Aberrant Forms

Note: all aberrant form characters have the type aberration as well as humanoid.

The Far Realm is insidious and invasive, a pervasive nightmare clutching the psyche with tentacles and ooze. It is a place of impossible angles and eldritch powers, its denizens mind-bending in their grotesquerie. It is the darkness between stars. Each time it has wormed its way into the collective conscious of mortal societies, entire nations have fallen to the terror and slime left behind. No mortal mind has remain unmarked after encountering a Far Realm aberration, and some marks are powerful enough to be passed along the generations.

Abolethi

They're waiting for you and they're waiting for me
In the deep, in the dark
They want us to show them what they want to see
In the deep, in the dark
We'll run from the past and run from the sea
In the deep, in the dark
Never to live as they want us to be
In the deep, in the dark

— An abolethi nursery rhyme

The Unforgotten

Abolethi are the descendants of the mortals who served the aboleths, enslaved and brainwashed. When Gith and her people rose up against the illithids, they broke the hold of all the aberrant tyrants terrorizing the material plane. Abolethi have since been freed from the control of the eldritch monstrosities and lead lives all their own.

Abolethi are living reminders of all the aboleths once ruled, and an aboleth will expect any abolethi they encounter to serve them completely. As a rule, the aboleth will grow ferociously hostile when that doesn't happen.

From the Depths

Created to be the perfect underwater servant, abolethi resemble the alien creatures of the deep. They have webbed fingers and toes, gills, and slimy skin.
Age. Abolethi mature slowly, reaching adulthood in their mid twenties and living to roughly 150 years.
Size. Abolethi sit somewhere in the middle of the mortal range. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Mucosal. Like their ancient masters, abolethis can excrete a thick mucus from their skin. You have advantage on rolls to escape a grapple. When you are underwater, you can exude a cloud of mucus as an action. The cloud disperses after 1 minute or with a strong current. A creature that touches you or hits you with a melee attack while within 5 feet of you while you are surrounded by this must make a Constitution saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Subaqueous Acclimation. Ancient abolethis adjusted over many centuries to better serve their underwater masters. You can breathe air and water and have a swim speed of 20 feet.

Cephalid

Tamryn reached to open the door and stopped. "I need to warn you first. This person's appearance is going to be alarming, considering your particular history. But I need you to trust me: they are as mortal as you or I and have no appetite for spinal fluids. Please, please stay calm, and under no circumstances are you to draw anything even remotely resembling a weapon."

— From the bestselling novel Dance of the Cephalo

Aberrant Legacy

Illithids have left a profound mark on the Prime Material. From gith to grimlocks, the illithids affected every scrap of the plane they touched. It is currently unknown how far that influence extends. As such, cephalids are a mystery. After Gith had defeated the last illithid armies and drove them to retreat, many strange things were found in their wake. One of these things were cephalids.

The Face of the Enemy

Cephalids strongly resemble illithids, a source of significant strife to those living among other mortals. They have skin that is rubbery and slick, like that of an octopus or squid, the colors varying from purple to gray to green. Like illithids, cephalids also have tentacles extending from the bottom half of their heads, behind which lurks a sharp beak of a mouth, making them appear something like a human with an octopus for a head. The cephalid’s tentacles are one to two feet long and prehensile, and cephalids use them to bring food to their concealed mouths. Beyond that, they are generally thin and relatively tall, with long, spidery fingers.
Age. Cephalids age quickly, reaching maturity in their mid teens and living between 70 and 80 years.
Size. Your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Concealed Beak. Hiding behind the face tentacles of a cephalid is a sharp beak, which you can use to make unarmed attacks. On a hit, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier.
Face Tentacles. Cepahlids have four to six tentacles growing from the bottoms of their faces, which they can use to grapple foes within five feet. You can make an unarmed attack with your head tentacles. On a hit, you successfully grapple your foe and can bring them in for a beak bite as a bonus action. The target’s escape DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier.

Oozeling

No, the oozes look like us. Remember: we came first. Juiblex made the monsters because it was mad it couldn't control us. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to upset you. When that happens, remind them that they're made of meat.

— Advice to a young oozeling

The Ooze is Back

When the planes were first sundered, chaos overtook everything that dwelt in the Realm That Was. A thriving people called out to their gods for deliverance. The gods, embroiled in their conflict, did not answer. Instead, the being that would become Juiblex—newly formed and as yet untethered—reached out to them. It sought to make them like itself, mired in the primordial ooze of the Abyss, gaining a people and power in one act. Juiblex only partially succeeded. It created mortals of ooze, but they were mortals and not subject to its influence.

Formless Form

Oozelings are human shaped, with the limbs and heads of humans, yet made entirely of firm, nearly solid ooze. Because Juiblex had not yet separated its oozes into distinct creatures, oozelings can resemble any of the oozes now categorized as such. They might be grey like the grey ooze and able to take on an amorphous form. Or they might be ochre like the ochre jelly and be able to climb up walls and across ceilings. They might be translucent like a gelatinous cube, or they might be oily like a black pudding, in which case their touch is corrosive.
Age. Oozelings are born as a puddle of ooze that gradually takes shape into a small mortal. As you consume, you grow, reaching full size and adult intelligence in a few years. Oozelings can live indefinitely once they reach adulthood, as long as they regularly consume organic matter.
Size. Your size is small.
Speed. Oozelings are more solid than oozes and thus can move more quickly, yet their semiliquid form still prevents them from being as fast as other mortals. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Oozey Nature. Like oozes, oozelings do not require sleep. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least four hours in a motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you retain your shape, but appear inert. You are not unconscious and can perceive normally.
Ooze Heritage. Each oozeling possess one trait unique to the then-unnamed type of ooze. Select one of the following traits:

• Amorphus. Your skin is gray and slimy. As an action, you can adopt a liquid form and can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. You take 5 (1d10) force damage if you end your turn and are unable to return to your natural humanoid shape.
• Corrosive Skin. Your skin is oily and black. Creatures that you choose that touch you or hit you with a melee attack while within 5 feet of you take 2 (1d4) acid damage. Creatures with the Corrosive Skin trait are immune to this trait.
• Spider Climb. Your skin is ochre and tacky. You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
• Transparent. Your skin is translucent, revealing the outline of clouded, oozy organs and rubbery, elastic bones floating inside of you, as well as whatever you last ate. You have advantage on Stealth checks that rely on not being seen.
  Furthermore, if you are not wearing any clothes or carrying anything, spotting you requires a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check as long as you do not move or attack. When hiding in this way, a creature that tries to enter your space while unaware of you is surprised by you.

Semi-acidic. Oozelings are made of a semisolid, acidic goo. To stay alive, you must consume three to five pounds of organic material a day, or two rations. Oozelings cannot absorb food directly into their bodies—due to your mortal nature—so you must chew and swallow it like other morals. Other organic material such as wood or raw minerals also suffices, but you are as prone to becoming nauseous or poisoned as other humanoids. Because of your acidic nature, you have resistance to acid damage.