Kuo-toa

Kuo-toa are degenerate fishlike humanoids that once inhabited the shores and islands of the surface world. Long ago, humans and their ilk drove the kuo-toa into the Underdark, where they dwell in madness and everlasting night. Kuo-toa can no longer abide daylight. The following features are intended for a player character race and not meant to be used with the **kuo-toa** statistic block in the Monster Manual.

## **Mad Slaves**

At the height of the illithid empire, the mind flayers captured kuo-toa by the thousands and forced them into bondage. The kuo-toa were simple creatures, never meant to endure the oppressive mental force the illithids unleashed against them. By the time the mind flayers abandoned them, the prolonged psychic subjugation they endured had driven them mad.

Their minds shattered beyond repair, the kuo-toa adopted a religious fervor, inventing gods to protect them against threats. Most notable of these threats are the drow, which have slain the kuo-toa on sight since the days when the two races first met.

## **God Makers**

Kuo-toa worship gods of their own insane creation, but if enough kuo-toa believe that a god is real, the energy of their collective subconscious can cause that god to manifest as a physical entity. The form a kuo-toa god takes depends on the inspiration for its divine image, and is usually random or nonsensical.

One of the most revered gods of the kuo-toa is Blipdoolpoolp, the Sea Mother, who takes the form of a female human with a crayfish head, a crayfish's claws, and an articulated shell covering her shoulders.

Kuo-toa who cross paths with an aboleth often find themselves worshipping it as a god, their madness blinding them to the fact that the aboleth is merely using them for its own nefarious ends.

## **Theocratic Rulers**

Kuo-toa archpriests are surrounded by fanatical devotees of their faith. The archpriest of a kuo-doa domain demands that all its subjects worship a specific god. An archpriest's mad belief in its god is so fervent that it manifests the powers of a high cleric. The archpriest can then, in turn, bestow spells to devout underlings called whips. If a whip displeases the archpriest, the archpriest can strip it of its spellcasting ability, if not its life.

## **Kuo-Toa Names**

Kuo-toa names are as nonsensical as their fanatical beliefs. They often string together long syllables of strange and garbled sounds that euphonious to them. Few kuo-toa are also distinguished enough to possess an honor name, which they have earned by their deeds. Although there is apparently a difference between male and female names, very few surface dwellers can discern it.

Male Given Names: Drapooplod, Joplaarurg, Mooglowig, Nilbooldlop, Oomgaanglub, Poolglibdib, Poolplopeen, Prinpripprip, Rripropprrop, Urlurgvoor

Female Given Names: Bibbleblop, Bilploodlop, Bilpliploop, Blipoolglup, Loobliblilp, Lillipliil, Pliililoo, Ooropgloolop

Honor Names: Awakened, Chosen, Devout, Goddessgifted, Goodhunter, Holy, Motherblessed, Seachild, Seakin, Undrowned

## **Kuo-toa Traits**

Your biology grants you traits in common with both frogs and fish, in addition to traits commonly found among the denizens of the underdark.

**Ability Score Increase.** Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

**Age.** Kuo-toa begin life as tadpoles, but grow to maturity after roughly 1 year. They are considered adults by age 10. Kuo-toa are truly ancient creatures and can live 500-600 years if they do not fall prey to the perils of the Underdark.

**Alignment.** Kuo-toa are fanatic by nature, driven by the perceived wills of their gods made manifest. While they have neutral tendencies, remaining from their days as simpler creatures, their zealous devotion often leads to evil practices such as human sacrifice. Kuo-toa who have taken to adventuring are usually of a different breed than the typical kuo-toa, allowing for a greater variance.

**Size.** Kuo-toa are slightly shorter than the average elf and often on the plump side, rarely passing 5 and a half feet. Those who are well-fed on a regular basis can sometimes grow to larger size. Your size is Medium.

**Speed.** Your base walking speed is 30 feet. You also have a base swimming speed of 30 feet.

**Superior Darkvision.** Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

**Kuo-toa Weapon Training.** You have proficiency with the spear, trident, pincer staff, and net.

**Amphibious.** You can breathe air and water.

**Otherworldly Perception.** You can sense the presence of any creature within 30 feet of it that is invisible or on the Ethereal Plane. You can pinpoint such a creature that is moving.

**Slippery.** You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to escape a grapple.

**Sunlight Sensitivity.** You have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight. After spending 2 weeks in an area with regular exposure to sun, this feature ceases to function. During a period while Sunlight Sensitivity is inactive, your Superior Darkvision is reduced to standard darkvision (60 feet) and you are unable to use your Otherworldly Perception trait or your innate spells granted by the Fanatic feat. This feature can be restored by spending 1 continuous week without any exposure to sunlight.

**Languages.** You can speak, read, and write Undercommon, Deep Speech, and Kuo-toa. The kuo-toa language is an incomprehensible garble of strange, aquan gibberish. The sounds of the language are vaguely similar to the noises heard in the ocean, such as the movement of water or the calls of wildlife.

> **Kuo-toa Whip Variant:** Kuo-toa who pledge their devotion to an archpriest are often blessed with magical powers. All kuo-toa characters have the option to choose the following feat, instead of an ability score improvement, to pledge unwavering fealty to a Kuo-toan god and bask in its powers.
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**Fanatic (additional feat option).** You can cast several spells innately as a conduit of your god. Your spellcasting ability for these spells is Wisdom.

* Cantrips (at will): *thaumaturgy*
* 1/day each: *bane*, *shield of faith*