Community Based Monster Classes VI

[TheGeckoKing]

[pedantic]Righty-o, firstly Swarmshifter should be in the Templates/Prc section [/pedantic]
Secondly, is it O.K if I redo the Aboleth (I.E is the original borked enough to warrant it) in the future? I remember requesting it, but as of now it's just a big fishy that casts spells and can flout pretty much every Knowledge (Whatever) requirement ever.

[Kobold-Bard]

Chimera is proving annoying, but I shall persevere.

In the meantime I'm also claiming the Rast.

[Hyudra]

I'm partial to the Aboleth, as one of the highest (if not the highest) points of my D&D gaming experience involved pitting my players against one.

So lemme ask - what would you do with the Aboleth? What do you see as the problems (aside from the fact that it's a boring fish beast with spells?), and how would you solve them? What kind of abilities would you make?

If you wanted to outline that, I could do the same, and others could say which approach best suited what they wanted out of the Aboleth.

[Crafty Cultist]

The main attributes of an aboleth(at least in my opinion) are that they are giant aquatic monsters with magical powers of deception and mind control who have existed since before the current reality. Other than converting their natural combat abilities, any extra feature you add could reflect their ancient legacy or their enduring nature.

[TheGeckoKing]

Errrgggg........we all know your ideas tend to be better than mine, so why i'm bothering I do not know. Regardless, the main problems are;

Spoiler

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• Grammar. This is self-explanitory.
• The stat boosts are all over the place, srsly. Con, Cha, Str AND Int? Really? I'd focus on Int and Cha, with a splattering of Con.
• Memory of the Eons was kinda my idea but then Oslecamo went and broke it by being lazy and saying it counts for everything, namely requirements. Blech.
• Enslave needs a bit of nerfing, methinks.
• It's not scary, when an Aboleth really should be if it's going to work. I imagined Aboleths when I first read about them to be mini Elder Evils that could live in impossible ways, and think impossible things that made your mind go *pop*.

And what I intend to do would be;

Spoiler

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• Memory of the Eons gets turned into a Bardic Knowledge that's a bit better (See: Take 20 for lower DCs)
• I'll take a leaf from Archivist and do something a bit Dark Knowledge-y, although with different effects, to use the Aboleth's vast knowledge. Heck, I might say it stacks with normal Archivist stuff.
• Overwhelming Intellect is nice, but I think that needs to be gutted and replaced with something insanity-inducing, because not having the ability to drive the mortals mad with your mind is unforgiveable on an Aboleth.
• Something to do with the Long Dreaming. Maybe as a last resort the Aboleth can cocoon itself and heal off the damage, but needs to be cut out or it stays trapped, forever dreaming.
• Continual Growth, as per Lords of Madness, which says Aboleths keep on growing, upto a Geological scale.
• It also says Aboleths prefer eating "slimed" flesh. I can easily make something up for that.
• Variants, variants, variants! The Aboleth is technically the Amphibious kind right now, but I would put an option in for the fully waterborne Aboleth, the Stygian Aboleth (Basically, fiendish qualities) and the Uobilyth, which is a Flying (Yes, I know) Aboleth, complete with alternate class features throughout the class.
• The ability to remember it's ancestor's past victories for a morale bonus to saves, or even an insight bonus at the higher levels, using the memories of countless hunts.
• In conclusion, I want to try and recapture some of that scariness the Aboleth has, and allow it to either be your average WARBLEGARBLEGRAAAAAA sea monster if that's really what they want to do (Take the Stygian path, more-or-less), but you can be the scheming horror from time's beginning, because who doesn't want to have a valid excuse to say "Just as Planned!"

[The Antigamer]

Gray Jester: 50' move speed is a little much for level 1.

Alright, I'll make it 30' to start, and add +10 speed at HD 3 and HD 6.

Hideous Laughter: does the feint force them to make the save, or actually hitting them? Either way, that's a pretty silly high save DC for something that can be accomplished so easily.

From what I gathered of Oslecamo's original class, I think the mechanics were if you feinted before making the attack to hit the creature, you would add your full charisma modifier to the Hideous Laughter DC instead of 1/2 charisma. I changed the wording to try to make it more clear.

Devour joy: "All laughing creature[s] can"
Don't abbreviate randomly.
Anyways, I see no reason why a gray jester would ever use this. Those under the effects of a hideous laughter spell have pretty much already lost. This makes them not lose, and then weakens the jester.

Whoops, I thought I had changed the part about them stopping laughing. Now they get an extra save to stop laughing instead. If you think this is an unattractive ability, then there are three ways to improve it:
1. Hideous Laughter effects remain, with no new save attempt, after a Devour Joy.
2. No penalties for using Devour Joy.
3. Increase benefits of Devour Joy.
Which of those, or combination of those, should I implement to make the ability better?

Joy slaves: Ehhhh... I donno... that means you could get a bunch of characters equal to your ECL as joy slaves. Including wizards, who never use charisma. Kindof difficult, but very, very possible.

Yes, which is why I was considering having the ability be based on the combined HD of the creatures, like a cleric controlling undead, but Hyudra said she thought the 1/5 HD limit would probably work.

[Hyudra]

Lemure

Monster Class
Monster Manual, SRD

Class

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HD: D12

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will |Special
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0| Lemure Body, Bedeviled Fate, Truckle, Pawn of the Nine Hells
[/table]

Skill Points 2+Int per level
Class Skills: None.

Proficiencies: The Lemure is proficient only with its own natural attacks.

Lemure Body: The Lemure loses all other racial bonuses and gains Outsider traits, granting it Darkvision out to 60'. Lemures are initially medium sized creatures with a base movement speed of 20', possessing two claw attacks that deliver 1d4 + Str mod damage each and natural armor equal to their con modifier. Having a largely amorphous body build more to take punishment than to withstand it, the Lemure is poor at wearing armor. Even if the Lemure becomes proficient in wearing armor, any armor it wears has its armor check penalties increased by 150% (rounding down) and has its Maximum Dexterity Bonus halved.

Lemures do not speak, but those who spend at least a week in their company can learn to both understand its body language and interpret its whimpers, moans and mewling well enough to understand simple expressions such as 'danger', 'hate', 'gratitude' and so on. Lemures do have telepathy out to 5' per HD (maximum 50'), and can use it to communicate with any creature in range that has a language.

Bedeviled Fate: The Lemure is a shadow of whatever soul it was in life, the lowest form of devilkind. As such, it does not gain feats for gaining levels/HD as a character, instead gaining a progression of devilish abilities.

At three HD, instead of gaining a feat, the Lemure becomes immune to poison and gains a resistance to fire equal to its HD, with resistance to acid and cold equal to half its HD. It can also see under any kind of darkness, even deeper darkness.

At six HD, instead of gaining a feat, the Lemure grows to large size.

At nine HD, instead of gaining a feat, the Lemure gains improved grab with its claw attacks. Its claw attacks force a saving throw, inflicting the disease 'Devil Chills' to those who fail the save. The DC is 10 + ½ Lemure HD + Lemure Con, the initial damage is 1d6 Con, the secondary damage is death.

At twelve HD, instead of gaining a feat, the Lemure nauseates any foe that it diseases for 1d3 rounds. It gains the ability to make two claw attacks at any time it could make one.

Upon gaining its fifteenth HD, and every HD thereafter, the Lemure gains a bonus Dark Ascendancy point. The use and effects of these points are described in Pawn of the Nine Hells, below.

Truckle: The Lemure is the lowest of the low, a servant, a whipping boy, and a plaything for the more predatory devils. As such, Lemures are used to suffering. If a Lemure would fail a saving throw, or would drop to 0 hitpoints or below, it may reduce itself to a quivering, whimpering, defeated puddle. The Lemure becomes immune to the penalties of the failed saving throw and further demands of any saving throws that be made against it, and while it takes damage, it cannot go below one hitpoint.

In this puddle form, the Lemure may move half its base speed in distance and make a single claw attack only against a foe that shares a space with it. Its movement and attacks provoke attacks of opportunity, and are interrupted if the enemy hits and damages the Lemure with the attack. Alternately, as a full round action, the Lemure may attempt to draw itself back up, ending the puddle form and its various effects. Again, this action provokes attacks of opportunity and fails if the enemy strikes the Lemure. A Lemure in puddle state is incapable of doing anything other than moving, making a claw attack or attempting to resuscitate itself. Once a Lemure has resuscitated itself, it may not take puddle form again for 6 rounds (1 full turn).

At the end of any turn in which the Lemure was in puddle form, it must make a will save or a fortitude save, using whichever save has the lower overall bonus. The DC for this save is 1 +2 per turn spent in puddle form, +2 for every failed saving throw while in puddle form and +2 per successful attack suffered by the puddled Lemure. Should the Lemure fail the save, it perishes and is irrevocably destroyed.

Pawn of the Nine Hells: The pathetic state of the Lemure's existence is not permanent, and just as the pawn may cross the chessboard and become a queen, the Lemure can become something more. A Lemure that successfully makes it through the requisite encounters and gains the experience needed to gain a level also gains an Dark Ascendancy point. The Lemure does not gain these points if the level was not successfully fought through and conquered by the will of the player (In short, a campaign that started at a level higher than one would not give the Lemure any Dark Ascendancy points for the levels it automatically gained). Lemures gain 1 Dark Ascendancy point for taking a level in this class.

A Lemure may, upon gaining a level, spend its Dark Ascendancy points. This causes the Lemure to lose the Lemure monster class levels and features it has, replacing a number of class levels it currently has (including the Lemure level, which is mandatory) with levels in a devil monster class. It cannot take more levels in the new monster class than it had Dark Ascendancy points. In making this change, it must take at least half the maximum number of levels the devil class has (So to become a Pit Fiend, which has a maximum level of 20, the Lemure must spend at least 10 Dark Ascendancy points).

In addition to retroactively gaining the feats that were denied to it for being a Lemure, the ex-Lemure also gains several benefits (these benefits stack, so spending 10 points would grant the 5 point and 10 point benefit):

• If it spent 5 or more points, it gains a bonus feat that it meets the prerequisites for.
• If it spent 10 or more points, it gains bonus experience sufficient to give it another level.
• If it spent 15 or more points, it gains another bonus feat it meets the prerequisites for.
• If it spent 20 or more points, it gains enough experience to give it yet another level.

Comments

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The Lemure. It sucks, it's pathetic, nobody would want to play it.

So I'm thinking, "let's make that a class feature!"

The Lemure is the lamest of the lame, the lowest of the low, a whimpering puddle of soul flesh that exists to be kicked around by things meaner and more horrible than it is. So you get a class that sucks... and actually works against you as you gain levels (chances are, anyways). But if you stick it out, you get to become a badass devil, and your group can hardly fault you for being a little more powerful as a result, because you damn well earned it, didn't you?

Changelog

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Changes, Feb 14, 2011:

• The puddle form moved from Pawn of the Nine Hells and into its own ability, named 'Truckle'.
• Lemures gain a Dark Ascendancy point for taking a level in the class. This simultaneously fixes an issue with the example given and the ugliness of the 4-9-14-19 progression for abilities (changed to 5-10-15-20).
• Thanks to Saidoro & TheGeckoking.

[TheGeckoKing]

Trust Hyudra to make a LEMURE playable. Looks O.K to me, although I'd personally be hard-pressed to play a Lemure instead of whatever devil i'd promote myself to anyway. Maybe my ego is just that massive

[Hyudra]

[pedantic]Righty-o, firstly Swarmshifter should be in the Templates/Prc section [/pedantic]

Moved Swarmshifter.

Errrgggg........we all know your ideas tend to be better than mine, so why i'm bothering I do not know. Regardless, the main problems are;

Spoiler

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• Grammar. This is self-explanitory.
• The stat boosts are all over the place, srsly. Con, Cha, Str AND Int? Really? I'd focus on Int and Cha, with a splattering of Con.
• Memory of the Eons was kinda my idea but then Oslecamo went and broke it by being lazy and saying it counts for everything, namely requirements. Blech.
• Enslave needs a bit of nerfing, methinks.
• It's not scary, when an Aboleth really should be if it's going to work. I imagined Aboleths when I first read about them to be mini Elder Evils that could live in impossible ways, and think impossible things that made your mind go *pop*.

And what I intend to do would be;

Spoiler

Show

• Memory of the Eons gets turned into a Bardic Knowledge that's a bit better (See: Take 20 for lower DCs)
• I'll take a leaf from Archivist and do something a bit Dark Knowledge-y, although with different effects, to use the Aboleth's vast knowledge. Heck, I might say it stacks with normal Archivist stuff.
• Overwhelming Intellect is nice, but I think that needs to be gutted and replaced with something insanity-inducing, because not having the ability to drive the mortals mad with your mind is unforgiveable on an Aboleth.
• Something to do with the Long Dreaming. Maybe as a last resort the Aboleth can cocoon itself and heal off the damage, but needs to be cut out or it stays trapped, forever dreaming.
• Continual Growth, as per Lords of Madness, which says Aboleths keep on growing, upto a Geological scale.
• It also says Aboleths prefer eating "slimed" flesh. I can easily make something up for that.
• Variants, variants, variants! The Aboleth is technically the Amphibious kind right now, but I would put an option in for the fully waterborne Aboleth, the Stygian Aboleth (Basically, fiendish qualities) and the Uobilyth, which is a Flying (Yes, I know) Aboleth, complete with alternate class features throughout the class.
• The ability to remember it's ancestor's past victories for a morale bonus to saves, or even an insight bonus at the higher levels, using the memories of countless hunts.
• In conclusion, I want to try and recapture some of that scariness the Aboleth has, and allow it to either be your average WARBLEGARBLEGRAAAAAA sea monster if that's really what they want to do (Take the Stygian path, more-or-less), but you can be the scheming horror from time's beginning, because who doesn't want to have a valid excuse to say "Just as Planned!"

Alright. Go for it. Just try to add a little more in the way of active abilities throughout. It sounds like you're adding a fair bit of passives there.

[TheGeckoKing]

Yay! Thanks for your support, Hyudra. I'll probably get onto it tomorrow, as it's just past 11:00pm in wet, windy Wales here. Also - Playable Lemure. How. The. Heck. Did. You. Do. That.

[Hyudra]

It's not so playable, but that's the point.

[TheGeckoKing]

Yes, but it's useable and you can turn into a puddle of goo. I know a person that would happily play a paraplegic monk to turn into a puddle of goo.

[Lix Lorn]

Gestalt it with a monk. Take flaws.

[Gorgondantess]

Yes, but it's useable and you can turn into a puddle of goo. I know a person that would happily play a paraplegic monk to turn into a puddle of goo.

Turn into a puddle of goo? Look up the amorphous form spell and stagger out all of its abilities over the levels and don't gain any of the drawbacks. Bam, you're done.

[TheGeckoKing]

Now see, i'm going to have to make that a Monk ACF now you've said that.

[Hyudra]

Critiques for Medusa and Lemure would be much appreciated. I can't critique my own stuff, and the only other council member I could depend on would be Gorgondantess, but I don't want to overburden him.

It would help much if anyone could give them a look over, assess balance, assess playability and whether abilities would be fun to use. Help me get to the point where I can ask Gorgondantess whether it's good to go on the list, without swamping him with stuff (I'd rather Gorgon critiqued some of the older monster classes, like he did recently, so we can get that list cleaned up).

[Gorgondantess]

Critiques for Medusa and Lemure would be much appreciated. I can't critique my own stuff, and the only other council member I could depend on would be Gorgondantess, but I don't want to overburden him.

It would help much if anyone could give them a look over, assess balance, assess playability and whether abilities would be fun to use. Help me get to the point where I can ask Gorgondantess whether it's good to go on the list, without swamping him with stuff (I'd rather Gorgon critiqued some of the older monster classes, like he did recently, so we can get that list cleaned up).

Oh, snap, I didn't even notice you did the lemure. That's... interesting...

[TheGeckoKing]

@Gorgon
Your not really supposed to notice a Lemure, so Hyudra must be doing something right

@Hyudra
Okey Dokey, but it won't be much (Too sleepy)

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Lemure;

• Lemure Body looks alright.
• Bedeviled Fate is quite nifty, actually. Kudos to that.
• Pawn of the Nine Hells is ok, but the whole "Turn into a puddle" feels like it should be its own ability.
• Just asking, why did you ban gaining Dark Ascendancy points if starting beyond 1st level?
• Typo at the very end - refers to level 5 and 10 abilities. I think you meant 4 and 9.
• Looks useable to me, although get a second opinion on it if you can, as my judgement is iffy.

Medusa

• Right at the start, it looks very overloaded. Not saying it is, but it might scare some balance-paranoid DM's.
• How do you pronounce Chthonic, eh?
• Personally, I think it needs a permanent petrification at 20HD.
• Might want the class to stack with initiator classes for IL, or at least make it available with a feat.
• Medusa's Kiss is cool
• I know this is gonna sound a bit annoying, but i'm not good with ToB so I can't really comment on the manuvers much, other than ask you - what gave you the idea to give it stances? Just curious.
• A bit complicated looking, but it's like Incarnum - Get past the wall of text, and it's pretty cool. Good work so far.

So, yeah. Enjoy.

[Saidoro]

I can't say I like the whole "suck now, awesome later" thing you built the lemure about, it's a pretty good implementation of that thing, yes, but I think the core concept is rather unfun. Make of this what you will.

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Thoughts on the Cloaker:
1) Just looking at the table, I can tell that this is going to be an odd class. It has the HD, BAB, saves, and skills of a pseudo-caster, but while it does have a lot of spell-type abilities, it also is big on grappling, and holding down its victims. Should be interesting.
One other thing you might want to do, though, is list out the ability score bonuses in its own section. Though you may want to think on those ability score adjustments, too. They seem rather... Varied and large for a 5 level class. The cloaker is a generalist, and 1.4 stats per level isn't that much, especially not when they're mostly strength and charisma.
2) Cloaker Body is all kinds of fun. You aren't fast, but you have a climb speed, and the ability to be worn as clothing. And you eat cloaks for the people that wear you. Interesting adaption to give people an incentive to wear you. The only problem I can see with that is when you decide to fly off on your own, and leave your buddy without their magic cloak. Just a little awkward. That's why you'll probably want to ride around on someone who can afford to not have a cloak for part of the fight.
Also, if you get a chance, perhaps instead of them being "treated as though they had a base land speed of 30 ft for the purposes of using the jump skill", instead they can "ignore speed penalties to the Jump skill". Slightly more concise. More concise, yes, but it would also mean they would jump at a pathetically slow rate.
3) I was going to say something about Engulf being a little useless with it not working on creatures it's size, but that is fixed at 3rd level. Also, I like that you gave the bite a +4 on the attack, seeing its already at a -5 for being secondary(and no chance for multiattack) and I believe a -2 for being in grapple. -4, actually.
4) Just one thing you might want to clarify on engulfing leap, but if it is like a charge, do you have to move in a straight line? Also, if that is the case, can you charge through an ally's space by flying over them? Stuff like that would be good to mention in the entry. Yes, and depends on how tall they are. I'll update this.
5) Cloak is all kinds of useful, but some of the parts of it don't make as much sense, or require a little discrimination. Like the part where you can fly with the person wearing the Cloaker. Does this work even if the person is to heavy to be carried? Also, why can't it be spotted with Spot? When you see eyes and a mouth on someone's cloak, do you really have to know that it is a Cloaker to know that it isn't a cloak? If that makes any sense... Eh, that last bit isn't such a huge deal. I'll change the flying thing, Spot doesn't work because there is very little about a cloaker that distinguishes it from a cloak an most of that is hidden, Know(arc) is someone noticing that it isn't a magic item Know(dungeon) is them noticing that it is a cloaker.
6) Huh, the only thing about Shadow Shift that strikes me as odd is that you let the Cloaker have Mirror Image at will at 12 HD, while the pattern would indicate the at will would come at 15 HD. Also, in Obscure Vision and Mirror Image, could you modify the wording, so that it reads something like: "any creature wearing the Cloaker as a cloak", or something. There's no real pattern there, I was just giving it at will at the point where I thought it would no longer matter.
7) Obscure Features= Cool. Thanks.
8) Improved Engulf is quite useful. One problem I can see is where you make iterative attacks with a secondary attack, which already has a -5. Kind of odd. See comments on Gorgondantess's comment.
9) "cloaker through cloak"? Could you please make this read a little easier. Also, I think it is customary to capitalize the class name every time it is used. I think. Still, Mutual Defenses is interesting, and gives the squishy characters one more reason to wear the Cloaker. Working on this, class name can be capitalized or not I think.
10) Flight is straightforward. Okay
11) Huh... Moan could get interesting. First of all, it states that "anyone" in the area is affected. Does this include allies? Yes If so, are there ways for your allies to give themselves a better chance to avoid the consequences? Stuff cotton in their ears? Or multiclass to paladin, anything that'll make them not hear or not fear. Also, good move not letting them have Hold Monster till 9HD. Of course, by that point, Fear and Nausea are becoming a lot less useful, as things are getting immunities to match.

All in all, a really interesting, very odd class. A rather eclectic mix of abilities, and a lot of things to boost other members of the party. That last part may be the biggest worry, though, is how much is dependent on someone wearing the Cloaker. A Cloaker's player will probably be willing enough to just ride around outside of combat, but its going to want to jump around and engulf people once things get going. As I said, you'll want to be riding around on someone who can use the bonuses, but isn't dependent on them, the rogue who can use his cloak of the mountebank, not the sorcerer who needs his Security Blanket Cloak of Charisma.

Cloaker:
Engulf: can it make a bite attack every round? Yes, I'll clarify.
Cloak: so, your gargantuan fire giant ally, you can carry them? You can only cloak your own size or one smaller( Probably should change this to include one bigger too.) I'll add something about encumbrance.
Obscure vision: how much concealment? 20% is standard, I'll specify.
Improved Engulf: Um... so it can make iterative attacks with its bite? Normally you can't do that, y'know. True, but its bite isn't exactly spectacular and this isn't game breaking. On the other hand that ability doesn't kick in until a fem levels later unless you leveled out of order, and as bladesmith pointed out getting iterative attacks with a secondary weapon is unintuitive. I'll probably just replace this with something making bite better in grapples.
Unnerve: scale!
Fear: scale! Also, panick is pretty powerful for 5th level. Start with frightened. Okay.
Nausea: scale!
Stupor: scale! I'll work on some scaling for these.

Reserving Chuul.

[Frog Dragon]

I have finally revamped the Mezzoloth.

I dropped a lot of SLA:s, and added the Fiendish Fury line, which I cooked up from reading this line in the Monster Manual 3. "Its wide-set eyes glow red when it's angry (which is almost always)."

From this, I figured that these things have some serious anger issues to work out, and I figured basing abilities on it being angry at things was suitably demonic.

[Faey]

I've only recently found this thread, and I couldn't see any rules about requests, so hopefully I'm not doing this wrong...

I'd like to request Phaerimm. It's a Forgotten Realms specific race, most recent (and easiest to acquire) stats can be found in the Player's Guide to Faerun Web Enhancement.

[Hyudra]

That's... interesting...

I can't say I like the whole "suck now, awesome later" thing you built the lemure about, it's a pretty good implementation of that thing, yes, but I think the core concept is rather unfun. Make of this what you will.

So noted. That said, I want to point out that there are a wide variety of playstyles, and there are players out there who like playing the underdog. I considered myself such for a long time, until I realized that I was more interested in studying the design of why the class sucked than I was in actually being a class that sucks. Keeping in mind that the Lemure is a one level class, it was my hope to try and appeal to that type of player.

I'm aware it's rather off the wall. It's an experiment, because I see our general goal (or at least, my general goal) as trying to do all the official monsters, and at some point we're going to have to tackle some tricky bastards, and it's hard to do that without running out of ideas/steam, if we don't think outside the box sometimes.

I've only recently found this thread, and I couldn't see any rules about requests, so hopefully I'm not doing this wrong...

I'd like to request Phaerimm. It's a Forgotten Realms specific race, most recent (and easiest to acquire) stats can be found in the Player's Guide to Faerun Web Enhancement.

Requesting is certainly allowed, Faey, though we no longer have the 'requests' list.

Not to discourage you, but generally speaking, requests aren't often answered with a new monster class in a short span of time. This is especially true for monsters that would be 20+ levels in total (by virtue of being CR 20+). Those who do have the ability and the skill to put together such a creature generally have their own projects that they're aiming to start (or monsters in progress they're aiming to fill).

As such, our standard line is "Your best bet is to make the monster yourself." Which doesn't fit here, because at the same time, our preference is that new people to the thread not make level 15+ classes (And Phaerim could easily be epic level). Perhaps you would be best off doing a few CR 5 or less monsters to get in the groove, find out what we're looking for & how we practice, then try and tackle the murderous sunflower aberrations yourself?

All of which is to say, I wish you luck in seeing your request answered, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[TheGeckoKing]

Aboleth

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Hit Dice: d8

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Class Features

1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Aboleth Body, Just as Planned, Primordial Path I

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Aboleth Magic, Memory of the Eons, +1 Cha, +1 Int

3rd|

+2

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Forbidden Dreaming, Primordial Path II, +1 Con

4th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Drowning Ooze, Endless Growth, +1 Cha, +1 Int

5th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Convert the Flesh, Primordial Path III, +1 Con

6th|

+4

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Enslave the Mortals, +1 Cha, +1 Int

7th|

+5

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Drowned in Nostalgia, Primordial Path IV[/table]

Skills Points at 1st Level: (4+Intelligence Modifier) x 4
Skills Points at Each Level: 4+Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: The Aboleth’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (All skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha)

Proficiencies : The Aboleth gains proficiency with it's natural attacks.

Class Features: The following are the Class Features of the Aboleth.

Aboleth Body (Ex): At 1st level, the Aboleth loses all other racial bonus and gains Aberration traits (Basically Darkvision out 60ft). It's a medium sized creature with a base speed of 20ft and a swim speed of 40ft, and can speak Common and Aquan. It has two natural tentacle attacks dealing 1d4+Str Mod damage each. The Aboleth grows one extra tentacle as a natural attack for each 4 HD it possesses (3 tentacles with 4 HD, 4 tentacles with 8 HD, 5 tentacles with 12 HD, and so on). The Aboleth takes no penalty for attacking with all their tentacles in a full attack. The Aboleth has no limbs capable of fine manipulation, but can use his tentacles for somatic components of spells, and if an Aboleth's tentacles are cut off by any means, the tentacles grow back in 1d4 hours.

Just as Planned (Ex): At 1st level, the Aboleth can use it's vast, almost encyclopedic knowledge to take advantage of the enemies weaknesses.
Once per day as a move action the Aboleth may use this effect on any one enemy within 60ft. The Aboleth gains another use of this ability for every 3HD the Aboleth has. The target of this ability must make a Reflex Save with a DC equal to 10 + The Aboleths Int Mod + The Aboleths HD/2 or be affected by the following condition, which depend on the Aboleth's HD, and last for the Aboleths Int Mod worth of rounds. An Aboleth may induce a lesser condition if they so wish to.

{table=head]Aboleth's HD|Effect
1-3|Dazzled
4-6|Entangled
7-9|Sickened
10-12|Fatigued
13-15|Prone
16-19|Panicked
20+|Death*[/table]
*The target must make a secondary Fortitude save (Same DC as the first save) or die on the spot via the Aboleth's machinations.

Also, the Aboleth may apply its vast knowledge to other aspects of life. Aboleth levels stack with Archivist levels to determine how many different effects the Aboleth can induce with its Dark Knowledge, and how many times per day the Aboleth can use its Dark Knowledge ability. Note that the Aboleth only gains Dark Knowledge abilities if it takes level(s) in Archivist. Lastly, the Aboleth may substitute the Knowledge checks required to use the Dark Knowledge class ability with an Autohypnosis check of the same DC.

Primordial Path (Ex): At 1st level, the Aboleth chooses a path to pick, determining the subspecies of Aboleth it is. At each level indicated above, it gains the bonuses indicated below. Once it chooses a path, only a Wish may change it, as it is akin to changing your entire race.

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Amphibious Path:

The Amphibious Aboleth is one of the more commonly seen Aboleth, as it is normally the type of Aboleth that is caught running a cult of madmen, or advising a king in disguise, with ruinous words and plots. They thrive on infiltration and illusionary, and see the greatest asset to life as being as flexible as possible.

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I - It gains the Aquatic Subtype, and the Amphibious quality. It also gains two 1st level Illusion spells as SLA's usable twice per day each, to hide its gurgling voice from the land dwellers and infiltrate their society. When the Aboleth gains the Aboleth Magic class ability, it loses the SLA's and instead adds them to the list of spells the Aboleth can cast. As a small bonus, they also gain one extra use per day of their Aboleth Magic class ability when they gain it.

II - The Aboleth can make varied and wondrous illusions at this point, far beyond its other brethren. When they gain this ability, they choose any 2nd level Illusion spell. Add this spell to the list of spells the Aboleth can use for its Aboleth Magic ability.

III - The Aboleth can connect itself to the illusions it makes to taint its opponents. A number of times per day equal to its Cha Mod, when a creature would interact with an illusion spell cast by the Aboleth, the Aboleth may end the spell and force the creature interacting to make a Fort save, as if it has been hit by one of the Aboleth's tentacles (As per Convert the Flesh).

IV - The Aboleth finally masters its illusionary abilities. Any illusions cast by the Aboleth lasts one round longer than they normally would. Also, at 9HD and every 3HD after that, the Aboleth may add one more Illusion spell to their list of spells usable by Aboleth Magic, with a maximum spell level equal to half their HD.

Aquatic Path:

A more "pure" Aboleth, the Aquatic Aboleth is sneakier than other Aboleths, and is more commonly seen, if seen at all, stealing treasures from a water temple for it's plans, and inducing absolute terror into the hearts of coastal towns, to feed its own ego. The Aboleth is even more of a purist than other Aboleths, seeing itself as the original creations of The Blood Queen Piscanthes, and all others as deformed imitations. The Aquatic Aboleth thrives especially on being being fluid and flexible.

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I - It gains the Aquatic Subtype (But not the Amphibious quality), it's Swim Speed increases to 60ft, and it gains a bonus to Swim checks equal to half it's HD (Minimum 1). The Aboleth also gains an untyped bonus to their AC equal to their Cha Mod (Minimum 1), as the Aboleth's fluid movements make it hard to make a good hit.

II - Its slimy skin and fluid movement lets it function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever the Aboleth is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the Aboleth is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character. The Aboleth is also considered to be one size smaller when "squeezing" through a restrictive space. The Aboleth can use weapons designed for a creature one size smaller without penalty. However, the space and reach of the Aboleth remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

III - The Aboleth's Swim Speed increases to 80ft, and the Aboleth gains a continual Freedom of Movement effect on its person at all times.

IV - The Aboleth's swimming skills become unparalleled, and it can avoid most hazards effortlessly. Once per day per 6HD the Aboleth can treat any one save it makes as an automatic success, but only while it is underwater.

Stygian Path

The brute of Aboleths, the Stygian Aboleths are the Aboleths most commonly seen in old sailors tales, mixed up with kraken and leviathans but feared regardless. They mainly live on the plane of Baator known as Stygia, but can easily find ways to get to other planes, and raise hell there. The Stygian Aboleth values power and strength above none other, viewing a bloody pulp as the best form of an enemy.

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I - The Aboleth gains the Aquatic Subtype, the Amphibious quality, and the Extraplanar subtype, native to a layer of Hell known as Stygia. The Aboleth may also treat itself as an Outsider if it would be beneficial. It also gains a bite attack dealing 1d4 + Str Mod damage, which can be treated as a tentacle attack if that would be beneficial (namely, making a full attack and the Convert the Flesh ability).

II - The Aboleth grows more and more, beyond other subspecies, and so may treat it's HD as 4 higher to determine how may tentacles it has. The Aboleth also gains vicious barbs on it's tentacles, meaning when it hits a victim, that victim bleeds out and takes one point of untyped damage at the start of the next round, per tentacle that hit it.

III - The Aboleth gains a bonus to Intimidate equal to 1/4 its HD because of its imposing form, and its thick skin gives it DR 5/Magic. The DR increases by 5 for every 5HD the Aboleth has.

IV - The Aboleth is so imposing they can easily put the fear of death into the mortal creatures. When the Aboleth makes a full-attack, it may make an demoralization check as an Immediate action at no penalty.

Uobilyth Path

The Uobilyths (Or Flying Aboleths) are the enigma of the Aboleth race. While other Aboleths are generally malicious and schemers of a Lawful Evil bent, Uobilyths are nearly always Chaotic Neutral, more amoral than malicious and intolerant of endless scheming, instead dependent on their never-ending imagination. The Uobilyth is the most common adventurer, as the Uobilyth values freedom and free-thinking above all else, something multiple egotistic Aboleths tend to unwittingly crush.

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I - The Aboleth gains the Air subtype, loses their Swim Speed, and gain a permanent Feather Fall effect on their person as a Mundane effect. Also, a number of times per encounter equal to their Con Modifier, the Aboleth may empty out their flotation sacs to make a trip attempt to every creature in a 60ft line, using the Aboleth's statistics when applicable. If they do use this breath attack, their flight speed (if any) is reduced by 10ft for 1 round.

II - The Aboleth's flight-fins grow strong enough for limited flight, and so the Aboleth gains the ability to fly with a speed of 20ft (Poor) up to Con Modifier hours per day. The Aboleth must start and end any flights on land/water if possible, and if they are in mid-flight when they are unable to fly any more, they fall out of the sky harmlessly (as per their Feather Fall ability). At 4th level, the Aboleth can fly indefinitely at a speed of 40ft (Average).

III - The Aboleth learns how to Slime Bomb its opponents in glorious warfare. It can, for Cha Mod rounds per day (split up however the Aboleth wishes), can make any creature it flies over make a Fort Save or be affected as if it were hit by one of their tentacle attacks (See Convert the Flesh for Fortitude Save and effect).

IV - The Aboleth's flight speed increases to 60ft (Average), and once per day per 4 HD it can break the sound barrier for a split-second, and create a shockwave of sound. As a move action, it can move triple its flight speed while flying, and any creature beneath the Aboleth at the beginning or end of the move action takes 1d12 points of Sonic Damage, with a Reflex Save to halve the damage that has a DC of 10 + Con Mod + HD/2

Aboleth Magic(Su): Beginning at 2nd level the Aboleth can use the following spells at the following levels/HD a total number of times per day (In total, not per each spell) equal to it's HD/2, as SLAs;

• 2nd - Hypnotic Pattern
• 7th - Illusionary Wall
• 9HD - Mirage Arcana, Persistent Image
• 11HD - Programmed Image, Veil
• 13HD - Project Image

Memory of the Eons(Ex): At 2nd level and beyond, the Aboleth can access it's ancestors memories for a vast pool of information. An Aboleth can make any Knowledge check using it's skill points in Autohypnosis instead of the relevant Knowledge skill, although the Aboleth gains a +2 to the check if it has 5 or more points in said Knowledge skill.

Ability Increases: At 2nd, 4th and 6th level, the Aboleth gains +1 Cha and +1 Int, and at 3rd and 5th level the Aboleth gains +1 Con, to make a total of +3 Cha, +2 Con and +3 Int at 6th level, with no increase at 1st or 7th level.
Total Ability Increases;

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{table=head]Level|Increases
1st|No Increases
2nd|+1 Cha, +1 Int
3rd|+1 Cha, +1 Con, +1 Int
4th|+2 Cha, +1 Con, +2 Int
5th|+2 Cha, +2 Con, +2 Int
6th|+3 Cha, +2 Con, +3 Int
7th|+3 Cha, +2 Con, +3 Int (No Change from 6th)[/table]

Forbidden Dreaming(Ex): At 3rd level, the Aboleth has control over it's form so much it can, as a last resort, force itself into a limited form of the dreaded Long Dreaming. As a full-round action, the Aboleth can cocoon itself in quick-drying ooze, entrapping it (Treat the Aboleth as only able to make purely mental actions). However, while cocooned the Aboleth gains Fast Healing equal to it's HD/2, Hardness 10 (Treat it as an object in this case), and and temporary HP equal to half of the Aboleth's max HP. This condition can last for as many rounds as the Aboleth likes, up to the Aboleth's Con Mod. After the Aboleth stays in condition for more than their Con Mod worth of rounds, they must make a Reflex Save (DC 15) to make it out of their cocoon. Failing a save increases the next save's DC by 1, and so potentially the Aboleth could stay in it's cocoon for a very long time.

Drowning Ooze (Ex): At 4th level, the slime covering the Aboleth's body grows so thick it taints and corrupts those around the Aboleth. An Aboleth of 4th level and higher is constantly surrounded with a viscous cloud of mucus roughly 5ft thick, which grows to 15ft in any large body of water. Any creature coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a Fortitude Save, with a DC equal to 10 + Cha Mod + HD/2, or for one minute (10 rounds) suffers the effects of a forced adaptation to water. An affected creature out of water, while under this effect, takes 1d6 points of damage per round as their body slowly dries out and shrivels up. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing that Fortitude save continues the effect for another 2 minutes.

Endless Growth: At 4th level, the Aboleth grows to Large size. Also, every 5HD past 4th level, the Aboleth grows one size category larger, to a maximum of Colossal at 21HD.

Convert the Flesh (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a blow from an Aboleth’s tentacle can cause a terrible affliction. A creature hit by any of the Aboleth's tentacles must succeed on a Fortitude Save with a DC of 10 + Con Mod + HD/2 or begin to transform over the next two rounds, the skin around the affected area gradually becoming a clear, slimy membrane.
When the Aboleth uses this ability they may choose which part of the body they target they hit, and thus choose one effect from the list in the spoiler.
For more exotic creatures, the Aboleth simply strikes the creature's equivalent with the same effect. Note that the effect that is active over the two rounds is then replaced with a secondary effect that occurs if they are not healed within two rounds, unless it would do something like deal Con Damage which stays anyway. If an effect would do ability damage to the victim however, that damage is also healed when the condition is removed. A creature can only be affected by two of these conditions at one time. They can be affected by an extra condition for every 5HD the Aboleth has past 5HD (3 at 10HD, 4 at 15HD, and all 5 at 20HD).

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• Face - The victims face slowly turns clear and distorts as it's structure collapses apon itself. Over the next two rounds, the victim takes a penalty to spot checks equal to the Aboleth's HD, and when rolling for anything that needs a verbal component (Like the verbal component of a spell), they must roll twice and take the worse result. After the two rounds, their face collapses in on itself, scarring and distorting. The victim immediately takes 2 points of Cha damage, is Blinded, and has a 20% chance of outright failing any task that requires speech (treat as rolling a natural 1).
  
  
• Chest - The victim finds it hard to breath as their ribcage slowly softens and distorts from the weight on the victim's shoulders. Over the two rounds, the victim takes one point of Con Damage each round as their body slowly chokes to death. After the two rounds, the victim's body cannot take the strain of their non-mutated parts, and starts to collapse. Each round, the victim must make a Fortitude Save, with a DC equal to 10 + Aboleth's Cha Mod + Aboleth's HD/2, or take a further 2 points of Con damage.
  
  
• Arms - The victims arm slowly grows less flexible, and loses all strength in it and cannot do simple tasks requiring manipulation. Over the two rounds, any attack made with the one limb (Or a weapon held by that limb) has a 10% chance of missing outright (treat as rolling a Nat 1). After the two rounds, the poor victim's limbs are too distorted for use. They lose all natural attacks that can be made with the limb, and any task they do that requires fine manipulation has a 50% chance of failing outright.
  
  
• Legs - The victims leg buckles under their weight as it slowly turns into something close to a tentacle. Over the two rounds, the victims movement speeds are all halved. After the two rounds, the victims movement speed is reduced to 10ft, and the victim takes 2 points of Dex damage.
  
  
• Soul - The most blasphemous of mutations, if the Aboleth strikes its victim with special accuracy they may taint and distort the victims very soul. Over the two rounds, the victim is sent insane as its body simply doesn't recognize its soul, with the soul desperate to regain control.
  The victim is treated as being under the effects of a Confusion spell, with a Caster level equal to the Aboleth's HD. After the two rounds, unlike other mutations, the victim of the Aboleth victim gets one last chance to regain control. At the end of the 2nd round, they must make a Will Save that has a DC of 10 + The Aboleth's Cha Mod + 1/2 of the Aboleth's HD, or loose a chunk of their sanity. Until they are healed with the appropriate spell, the victim is permanently Sickened. At 13HD the slime outright ruins the soul, sending them insane, as per Insanity (With a caster level equal to the Aboleth's HD) if they fail the second Will Save. Another more horrific penalty is that if the victim dies with this condition, their soul does not leave the body, but is instead trapped within a corrupted prison. This makes their body immune to being converted into undeath (Animate Dead, Create Undead, etc.), but it also means when they are raised they immediately take 2 points of Wis Drain because of the damning experience.
  

This effect can be cured by a Remove Disease spell as the mutation progresses over the two rounds, but only Cure Serious Wounds can cure it after it mutates the victim completely. At 11HD, this effect requires a Heal/Mass Heal to remove. At 13HD, it takes a Regeneration spell to cure instead.

Enslave the Mortals (Su): At 6th level, the Aboleth learns a classic Aboleth ability, namely enslaving weaker minded creatures. Once per day per 6HD, an Aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Will Save with a DC of 10 + Int Mod + HD/2 or be affected as though by a Dominate Person spell (caster level equal to the Aboleth's HD).
However, an Aboleth can only do so much at one time, and mental slaves are only allowed to think so far, thus the Aboleth must spend its move action to direct its mental slaves to do anything other than basic tasks (Follow Me, Stay Still and Hide).
An enslaved creature obeys the Aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by a Remove Curse spell with a Caster Level higher than the Aboleth's HD, but the control is also broken if the Aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave.
The total HD of the Aboleth's mental slaves cannot exceed twice its own HD, and each mental slave cannot have more HD than the Aboleth. If this would happen, the last creature to be enslaved by the Aboleth is freed from the domination as if a successful Remove Curse had been cast on it.

Drowned in Nostalgia (Su): At 7th level, the Aboleth can share it's endless knowledge with other beings, although this is not recommended if the Aboleth has any liking for the target, as insanity will follow, with a good chance of making it permanent. As a standard action once per day per 5HD, the Aboleth can make one creature within it's line of sight make a Will save, with a DC of 10 + Aboleth's Cha Mod + its HD/2, or be affected by a Feeblemind spell, with a Caster Level equal to the Aboleth's HD. All Aboleths are immune to this effect.

Special: Please read this if you own Lords of Madness!

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A high level Aboleth dealing with some silly mortals

In the Lords of Madness book, there are certain options that improve a normal Aboleth's special abilities. However, if you were to take these options, they would be incompatable with this Aboleth's abilities. Thus, if you are using this class then you must use the following conversions to the Aboleth racial feats, as below.
When a character option would refer to any of the following abilities for prerequisites, you may substitute the prerequisite for the noted replacement. Likewise, apply the benefits of the feat to the substituted ability.

Original Ability - New Ability
Mucus Cloud - Drowing Ooze
Slime - Convert the Flesh
Enslave - Enslave the Mortals

Specific:

• The Quickslime feat does not change the Convert the Flesh's time to take effect in any way.
• When a feat would refer to a mucus puddle, ignore it - The Aboleth's Drowning Ooze ability is always a cloud, inside of water or not.
• The Thicken Mucus feat inhibits the Land Speed AND Swim Speed of anyone in the cloud's range, not just their Swim Speed.
• The Aboleth does not have a bite attack until they take the Powerful Bite feat or take the Stygian Path - The Ability Focus (Bite) feat can be taken by a non-Stygian Aboleth however, it just doesn't do anything until the Aboleth takes the Powerful Bite feat.
• The Enlarge Mucus Cloud feat increases the size of the Aboleth's Drowning Ooze, but the Drowning Ooze ability always has a minimum size of 5ft on land, or 15ft in water.

Comments:

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Right then, the Aboleth is a nasty horror from beneath the depths, that has four main pathways - Amphibious Illusionist, Waterborne Sneak, Stygian Horror, and Uobilyth Flyer. On top of that it has a crunchy way of using it's vast knowledge, just like a proper Chessmaster should be able to, the ability to know anything with enough skill pumping, the classic Aboleth abilities (Slime with a new twist and Dominate), and a Save or Suck that can make your opponents life very hard indeed.

Changelog:

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13/02/11 - Edited the wording of some stuff, explained why it needed more skill points, gave the Aquatic Aboleth a free Freedom of Movement instead of a rubbish skill check boost, Reworded Uobilyth IIII's fluff, upped Forbidden Dreaming's fast healing, removed the fullattack snippet on Convert the Flesh, made Enslave the Mortals so you don't get a will save every day but have a cap on the HD, and just gave IWOCM a duration rather than concentrate, and a small boon to Int.
14/02/11 - Edited more wording, and changes IWOCM so it's a bit less pointless (I.E a more tame boni that can be repeated), and added a more aberration-y picture on the front (Original pic at the bottom of class features).
18/02/11 - More skill points, grammarand wording fixed, scaling DR, Just Has Planned has been reworded, Convert the Flesh happens way quicker, Enslave the Mortals needs the Aboleth to direct the mind slaves, and IWOCM has been sightly changed (Wording and uses per day).
20/02/11 - Renamed IWOCM to Drowned in Nostalgia, made Aboleth levels stack with Archivist levels for Dark Knowledge, and changed the Aquatic Path and Amphibious Path granted abilities slightly.
24/02/10 - Fixed lots of typos, sorted out some scaling, and added the AWOL ability on the Aquatic Path. Also swapped Just as Planned and Memory of the Eons about so you don't feel useless at 1st level. Drowned in Nostalga has been simplified, and Enslave the Mortals nerfed for balance. Also allowed the Aboleth to add an illusion spell of it's choice to it's list with the Amphibious path.
1/03/11 - Amphibious Path has been knocked up so it feels more Illusionist-y, the Flying Aboleth path (I can't keep typing out Uobilyth) gets to huff and puff and blow you down, and the Aquatic Path sucks a little bit less (It's still Aquatic Campaign only, but still).
5/03/11 - Convert the Flesh has gotten a major re-haul, and thus was switched with Drowning Ooze in regards to acquiring it because I feel it's a bit too powerful for 4th level. Also, I tried my best at adding fluff for the four paths. Note that i'm not finished with changes, so watch this space!
10/03/11 - Made Convert The Flesh more scale-y, and reworded a few abilities so they made more sense. Still need to think what i'm going to do with Drowning Ooze though.
11/03/11 - Drowned in Nostalgia has been simplified, and saves for abilities that went AWOL have been re-added. Drowning Ooze seems like it should be OK now.
16/03/11 - Clarified Drowning Ooze so it makes sense.
25/03/11 - More typos, mis-spellings and odd wordings have been hit with the Grammah Hammah.

[Hyudra]

Please spellcheck and look over your work for major errors. Some blatant table formats and there are spelling errors that stand out with a 3 second glance.

[TheGeckoKing]

Edited up, grammar/spelling has been fixed and the table is now working.
Aaaaaand MORE editing done. Stupid spell checker drowning my eyes in red.

[Frog Dragon]

"*The target must make a secondary Fortitude save (Same DC as the first save) or die on the spot via the Aboleth's mechanizations."

I think the word you're looking for here is "machinations".

[TheGeckoKing]

Thanks for that catch. Microsoft Word has a habit of messing up anything I type.

[Saidoro]

Aboleth

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Hit Dice: d8

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Class Features

1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Aboleth Body, Memory of the Eons, Primordial Path I

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Aboleth Magic, Just As Planned, +1 Int, +1 Con

3rd|

+2

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Forbidden Dreaming, Primordial Path II, +1 Con

4th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Convert the Flesh, Endless Growth, +1 Cha, +1 Int

5th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Drowning Ooze, Primordial Path III, +1 Con

6th|

+4

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Enslave the Mortals, +1 Cha, +1 Int

7th|

+5

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Infinite Waterfall Of Crushing Memories, Primordial Path IV[/table]

Skills Points at 1st Level: (2+Intelligence Modifier) x 4
Skills Points at Each Level: (2+Intelligence Modifier)
Class Skills: The Aboleth’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (All skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha)

Proficiencies : The Aboleth gains proficiency with it's natural attacks.

Class Features: The following are the Class Features of the Aboleth.

Aboleth Body (Ex): At 1st level, the Aboleth loses all other racial bonus and gains Aberration traits (Darkvision 60ft). It's a medium sized creature with a base speed of 20ft and a swim speed of 40ft. It has two natural tentacle attacks dealing 1d4+Str Mod damage each. The Aboleth grows one extra tentacle as a natural attack for each 4 HD it possesses (3 tentacles with 4 HD, 4 tentacles with 8 HD, 5 tentacles with 12 HD, and so on). The Aboleth takes no penalty for attacking with all his tentacles in a full attack. The Aboleth has no limbs capable of fine manipulation, but can use his tentacles for somatic components of spells, and if an Aboleth's tentacles are cut off by any means, the tentacles grow back in 1d4 hours.

Memory of the Eons(Ex): A 1st level and beyond, the Aboleth can access it's ancestors memories for a vast pool of information. An Aboleth can make any Knowledge check using it's skill points in Autohypnosis instead of the relevant Knowledge skill, although you gain a +2 to the check if you have 5 or more points in said Knowledge skill.

Primordial Path (Ex): At 1st level, the Aboleth chooses a path to pick, determining the subspecies of Aboleth it is. At each level indicated above, it gains the boni indicated below. Once it chooses a path, only a Wish may change it, as it is akin to changing your entire race.

Amphibious Path:

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I - It gains the Aquatic Subtype, and the Amphibious quality. It also gains 4 bonus skill points at 1st level only. Why the skill points? They feel kind of tacked-on here.

II - In order to hide itself from the land-dwellers, the Aboleth practices it's magic and thus gains a +1 to it's Caster Level when casting Illusion spells.

You're switching back and forth between it and the aboleth, kind of jarring.

III - The Aboleth can connect itself to the illusions it makes to taint it's its opponents. Cha Mod times per day, when a creature would interact with an illusion spell cast by the Aboleth, the Aboleth may end the spell and force the creature interacting to make a Fort save, as if it has been hit by one of the Aboleth's tentacles (As per Convert the Flesh).

IV - The Aboleth finally masters its illusionary abilities. Any illusions cast by the Aboleth lasts twice as long as they normally would.

Aquatic Path:

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I - It gains the Aquatic Subtype (But NOT the Amphibious quality), it's Swim Speed increases to 60ft, and it gains a bonus to Swim checks equal to half it's HD (Minimum 1)

II - It's slimy skin and fluid movement lets it function in many ways as if they were one size category smaller. Whenever the Aboleth is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as Hide), the kobold aboleth is treated as one size smaller if doing so is advantageous to the character. The Aboleth is also considered to be one size smaller when "squeezing" through a restrictive space. The Aboleth can use weapons designed for a creature one size smaller without penalty. However, the space and reach of the Aboleth remain those of a creature of their actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

III - The Aboleth's Swim Speed increases to 80ft, and it can treat itself as up two sizes smaller, as per the III path ability.

IV - The Aboleth's swimming skills become unparalleled, and it can avoid most hazards effortlessly. The Aboleth automatically succeeds on any Swim check with a DC equal to twice it's HD or lower. This isn't very good, the highest listed swim check is 20 and many DMs won't implement any harder than that (and really, you don't even need to make the listed ones, those are just for moving), besides you're already getting a half-hd bonus and +8 for having a swim speed.

Stygian Path

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I - The Aboleth gains the Amphibious quality, and the Extraplanar subtype, native to a layer of Hell known as Stygia. The Aboleth may also treat itself as an Outsider if it would be beneficial. It also gain a bite attack dealing 1d4 + Str Mod damage, which can be treated as a tentacle attack if that would be beneficial (namely, making a full attack and the Convert the Flesh ability).

II - The Aboleth grows more and more, beyond other subspecies, and so may treat it's HD as 4 higher to determine how may tentacles it has.

III - The Aboleth gains a bonus to Intimidate equal to 1/4 it's HD because of it's imposing form, and gains DR 5/Magic.

IV - The Aboleth is so imposing they can easily put the fear of death into the mortal creatures. When the Aboleth makes a full-attack, it may make an Intimidate check as an Immediate action at no penalty.

Uobilyth Path

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I - The Aboleth gains the Air subtype, lose their Swim Speed, and gain a permanent Feather Fall effect on their person as a Mundane effect.

II - The Aboleth's flight-fins grow strong enough for limited flight, and so gains the ability to fly with a speed of 20ft (Poor) up to Com Mod hours per day. The Aboleth must start and end any flights on land/water. At 4th level, that Aboleth can fly indefinitely at a speed of 40ft (Average).

III - The Aboleth learns how to Slime Bomb it's opponents in glorious warfare, It can, for Cha Mod rounds per day, can make any creature if flies over make a Fort Save or be affected as if it were hit by one of your tentacle attacks (See Convert the Flesh).

IV - Its Flight Speed doubles, and twice per day per 7 HD it can break the sound barrier and travel at supersonic speed. As a move action, it can move triple it's flight speed while flying, and any creature beneath the Aboleth at the beginning or end of the move action takes 1d12 points of Sonic Damage (Reflex Save to halve) Bit nitpicky, but 120 ft/round is only 6 m/s. The speed of sound is 340 m/s.

Aboleth Magic(Su): Beginning at 2nd level the Aboleth can use the following spells at the following levels a total number of times per day (Total, Not per for each spell!) equal to it's HD/2;

2nd - Hypnotic Pattern
7th - Illusionary Wall
9HD - Mirage Arcana, Persistent Image
11HD - Programmed Image, Veil
13HD - Project Image

Just as Planned (Ex): At 2nd level, the Aboleth can do a seemingly random set of actions and use the results of said actions to compromise and befuddle their opponents like a true chessmaster of war. Once per day, plus an extra use per 3HD, as a move action you may use this effect on any enemy within 60ft. They must make a Reflex Save (DC=10+Int Mod+HD/2) or be affected by the following conditions, which depend on the Aboleth's HD (These effects are cumulative)

{table=head]Aboleth's HD|Effect
1-3|Dazzled
4-6|Entangled
7-9|Sickened
10-12|Fatigued
13-15|Prone
16-19|Panicked
20+|Death*[/table]
*The target must make a secondary Fortitude save (Same DC as the first save) or die on the spot via the Aboleth's mechanizations.
In order to be able to use this ability, every 4 hours the Aboleth must make either a Spot, Listen, Gather Information, Concentration or Memory (See Memory of the Eons) check, with a DC of 10, to further progress it's plans. For every hour the Aboleth misses or fails a check, their HD is treated as 3 lower for what conditions this ability inflicts on the target as the plans and contingencies it has slowly fall apart.

Ability Increases: At 2nd, 4th and 6th level, the Aboleth gains +1 Cha and +1 Int, and at 2nd and 4th level the Aboleth gains +1 Con.

Forbidden Dreaming(Ex): At 3rd level, the Aboleth has control over it's form so much it can, as a last resort, force itself into a condition any Aboleth fears to be in - The Long Dreaming. As a full-round action, the Aboleth can cocoon itself in quick-drying ooze, paralyzing it. However, the Aboleth gains Fast Healing equal to it's HD/3, Hardness 10 (Treat it as an object in this case), and a pool of special HP equal to half of the Aboleth's max HP. The only way to end this condition is if the special pool of HP is depleted to 0, at which point the Long Dreaming ends. Thus, an Aboleth must be sure it can be cut out of it's cocoon, lest it dream forever. This seems more like a plot device than an ability that will be used with any frequency. And it really won't save you from dying if your teammates are already incapacitated. Up the fast-healing.

Convert the Flesh (Ex): At 4th level and higher, a blow from an Aboleth’s tentacle can cause a terrible affliction. A creature hit by any of your tentacles during a full-attack Why only a full-attack? must succeed on a DC (10+Cha Mod+HD/2) Fortitude save or begin to transform over the next 1d4+1 minutes, the skin gradually becoming a clear, slimy membrane. An afflicted creature must remain moistened with cool, fresh water or take 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. The slime reduces the creature’s natural armor bonus by 1 (but never to less than 0). This can be cured by a Remove Disease spell before the transformation occurs, but only a Heal/Mass Heal spell can cure it after it mutates the victim.

Endless Growth: At 4th level, the Aboleth grows to Large size. Also, every 5HD past 4th level, the Aboleth grows one size category bigger.

Drowning Ooze (Ex): At 5th level, the slime covering your body grows so thick it taints and corrupts those around you. An Aboleth is constantly surrounded with a viscous cloud of mucus roughly 1 foot thick. Any creature coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a DC (10+Cha Mod+HD/2) Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe air for the next hour. An affected creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing that Fortitude save continues the effect for another 2 hours.

Enslave the Mortals (Su): At 6th level, the Aboleth learns a classic Aboleth ability, namely enslaving weaker minded creatures. HD/6 times per day, an aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC (10+Int Mod+HD/2) Will save or be affected as though by a Dominate Person spell (caster level equal to te Aboleth's HD). An enslaved creature obeys the Aboleth’s telepathic commands until freed by Remove Curse, and can attempt a new Will save every 24 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the Aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave. It might be better to remove the new save every 24 hours thing and just but a cap on how many HD of creatures it can control. Or I could be wrong.

Infinite Waterfall of Crushing Memories (Su): At 7th level, the Aboleth can share it's endless knowledge with other beings, although this is normally a bad thing as the sheer knowledge crushes the minds of the recipient. As a full-round action, the Aboleth can make any creature within it's line of sight make a Will Save (DC 10+Int Mod+HD/2) or have it's mind squashed by the overload. The victim is treated as having 0 WIS, and this persists for as long as you can concentrate on the victim. Each round, the afflicted victim can make another Will Save, using its old Wis score instead of the current Wis score. After the victim breaks free, the former victim can make Bardic Knowledge checks, using it's own HD as it's Bard levels, but only for a number of rounds equal to the number of rounds it had 0 WIS under this ability's effect. This would be useful if the Aboleth wasn't already passing all its knowledge checks with one skill.Removing a single creature from combat by using all of your own actions doesn't seem like a good capstone.

Comments in blue.

[TheGeckoKing]

Right, one lot of edits before I log off

[Zemro]

Just finished another round of changes to the Marrash, this time after having taken account a likely constitution score progression. The new limitations are done with a maximum score of 36 Constitution at 20 HD, and I based the limitation on a likely progression.

I also made a small chart listing the SRD diseases and how their damage would be increased by the Outbreak ability. This was mostly for my own benefit so I could keep things in mind, but I figured I might as well leave it in.

Fourth level still seems bear to me, however, so I've considered either creating or moving an ability to fill in the gap.