Aboleths & Illithid Geopolitics, Explained

What I love is the lore between these two. It's begging for a war. Aboleths predate the gods of the material plane. Illithids come from a different timeline. Imagine living since the dawn of creation only to find something new show up? That's the illithids to an aboleth. Two psychic hegemons utterly alien to one another competing for thralls!

Now I want to run two separate campaigns: one party will be tasked in helping stabilize the government of an area, unknowingly fulfilling an elder brain’s phase two. The other party could be paladins and clerics carrying out the preaching and holy war for their leader who is an aboleth’s thrall. Both parties gain a reputation and strengthen and fortify their nations, until their pitted in a war against each other. Whichever party survives gets to discover the horrors controlling the enemy party. Who knows if they will ever discover the terrible creature pulling their own strings… bwahaha!

I like how some monsters are defined by their life cycle regardless of what their alignment might happen to be. Illithid need to victimize humanoids to both eat and reproduce. Aboleths don't need to have a culture because of their immortality and perfect ancestral memory, so they're practically all one individual. Beholders are solitary and especially hostile toward other beholders because they are literally born from each other's nightmares.

The regional effect you described for an elder brain is something that I had the party feeling in a cave underneath Sharn. That should be interesting.

So cool. I imagine two warring towns slaughtering each other for no known reason. While a group of adventurers are assigned to "check things out". They end up picking a side or trying to mediate things only to slowly find out there's something beneath the surface of this war. Or they figure it out too late and become thralls enlisting on either side.

It is 100% my firm belief that Aboleths evolve into Mind Flayers over a long enough time period. Look at an aboleth and then look at a illithid tadpole. Same exact entity just differently sized. Aboleths remember all things every previous Aboleth knew. The one thing that causes concern to Aboleths is that yesterday there were no Illithid in their collective memory. And then today Illithid fully exist with their own history. There is no memory of the evolution and spawn of Illithid. Aboleths remember the time before the gods, before the dragons, the giants, the Primordials. Everything. The Aboleths, according to themselves, were the first entities. Aboleths had an multiplanar empire that was overthrown and they lurk and plan for eternity until they return to their former glory. Illithid ALSO had an ancient multiplanar empire. Which is not in the memory of Aboleths. All of these facts mean one of two things and possibly both. 1) Some Illithid time travel back in time at the collapse of their empire and appear, entering the current collective memory of the Aboleths and these Illithid create the empire that eventually collapses - closing the time loop. 2) Aboleths eventually realize that they need to alter their forms to return to the glory of the multiplanar empire. Some decide the best way to to continue their controlling if minds is to put their spawn in place of those minds. And to preserve their collective memory and order some become an Elder Brain. Creating the Illithid as we know them. Having their empire rise and collapse. 2a) the empire that Illithid seek to reform is actually the same empire that the Aboleths originally had and they have forgotten their Aboleth roots and only remember the desire to reclaim the planes under their empire. -Your Friendly Neighborhood Druid

One day, I plan to run Ravenloft in the middle of the desert where an Abolith living in subterranean caverns is forcing the town above to act like Barovia to lure in new thralls.

Or, the potential enthrall-ee could make their will save. Seriously, the Aboleth's entire scheme could come tumbling down because one of it's thralls was a little clumsy, and burnt themselves while cooking breakfast. In fact, that could be how the party gets involved. A former thrall manages to snap out of it (rolling a 20 on their save) and runs off to find some adventurers

Aboleth are one of my favorite DnD monsters. Excellent video as usual!

I love this. I have been devising an Illithid villain for one of my games, and shall definitely be cribbing some of your ideas.

I was not expecting this! Really nice summary and giving nice ideas for eventual campaigns

I love the lovecraftian Far Realms creatures.. :D

I absolutely fist pumped in real life seeing this. My party started a campaign in a valley between 2 mountain ranges and I want the BBEG to be Mind Flayers trying to make a Elder Brain Dragon. And the group patron be an Abolith. So this was absolutely perfect

oh god thank you for doing this! My party is in the undermountain under waterdeep about to face off against an aboleth and the mindflayer colony on level 17 also has something they want. this will help me out tremendously!

I want to further comment - that these Geopolitics / strategy tactic videos you have created are gold. Really brining together elements about social, government, and interplay of creatures into the fantasy society as a whole is something missing in most content. I am really enjoying your videos. I would certainly suggest creating some basic PDF guides that go with videos as a value add for your Patreons, of which I would certainly become a subscriber and I believe there is a general need and interest in such material. Thank you again.

Love this series! Honestly, you are like a colour salesman for us painters. You create magical settings for us to individualise and enable us to create our own intricate scenarios. So many thanks

Love your stuff, wish the videos were a bit longer, but that's just because the content is great!

Imagine all that effort just to be undone by random strangers just passing through. Your thralls exposed for the puppets they are and then they come for you like a relentless beast.

Love it and have an idea on how to turn this into an entire campaign

Already liked the video before I watched it, since it is one I had asked for. Love your content!