Worldbuilding Power:

ABERRATIONS

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Copyright 2019 Berin Kinsman. All Rights Reserved. Lighthouse System™, Worldbuilding
Power™ and respective trade dress are © and ™ 2019 Berin Kinsman. This is a work of fiction.
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except for any people and events presented in historical context. This is version 1.0 of this
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CONTENTS
Worldbuilding Power: Aberrations.............................................................3
Aberrations Themes and Motifs..................................................................................3
About the Worldbuilding Power Series....................................................................5
About Black Box Editions............................................................................................... 5
Using This Book................................................................................................................. 5
Aberrations and Characters...........................................................................7
Aberrations and Common Knowledge......................................................................7
Aberrations and Names.................................................................................................. 8
Aberrations and Appearance........................................................................................ 9
Aberrations and Specialties........................................................................................ 10
Aberrations and Character Needs............................................................................11
Aberrations and Possessions.....................................................................................11
Aberrations and Hangouts.......................................................................................... 12
Aberrations and Relationships..................................................................................13
Aberrations and Worldbuilding.................................................................14
Aberrations and Genre................................................................................................. 14
Aberrations and Location............................................................................................ 15
Aberrations and Mood.................................................................................................. 15
Aberrations and Conflict.............................................................................................. 16
Aberrations and History.............................................................................................. 16
Aberrations and Technology and Magic.................................................................17
Aberrations and Organizations.................................................................................17
Aberrations and Daily Life.......................................................................................... 18
Aberrations and Adventures.......................................................................19
Aberrations and Story Goals......................................................................................19
Aberrations and Protagonists....................................................................................19
Aberrations and Antagonists.....................................................................................20
Aberrations and Obstacles.......................................................................................... 20
Aberrations and the Call to Adventure...................................................................21
Aberrations and the Pursuit of Adventure............................................................22
Aberrations and the End of the Adventure...........................................................22
Aberrations and Character Growth.........................................................................23

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WORLDBUILDING POWER: ABERRATIONS
People frequently want to add Lovecraftian horrors to their fantasy
games, but they’ve been there since the beginning. Thing that are beyond
the day-to-day existence of a standard high fantasy setting. Creatures so
strange that their aims and desires are unfathomable. Beings that are so
unlike humans, elves, and dwarves that they surely must originate in some
alien world. These are our aberrations. Their appearance is bizarre, their
abilities frightening, and their motives utterly utterly alien. These are
things that should not exist anywhere outside of a nightmare.

It’s tempting to suggest that aberrations shouldn’t be part of your

worldbuilding. In many ways they ought to defy explanation. They simply
don’t belong, so just throwing them into your setting haphazardly feel
appropriate. The thing is, once they’ve appeared they are part of the world.
Their existence will lead people to question their beliefs about reality,
cosmology, and even the nature of good and evil. Beyond being a quick
scare, an aberration can shatter assumptions about everything, from
historical facts to the nature of magic itself.

In this book, we’ll show you how to utilize these dreaded oddities in
your worldbuilding endeavors. You’ll see how they can influence character,
setting, and story elements. By the end, you’ll understand how to make
aberrations into an essential, useful, and entertaining part of your
campaign.

Aberrations Themes and Motifs

Throughout this book we’ll make frequent references to the concepts
of theme and motif. A theme is a unifying idea behind a character, setting,
or story. It is what that element is about, and often serves as a commentary
on a particular subject. There are often two sides to a theme, with the story
and its characters presenting arguments from both sides.

An obvious theme incorporating aberrations might be an exploration

of what is considered normal, with aberrations standing in as role models
of undesirable behavior. They can stand in for oath-breakers, blasphemers,
and criminals in a thematic struggle between individuals and civilization,
with the protagonists being the proxy for society. Obviously, aberrations

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are the universal symbols of all that is twisted and bizarre, in any sort of
literary argument about good versus evil.

A motif is recurring element that has symbolic significance. It can be a

word or phrase, an image, or a storytelling device. We often use
aberrations to represent the qualities we hate and fear in ourselves. They
represent corruption, low character, cruelty, and hate. At the same time,
they represent the power of those traits, which can be wielded in defense
against all that is wholesome and pure.

Other motifs might represent more abstract forces. Some aberration

could appear at the death of a supporting character, and symbolize loss,
transition, and decay. Aberrations could be harbingers of disaster,
appearing prior to a serious accident, a powerful storm, or devastating fire.
Individual aberrations might be a motif, mythical characters symbolic of
specific topics similar to the domains of deities. Their might be harbingers
of violence, of disease, or of madness. Any force that could be considered
foul an unnatural might have an alien being appointed to encourage and
oversee it.

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About the Worldbuilding Power Series
The Worldbuilding Power series books are toolkits for gamemasters,
game designers, and authors. Our hope is to inspire you to develop unique,
wondrous, and engaging fantasy worlds. These books are system-, edition-
and setting-agnostic, allowing you to interpret what role aberrations will
play in your game.

About Black Box Editions

Black Box Editions embrace a minimalist aesthetic in design and
presentation. We believe the spotlight belongs on the creativity of the
players as they converse and collaborate on their stories. Roleplaying is an
activity, not a book. Our titles are merely tools.

Using This Book

You should read this entire book through at least once so you’re
familiar with its contents. Later on, when you’re engaged in character
creation, setting design, and adventure prep, you can refer back to various
sections as needed.

The book is broken into three sections for easy reference:

Aberrations and Characters

The many ways in which aberrations can have an impact on character
elements, from their back story to their abilities, are covered in this
chapter. These include:

• How aberrations can influence character names.

• Ways that oddity motifs might impact a character’s appearance.
• How professions and classes can be shaped by aberrations.
• The effect of aberrations on character needs.
• Adapting possessions to reflect the role of aberrations.
• How a character’s hangouts are influenced by aberrations.
• Ways that aberrations can affect relationships.

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Aberrations and Worldbuilding
How to utilize aberrations in your worldbuilding, both directly and
indirectly, are discussed in this chapter. This covers:

• How aberrations can help to reinforce the fantasy genre.

• Ways your locations may be affected by the aberrations.
• Establishing the mood of the setting with aberrations.
• Creating and utilizing aberrations with conflicts.
• Meaningfully incorporating aberrations into the world’s history.
• How aberrations has helped shape technology and magic.
• Organizations that have been influenced by aberrations.
• The role of aberrations in daily life.

Aberrations and Adventures

Ways that aberrations can serve as a key element of an adventures are
covered in this chapter. This includes:

• Incorporating aberrations into story goals.

• Using aberrations to connect protagonists to the setting.
• How antagonists might be shaped by aberrations.
• Creating relevant obstacles using aberrations.
• Leveraging aberrations in the call to adventure.
• Where aberrations can fit into the pursuit of adventure.
• Ways the aberrations can impact the end of the adventure.
• Methods where aberrations might influence character growth.

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ABERRATIONS AND CHARACTERS
Bizarre beings aren’t an element of all fantasy worlds. They skew
things toward horror and science fiction, depending upon how they are
presented. Their existence may or may not be inferred by religion, other
planes of existence, and the supernatural cosmology in general. Their
abilities are often psionic rather than magical, placing them outside the
normal order of things within the setting. There are rarely any clearly
established relationships between humanoid cultures and aberrations.

What makes aberrations frightening is that they generally aren’t

established within a setting. There are no cultural traditions, no political
policies, no religious doctrine providing guidelines for dealing with them.
These beings appear in small numbers, and in remote and often isolated
places, so they have no community to trade with. Aberration have no
natural role to play in the world’s ecology

This means that in some settings these strange beings will be mistaken
for, or conflated with, other types of creatures. Thematically, they can fill
the same roles as demons, devils, and evil deities. It’s often easier for
people to wrap their heads around those mythological beings than it is to
fathom the existence of alien creatures so different from themselves.

Player characters will not have grown up around stories about

aberrations, then. Maybe some other tales attributed to other creatures, or
stories more steeped in rumor and superstition than fact, were these
bizarre beings. Those stories will be part of their personal experiences,
because they serve some purpose within their community.

Determining the relationships between people and aberrations is

worldbuilding. The uses of such beings can reflect the normal elements
within the setting’s cultures. The choices and attitudes that you present
should acknowledge the impact that aberrations can have on the world.
They will upend all preconceptions about morals, ethics, nature, and magic.

Aberrations and Common Knowledge

How much the people in your fantasy world know about aberrations –
and how much of that information is accurate – is one way to gauge the
importance of these bizarre beings within the setting. The more common
these alien creatures are, the more correct and plentiful knowledge about

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them will be. The rarer an aberration is, the greater the likelihood that
common knowledge will be steeped in superstition, rumor, and
disinformation.

At the bottom tier are those who don’t know anything about
aberrations. These are people who aren’t clerics, wizards, or planar
travelers, obviously. They have no first-hand experience with strange
outsiders, and have to go with the tales told by their culture, their religion,
and their government. Their reactions to aberrations will be based on
whatever wildly biased and inaccurate lore they believe to be true.

There are always those who think they know, based mostly on
folklore and dogma that they’ve chosen to believe. They may have some
first-hand knowledge of aberrations, based on something they saw once or
a visit to a haunted or abandoned site. They’re not in an adventure-
adjacent profession, or at least not any dealing with direct interaction with
planes or forbidden places, so at least some of their information may be
incorrect. The rest, of course, is fabrication, speculation, and rhetoric.

Those who actually know have what amounts to “player knowledge”.

These are likely characters in professions that require experience with
aberrations, or those who have lived and worked closely with those who
defend against incursions by these beings. They know what these creatures
are, how they behave, and what they are capable of. If they don’t know, they
probably don’t pretend that they do, and have sources that they can ask.

These categories are relative, of course. Every culture, and every

region, will have its own experiences with different types of strange
creatures and alien beings. They may actually know about their ethical
stances and moral codes, but only think they know about the aberrations
themselves. There’s a lot of room to play around with what constitutes
common knowledge in a given area.

Aberrations and Names

Names offer the opportunity to establish a character, even before they
enter play. A carefully-chosen name can also say things about the player.
Grim names could set the character up as a badass. Joke names might mean
the character is lighthearted, or that the player doesn’t take things
seriously. What the name can definitely do is establish the relationship that

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the character has toward aberrations. It will show that they are significant,
literally or symbolically, to who they are as a person.

When aberrations are incorporated into family names, it might

indicate a family history with some past incident or mystery. This could a
sign of the clan’s devotion to a moral or ethical ideal that stems from an
encounter with one of these alien beings. The family might have close ties
to a community that awaits their return, watches for signs of their
activities, or investigates the truth of the aberrations’ existence.

The given names for characters might reflect their parents’

experiences and attitudes toward aberrations. There could have been some
portent or prophecy about the child before they were born. It might be a
desire for the child to have certain physical or personality traits resistant to
the bizarre creatures’ abilities. This could be a reflection of who the
character is, but could also be humorous or tragic if they can’t live up to it.

Aberrations can influence nicknames in a few ways. A character who

exhibits strange physical or personality traits might gain a moniker based
on a weird being. Their clothing, behavior, or method of doing things might
remind people of a specific alien. The character might even lean into an
opposing motif, as a means of displaying their moral code or ethical
ideology relative to that of the aberrations.

Aberrations and Appearance

It’s possible for a character’s appearance to be influenced by a motif
inspired by these bizarre beings. They might be unattractive in a way
associated with otherworldly qualities. This can also reflect their
personality, if their bearing is modeled on strange values and behaviors.
People will react to them based on the cultural perceptions of aberrations,
embedded in the way they present themselves to the world. It can be
intentional or unintentional on the character’s part. It may or may not be
desired.

For example, a protagonist who chooses to lean into it might use alien
symbols on their clothing and equipment. Their jewelry might include
images of specific creatures, or beings associated with specific moral or
ethical behaviors. They may have tattoos of aberrations they want to be
associated with, or dress in the fashion of a faction culturally, politically, or
spiritually impacted by aberrations.

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 A character playing against type might avoid that imagery. They could
go the other way, using symbols meant to reflect higher ideals. Weapons
could have motifs that evoke creatures they were designed to destroy.
Armor might be emblazoned with symbols of purity and stability. This
outward stance against aberrations will say a lot about the character.

Aberrations and Specialties

A character’s specialty is their profession. You can interpret it as their
in-game occupation, their character class within the game system you’re
using, or the template they’re based on. It represents how they relate to the
setting, and what they are capable of doing within the story.

Because there are so many variables within the fantasy genre when it
comes to character specialties, we’ve narrowed it down to three broad
categories: combat-focused, spellcasting-focused, or skill-focused. Which
specialty falls where may seem obvious, but technically any archetype
could fall under any category.

Many combat-focused specialties will evoke aberrations to represent

their battle skills. A character might mimic the tactics of a creepy alien
being. They may be quick or hard-hitting, able to withstand a great deal of
damage. A motif inspired by otherworldly creatures could show that they
utilize deception and misdirection, and will show no mercy. It’s usually a
specific being from history or legend that’s used in these cases, associating
the character with a specific incident, religious event, or moral code.

It’s likely that spellcasting-focused specialties will be casters able to

utilize spells that mimic an aberration’s natural abilities. They bestow the
caster with the qualities like magic resistance, immunity to various
mundane dangers, or psionics. It’s possible they can communicate
telepathically. Moral and ethical codes – the powers of evil – are somehow
integral to their practice of magic.

Even skill-focused specialties can connect with aberrations. A

character can be a scholar of theology or cosmology. They might craft holy
symbols, ritual items, or spell components they hope will ward off the
strange creatures. Perhaps they work with the technology originating with
the aberrations, captured from them, studied, and reproduced. It will
connect closely to the role of the aberrations in the ecology and economy of
the setting.

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Aberrations and Character Needs
Player characters should have individual needs beyond achieving the
adventure’s objective. Gaining experience to acquire new abilities is a goal
built into many game systems, but there should be more than that. Why do
they want more power? Is there something they’re training to accomplish,
so larger endgame that these adventures are building toward for them?

There are a number of ways a character’s needs can be connected to

aberrations. They might be looking for the being that’s been preying upon
their family members or disrupting trade. An aberration might have defiled
a local temple. It might be that they know a being has been wounded, and
want to kill it while it’s presumable weakest. There may be a creature with
special significance, tied to a cultural motif, that they wish to destroy.

A character’s motivations could arise from a past experience with

some aberration, or a moral or ethical teaching that has been passed down
citing such a creature as a negative example. They might believe something
to be vile, unsettling, and beyond the contemplation of civilized society, and
make decisions accordingly.

The personal goals the character has might also be a reflection of a

warped being’s cultural influence. They understand their own potential,
based on the aberration’s clearly distorted values and what the being
represents. For better or worse, the protagonist will work to develop it in
order to distance themselves from such bizarre ideals.

What the character fears can arise from perceptions of unknowable

aberrations. Tales of strange beings terrorizing the innocent are the stuff of
fevered nightmares. Something the character has done makes them uneasy
with the thought of encountering a creature from the fringes of the
multiverse.

Aberrations and Possessions

The things that a character owns and uses will not just reflect their
opposition to an aberrations alien morals and ethics. They can show the
importance of such strange creatures within the setting. Think of the alien-
related and horror-inspired products commonplace in the real world.
Consider the types of things only available to certain people, or only
acquired at great expense, that might be used to defend against these

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creatures. Where do items with qualities that repel and harm aberrations
fit in the context of your worldbuilding?

For example, armor might be made of a metal from wherever the

aberration comes from, or provide protection from the vile creatures’
special abilities. It might be adorned with symbols of wholesomeness and
nature. These properties might not even require enchantment. Magical
armor, or course, could protect against specific alien beings.

In a similar fashion, weapons can be attuned to inflict damage to the

infamously resilient aberrations. They can strike in spite of immunities and
resistances, and defend against the special forms of attack the twisted
creatures utilize. Including motifs based on specific beings could align the
weapon with a culture, political movement, or religion.

A variety of magic items might draw inspiration from the weird beings
and their strange powers. These tend to lean into motif and metaphor
rather than the actual capabilities of aberrations. Emulating and protecting
against psionic in particular will be handy. Items should all guard against
the twisted moral and ethical values embodied by aberrations.

Aberrations and Hangouts

Consider the impact of alien beings on the places the protagonist
frequents. Have certain aberrations warped the beliefs and practices of a
community? Has their moral code impacted certain trades and businesses?
Are superstitions, ethical standards, or folk traditions driving changes to
construction, defenses, and lifestyles? How do you defend against the
unknown and unknowable?

The best place to start is in the home. Do the people who live there
have defenses against aberrations? Do they ward their houses with
symbols of nature and normalcy, or protective deities? Are icons or statues
displayed in certain rooms, calling upon the guidance of specific defenders
against aberrations from their cultural history?

A workplace might have a patron saint or hero, based on tales and

folklore of past encounters with aberrations. Guilds might have codes of
conduct that are based on the examples provided by mentors, to prevent
lapses into toxic ideologies. A business might exist because of a perceived
need or rumored defense against the powers of the alien beings.

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 Any location that’s focused on recreation – think inns, taverns, and
places of ill repute – may reference aberrations in a number of ways. The
name of the establishment might invoke a specific creature, or a named
being from the world’s lore. The decor could make it clear that the owners
are of good character, and twisted patrons are not welcome. It might serve
as a meeting place for clergy, religious pilgrims, or adventurers.

Aberrations and Relationships

In the real world there are people who believe that you can tell a lot
about a person based on how closely their actions mirror their beliefs.
Attitudes about whether aberrations are actually demons, or if they come
from other planes or planets, can impact how people are able to get along.

For friends, an aberration could represent a mutual enemy. Two or

more characters could bond over losses attributable to the strange beings.
They might have compatible motivations and goals based on specific
aberrations that have affected them. The creatures are symbols of shared
experiences and ambitions.

Attitudes toward aberrations are often taught by relatives. A

protagonist might inherit a fear of a specific creature or being. They could
also be taught a real or irrational fear the unfamiliar and the other,
standing in for bigotry. This can reveal a lot about the two characters and
affect their interactions.

An adventuring party ought to be on the same page about moral

codes. What aberrations are most repulsive to them? What ethical
practices do they conform to as a team? Do they seek to destroy the works
of a specific being? Does the party share some cultural, political, or
religious tradition derived from an historical event involving the
appearance of an aberration?

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ABERRATIONS AND WORLDBUILDING
In creating a fantasy setting, it’s important to understand that
aberrations can be an important element. Having weird, alien creatures,
unlike anything else found in the real world, can create a sense of dread
and unease with the players. If nothing else, they can provide some
juxtaposition between natural and supernatural. Vaguely defining the
abilities of an alien creature helps to muddy what its role in the world, and
among its various cultures and societies, might be.

Aberrations and Genre

Genre is a classification of stories, broadly grouped together by
common elements. The presence of aberrations is enough to establish the
one cornerstone requirement of the fantasy genre, the existence of the
supernatural. How aberrations behave in the context of other fantasy
elements, however, can help to establish the genre.

Aberrations can also be a supporting element of other fantasy tropes.

If people have a relationship with magic and the supernatural, does that
include psionics? Do the powers wielded by aberrations operate on
completely different principals than arcane or divine magic? What other
ways might people react and adapt to the weirder elements in your setting,
distinguishing them from their real-world counterparts?

The way that aberrations are presented in fantasy subgenres can help
to establish the elements of those genres. Heroic fantasy is going to offer
the most warped, twisted, and evil presentations of alien beings. Dark
fantasy will offer aberrations that are far more terrifying, disturbing, and
prone to graphic violence. Historical fantasy can leverage existing motifs to
increase resonance with the players.

It might be fun to explore how aberrations factor into other genres. In

science fiction there have been godlike beings, often serving as mentors to
races just reaching out into the stars. Horror tends to only allow for
dangerous creatures, smiting those that don’t meet their high moral and
ethical standards.

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Aberrations and Location
Location is not just the place of your setting, but the time period it uses
or emulates. This is defined in the broadest sense, like Cold War Soviet
Union or France during the Age of Enlightenment. It implies a lot about
cultural values, political systems, and technology. Using aberrations can
help to establish context about the cultural, political, and religious values of
your setting’s location.

A time period relative to real-world history is an easy bit of

shorthand. Peoples’ reactions to aberrations will be based upon the moral
standards of the time. Their responses can reflect how developed they are
intellectually and technologically. It might be an indicator of how
superstitious they are, or how receptive they might be toward the
aberrations’ corrupting influences.

Similar things can be said about place. Whether it’s actual nations
from history, or generic places like “the plains” or “within the major cities”,
there will be flavor there that influences what people will want to know.
Aberrations associated with a particular climate or terrain will help to
establish a where the events in your setting are occurring.

Aberrations and Mood

Mood is the general atmosphere of the setting and the story. This can
be dramatic or comedic, somber or lighthearted, and anything in between.
The way aberrations are presented and treated can help to reinforce the
overall mood of your fantasy world.

For a lighter mood, aberrations should be presented with a sense of

wonder. They’re otherworldly, terrible to behold, and their presence is a
reason for people to recoil in fear… but you can still crack jokes as their
expense. For the most part these alien beings don’t have widespread
impact on communities, and their schemes are smaller in scope.

When the setting has a darker mood, aberrations are nightmare fuel
whose mere existence can drive people mad. They bring pain and
disfigurement, with no rhyme or reason for their cruelty. There doesn’t
have to be a fight for these creatures to cause harm to a family or
community. Wrathful alien beings are a threat to civilization as a whole.

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Aberrations and Conflict
A celestial can be a plot point, rather than an adversary. There is more
to the concept of conflict than combat. It can be the clash of ideologies or
goals that create obstacles. Those obstacles, which can include battle, in
turn prevent the protagonists from achieving the story goal.

A direct conflict is something that involves the being itself. A strange

being appears and causes harm to someone the protagonist cares about.
The weird creature, mistaken for a demon, is killing members of the
community. The player characters need to locate and destroy the foul thing.
All of these require dealing face-to-face with the aberration at some point
in the story.

Aberrations can result in an indirect conflict when there is an issue

peripheral to the creature’s role in the setting. If something is not set right,
the being will infiltrate and corrupt the town. The being has appeared, and
the protagonist must protect the people. A demented creature has been
influencing the town, undoing the work of moral authority figures.

Aberrations and History

History includes all events that happened prior to the beginning of the
story. These provide necessary context and interesting background for
characters, the overall setting, and essential story elements. Aberrations
are an avenue for exploring these sorts of colorful details without having to
resort to lengthy exposition.

The personal history contained in a character background can

contain anecdotes about aberrations. They were chasing a creature and
discovered something as a result. The character’s loathing of a certain
being stems from a childhood story about a past encounter. Even their
choice of profession could be shaped by experiences with aberrations.

Anything to do with the setting background can be delivered through

lore about aberrations. The priest built a shrine where he did because a
twisted being once appeared there. A city thrived because a strange
creature appeared, and it was taken as an omen that sparked beneficial
changes. An order of monks was founded to harden their minds against
psionics and defend against alien invaders using only their bare hands.

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 What needs to be established as the story background will reinforce
the importance of the story goal. It can explain the motivations of the
antagonist, and help tie in disparate elements. A villain summons what he
thinks is a demon, but happens to an aberration. New construction
unearths the burial site of a forgotten alien being. A crime is committed
during a feast, and it turns out to be a bizarre creature attracted by the
noise of the crowd.

Aberrations and Technology and Magic

While magic is often the most prominent form of technology in a
fantasy world, it’s not the only one. Aberrations come from another place,
so why would they have the same level of technology as the main setting?
Clarke’s Law, that any technology sufficiently advanced resembles magic,
could apply. It might also be that, because they are powerful psionically,
they are less technologically advanced in other things, like engineering.

To use an aberration’s technology might require a special ability that

only certain characters or factions have. Those who possess it hold a clear
advantage over those who don’t. It might be the secret to not being driven
mad while using it, or operating devices that have no correlation to familiar
logic and reason.

Any sort of technology might be altered to reflect the anatomy of

these strange beings. They might be a different size than the standard
human baseline, or have a different number of fingers – if they have fingers.
They might require alien words to operate it, pronounced in their language
with a flawless accent. Any item might defy description, because its
appearance isn’t based on mortal standards and assumptions.

Of course, magic should be impacted by the influence of aberrations as

well. If they have nudged societies toward perverse codes, there might be
fewer spells that could be classified as good. They might even work toward
restricting who has access to spellcasting, based on their twisted sense of
morality and ethics.

Aberrations and Organizations

An organization is any institution or association, comprised of several
people with a collective goal. This covers everything from an adventuring

17
party to a merchants’ guild to a political faction. Clearly aberrations could
be of interest to some organizations, whether they are directly or indirectly
connected to these twisted beings.

The protagonist organizations that support player characters might

oppose aberrations for various reasons. They could have a motif of purity
or nature that connects to their purpose. Some specific code the group
makes or uses heavily could diametrically opposed to what aberrations do.

Aberrations can impact antagonist organizations for similar reasons.

The group will act to study the powers of alien beings and their disturbing
ethical standards. Motifs will feature more ruthless and deadly creatures
who provide information and guidance to the group.

Because neutral organizations rarely get directly involved in

conflicts, their relationship to aberrations will be almost nonexistent.
There will likely not be a direct role in business and commerce. Motifs will
be less evocative of good and evil, and more a reflection of practical issues.

Aberrations and Daily Life

To really get to know a place, look closely at how people live. They way
that families and communities form can tell you a lot. What they do for a
living will be a reflection of local resources, the briskness of trade with
neighboring areas, and what traditional crafts are. There may be customs
that have developed that somehow attract the attention of aberrations.

A character’s professional life could be impacted by the twisted

morality of the aberrations. It might be that things necessary to the job
attract the vile beings. Peoples’ attitudes toward the creatures might affect
how the profession is viewed within a culture.

Their personal life might be influenced by aberrations in a number of

ways. Cultural, political, and spiritual beliefs will be a reaction to warped
ethical codes. Protective motifs in home decor and religious items are
common after the strange beings are revealed.

When it comes to their social life, a character may lean into motifs of
purity and kindness. Their qualities will be the inverse of aberrations, as
could the traits they seek in a mate. Other interludes will reflect the
presence of alien beings within the culture.

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ABERRATIONS AND ADVENTURES
Because these are fantasy stories, there will inevitably be supernatural
beings. Aberrations might not be magical in nature, but that could be an
important element of the plot. Their influence can affect how the
protagonist makes decisions, and what course of action the antagonist
chooses to take. There’s room for strange beings in just about every type of
fantasy adventure.

Aberrations and Story Goals

Every story has a goal. It’s the thing that the protagonist needs to do to
complete the story. Once they’ve done that, you know that the story is more
or less over. When considering the influence of aberrations on plot lines, it
might have a direct or indirect impact on what the goal is, and how it might
be accomplished.

Aberrations could have a direct influence over the story goal if the
plot is driven by strange circumstances. It might be a bit of prophecy, an
unexplained disappearance, or weird weather. There is no story without
the alien, twisted presence of these beings.

There might be an indirect influence of aberrations when the story

involves a side effect or unintended consequence of an alien presence. The
twisted moral elements that drive the story are a plot convenience. It might
play a symbolic role, to help express the theme or motifs of the story.
Without the presence of aberrations, the story would still work.

Aberrations and Protagonists

Consider what qualities make the player character the ideal person to
undertake this adventure. Stating that they have been selected by an
aberration, or the distorted purposes they serve, because they fit a specific
motif is not uncommon in dark fantasy. Their selection signifies that they
have the qualities required to complete a story goal. A connection to the
plot because of their relationship to some grotesque moral outlook,
religious belief, or connection to a deity, is a common hook.

A direct connection between aberrations and the protagonist might

mean that their profession involves upholding moral and ethical standards.

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Clerics and paladins come to mind, protecting the innocent from evil and
supernatural threats. The plot will center on the aberrations’ campaign to
complete a specific immoral task, and ways that more people can be
brought around to opposed the alien creature’s objectives.

There are many ways to draw indirect connections as well. The

aberrations might be specific, individual creatures that the protagonist has
a connection to. They wish to unmasked and defeat the object of their
revulsion. The threat will still exist, and the plot will unfold regardless, but
the stakes and motivations will be personal to the characters. The
antagonist could be any person or being, but it has a specific flavor because
in this case it is an aberration.

Aberrations and Antagonists

Where protagonists often stumble across aberrations accidentally,
antagonists are portrayed as deliberately aligning with these darker forces.
The villain will attempt to justify their behavior using metaphors about the
failure of the normal order, the corruption of humanity, and the need for
the world to be cleansed.

Aberrations will have an effect on antagonist goals then. Their

desires, and the methods they employ to attain them, are corrupted and
vile. They see themselves as being more like these alien beings than their
own people, and will lean in to metaphors that sell that idea. The way they
treat others will reflect how they see their role in the world.

Even if the qualities of aberrations aren’t part of the antagonist

abilities, the motifs can be applied to their powers and skills. Playing off of
imagery of strange creatures, embracing what they symbolize, can help to
establish they villain’s character. Having reminders of their acceptance of
the aberrations’ morality creates a mood around the antagonist.

Aberrations and Obstacles

It can be interesting to use the moral violations of aberrations as
obstacles. In order to reach their goal, the protagonist has to consider using
methods the foul creatures find acceptable. This involves violence, cruelty,
and fear. Remember to leverage the power of motif. Use aberrations as part

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of the thematic conversation by having them represent a force or idea
contained within the story’s theme.

The direct obstacles created by aberrations require the protagonist to

face the creature itself. They have to make offerings to it, placate it, or just
fight it. The being could be guarding the entrance to a foul place the player
characters must travel through, or possess an item they need. Don’t
discount the idea that the aberration might be needed to create some
supernatural effect that is required to fulfill the story goal.

In exploring indirect obstacles, consider that aberrations are

something common folk might fear, or hold in reverence. The idea of having
to face such a creature, and what they represent in terms of theme or motif,
can create a psychological obstacle for characters. What they’re facing isn’t
the bizarre being itself, but their own issues via metaphor and symbolism.

Aberrations and the Call to Adventure

In Act I of the story, the protagonists will receive the call to
adventure. They will learn what the story goal is, and what is at stake. An
encounter with an aberration might be the reason they learn of the issue at
hand. The strange creature could represent the theme of the story, or
introduce a recurring motif. Use those elements to establish important
ideas early in the adventure.

One purpose of the call to adventure lies in establishing tension. You

can use aberrations to show that the status quo changed. Good people are
behaving strangely, due to the introduction of some warped force or
element. They might resonate with some past historical event, to show that
this has happened before, and providing a clue as to what is coming.

By the end of the first act, the protagonist should be answering the
call. They understand the stakes, and are aware of the part they must play.
Whether the symbolic use of twisted beings has shown them the future,
proven that the threat is real, or pointed out why they are the best person
to meet the challenge ahead, they accept the story goal and are willing to
pursue it.

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Aberrations and the Pursuit of Adventure
During Act II, the protagonists will go off in pursuit of adventure. The
role of aberrations here might be to lead them astray, or lure them into a
dark and dangerous course of action. They might be able to be the seducer,
tempting the protagonist toward a corrupt path. If nothing else, the beliefs
and values that the aberration represents should influence the decisions
the protagonist makes.

The middle of the adventure is about increasing tension. Aberrations

can help with that by periodically appearing to remind the protagonists of
the stakes. While the protagonist will likely face monsters and beings that
are progressively more powerful, these strange beings can reinforce motifs.

The object, of course, is achieving the story goal. By the end of the
second act, the protagonist should be prepared to do that. They’ve avoided
the obstacles, gained the information they need, and gathered the
necessary resources. Aberrations got them there. This launches the
characters into the finale.

Aberrations and the End of the Adventure

When we reach Act III, we’ve come to the end of the adventure. This
ought to align with anything the protagonist has learned via the themes
and motifs represented by aberrations. Weird and mysterious clues and
portents should make sense. Context will be provided so that most of the
loose ends from the story get tied up.

In the finale, the protagonist will confront the antagonist and achieve
the story goal. It’s likely that they’re not gaining any new insights here, but
will be using information they acquired during the second act. Moral
lessons learned throughout the adventure should play a role. Motifs
surrounding vile creatures should be especially impactful. The thematic
point that the story was trying to make, needs to be tied up neatly here.

After everything has settled, the epilogue will help to tie up loose
ends. What happened to any remaining aberrations? Has the protagonist’s
attitude toward these alien beings changed, or has it been strengthened?
Will the meaning of the strange motifs shift or evolve as a result of how the
story concluded?

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Aberrations and Character Growth
The final part of the story is always about character growth. The
protagonist has gone through trials and tribulations, overcome adversity,
and saved the day. They have learned new things, gained new skills, and
honed their existing abilities. They have learned something about
themselves, and are a better person for having gone through what they did.
When working with aberrations as a concept, a shift in motif can signal
character growth. They might embody some other aspect that an
unfathomable alien is associated with. Less of an enigma, for example, and
more of a manifestation of a specific cultural concern.

From a game stand point, this is about the protagonist earning

rewards for their achievements. They’re provided with experience, in
whatever form that takes in your system of choice, and can improve
mechanical abilities. New divine abilities, as appropriate to the character
concept, are obvious. A protective device in the form of a strange creature,
or potions made from unknown substances, and scrolls in a tongue only
decipherable with magic, may be small things, but within the context of the
setting and the character’s background they can be meaningful.

Depending upon what else happened during the adventure, the

protagonist could also be facing complications going forward. That
bizarre being might be angry that the story goal was met, and especially
unhappy with how the protagonist achieved it. The antagonist’s surviving
associates might be upset about normalcy triumphing over corruption. The
character might feel guilt about moral and ethical lapses that occurred in
pursuit of the story goal. Explore the possibilities, and use both the loose
ends and the emotional notes as fodder for future adventures.

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