Top 5 Monsters for Aquatic Adventures — Dump Stat Adventures

Whether you’re sailing across the ocean or exploring a sunken temple, there are loads of exciting monsters to throw at your party that they wouldn’t normally fight on land. Adventures in the water open up a whole new world than a typical adventure, and come with its own challenges that the party needs to solve (like breathing and swimming).

So let’s jump into my top monsters I love for aquatic adventures!

Top 5 Aquatic Monsters

1. Sahuagin

Maybe one of my favorite mobs to throw at players, Sahuagin are also known as sea devils or shark people. They are vicious, cruel, and worship the evil deity known as Sekolah, the Great Shark.

They are often in conflict with other aquatic races, and not just because they want to eat everyone they meet. They are devoted to sacrificing creatures and have no empathy for anyone else.

Tactics

The best way to utilize Sahuagin are in packs. They are pack hunters and are often found with sharks, other Sahuagin, and more powerful aquatic creatures who they subjugate them.

In addition, they also make for great ambush predators with their 120 feet of darkvision. Most players only have 60 feet (if any), and so you can have the Sahuagin ambush players in the dark waters without the players seeing them!

Adventure Ideas

1. The sahuagin lay siege every three months to a small fishing village, dragging victims beneath the waves. The sahuagin will begin their attack tonight and the village is hoping to sacrifice the adventurers (and spare the village).

2. A wounded merfolk is washed ashore, covered in vicious bites. The party only has a few short rounds to save them before the sahuagin arrive. The merfolk can, as thanks for being saved, take the party to an underwater metropolis and introduce them to the nobles there.

2. Merfolk

While often called mermaids, Merfolk are cautious towards other humanoids, especially land walkers. Most of the humanoids they encounter, like sahuagin and merrow, are vicious and cruel, and they have come to expect that from all they meet.

With their close connection to the sea, Merfolk are great sea travelers and can be found almost anywhere in the ocean, even forced into servitude for evil aquatic creatures.

Tactics

With their connection to the waves, they make great spellcasters and ranged combatants. They are often accompanied by dolphins, whales, and other gentle sea creatures.

Adventure Ideas

1. Feeling playful, a merfolk spies a ship sailing across the ocean. They take this opportunity to play a prank, shooting random spurts of water at different sailors and trying to get them to argue. If found out, the merfolk laughs it off as is eager to try the ‘landfood’ it has heard so much about.

2. 1. The merfolk below you waves, and holds up a large woven bag. They wish to trade with you and have brought up treasures from a ship wreck on the ocean floor. They are looking for any good strong weapons or any weird gadgets of the land. If the players wish to trade with them, they have 1d4 golden and gem encrusted cups (25 gp each), 2d4 silver plates (10 gp each) and a pair of platinum candlebras (75 gp each). If asked about the shipwreck, they just shrug and say that it is an old wreck.

3. Merrow

These horrific ogre-mermaids can almost be considered the opposite of merfolk. Where merfolk are shy and prefer pranks and fun, the merrow are brash and cruel. Much like sahuagin, they are vicious and cruel. Unlike the sahuagin, they are not lawful evil, but rather chaotic evil.

They delight in causing suffering and go out of their way to inflict pain on their victims. While sahuagin are sea devils, the merrow are said to be merfolk who were twisted by demons.

Tactics

Merrow rarely work in groups, but rather force creatures that they have harmed and hurt to fight with them. They typically ambush their prey and drag them below the waves to drown. Any creature that they force to fight with them flees if the merrow is killed.

Adventure Ideas

1. A merrow is swimming along the side of the party’s ship. At night, it plans on climbing aboard and dragging a random victim underwater. It continues to follow the ship, killing another victim every night and delighting in the fear that the sailors must be facing.

2. In a deep trench in the ocean is a temple to a great evil that resides in the Far Realm. This temple was once the home of merfolk, but it transformed them into merrow who now drag their victims to be sacrificed on an altar to their insane deity. With just a few more victims, the elder evil will slip between the worlds and arrive in the ocean.

4. Kuo-Toa

Filled with insanity, the Kuo-Toa are perhaps the strangest creatures who haunt the dark oceans. While they are often evil, they aren’t unredeemable… unlike sahuagin and merrow. They can be reasoned with, allied with, and you might even share food and drink with them (just be aware that they might try and poison you and kidnap you and sacrifice you).

These fish-humanoids worship the insane deity of Blipdoolploop, a queen of the sea that they are formed into existence by their raw mental energy and power of belief. Their insanities can help them turn impossibilities into reality, giving them unique and chaotic powers.

Tactics

The Kuo-Toa work with anyone who is unlucky enough to be spotted by them. They eagerly capture chuul, humans, sea elves, other kuo-toa tribes, and anyone else they stumble across. They throw themselves blindly forward and typically always have a priest of some kind who can throw spells and encite them to fervors of faith.

Adventure Ideas

1. A village was attacked by kuo-toa, but they didn’t kill anyone. Instead, they captured everyone and are forcing them to build a great shrine to their goddess, Blipdoolploop. Once the shrine is done, they are willing to let the villagers leave, but only if they can perfectly recite the insane ramblings of their faith.

2. A small Kuo-Toa party is hunting for any Drow or Mind Flayers. If there are none in your party matching that description, they swim away, but come back a day later demanding that the party tells them where they are hiding all of the drow and mind flayers. For some reason, they have it in their heads that the party are harboring them.

5. Aboleth

Ancient evils that are said to be as old as the oceans themselves, these beings rarely come to the surface except to find slaves and food. The Aboleth appears like a three-eyed primordial lamprey eel with powerful tentacles. While many creatures in the ocean are strange to land dwellers, the aboleth are the strangest.

Some believe that they are from the Far Realm and somehow slipped into the worlds, others believe that they are the first to the worlds and their ancient empires rose and fell in the eons before others existed. Aboleths know they are better than all other creatures, in and out of the sea, and inflict their plots and plans on all.

Tactics

Aboleths rarely go into battle ill-prepared. They take over the minds of anyone they deem useful, killing all others. With their slaves, they fight alongside all manner of creature who is forced to follow the aboleth. If an aboleth is caught ill-prepared, it has no problem running away and letting its minions die.

Adventure Idea

1. With an ancient evil, the aboleth are beginning the first part of their plan to invade the oceans. To that end, they are striking deep into the nests of merrow, sahuagin, and others, taking slaves out of all they do not kill. This has caused those creatures to double their attacks on others, leading to greater danger on the high seas as all are attempting to fight to live.

2. Awakening from a great slumber, an aboleth finds that a city has been built over its home. Excited by this new world, it takes hold of slaves, those no one will miss, to learn more about the city and who is in charge. It then sets it’s sights on the king and ruling the kingdom.

Adventuring on the High Seas

No matter where you may roam, there is adventure to be found! From the frothing waves to the pressure of deep sea trenches, all manner of creatures can be found that are, most likely, going to try and take your party of plucky adventurers hostage.