AC 12 (sharkskin leather)
HP 22 (4d8 + 4; bloodied 11)
Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 11
Skills Perception +3
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Sahuagin
Blood Frenzy. The sahuagin has advantage on melee attack rolls against bloodied creatures.
Limited Amphibiousness. The sahuagin can breathe air and water. When breathing air, it must immerse itself in water once every 4 hours or begin to suffocate .
Shark Telepathy. The sahuagin can command any shark within 120 feet of it using magical telepathy.
ACTIONS
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) slashing damage.
Trident. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage, or 5 (1d8 + 1) if wielded in two hands in melee.
BONUS ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.
Combat
A sahuagin warrior usually carries one trident. After throwing it, the sahuagin closes to melee and attacks with its claws and bite. It rarely retreats while within 5 feet of a bloodied opponent.
Names
Gahvith, Neshan, Reskava, Shirziak, Toza, Urziwreth
Legends and Lore
With a Culture or Religion check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Sahuagin are shark-like humanoids that inhabit the world’s seas.
DC 15 Despite their often fearsome manner, sahuagin can be bargained with, and they generally keep their word.
DC 20 Though they worship a pantheon of deities, the most malicious sahuagin hold a bloody shark god in highest regard.
Sahuagin are aquatic humanoids with a strong resemblance to—and affinity for—sharks. They cannot survive long out of water, but in their native environment they are formidable indeed. Those who travel the world’s oceans ignore sahuagin at their peril.
Undersea Marvels. Sahuagin have overcome technological obstacles that some of their undersea neighbors have found insurmountable. They learned of metalsmithing from surface-dwellers centuries ago and have since established their own forges in undersea caves and on islands in waters they control. They have also developed a written language, which they carve into tablets of soft stone. With writing has come cartography, history, and magical traditions. Their religion is focused around a well-developed pantheon of undersea deities, with the shark god most revered of all.
Always Moving. Like the sharks they identify with, a sahuagin community that stops moving often dies. Sahuagin typically follow sea currents, demanding tribute from ships and seaside communities along their route. Those who do not pay can count on being raided, but those who do find that the shark-folk may come to their aid in a crisis.
Consistent as the Tide. Sahuagin believe they own the seas, and disagreeing with them is dangerous. They are loyal, disciplined warriors, and they keep careful records of anyone who gives them trouble. They take umbrage with those who would magically alter the currents they follow, which occasionally brings them into conflict with storm giants and other powerful magical beings. However, those who work with the sahuagin, rather than against them, find them dependable. Sahuagin place considerable value on upholding one’s end of a deal, be it an employment contract, a trade agreement, or a personal promise.
1–2 Hunting or raiding
3 One sahuagin has the magical ability to shapechange into an elf; it may use this ability to lead travelers into a trap
4 On guard; blows a conch shell when it sees intruders
5 Performing dentistry on a docile shark
6 Demands tribute from a village or merchant ship
7 Watching a duel
8 Questioning a human or merfolk prisoner
1 A distant conch horn
2 Reef sharks circling, seeming to watch you
3 A detailed map carved onto a stone tablet
4 A broken trident
Sahuagin live underwater, traveling the seas and raiding coasts.
CR 0–2 1 or 2 sahuagin ; sahuagin with reef shark
Treasure coral-handled dagger (100 gp)
CR 3–4 3 or 4 sahuagin ; 2 sahuagin with hunter shark
Treasure 250 gp minted by an ancient seafaring kingdom, 3 clumps of blood-red seaweed (act as potions of healing )
CR 5–10 sahuagin champion with 1d4 + 1 sahuagin and 1d4 + 1 reef sharks ; sahuagin priest ( druid or priest with sahuagin template applied) with hunter shark and 1d4 + 4 sahuagin
Treasure 6 pearls (100 gp each), gold-encrusted conch shell (75 gp), seashell necklace of adaptation (its wearer can breathe air and water, and a sahuagin wearer doesn’t need to immerse itself in water every 4 hours)
CR 11–16 sahuagin champion or mage ( mage with sahuagin template applied) riding giant shark , with 2 hunter sharks and 1d6 + 2 sahuagin
Humanoids include a number of different intelligent, language-using bipeds of Small or Medium size. Humans and elves are humanoids, and so are orcs and goblins. Humanoids may employ magic but are not fundamentally magical—a characteristic that distinguishes them from bipedal, language-using fey, fiends, and other monsters. Humanoids have no inherent alignment, meaning that no humanoid ancestry is naturally good or evil, lawful or chaotic.