Craboleth

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"Let me tell you about the one tha' got away..."

- Ole Murphy, Fisherman.

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Aboleths existed before gods came into being, and might well exist long after they’ve gone. Some aboleths have long lain dormant in the depths of the oceans, or beneath strange forgotten islands, for countless eons. These aboleths wait for the return of dark, unknowable times, and they do so with the utmost patience, often going without communication with sentient minds for many centuries at a time. One result of this deep isolation is the craboleth, an aboleth whose mind has slowly taken on aspects of the beings it is surrounds itself with, such as shellfish
and beasts. Craboleths are still cunning psionic powerhouses, but their minds and bodies have
slowly devolved into more animalistic, feral forms
during their long isolations

Hardened Mucous. The craboleths chitinous appearance is actually constructed from
its mucous. As the craboleth lays in wait, layers
of the mucous as excreted from the creature which
then harden to form an exoskeleton. Due to its prolonged contact with the minds of various shellfish the craboleth's exoskeleton is subconciously shaped into a similar image.

The mucous also coats the craboleth's tentacles, forming large claws which the creature is able to manipulate psionically. The craboleth protects its head with a similar chiten, leaving spaces for its four eyes at the side rather than in the middle.

Craboleth's Lair

Craboleths lair in ancient forgotten ruins or places of primordial power that are no longer accessable by mortal beings. Amidst the remains of ancient civilisations only passing sea-life and the craboleth remain.

Lair Actions

When fighting inside its lair, a craboleth can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the craboleth takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

• The craboleth casts phantasmal force (no components required) on any number of creatures it can see within 60 feet of it. While maintaining concentration on this effect, the craboleth can’t take other lair actions. If a target succeeds on the saving throw or if the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the craboleth’s phantasmal force lair action for the next 24 hours, although such a creature can choose to be affected.
• Water within 60 feet of the craboleth is pulled toward it in a grasping current. Any creature in the water or near a pool of water on the ground in this area must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 20 feet toward the craboleth and knocked prone. The craboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.
• Water in the craboleth’s lair magically becomes a conduit for the creature’s rage. The craboleth can target any number of creatures it can see in such water within 90 feet of it. A target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage. The craboleth can’t use this lair action again until it has used a different one.

Regional Effects

The region containing an craboleth’s lair is warped by the creature’s presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• Underground surfaces within 1 mile of the craboleth’s lair are slimy and wet and are difficult terrain.
• Water sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the craboleth that drink such water vomit it within minutes.
• As an action, the craboleth can create an illusory image of itself within 1 mile of the lair. The copy can appear at any location the craboleth has seen before or in any location a creature charmed by the craboleth can currently see. Once created, the image lasts for as long as the craboleth maintains concentration, as if concentrating on a spell. Although the image is intangible, it looks, sounds, and can move like the craboleth. The craboleth can sense, speak, and use telepathy from the image’s position as if present at that position. If the image takes any damage, it disappears.

If the craboleth dies, the first two effects fade over the course of 3d10 days.

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Craboleth

Large abomination, neutral evil

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• Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
• Hit Points 127 (13d10 + 34)
• Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft

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STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
21 (+5)	7 (-2)	15 (+2)	17 (+3)	13 (+1)	13 (+1)

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• Saving Throws Con +5, Int +6
• Skills Stealth +4, Perception +7
• Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
• Languages Deep Speech, Telepathy 120 ft.
• Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)

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Amphibious. The craboleth can breathe air and water.

Blood Frenzy. The craboleth has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn't have all its hit points.

Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The craboleth's spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14). The craboleth can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: mind spike
3/day each: crown of madness, enemies abound
1/day each: dominate beast, dream

Mucous Cloud. While underwater, the craboleth is surrounded by transformative mucus. A creature that touches the craboleth or that hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature is diseased for 1d4 hours. The diseased creature can breathe only underwater.

Probing Telepathy. If a creature communicates telepathically with the craboleth, the craboleth learns the creature's greatest desires if the craboleth can see the creature.

Strong Swimmer. While the craboleth is swimming, moving a creature it is grappling doesn't halve its speed.

Actions

Multiattack. The craboleth makes two claw attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (1d12 + 5) slashing damage. If the target is a Huge or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 16). The craboleth has two claws, each of which can grapple only one target.

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft. one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

Legendary Actions

The craboleth can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The craboleth regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Detect. The craboleth makes a Wisdom (Perception) check.
Tail Swipe. The craboleth makes one tail attack.
Crushing Grip (Costs 2 Actions). Each creature grappled by the craboleth takes 12 (2d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.