JimMorrison, I understood exactly what you were doing, and why, and I wasn't trying to single you out. I just noticed a lot of people going "oooh, what can we add that will do X?", and your post was a good example of a point I wanted to make.
I agree that it's perfectly reasonable to add an item to get a desired effect--but when you do, you should also have to do the work to make it interesting.
And I stand by my Mechas for Aboleths idea
Sure it's crazy, even bizarre, but until somebody comes up with-and actually implements-a better idea to make Aboleths competitive, I'm allowed a few wild ideas about them