Lords of Madness

Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations is a Splatbook for Dungeons and Dragon 3.5 edition. The book goes into great detail about the fluff of several of the game's most famous aberrations and introduces some new ones, as well as introducing some new Prestige Classes for fighting against aberrations, and tons of useful stuff for DMs wanting to run aberration-based campaigns.

Chapter 1: What is an Aberration?

Discusses what defines an aberration and where they come from.

Chapter 2: The Deep Masters

All about Aboleths. Includes new variants of the aboleth: amphibious aboleth, uobilyth (aerial aboleth), and stygian aboleth. Also has a prestige class specifically for aboleths called the aboleth savant which specializes in the creation of magical aboleth glyphs, several feats for aboleths, and a short sample aboleth adventure The God in the Lake.

Chapter 3: The Eye Tyrants

All about Beholders. Includes the elder orb beholder variant, and the infamously overpowered beholder mage class, several beholder feats, magic items made for beholders, plenty of fluff, and two short adventures: Sekarvu's Lair and Cult of the Hungry Eye.

Chapter 4: The Mind Flayers

Illithids! Includes magic items for illithids and the sample adventure The Lair of Sarkt.

Chapter 5: The Slave Takers

A chapter about the Neogi a race that mostly only apears in the Spelljammer setting. Includes the stats the standard neogi adult, neogi spawn, and neogi great old master, and also includes several neogi variants, dwarf neogi, neogi defiler, neogi slavemaster, and neogi sorcerer. Also include the adventure Wreck of the Mindspider.

This chapter made adult neogi player characters an official thing.

Chapter 6: The Eaters

On the Grell. Includes stats for the standard grell, grell philosopher, grell hatchling, grell juvenile, and grell patriarch, as well as grell magic items, and the adventure Sangkon Bhet.

Chapter 7: The Wearers of Flesh

The first appearance of a new aberration race called the Tsochari. Includes the stats for standard tsochar and toschar strand, and also tsochar spells and items, and the adventure The House of Deros Frist.

Chapter 8: New Monsters

Even more awesome and terrifying aberrations for players to encounter.

• Beholderkin
  • Hive Mother
  • Director
  • Eye of the Deep
  • Overseer
  • Spectator
• Cildabrin: an aberation resembling both a giant spider and a giant scorpion.
• Shadowcloak elder: A more powerful variant of the Cloaker
• Elder Brain: The final stage of the illithid life cycle and rulers of illithid society.
• Elder Eidolon (template): A powerful construct build in ancient times based on another monster. Includes the Elder Eidolon Kraken as an example.
• Gas Spore: A floating Fungus that mimics the appearance of a Beholder.
• Gibbering Mouther
• Half-Farspawn (template): A hybrid of a outsider from the Far Realm and a more familiar monster. Includes the Half-Farspawn Grey Render as an example.
• Hound of the Gloom: A large tentacled dog monster that may be related to the Displacer Beast.
• Illithidae: These creatures are to illithids what normal animals are to humans. These are monsters distantly related to illithids that came with them from the same world. All of them have several psionic abilities.
  • Embrac: A large lumpy sack of flesh with many legs, eight tentacles, and a beak like mouth.
  • Kigrid: A cat like monster with red eyes that are placed underneath its jaws.
  • Saltor: A small ape-like scavenger with a beard of tentacles. They are capable of speech and able to use weapons and tools.
• Mindflayer
  • Alhoon (template): not even a proper template, but some tips for grafting the Lich template onto an illithid, which you normally can't do because only humanoids can become liches
  • Ulitharid: A more powerful varient of the illithid with six tentacles instead of four.
  • Vampire Illithid: An undead illithid that drinks blood. They are not true vampires and lose their intelligence, becoming feral.
• Psuedonatural creature (template): A horrifying outsider from an alien plane that resembles a more familiar creature. A more powerful version of this template previously appeared in the Epic Level Handbook. Includes the Psuedonatural Hippogryph as an example.
• Psurlon: A race of psionic abberations resembling worms with many legs and eyes. This book makes some changes to their origins, which have varied over the editions they appeared in.
  • Average Psurlon
  • Elder Psurlon
  • Giant Psurlon: A psurlon with a mutation that causes it to grow larger than normal, but does not gain the abilities of an elder.
• Shaboath: A construct created by an aboleth made of water and slime that takes the form of a several liquid tentacles.
• Shadow creature (Template): A monster from the plane of shadow that is a counterpart of something from the material plane. Includes the Shadow Choker as an example.
• Silthilar: It looks like a monster with four upper limbs ending in long spines, and four lower limbs ending in hands, and a head of tentacles, but it actually is a swarm of tiny creatures sharing one mind. These creatures once were a race that had mastered the art of Fleshcrafting but when they accidentally unleashed a plague they escaped by shattering their bodies and minds into pieces. Surprisingly, they actually are usually Chaotic Good.
• Urophion: A Roper that has undergone the same process used to turn humans into illithids.
• Zeugalak: A strange quadruped with stinger tail and a three tentacled mouth. It uses electric attacks, and when hit with electricity it takes no damage and can teleport to the source of the attack. It likes to catch natural lightning bolts to teleport into the sky and feather fall back down.

Chapter 9: The Aberation Hunter

Discusses how to fight the various kinds of aberrations. Describes gods worshiped by aberrations and their cults: Ghaunadaur, The Great Mother, Ilsensine, Mak Thuum Ngatha, The Patient One, and Tharizdun. Lists several feats for those who fight aberrations, and those with aberration blood, or have been influenced by aberrations in some way. Also includes several new Prestige Classes.

• Abolisher: One who fights to exterminate all aberrations for the sake of protecting nature. Although isn't required that the player be a Druid, it is designed to work best if the player is one. Can join the Circle of the True.
• Darkrunner: Specializes in surviving and exploring underground. Works well with the Ranger class. Must join the Darkrunner Guild.
• Fleshcrafter: A spellcaster that specializes in Fleshcrafting. You modify your familiar and gain great skill in grafting.
• Keeper of the Cerulean Sign: Specializes in protecting the world from aberrations and cultists who worship them. Skilled at infitrating cults and makes heavy uses of the spell Invoke the Cerulean Sign, which weakens aberrations. This class is difficult to qualify for without multiclassing except as a Bard. They do not have an organization, but are friendly with both the Circle of the True and the Topaz Order.
• Sanctified Mind: Specializes in fighting against evil Psionics users. It can work with either divine caster classes or manifesting classes and can gain the abilities of either as it levels up, but most of the class's own abilites are focused on melee combat, and you must have at least some psionic ability. You are taught by the Society of the Sanctified Mind.
• Topaz Guardian: Specializes in fighting against aberrations, with a special hatred for monsters that enslave humanoids with magic. Works best with the Paladin class. Must Join the Topaz Order.

The chapter also lists several spells, including some that previously apeared in the Book of Vile Darkness and several new magic items and grafts. The book concludes with describing several organizations that fight against aberrations.

• Circle of the True: Dedicated to protecting nature from the aberrant. Most members are Abolishers.
• The Darkrunner Guild: Profits off of exploring the underground. Most are Darkrunners.
• Society of the Sanctified Mind: Dedicated to fighting evil psionics users. Is affiliated with the church of Saint Cuthbert.
• The Topaz Order: Fights against mind controlling aberrations. Many of them are Topaz Guardians. Affiliated with the church of Heironeous.