Page 175 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

ABOLETHS with a beholder is simply a question of assembling the right
Adventurers preparing to confront aboleths face three major resources in the right place. Beholders possess three advantages
challenges: the monsters’ intelligence, their mental powers, that must be accounted for: the deadly eye rays, the antimagic
and their environment. cone, and their ability to fly.

Aboleths are ruthless geniuses. They do not overlook Dealing with the eye rays is difficult, but not impossible.
weaknesses in their defenses and they easily anticipate an The simplest method is to use antimagic field to render oneself

enemy’s actions. They respond to threats with efficiency and invulnerable to the direct effect of the eye rays, and then kill

guile, dispatching mind-controlled spies to learn the heroes’ the monsters with missile fire if they hover out of reach. If
routines and vulnerabilities, using divination magic to monitor no spellcaster in the party can cast the spell, acquiring a
scroll of antimagic field before confronting beholders is a wise
the heroes’ activities, and concocting ruses and traps likely to

CHAPTER 9 THE ABERRATION HUNTER confuse or snare the heroes. idea. This tactic has drawbacks: Not everyone can produce
an antimagic field on demand, the characters’ own magic can’t
There is no good answer to aboleth intelligence, but at the

work as long as the party shelters within the field, and clever
very minimum, an aboleth hunter should make use of magic

beholders can still cause great damage by disintegrating the
designed to obscure divinations such as nondetection, detect
scrying, and mind blank. Searching out humanoid minions

of the aboleths with spells such as detect thoughts or detect ceiling overhead or using telekinesis to hurl heavy objects
into the antimagic field.
magic is another sound tactic. Even people well known to the Without an antimagic field, attacking beholders becomes a

heroes should be checked regularly to make sure that they much more dangerous proposition. The best tactic is to limit
have not fallen under the sway of an aboleth master. Finally, the number of eyes that can be used against the party. Instead
clever heroes could make a point of showing the aboleths of surrounding the monsters, experienced beholder hunters
what they expect to see. Instead of killing or freeing a spy stay closely grouped so that the monsters can bring only a
known to be enslaved by the aboleths, the heroes could allow few eye rays into play at a time. Anything that obscures
the spy to continue her reports, carefully allowing her to or limits vision is useful. A common smokestick
observe some activities and not others. Aboleths are smart provides concealment that the beholder’s
Illus. by R. Spencer skill and subtlety. disperse, while
antimagic cone can’t
enough to see through such a tactic if it is not handled with
Preparing to deal with the mental powers of the aboleths is
a key part of any successful expedition against the monsters.
Nothing can destroy a band of heroes quicker than having
a powerful fighter switched from an ally to a foe by a spell

of mental domination. Any steps that improve a character’s
Will save are virtually mandatory for an aboleth hunter.
Characters who expect to face aboleths would be well advised

to take the Iron Will feat at the first opportunity, and to
acquire defensive items such as cloaks of resistance if at all

possible. Use of the protection from evil spell exemplifies a
particularly good tactic to employ against aboleths; a charac-
ter so protected cannot be made to attack his comrades.

The third difficulty in defeating the aboleths lies
in their preferred environment, the cold and lightless
waters of the underground. Any aboleth seriously threat-
ened by land-bound attackers can simply retreat into the
dark depths of its lair. Spells such as water breathing and
freedom of movement are absolutely essential for cornering

aboleths that have chosen to retreat from a fight. Polymorph
is another good tactic, as is using summon monster to conjure
an aquatic monster that can go where the heroes cannot.
Without the ability to pursue aboleths into their submerged
lairs, aberration hunters find that the monsters are exceed-

ingly hard to finish off.
BEHOLDERS
Despite the fact that they are individually more
powerful than aboleths, beholders are in some ways
easier foes to combat. They lack the sheer genius,
organization, and minions of the aboleths; dealing
174 Protected by an

antimagic field, Mialee and Tordek
take the battle to a dreaded beholder