Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.

Kuo-Tua are one of the ten or so kinds of fish-people who have graced D&D’s bestiaries over its history. The first time they appeared on a core monster book was in AD&D 2nd Edition, but I guess they must show up in a 1st edition supplement somewhere. They appear on the Monster Manual and get a Monster Vault-style update in Dungeon 193.

The Lore

Kuo-Toa are “loathsome fish-people” who live in the lakes and seas of the Underdark, where they worship sinister alien gods. They build shrines on the margins of these watery bodies, and their settlements around these shrines.

Kuo-Toa think little of other sapients, viewing them as potential slaves or sacrifices. They’re led by their priestly caste, whose members are known as “whips”. There’s also an elite warrior caste who serves and protects the whips, and whose members are known as “monitors”.

Whips and monitors lord over the general kuo-toa populace, but they also watch them closely. You see, they’re very succeptible to the sort of dangerous destructive madness that often afflicts those who spend too much time worshipping Lovecraftian entities. Whips and monitors practice mental disciplines that (mostly) protect them from this, but for some reason these aren’t shared with the commoners. There’s more than one story about a kuo-toa village that’s been destroyed by its own inhabitants in a frenzy of senseless violence.

This entry doesn’t say much about who these sinister gods are, but kuo-toa are right at the level range for being aboleth servitors and the sample encounters in both entries bear this out. So it’s quite possible they worship the aboleths themselves, or see them as avatars of whatever chtonic deity they cults are centered around.

Kuo-Toa: for all your fishy cultist needs! Also the Underdark has actual seas, which is awesome.

The Numbers

As inhabitants of the medium-to-deep Underdark, kuo-toa levels cluster around the mid-Paragon tier. They’re all Medium Natural Humanoids with the Aquatic keyword plus land and swim speeds of 6. They also have Darkvision.

Their signature power is Slick Maneuver, a move action that’s rather confusingly worded in the MM. The text makes me think they can spend a move action to essentially slide an ally 1 square around an enemy. The updated version is a lot cleader: a kuo-toa adjacent to an enemy can spend a move action to shift 3 squares to another square adjacent to that enemy. They’re slippery and can give you the run-around, clearing the way for their buddies to close in and surround you.

Other than that, the only change between versions is the fixed damage. If you have Dungeon 193, you can go ahead and use the kuo-toa there without losing anything. Otherwise, update their damage and use the new version of Slick Maneuver and you should be good to go.

Kuo-Toa Guard

This is a Level 16 Minion who I think is meant to be a Skirmisher. It wears leather, fights with a shield and spear, and its only special trick is Slick Maneuver.

They fight to the death when in the presence of a strong leader, but run away immediately if the leader dies before they do.

Kuo-Tua Marauder

This Level 12 Skirmisher has 119 HP and the same gear as a guard. It also covers its shield in slime!

Its basic melee attack is a Skewering Spear that does the usual physical damage, plus ongoing damage on a hit (save ends). When missed by a melee attack, the marauder can bash with its Sticky Shield as a reaction (vs. Reflex). A hit does no damage, but it disarms the target!

While bloodied, marauders can use Quick Step to shift as a minor action, and they also have the standard Slick Maneuver.

That’s more mechanical flavor than I expected!

Kuo-Toa Harpooner

This Level 14 Soldier has 137 HP and trades the standard spear for a harpoon.

The basic Harpoon attack also grabs on a hit, and deals 5 ongoing damage until the target escapes. The harpooner can’t use the weapon on anyone else while the grab continues.

The weapon can also be thrown in a Reeling Harpoon attack (Ranged 5/10 vs. AC), which does the same damage as a melee hit and allows a secondary attack against Fortitude. A hit here does more damage and pulls the target 3 squares.

Harpooners have the same slimy, sticky shields as marauders, as well as Slick Maneuver.

Kuo-Toa Monitor

Smarter and stronger than their plebeian compatriots, Monitors use crossbows to fight at range and unarmed combat to pound fools into submission up close. They are Level 16 Skirmishers with 153 HP.

The monitor’s basic melee attack is a respectable slam, and their ranged attack a crossbow shot. They can also use a Leap Kick as a standard action, which allows them to shift 2 squares before making a slam attack.

Once per encounter, they can use their ultimate technique: Lightning Fist targets Reflex and does a goodly amount of lightning damage with a stun rider (save ends). They keep this in reserve until they have combat advantage over a target. Slick Maneuver rounds out their repertoire.

Kuo-Toa Whip

These priests are Level 16 Controllers with 156 HP. They wield pincer staffs in combat, and also cast spells.

The Pincer Staff is a Reach 2 exotic weapon whose strikes do damage and grab the target, who takes 1d10 damage every time the whip sustains the grab. This is a little better than the flat ongoing damage of the harpooner. Instead of sustaining the grab, the whip can slide the target to any square within staff reach and release them.

Whips fight at range with Lightning Strike spells (Ranged 10 vs. Reflex) which do lightning damage and blind the target for a turn. Once per encounter they can summon a Slime Vortex (Area Burst 4 within vs. Fortitude; enemies only) that’s likely to do a whole bunch of unpleasant stuff to its victims.

A hit from the vortex does damage, inflicts a -2 attack penalty for a turn, slides 3 squares, and knocks prone. A miss inflicts half damage and slides 1 square. Cast this spell and watch as the whole battle turns into a Three Stooges skit.

Slick Maneuver rounds out their arsenal.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

We have two encounters here:

  • Level 12: 3 marauders and 1 foulspawn hulk.
  • Level 18: 2 monitors, 4 guards, 1 aboleth overseer and 8 aboleth servitors. A slave-catching party.

There’s a sentence saying sometimes kuo-toa escape this cultish existence and become mercenaries or even leaders in other Underdark communities.

I think 4e has done a lot of good for these fishy cultists. My memories of them from 3e were just another type of “fish person with spear”, with little to distinguish them from locatah or saguahin. Sahuagin are also present in the MM, so when we get there we’ll see how unique each of them really is.