Kuo-Toa

This humanoid is a little shorter than a human. Its rounded body is covered with fine scales, giving it the appearance of being pudgy or bloated. The arms and legs are slender, almost willowy, ending in broad hands and distended feet that look much like flippers. Its fishlike, bulletshaped head has bulging, silver-black eyes and a wide mouth full of sharp teeth.

The kuo-toas are an ancient line of aquatic humanoids noted for their sinister nature and diabolical tendencies.

Although most individuals shun contact with these loathsome creatures, sometimes avoiding them is simply not possible. Kuotoas know much about long-forgotten, ancient evils dwelling in the deepest parts of the ocean.

An average kuo-toa stands roughly 5 feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds.

Although kuo-toas are generally a silver-gray color, their pigmentation changes with their mood. An angry kuo-toa is dark red, while a frightened one becomes pale gray or even white. The air around a kuo-toa carries a strong odor of rotting fish.

Kuo-toas speak Kuo-Toan, Undercommon, and Aquan.

Combat

Kuo-toa tactics and weapons vary greatly depending upon the training and skills of the individual encountered. A group of kuo-toa fighters usually fights in formation, throwing spears before closing to melee range.

Lightning Bolt (Su): Two or more kuo-toa clerics (known as whips) operating together can generate a stroke of lightning every 1d4 rounds. The whips must join hands to launch the bolt but need merely be within 30 feet of one another while it builds. The lightning bolt deals 1d6 points of electricity damage per whip, but a successful Reflex save (DC 13 + number of whips) halves this amount.

Pincer Staff: Many kuo-toa fighters and all whips of 7th level or higher carry this Large exotic weapon. A pincer staff deals 1d10 points of bludgeoning damage, threatens a critical hit on a natural 20, and deals double damage on a critical hit. It has a 10-foot reach and cannot be used against an adjacent opponent. A wielder that hits an opponent of at least Small but no larger than Large size can attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the wielder wins the grapple check, the staff establishes a hold and grabs the opponent, dealing 1d10 points of damage each round the hold is maintained.

Adhesive (Ex): Kuo-toas use their own body oil and other materials to give their shields a finish almost like flypaper, holding fast any creatures or items touching them. Anyone who makes an unsuccessful melee attack against a kuo-toa must succeed on a DC 14 Reflex save, or the attacker’s weapon sticks to the shield and is yanked out of the wielder’s grasp. Creatures using natural weapons are automatically grappled if they get stuck. A kuo-toa requires 1 hour and special materials costing 20 gp to coat a shield with adhesive. The adhesive remains good for up to three days or until it actually catches someone or something (in which case the shield can trap no additional items, since the adhesive is used up). Pulling a stuck weapon or limb from a shield requires a DC 20 Strength check.

Amphibious (Ex): Although kuotoas breathe by means of gills, they can survive indefinitely on land.

Keen Sight (Ex): Kuo-toas have excellent vision thanks to their two independently focusing eyes. Their eyesight is so keen that they can spot a moving object or creature even if it is invisible or ethereal. Only by remaining perfectly still can such objects or creatures avoid their notice.

Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds kuo-toas for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled while operating in bright light.

Slippery (Ex): All kuo-toas secrete an oily film that makes them difficult to grapple or snare. Webs, magical or otherwise, don’t affect kuo-toas, and they usually can wriggle free from most other forms of confinement.

Skills: Kuo-toas have a +8 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks and a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. A kuo-toa has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Kuo-Toa Society

Kuo-toas dwell in subterranean communities that are well supplied with pools for recreation and breeding. They spawn as fish do, raising their young in special pools until their amphibian qualities develop (about a year after hatching).

Thanks to the efforts of the whips, virtually all kuo-toas are devoted worshipers of the goddess Blibdoolpoolp, whom they refer to as the Sea Mother. Every kuo-toa community has at least one shrine to the Sea Mother. Larger communities with major temples serve as hubs for clusters of smaller settlements. These are also centers for intergroup trade and politics. Virtually all kuo-toa communities are open to drow and their servants, who provide useful goods and services, although the drow are both feared and hated by the kuo-toas. This enmity leads to many minor skirmishes and frequent kidnappings between the two societies.

Kuo-Toa Characters

A kuo-toa’s favored class is rogue. Most kuo-toa leaders are cleric/rogues or clerics (whips). Kuo-toa clerics worship Blibdoolpoolp. A kuo-toa cleric has access to two of the following domains: Destruction, Evil, or Water. Kuo-toa monks, called monitors, also exist.

Source: Monster Manual (version 3.5), page 163.