Race: Sahuagin
These aquatic marauders strike fear in the hearts of all who dwell in or near the sea. Sahuagin are an ocean-dwelling race with fish-like features and powerful shark-like jaws, and they view all the world's seas as their rightful domain. In their mission to claim this "rightful" domain, sahuagin engage in campaigns of bloody conquest against other ocean-dwelling races, with their ire focused on sea elves in particular. Land-dwelling races living along the coast or traveling overseas are also prime targets for brutal raids from sahuagin seeking to gain supplies and strengthen their stranglehold over an ocean territory.
Despite their highly aggressive stance towards most outsiders, some sahuagin cooperate with other races. They might be renegades, traitors, orphans, or emissaries. Whatever their origin and motivation, these sahuagin are put in unusual circumstances where they must forge alliances with outsiders to achieve their goals. The mutual stigma between sahuagin and other races makes long-term cooperation rare and challenging, but the individuals who successfully walk (or swim) this path become exceptional and unusual adventurers.
Shark Kinship
Sahuagin share a unique kinship with sharks. Just as sharks are the ocean's apex predator, sahuagin see themselves as the ocean's rightful apex race. Their primary diety, Sekolah, is the god of sharks, and they find inspiration in the power and brutality with which sharks hunt. Sahuagin apply this brutality to combat, attacking with gnashing teeth along
with their crafted weapons. Like sharks, they are very sensitive to the scent of blood, and once they smell
wounded prey, sahuagin quickly enter a blood frenzy
as they ruthlessly tear apart their victim.
The kinship sahuagin share with sharks is so
strong that they are capable of limited telepathic communication with these fellow predators. This communication allows sahuagin and sharks to
coordinate complex tactical strategies in combat,
and sahuagin will sometimes even send strike
forces comprised entirely of sharks so as to
make the attack look "natural" and obfuscate
their involvement. Their effectiveness at
utilizing sharks leads sahuagin to also
commonly use them as aquatic mounts,
beasts of war, and patrol sentries.
Specialized Mutations
An unusual trait of the sahuagin race is the frequency with which they develop specialized mutations. The most well-known mutations include extra sets of arms, which mark a sahuagin for a future leadership role, and the dreaded malenti mutation, which results in the sahuagin gaining the appearance of a sea elf, allowing it to serve as a spy and infiltrator. Other rarer mutations can include expanded size, bony plating, or glowing lures that extend from their forehead.
It is unknown whether these modifications are an innate part of sahuagin biology, the result of environmental factors, or blessings from Sekolah himself. Whatever the case, sahuagin make use of their mutations in specialized roles for their society. Though some of these mutations may result in them being shunned by the common folk, sahuagin leadership is always quick to utilize these uniquely gifted servants to the best of their abilities.
Rare Adventurers
Though most interactions sahuagin have with other races result in bloody violence, they are by no means mindless savages and have highly structured societies. Though their culture is rigid and brutal, sahuagin are intelligent and far-sighted enough to recognize the utility of occasionally forming relations with other races.
Sometimes an entire sahuagin settlement forms a diplomatic relationship with a group of outsiders. This relationship is often an alliance against a common foe or trade deal that provides the sahuagin access to goods they would normally struggle to acquire. In these situations, representatives of the sahuagin settlement may find themselves working alongside adventures of other races to overcome mutual enemies, though they rarely develop any fondness for each other.
Other sahuagin may find themselves entirely cut off from the rest of their kind. This isolation may have been a willing decision due to them not fitting in with the rest of their fellow sahuagin, or it may be a situation forced upon them. Regardless, these sahuagin tend to stand out from their kin. Some combination of desperate circumstances and a divergent mindset makes these individuals more likely to seek out alliances with members of other races. And because most other races will treat them with rejection, if not outright hostility, these sahuagin often take up an adventuring lifestyle, where they are more likely to encounter other individuals as unusual as themselves.
Sahuagin Names
Sahuagin are given their names by their mentors after proving themselves to be strong and brutal enough to be admitted into adult society. The cast differences between males and females lead to a differentiation in names between the two sexes. However, the sahuagin language is so alien to most races that the translations of these names are often difficult to pronounce.
Male Sahuagin Names: Hafi Bea'de, Mae'cl Tarth, Haunak Haar, Matoaf Nau, Eldar Evin'r
Female Sahuagin Names: Durl'g Haunaa, Myri'e Noeisi, Matoa Paos'u, Malia Hohi, Sael Dal'ae
Sahuagin Traits
Though there are many defining traits all sahuagin possess, but their ability to adapt and specialize is what sets them apart from other races.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Sahuagin move through the stages of infancy quickly, for those who fall behind are quickly devoured by their siblings. As such, they reach adolescence within a year. The brutal weed-out process of adolescence continues for another 5 years, at which point, any sahuagin still alive is considered an adult. Most sahuagin can live to 75, though they typically die violent deaths by 30. However, some sahuagin have been known to live as long as 500 years. These are generally particually powerful barons, priestesses favored by Sekolah, or mutant sahuagin with arctic or deep-sea adaptations.
Alignment. Most sahuagin are lawful evil. They have a brutal bloodlust controlled and directed towards conquest by their rigid and tyrannical society.
Size. Adult male sahuagin usually reach roughly 6 feet in height and weigh about 200 pounds. Females tend to be a bit shorter and lighter. However, extreme mutations can lead some hulking sahuagin to reach 9 feet, as is the case with most leaders. Other mutations might leave frail sahuagin a miserly 4 feet tall. These sahuagin are usually weeded out early in their life unless they display usual talents or flee their kin. In all cases, your size is medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swim speed of 40 feet
Darkvision. Accustomed to life in the deep ocean, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 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.
Bite. Your razor-sharp jaws are a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Blood Frenzy. When you miss with an attack against a creature who has taken damage this turn, you can reroll the d20, and you must use the new roll. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency bonus and regain all uses when you complete a long rest.
Blood Hunter. You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track creatures who are not at full health, possess blood, and are within 5 miles of you.
Limited Amphibiousness. You can breathe air and water, but you need to be submerged at least once every 4 hours to avoid suffocating.
Shark Telepathy. You can magically communicate with any shark within 120 of you, using limited telepathy. You also have advantage on Animal Handling (Wisdom) and Nature (Intelligence) made when interacting with sharks.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Aquan, and Sahuagin. The Sahuagin language consists of clicking and popping sounds that translate well through the water.
Sahuagin Mutation. You were born with some form of enhanced natural ability. This may be the enhancement of an ability typical amongst your kind or a specialized mutation that sets you apart from most sahuagin.
Choose one of the following options:
Arctic Adaptation. You gain resistance to cold damage.
Blessed Bite. You can now apply your Dexterity modifier rather than your Strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls of your bite attack.
Additionally, the first time you hit with your bite on a turn, it deals an additional 1d6 piercing damage.
At 5th level your bite is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming immunity and damage reduction.
Bony Plating. You gain a +1 bonus to AC when not wearing heavy armor.
Electroreception. You gain blindsight out to 5 feet on land and out to 15 feet in water.
Enhanced Bloodlust. You gain an additional number of uses of Blood Frenzy equal to twice your proficiency bonus.
Four Arms. You gain two extra arms. Wielding two-handed weapons with the heavy or loading property requires the use of all four arms, and wielding a shield requires the use of two arms.
Additionally, you can interact with up to two objects or features in the environment for free during your turn, rather than one.
Hulking Form. You have advantage on Strength saving throws, and you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag or lift.
Light Lure. You gain a lure on top of your head, which you can use in the following ways
- As a bonus action you can cause your lure to light up or darken. While the lure is lit, it sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius centered on you and dim light for an additional 20 feet.
- As an action while your lure is lit up, you can pulse magical light from the lure. Any creature within 20 feet of you that can see the light must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your Proficiency Modifier + your Constitution Modifier) or be charmed until the end of its next turn. A creature charmed in this way can't willingly move away from you and it has disadvantage on Wisdom and Intelligence checks as long as you with in 20 feet of it. If the creature takes any damage or another creature within 5 feet of it uses an action to shake it out of its stupor, the effect ends for that creature.
Malenti. You take on the appearance of a sea elf, granting you the following benefits:
- You can speak, read, and write Elvish and Aquan
- You gain proficiency in the Deception skill.
- You no longer need to sleep and can instead enter a trance-like meditation for 4 hours to gain the same benefits.
Sauhagin Adventurers
The Sahugain Adventurers table can serve as inspiration for coming up with a backstory for your sahuagin in settings where sahuagin adventurers are not common.
Sahuagin Adventurers
| d12 | Adventurer Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your settlement is impoverished and in need of supplies from the surface world to bolster its power. You have been sent to establish alliances with useful surface dwellers who can meet this need. |
| 2 | An overwhelmingly powerful force threatens your settlement and many others. You now seek allies to overcome this mutual threat. |
| 3 | Your settlement has gone generations without contact with the surface world. You've been sent out to learn all you can and return with new knowledge. |
| 4 | The baron of your settlement rebelled against the sahuagin king. The king's wrath upon your home was merciless, and you were the only one to escape alive, now with no people to call your own. |
| 5 | An unusual set of mutations has made you a pariah to your people who have exiled you. |
| 6 | You were separated from your kind at a young age and forced to seek shelter with outsiders to survive. |
| 7 | You lacked the brutal nature valued by your society, and your mentors attempted to weed you out through cruel life or death trials against your peers. Instead of perishing, you escaped and sought to write your own destiny. |
| 8 | Frustrated by the perceived incompetence of your rulers and the restrictive nature of your society, you've struck out on your own to better reach your full potential. |
| 9 | You've taken an interest in esoteric knowledge that is shunned or forbidden by other sahuagin. Unwilling to have your curiosity bound by such dogma, you've struck out on your own to learn all you can. |
| 10 | A terrible curse has caused you to start feeling things like 'compassion' and 'empathy.' These feelings have quickly alienated you from other sahuagin and driven you out into the world as you find a way to reconcile these emotions. |
| 11 | Your love of the hunt has gradually pulled you further and further away from your home as you seek deadlier game to pursue. |
| 12 | You're not truly a sahuagin, but the result of a mage's attempt to create a new type of brutal amphibious soldier. |
New Feats
Additional Mutation
Prerequisite: Sahuagin Race
You've begun developing a new mutation, granting you the following benefits:
- Increase one ability score of your choice by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- You gain the benefits of an additional sahuagin mutation of your choice that you do not already have from the list provided by your Sahuagin Mutation trait.
Beguiling Light
Prerequisite : Sahuagin Race and the Light Lure mutation
You've developed yourself while maximizing your lure's abilities, granting you the following benefits:
- Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- When you force a creature to make a saving throw against your Light Lure ability, you can apply your modifier for the ability increased by this feat rather than your Constitution modifier.
- Creatures within 20 feet of you that are charmed by your Light Lure ability can't take reactions and are unable to see anything further than 5 feet away from themselves besides your lure.
Heightened Electroreception
Prerequisite : Sahuagin Race and the Electroreception mutation
You've further honed yourself and your shark-like senses, granting you the following benefits:
- Increase one ability score of your choice by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- Your blindsight increases out to 10 feet on land and 30 feet in water.
Monstrous Jaws
Prerequisite : Sahuagin Race
You've fully developed the devastating capabilities of your shark-like jaws, granting you the following benefits:
- Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
- You can make a bite attack as a bonus action; you don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the attack.
- You can use your blood frenzy trait when making a bite attack even if the target has not taken damage this turn. If the creature has taken damage and you use blood frenzy on a bite attack, you can reroll the d20 with advantage.
Multi-Arm Master
Prerequisite: Sahuagin Race and the Four Arms mutation
You've mastered the use of your four arms, granting you the following benefits:
- You can equip shields with one hand.
- You can wield all two-handed weapons with two of your hands.
- When you make an off-hand attack while wielding a separate weapon in each hand, you can make a second off-hand attack with a different weapon.
Art Credit
- Sahuagin 3e - Wizards of the Coast
- Academy Ruins - Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai, Wizards of the Coast
- Priestess of Sekolah, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, pg.127 - Wizards of the Coast
- Sahuagin 4e - Wizards of the Coast
- Island, Shadows over Innistrad - Jonas De Ro, Wizards of the Coast
- Sahuagin Baron 5e - Wizards of the Coast
- Sunken Ruins, Zendikar Expeditions - Adam Paquette, Wizards of the Coast
- The Final Enemy, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, pg.110 - Wizards of the Coast
Revisions
Sauhagin Player Race
1.0.0
- Public release
Feat: Additional Mutation
1.0.0
- Feat released
Feat: Beguiling Light
1.0.0
- Feat released
Feat: Heightened Electroreception
1.0.0
- Feat released
Feat: Monstrous Jaws
1.0.0
- Feat released
Feat: Multi-Arm Master
1.0.0
- Feat released