Aboleth
- Armor Class
- 4 [15]
- Hit Dice
- 8
- Attacks
- Tentacle (1d6)
- Special
- transformation, enslave, illusions, slime
- Move
- 3 Swim 18
- HDE/XP
- 10/1,400
Description
The Aboleth are an ancient race of fish-like amphibians, usually found lurking in subterranean waters. One resembles a huge, slimy fish, with three large eyes and four long, sticky tentacles arranged around its mouth. An aboleth secretes an oily, foul-smelling slime, polluting the water where the creature lurks.
A blow from an aboleth's tentacle deals 1d6 points of damage. Any living creature hit by a tentacle must make a saving throw or begin to transform over the next 1d4+1 turns. The skin gradually becomes a translucent, slimy membrane. An afflicted creature must remain moistened with fresh water or suffer 1d12 points of damage each turn. Cure (Cause) Disease or Remove Curse cast before the transformation is complete will restore an afflicted creature to normal. After the transformation is complete, only a Heal spell can reverse it.
An aboleth can cast Ventriloquism, Phantasmal Force and Hallucinatory Terrain at will, as long as these illusions appear within a range of 60 feet of the creature.
Up to three times per day, an aboleth can attempt to enslave one creature within 30 feet, excluding undead and other non-living creatures. The target must make a saving throw or be utterly dominated by the aboleth's mental power. An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth's telepathic commands. Such a creature may make a new saving throw every 24 hours to break free, or can be freed by a Remove Curse spell. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or is separated from its slave by more than a mile.
The slime an aboleth secretes allows a living creature (generally its slaves) to breathe underwater for the next 3 hours, but for the same duration the affected creature can no longer breathe air; such a creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from water. Continuous and repeated exposure to the slime slowly transforms the creature into a skum. The transformation takes about a month.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.