General Rules: Monsters - Kuo-Toa

Kuo-Toa (from the Monster Manual)
Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 20 feet, swim 50 feet
Armor Class: 16 (+6 natural) or 18 (+6 natural, +2 large wooden shield); touch 10, flat-footed 16 or 18
BAB/Grapple: +2/+3

Attack: Shortspear +3 melee (1d6+1, piercing, 20 x2, 20 feet x5) or bite +3 melee (1d4+1, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Shortspear +3 melee (1d6+1, piercing, 20 x2, 20 feet x5) and bite +3 melee (1d4+1, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Lightning bolt, pincer staff

Special Qualities: Adhesive, amphibious, darkvision 60 feet, immunity to poison and paralysis, keen sight, light blindness, electricity resistance 10, slippery

Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +3, Will +5
Abilities: Str 13, Int 13, Wis 14, Dex 10, Con 13, Cha 8
Skills: Craft or Knowledge (any one) +4, Escape Artist +8, Listen +7, Move Silently +3, Search +8, Spot +11, Swim +9
Feats: Great Fortitude, Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot)
Environment: Temperate aquatic

Organization: Patrol (2 - 4 plus 1 3^rd level whip), squad (6 - 11 plus 1 or 2 3^rd level whips, 1 or 2 4^th level monitors, and 1 8^th level fighter), band (20 - 50 plus 100% noncombatants plus 2 3^rd level whips, 2 8^th level fighters, and 1 10^th level fighter), or tribe (40 - 100 plus 1 3^rd level whip per 20 adults, 1 4^th level monitor, 4 8^th level fighters, 1 10^th level whip, and 2 10^th level fighters)

Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Often neutral evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +3

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

An average kuo-toa stands roughly 5 feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds. They have rounded bodies covered in scales, giving it the appearance of being pudgy. They have slender arms and legs, ending in broad hands and distended feet that look like flippers. They have fishlike, bullet-shaped heads with bulging black eyes and a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. 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 Aquan, Infernal, and Kuo-Toa.

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 in 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 7^th 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 giver their shields a finish almost like flypaper, holding fast any creatures or items touching the,. Anyone who makes an unsuccessful melee attack against 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 tuck. A kuo-toa requires 1 hour and special materials costing 20 shillings 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 kuo-toa breathe by means of gills, they can survive indefinitely on land.

Keen Sight (Ex): Kuo-toas have excellent vision thanks to their to 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-toa 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 can usually 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 made 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 Characters
A kuo-toa's favored class is rogue. Most kuo-toa leaders are cleric/rogues or clerics (known as whips). Kuo-toa clerics almost universally worship Iku-Tyrma. Kuo-toa monks, called monitors, also exist.

Home     Three Worlds     Monsters