Grim Hollow Monster Grimoire: Aberrant Horror
Experimentation gone wrong, Eldritch Energy out of control.
Aberrant Horrors are described as the result of Scientific or Magical experimentation having failed to produce results in the correct way, a risk in the process of creation. The italicized quote below their name is an interesting insight into their role in Etharis:
“Children sing nursery rhymes about suspicious strangers for a reason. Heed the tales and check them for tentacles before offering shelter.”
These two lines give great insight into how this creature functions in Etharis: As ambush predators. The Aberrant Horrors don’t explicitly state if they retain their former personality before their transformation, but it’s likely that this fact hardly matters. Their transformation is gruesome enough that any creature would shun them, especially the superstitious folk of Etharis. Their creation methods are Arcane in nature, and most likely stem from many eldritch experiments gone wrong, or perhaps an unscrupulous Flesh-crafter decided to make one. In either case, their appearance and nature would be cause for fear and suspicion across many villages in Etharis.
The Salvage of these creatures offers a simple solution as to what they are prized for: Arcane Components for those who are morally dubious in nature. Vampire Spellcasters, Arcanists bent on absolute experimentation, the weak Arcanist who wants more power, and more evil individuals. The Ebon Syndicate is likely to have Arcanists who can produce such creatures on demand and harvest their organs for Eldritch Energies, including the drug Aether Blood.
Aether Blood Creation Process. Aether Blood is created by taking a Pint of blood from an Aberrant Horror, and then distilling it with Reagents worth 100 Gp for 8 hours. It requires a DC15 Intelligence check at the end of those 8 hours by a creature proficient with Alchemists’ tools. On a success, the pint reduces to a Cup, which can be turned into 4 Doses of Aether Blood.
Amorphous Horror, Whipskein Horror, Shifting Hulk. These three creatures represent the Aberrant Horror entry, all of them share a common trait: Hiding their true form. The Whipskein Horror is only capable of physically concealing it’s altered physiology, while the others are magically capable of doing so. These individuals are listed as “any alignment” and therefore fit within an extreme amount of stories:
Frankenstein’s Monster. Experimentation gone wrong, the original goal was to create something more from humanity, to create life. But the resulting creature is not what they had imagined, it is horrid, and contains a vestige within that may seek revenge on its’ creator.
Last Hope. An Arcanist comes to you, offering reprieve from your condition, The Weeping Pox will take you soon, so they offer to cure you. The early days of the plague would have been easily this, and many such Aberrant Horror’s would spring up from these experiments as suggested by the “Abominable Experiment” paragraph. In either case, you are alive, but you can’t rejoin society, lest you be burnt at the stake for being something horrifying.
Perfection. You’ve been kidnapped by a mad wizard, they hope to perfect their serum of Human Perfection, to become more. You’re the 100th or so in their long line of experiments, you’ve seen them all in passing by, the wizard states you’re the 100th, but you didn’t see 100 people in the cages, only about 20, and they all looked horrifying. You’re next in line on the chopping block, will you survive or will you die?
Aetheric Dreams. The Aether Kindred call out for your help, you accept their pleas, and you are transformed in your Cult’s ritual. You are reborn as an Aberrant Horror, and your instincts are to Kill for your masters, you are no longer human, you are Aether Kindred.
All 4 of these stories fit well for how an Aberrant Horror could be created, as detailed in the Grim Hollow Campaign Guide for the Aberration Transformation, you can use these enemies as “upgrades” for NPC’s who seek power greater through madness. They offer good twists on it as well.
The DM advice in this situation lists that you can require specific means to harm such Aberrant Horrors, and while interesting, as it states you must use these additional traits with care. Your party may not have the specific spell required to kill them, the Garish Augment enemy might be more appropriate to look at for altering it’s stat-block.
How to use an Amorphous Horror in a Story. The Amorphous Horror lists that it is able to slip out of most situations as long as 1 inch is all that’s required to squeeze through, it has Shapechanging powers, and it is “ooze-like” in ability. It’s CR5 tagline is perfect for a low level mystery involving a Killer that can slip in and out of situations. It’s strengths are that it can’t be captured, deals damage which is particularly effective against objects, at least conceptually, and it’s Shapechanger feature means that you may have to find out who this ooze is before you can finally put an end to its’ reign of terror.
Other stories involve things like The Iron Giant where this individual in question doesn’t seek to harm anybody, but its’ trauma haunts it from its’ past. It lashes out uncontrollably in situations of stress, and it comes down to the players to either help or permanently stop this creature from harming anybody again.
How to use a Whipskein Horror in a Story. Due to its’ inability to hide it’s true nature, this horror would be a jaded traveler along the roads, a fellow adventurer or somebody who takes advantage of foolish people who let strangers into their homes. The stories for describing this are that you check for tentacles from human strangers, a certain Uncanny Valley reference there. It’s important to note that these stories would not be uncommon and you should probably use this little rhyme for it:
”Stranger, Stranger, walking on the road. Stranger, Stranger, where will you go? Stranger, Stranger, come into our house? Stranger, Stranger, hands out right now.”
Whipskein Horrors are drifters by nature, as their true form is probably often revealed and they have to run away. Imagine telling your relatives about the stranger having 4 tentacles instead of arms, the experienced ones would probably use Gloves after quite a few run-ins with the local town militia. In Etharis I imagine that many would be combatants rather than not, the Commoner Stat-block is therefore inappropriate for a Farmer, or perhaps even the Militia. Many towns would train dozens of individuals to protect them from the night, walls would be there, torches, watches, and all manner of teachings around monster hunting.
How to use a Shifting Hulk in a Story. The Shifting Hulk is the most powerful of the Aberrant Horrors, but much the same applies to it as the Amorphous Horror. The only difference is that this creature could probably challenge many individuals and hope to win, or at least run away unscathed while harming those in its’ path. It has ranged options and deals damage that can easily waste away foes with Aberrant Wounds. Its offensive capabilities are in a league of their own in comparison to the other Aberrant Horrors. It, however doesn’t have good social skills with a Charisma of 6, so it’s most likely to be discovered quickly and will often try to either make poor lies or tell the truth if pressed. Shifting Hulks, while being the most powerful, are also the most tormented individuals, their size has changed, their touch is poisonous to other creatures, and their True Form is terrifying to behold.
Thank you for reading taking the time to read this article, and enjoy the analysis presented here. Subscribe to the newsletter for more in-depth Analysis of D&D. I do not own any rights to any photos used in this article, nor do I own the rights to the Grim Hollow Monster Grimoire, which is owned by Ghostfire Gaming.