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Aberrations encompass a huge pot of potential origins: "An aberration has a bizarre anatomy, strange abilities, an alien mindset, or any combination of the three." It is pretty much a catch-all for 'what the hell is that!?' kind of monsters that don't really fit in elsewhere, and are still 'living'.
Personally, I have my own homebrew that draws on the fiction than came before and heavily influenced by view on the subject matter. There are two 'kinds' of aberrations in my setting; those that have mutated from something that is natural to the universe as a whole and those that have come from outside of it. The former is like a cancer cell and the later as a foreign invader that has infected the cell and caused it to reproduce itself (like a virus). Functionally, they fit the same role but one is vastly more 'alien' than the other.
When I say from 'outside the universe', I am not speaking of just coming from the Outer Planes, but from beyond even them, in a place that the gods do not venture. Not because they cannot, but because the rules out there do not operate the same as within their bubble universe and whatever protections they have as deities within do not protect them out there. The buffer between out there and in here is the Abyss itself, which is more vast then what we can even imagine and is more akin to a cell wall that keeps everything contained while being exceedingly hostile to what lays outside. Not that most are even aware of this function outside of very powerful and very older deities, of course.
Anyway, back to the critters in question. The native aberrations are generally trying to do what they've always done, survive and thrive and hope their forms are stable enough to allow them to do so. The foreign aberrations? Well, they are present in a universe that is quite different than their own, that operates on different rules, and it is driving them mad (to a degree). They are hungry, irritable, unstable, frustrated, and never comfortable. Those that get a hang of existing in the universe end up as powerful beings (like mindflayers or aboleths), with their own goals of importing more like them into the universe and conquering it.
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The closing novel in R.A. Salvatore’s previous Drizzt series involved reversing the Drider curse, though that was limited to those creatures that had been summoned for a specific battle.
As for uses for Aberrant creatures? Way back when, White Wolf created an RPG called Trinity, where one of the key enemies were the Aberrants: the superhumans of previous generations whose powers eventually made them monstrous, led to a devastating planetary war, and eventually saw them leave for the depths of space… until they returned… more inhuman than ever.
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I created a low-level aberration/alien-like creature in my homebrew world that was meant to be both a beast of burden and a combat mount and I called them Kaizer Mantises, and their dire version Greater Kaizer Mantises, and they're typically domesticated by goblins, gnolls, and bugbears, although other humanoids and bandits and hill-gang/thieves have also domesticated them as well. Regular Kaizers are CR1, and Greater Kaizers are CR4, and they're like a mix between zerglings and praying mantises but with 4 raptorial forelegs, which make them exceptional grapplers, climbers, and sprinters. Similar to Trapdoor Spiders, Kaizers also use spinnerets at the end of their abdomen to create spider-like webbing flattened out across the ground when they plan for ambushes, and then create camouflaged trapdoors to lay in wait for a victim to get ensnared in their web. Regular Kaizers are medium-sized, and about 150lbs, and Greater Kaizers are Large-sized and about 500lbs. They are extremely fast and excel at running down prey, and have a movement speed of 60ft (about 10ft/round faster than a horse), but they have an ability they can use every 10 minutes as a "Burst of Speed" that allows them to sprint up to 300ft for 1 move action-- they typically use this Burst of Speed as soon as they leave their trapdoor to tackle their prey. Kaizers have a poisonous bite that causes 1d2 strength damage, and greater kaizers' poisonous bite causes 1d3 strength damage.
As a beast of burden, their webbing is ideal for creating silky textiles, rope, basket-weaving, and a whole litany of other products. Over the course of several generations of domestication, they become quite docile and obedient in nature and respond well to being bridled and ridden, as well as being yoked for pulling wagons or plows when plowing fields before harvest seasons. Domesticated Kaizers have a good notoriety for being patient and easygoing around children and young adults as well.
However, Kaizers become quite ferocious once they're combat trained by a proper handler with straw-filled attack dummies, and their handlers train them in the use of their 4 raptorial forelegs to grapple and slash their prey to ribbons, as well as how to bite the neck and armpit area to maximize their poisonous bite (their mouths are quite small considering their size). Domesticated Kaizers that have become combat-trained become irredeemably vicious, and can no longer be near any humanoids (especially children) aside from their handlers/riders. Kaizer handling and riding are considered extremely dangerous professions. It truly takes a fearless heart with ice in your veins to be a handler or rider of combat-trained Kaizers, especially Greater Kaizers. All Kaizers have an unnaturally high fear of lightning and fire, and handlers/riders will typically wield weapons and whips enchanted with shocking or flaming for the times these creatures become unruly and the handlers/riders have to defend themselves. After being damaged by lightning or fire, a Kaizer must make a Will DC = 10+dmg dealt or become frightened for 1 round. Once a Kaizer has become combat-trained, something primordial snaps in their brains where they view all other creatures as a threat (including other Kaizers), and must be individually-penned as to prevent them all from killing each other-- pasturing these creatures or allowing them to be free-range is simply impossible once they've become combat-trained.
In the wild, Kaizers are pack-like cooperative apex predators, and their cooperative pack-tactics have been described similarly to crocodiles. They either lay an ambush or simply run down and surround their prey, grapple them with their scythe-like forelegs, and then twist, writhe, roll, and pull, and dismember their prey limb-by-limb, highly reminiscent of how a group of crocodiles dismembers their prey limb-by-limb. A group of Kaizers is called a Horde. Although Kaizers are carnivorous, they typically do not view humanoids as a food source as the taste is highly off-putting, but just about anything else that is large-sized or smaller is on the menu.