Homebrew Kuo-Toa Species Details
Those kuo-toa are as crafty as they are mad... if you get a look at the deities they worship, you'll see that they can turn anything they believe is a god into one. It is the purest form of fanatical madness.
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 underground, where they currently dwell in madness and everlasting night, surrounded by gods of their own creation.
Denizens of the Underdark
Short, pale, and covered in slimy scales, kuo-toa are monstrous humanoids whose physiology has been shaped by their time in the underdark. These creatures are generally shorter than humans, standing approximately 5 feet tall on average. They have webbed hands and feet, ideal for wading through the swampy habitats that they dwell in. A kuo-toa's body is topped with a fishlike head, complete with a mouthful of sharp teeth and a pair of bulging, silvery eyes with tiny, black pupils. Their eyes are capable of swiveling independently, which improves their peripheral vision but tends to be unsettling to observe.
A kuo-toa's scales can come in a range of colors, including shades of grey, muted greens, and pale yellows. In some of these creatures, their scale's pigmentation could change with their emotional state, becoming reddish when angered or pale white when terrified, for example. Their scaly skin is covered in a layer of slippery slime, giving them a glistening sheen. They often wear simple clothing, consisting of dirty rags and leather straps, alongside accessories made from bones, shells, or gems.
Gods and Madness
As the kuo-toa festered in the underdark, so too did their society of high priests and their underlings form. Their society is completely theocratic; any who do not worship the specific god of the high priest are generally executed or exiled to the surface. Given the general opinion of the kuo-toa among the rest of civilization, these punishments usually end the same way.
The gods of the kuo-toa differ from other races they are constructions of the kuo-toas' own imagination, as their collective consciousness can form godlike beings. Lesser kuo-toa are treated like slaves with dissent being impossible due to their own crazed fanaticism to their faith.
The kuo-toa were not always as insane as they are now. Once a humble surface race, exile to the Underdark combined with endless conflict with the illithid lead to countless centuries of cruelty, enslavement, and magical domination. Now almost entirely insane, even independent kuo-toa communities have been permanently driven to new heights of madness from this long association. Gods and priests rise and fall in a never ending cycle of mania deep beneath the waves.
If it were not for this unfortunate history, it is possible the kuo-toa would be completely different from the way they are now. Their docile ways when outside of the reaches of kuo-toa society may hint towards such a peaceful past, though whatever sanity they have left is buried under fervent zealotry and misplaced belief.
Kuo-Toa Idols
Although gods can be formed by the fanatical belief of groups of kuo-toa, a lone individual's faith isn't powerful enough to create a true divine being. Instead, a single kuo-toa that believes that an object is a divine being can create a kuo-toa idol, a creature that is closer to a familiar than a god.
Though these idols are temporary, they are still commonly revered by the kuo-toa as minor divine beings, almost like the guardian angels of their kind.
Kuo-Toa Adventurers
Kuo-toa rarely leave their underground homes, generally only leaving to raid the surface or occasionally do trade with small fishing towns. However it is not unknown for kuo-toa to venture out to the surface on "holy missions" of their own deranged mind. As well those small towns they do trade with will occasionally take a lesser kuo-toa to live permanently on the surface for whatever reason they desire.
Most other races see the kuo-toa as monsters, and will attack on sight. However if a kuo-toa can establish that it is not a threat, it may be able to coexist with the races of the surface. Their insanity can be oddly charming, like watching a child struggle to use a toy. Lesser kuo-toa are sometimes adopted by people like exotic pets.
Kuo-Toa Names
Kuo-toa names are often incomprehensible and unpronounceable to most tongues. These names appear to be a seemingly-random combination of letters, often with only one vowel being used several times in the name.
Male names: Drapood, Jopaarg, Moolowik, Nilbool, Oomkaan, Poolidib, Poolp, Prin, Pripp, Prirr, Rripp, Rropp, Silbbrvazz, Urlurg, Vuoor
Female names: Bibble, Bilpl, Bilpli, Blipool, Lill, Lilli, Milli, Pliil, Pliili, Quennepp, Sneepol, Thyyuh, Uustra, Ziigi
Kuo-Toa Traits
Your kuo-toa character has the following racial traits.Ability Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Age
Kuo-toa reach maturity by age 10 and can live twice as long as humans, but the hatred they face and their own mounting insanity mean they rarely do so.
Size
Kuo-toa are only slightly smaller than humans on average, and weigh about the same. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
Superior Darkvision
You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
God Making
Due to the kuo-toas' innate magical devotion, you can temporarily make an idol. As an action, you can choose a Tiny object that you can see within 30 feet of you. The object becomes a creature with the statistics of a kuo-toa idol for 1 hour or until it is reduced to 0 hit points, after which the object returns to normal. The idol is friendly to you and your companions, and obeys your verbal commands.
After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Slippery Skin
You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to escape a grapple.
Otherworldly Perception
You can cast the see invisibility spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell
Sunlight Sensitivity
You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on 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.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon.
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