Kuo-toa Love - or how do you like your fish?

[s.j. bagley]

i quite like kuo-toa, myself.
i tend to use them more often in more freshwater (and backwater) settings and leave the sahuagin at the bottom of the ocean.
in fact, one of the favourite monsters i've used was a a feral kuo-toa leviathan that was trapped beneath a small coastal village and worshiped as a god by the locals.

 

[Drowbane]

Kuo-toa: underdark or inland lake/sea threat
Locathah: don't use
Sahuagin: coastal/seafaring threat

 

[Imperialus]

I have a deep and abiding love for kuo-toa; a scene in a kuo-toa temple was one of my favorite moments in the big underdark-crawl I did a few years back in my game. It started with the PCs walking down a long smooth tunnel and the kuo-toa releasing a giant wall of water to carry them into barbed, coral gates. It ended with a huge fight in the kuo-toa plaza, with baby kuo-toa scampering hither and yon and the statue of Blibdoolpoolp animating to take divine vengeance. Really fun.

In comparison, I've never had much interest in sahaugin.

I was going to mention your story hour. That was one of the most memorable parts of it IMO.

 

[dougmander]

In my campaign, the kuo-toa, the drow, and the duergar war unceasingly for mastery of the underdark. They are my big three subterranean bad-guy races. (Mindflayers live on the moon in my campaign). Sahuagin are like lizardfolk, too chaotic and ill-organized to be more than a local threat along a particular stretch of coast. I never use locathah, because I can never retain a good mental image of them -- I don't know what their shtick is supposed to be.

 

[RichGreen]

No love for locathah

Kuo-toa: underdark or inland lake/sea threat
Locathah: don't use
Sahuagin: coastal/seafaring threat

QFT. I like both kuo-toa and sahuagin. I don't know anyone who's used locathah.

Cheers


Richard

 

[phindar]

Sahuagin are like lizardfolk, too chaotic and ill-organized to be more than a local threat along a particular stretch of coast.

This is similar to how I've always used them, but they're supposed to be lawful evil types.

I never use locathah, because I can never retain a good mental image of them -- I don't know what their shtick is supposed to be.

It's their damnable neutrality. I mean, what is it that makes a man turn his heart to Neutral? Is it a love of gold? Aside from being one of the neater looking fish people (I dig the fins, man) they don't really seem to have much purpose in life other than to run afoul of adventurers, get killed and say "Tell my wife I said 'Hello'." They're too alien looking to empathize with, not deadly enough to be a challenge, and not evil enough to guiltlessly slaughter. Where do they fit in the D&D ecology?

That said, I plan on using them fairly soon. If I'm eligible for some sort of prize for being the first GM in history to willingly use one, someone let me know.

 

[Matafuego]

I love Kuo-Toas, probably since the Descent into the Depths of the Earth. I've mostly used them as underdark dwellers and made my players love to hate them (they've even battled against an avatar of Blibdoolpoolp).
I used Sahuagins for coastal incursions and long-term rivalry with Barbarians (with a capital B).
I've only used Locatahs once: they were allied to the Barbarians and the PC's had to save them from Sahuagins... that's it... And they don't ring any bells for me either

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

Hmm, in 1st ed. Locathah had more going for them...they always rode giants eels, lived in castle like rock formations and were very (11-12) intelligent!

The main problem with them is that they're rendered redundant by merpeople....the other neutral sea people, but the kind that you already know & like.

 

[DMH]

It's their damnable neutrality. I mean, what is it that makes a man turn his heart to Neutral?

I used them like lizardmen. They do exactly what humans are doing in the real world- breeding and filling every available spot (which is what the god of the lizardmen wants). The difference is locathah have a lot more ground to cover than humans and have to deal with a lot more dangerous predators.

If I'm eligible for some sort of prize for being the first GM in history to willingly use one, someone let me know.

I mentioned in my last post that I have used them.

 

[Argus Decimus Mokira]

The main problem with them is that they're rendered redundant by merpeople....the other neutral sea people, but the kind that you already know & like.

IMC, locathah ARE mer-folk. The PCs pissed when they finally won their way through to the mermaid-princess Eeriel ... not only was she not a red-head, she didn't have hair, lips, or eyelids.

On topic, kuo-toa are yet another underdark theocracy; however, they have just enough HPL to set them apart from the other underdark races. I like the idea of tying them to the Far Realm, such that PCs find the Drow are a problem because they are eeeeevil elves, the Duergar are a problem because they are eeeevil elves, and the juo-toa are a problem because they are wacked out fish worshipping crazy lobster ladies from another universe.

-Matt