking cosmic evil at the root of their troubles, and must settle for containing it as best they can. Since many aberrations are quite brilliant, it is not at all unusual for individuals to acquire class levels in psion, sorcerer, wizard, or other classes. Such creatures with racial Hit Dice and class levels can easily exceed 20 total Hit Dice and begin to qualify for epic feats. For example, a 16th-level aboleth wizard has 24 Hit Dice, and could reasonably select epic feats when it reaches 21 and 24 HD. For that matter, some aberrations might advance both by gaining more Hit Dice, as monsters do, and adding class levels. A truly awful aboleth savant might be a Gargantuan monster with 18 racial Hit Dice and fi fteen wizard levels.

Psionics

Aboleths and mind fl ayers are renowned for their psionic might. While the spell-like “psionics” described in the Monster

Manual certainly permit a psionic aberration to do terrible things to an unfortunate character’s mind, you should consider making use of the rules presented in the Expanded Psionics

Illus. by D. Kovacs

Handbook if you intend to spotlight a psionic aberration in your campaign. Basing the mental powers of psionic aberrations on psi-like abilities or psion levels rather than spell-like abilities or wizard levels adds a new dimension to your game. First of all, if your players are not familiar with the psionic rules, they will quickly realize that they don’t know what their enemies are truly capable of. This is a desirable state of affairs in an aberration-centric campaign, because the players will naturally be at least a little scared of the unknown. Increasing your players’ sense of the threat to their characters and reducing their comfort level with the perils they face goes a long way toward transforming your campaign into a darker, more alien place. Even if your players are familiar with the psionic rules, they will fi nd that facing foes that are every bit as psionically capable as they are goes a long way toward leveling the playing fi eld between characters and monsters. Vile Darkness

Finally, master aberrations such as aboleths, mind fl ayers, and tsochari are capable of cold, dispassionate evil that humanoids simply cannot comprehend. Mind fl ayers rip the living brains from their hapless captives and devour them; aboleths transform heroes into gelatinous, mucusbreathing slaves. These are not foes for the faint of heart. They are horrible, repellent, and positively shocking in their divergence from any normal standards of human morals or behavior. Some powerful aber rations might have knowledge of the Dark Speech, or wield spells or items that deal vile damage, or coldly infl ict terrible tortures on their captives. In addition, the deity known as the Patient One serves as patron to aberrations that lack other divine fi gures.

pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

MORE ABERRATIONS

Lords of Madness spotlights the most iconic and prevalent aberrations from the Monster Manual, plus a handful of notable aberrations from other sources. If you would like other aberration choices, here are some interesting aberration races you might want to feature in your own campaign.

Avolakia: These wormlike creatures possess the ability to assume humanoid form and use that power to lead adventurers to terrible ends deep underground. They are potent necromancers and guard their lairs with hordes of animated dead. Monster Manual II page 28.

Ethergaunt: Inscrutable sorcerers from the Ethereal Plane, the ethergaunts combine arcane might and scientific knowledge to build weapons of terrible power. Fiend Folio page 64.

Gibbering Orb: Sages speculate that the gibbering orbs are progenitors of both beholderkin and stranger beasts such as gibbering mouthers. These horrifyingly alien creatures wander the planes in search of spellcasters to devour. Epic Level Handbook page 191.

Ha-Naga: Mightiest of the nagas, the ha-nagas are the living gods of spirit nagas and other evil members of nagakind. Epic Level Handbook page 195.

Hook Horror: Surface adventurers think of hook horrors as mindless monsters, but these creatures, created as a servitor race by some long-dead cabal of archmages, possess a sly cunning and gather in large, dangerous bands. Monster Manual II page 126.

Ineffable Horror: Winged predators of the deep underground, f lights of ineffable horrors roam the depths of the earth. Underdark page 91. Ixitxachitl: Masters of the tropical seas, the cruel devil-rays wage endless war against the other undersea races. Monster Manual II page 128. Naga: Although they rarely gather in great numbers, nagas charm or dominate lesser creatures into doing their bidding. Some believe that nagas were bred thousands of years ago by the yuan-ti as sacred animals or guardians. Monster Manual page 191. Neh-Thalggu: Natives of the Far Realm, neh-thalggus—or, as they are better known, brain collectors—roam the multiverse, taking the brains of humanoids in their endless quest for knowledge and magical power. Epic Level Handbook page 206. Nilshai: Belonging to the same extraplanar ecology as the ethereal f ilcher and the ethereal marauder, the nilshai— or ethereal theurges—are alien spellcasters that visit the Material Plane to plunder lore and take slaves. Unapproachable East page 67. Nothic: Likely the result of some failed magical experiment, nothics plague ruins and caverns, preying on any who cross their path. Miniatures Handbook page 65. Yurian: Sometimes known as the crabfolk, the yurians are among the few nonevil aberrations. Fiend Folio page 198. pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs