* There are two types of Abelaats (I named them Greater and Lesser Abelaats)
* Lesser Abelaats are dark beastly humanoids with crystallic claws and fangs (eight-fanged maws).
* Greater Abelaats are Vampire-like creatures, posessing some hideous beauty. They are often surrounded by a black aura.
* Those attacked by Lesser Ablelaats sometimes find that part of their blood becomes crystalized, the crystals acting as one-time use crystal balls. (plot device!)
* Abelaats come from a world that has lost its magic, or where magic has been altered.
* Greater Abelaats cannot normally exist on Mystara because of how they react to Mystara's magic: It warps them into Lesser Abelaats.
* Abelaats believe that Mystara's magic has been stolen from their world.
* Lesser Abelaats attack magic-users, perhaps feeding on their magic force.
* Abatons, box-shaped Abelaat artifacts drain magic from the surroundings, once filled, they open gates to the Abelaat world, Greater Abelaats can enter Mystara and be sustained by the Abaton.
Now, one question was never answered in the novels: What is the Abelaat homeworld? My own theory is that they are from the Dimension of Nightmare. This may be far stretched since the novels speak of a world that has lost its magic. However, according to the Gold Box, Nightmare Magic is different from Prime Multiverse Magic, since they exist in opposite dimensions. In WotC terms this would translate to "Magic is different". Diaboli arriving on Mystara can learn to manipulate Mystaran magic, but it takes time. The different nature of Mystara's magic is what presents a danger to Greater Abelaats. Lesser Abelaats also look very Nightmare-esque IMHO. Greater Abelaats, not so much, but their vampiric beauty would make them look horrid to Diaboli, which is interesting in itself. Perhaps Abelaats are ancient enemies of the Diaboli.
Has anyone made up stats for these creatures?
I think they could be very useful in a campaign. Any other ideas on how to use them?
Comments?
Håvard
Although I like your idea better; They Greater Abelaats are like monstrous vampires to the denizens of the Nightmare Dimension; and the NoS has been draining their Entropy too.
I never read the books, but they sound like interesting creatures for another large campaign surrounding the leftover parts of the Beagle.
The Abelaat crystals were statted in the "Magic Items" appendix at the end of the module. I'm not sure if they gave the crystals additional properties or not, depending on how one used them (heat, cold, past, present, future viewings...?)
Alas, my copy is safely tucked away in a box within a box... somewhere. Otherwise I would take a stab at 3ed-ifying them.
Rob
I believe Abelaats were statted out in the "Escape from Thunder Rift" adventure that came with the fourfold DM's screen (a rather nice one that shielded me from many a thrown d20). "Escape" was a quickie 32-pager that spat PCs out of Thunder Rift and into (gasp!) the barony of Penhalligon, in Karameikos.
The Abelaat crystals were statted in the "Magic Items" appendix at the end of the module. I'm not sure if they gave the crystals additional properties or not, depending on how one used them (heat, cold, past, present, future viewings...?)
Alas, my copy is safely tucked away in a box within a box... somewhere. Otherwise I would take a stab at 3ed-ifying them.
Thanks for the info!
Looks like "Escape from TR" is one of the most interesting TR supplements out there. And one of the few Mystara/TR products I don't have access to
I really need to get my hands on it. Did it have a map of Penhaligon/Karameikos in it? I know Bywater is mentioned in the module.
As to the Abelaats, I would love to see some stats for it. I have been trying to set up some 3E stats for it myself, just working from the novels, but it is pretty hard. I was thinking about making them Undead Outsiders, though that is about as far as I got.
Did Escape detail the Greater variant aswell? (I am guessing no)
I would also be interested in seeing how the Abelaat Crystals would work in game terms. In the novels, the characters seem to have no real controll over what they will see when they use them.
They could be from a place the the NoS has recently been drawing Entropy from... The altered Entropy-Radience, even in the smallest doses, changes them back into their former selves (much more appealing to the Nightmare palette).
Although I like your idea better; They Greater Abelaats are like monstrous vampires to the denizens of the Nightmare Dimension; and the NoS has been draining their Entropy too.
The whole magic drain issue just screams a connection to the NoS doesn't it? I never liked the concept of Mystara having stolen the Abelaat magic, but what if the creation of the NoS altered Mystara's magic so that the Abelaats could no longer exist on that world? I like the idea of how an Entropy draining NoS could indeed restore the critters though, plenty of adventure potential there!
I like scourging any Mystara related product for stuff that can be used for expanding on the setting.
Håvard
Thanks for the info!
Looks like "Escape from TR" is one of the most interesting TR supplements out there. And one of the few Mystara/TR products I don't have access to
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1017&
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1017&
Thanks!
I finally managed to get ahold of this pdf. Unfortunately it does not contain the stats for the Abelaats. It does have details about the Abelaat crystals however.
Im actually really glad I got this module. It does a really good job and connecting the Penhaligion Trilogy to Karameikos, aswell as Thunder Rift to Mystara. I loved seeing the map showing Bywater's exact location aswell as the map of Bywater itself.
Great stuff!
I still have trouble statting the Abelaats though. Should they be Aberrations, Undead, Outsiders or what?
I think I might go with around 6HD. They posed a real threat to Jo (guessing around 3rd level), in fact almost killed her, but Flinn (guessing 9th) had little trouble killing one in single combat.
Whatcha think?
Håvard
6 HD is good, and I would allow for some HD advancement as well for more powerful ones.
I would make it an aberration rather than an outsider or an undead.
my 2 cents....
6 HD is good, and I would allow for some HD advancement as well for more powerful ones.
I would make it an aberration rather than an outsider or an undead.
Advancement sounds good. My reasoning for making them Undead is that the Greater Abelaats are described as "Vampire-like" creatures.
With the Abelaats and the Hutaakans both bearing a resemblance to gnolls or some such, I think it would be hard for the PC's (new to Mystara) to distinguish the differences right away. Could be interesting gaming if they are thinking they are fighting a gnoll, but get bitten by the Abelaat. I don't remember the time frame for the crystals to make their way to the heart... I will have to re-read the book. Maybe I can fit them in to punish my PC's for their wanton killing spree.
Abelaats, Gnoll-like? I didn't get that impression from reading the book. Did I miss something? I'm getting more abberation-like images of a dark, twisted humanoid with lots of crystalic fangs and claws...
Håvard
I have the hard copy of the "Escape from Thunder Rift" -- and all it has are some statistics on abelaat crystals, but nothing on the monster. Too bad.
Abelaats, Gnoll-like? I didn't get that impression from reading the book. Did I miss something? I'm getting more abberation-like images of a dark, twisted humanoid with lots of crystalic fangs and claws...
Okay, I probably misinterpreted the description in the book. Reading is allways subject to interpretation, and when a scary monster is described, I most often conjure an image of something that scares me in real life. Hairy animals scare me. Vampires, undead, etc. don't as much (until I personally meet one). Just gives me an excuse to go back and re-read it. Would still be a nice, different sort of thing to include in my game. I had forgotten about them. Will keep watching the thread for ideas on stats.
http://www.mystara.addr.com/monsters/abeelat.htm
Something I found out there, spelled wrong, but could be helpful. I don't know. Again, I'm still new... don't blame me.
http://www.mystara.addr.com/monsters/abeelat.htm
Oh ya, I forgot about the monsters on Thibault Sarlat's website. The stats are in OD&D and it's not a very tough version. Nothing about the crystals at all.
What about giving them a good magic resistance to represent their "feeding on magic" and why magic-users have reason to fear these creatures.
I like scourging any Mystara related product for stuff that can be used for expanding on the setting.
Me too, and we've still not exhausted the possiblities!
Something I found out there, spelled wrong, but could be helpful. I don't know. Again, I'm still new... don't blame me.
http://www.mystara.addr.com/monsters/abeelat.htm
Thanks MystaraGM! I *knew* I had seen stats for it somewhere.
By the way, you are right about the appearance of the Abelaats being quite open to interpretation. Especially the descriptions in the 1st novel are very vague. It is all about how many teeth and claws they have. We get some more details in the 2nd and 3rd novel though. There you can also find the info about how the True Abelaats (or Greater Abelaats as I like to call them) are really Vampire-like creatures, but how they usually get warped from travelling to Mystara. There is also a picture of a Greater Abelaat (Teryl Auroch) on the cover.
So what do you all think of the OD&D stats? I had something much more powerful in mind, but its hard to say what is best. How to best determine HD based on a few descriptions in a novel?
Håvard