AC 11
HP 11 (2d8 + 2; bloodied 5)
Speed 10 ft., swim 40 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 11
Skills Perception +2
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Aquan, Common
Amphibious. The merfolk can breathe air and water.
ACTIONS
Trident. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d8) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack, or 3 (1d6) piercing damage if thrown.
Combat
The merfolk attacks with its trident. Small groups of merfolk flee from monsters and powerful enemies.
Names
Adrina, Brizo, Merithen, Pearl, Surgeward, Zildas
Legends and Lore
With a History or Nature check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Merfolk are half-humanoid, half-fish. They build villages, towns, and even cities beneath the waves.
DC 15 Merfolk cultures are as varied as those of land-bound folk.
DC 20 Because they have no way of forging it themselves, merfolk value metal. They often trade pearls and other treasures for weapons and tools made of metal.
Aquatic humanoids with the torsos of humans and the tails of fish, merfolk build societies beneath the waves that few land-dwellers ever encounter. Most merfolk keep to the shallows, where light still filters through the water to mark the passage of time. Others, braver or stranger than their coastal cousins, venture into the ocean’s lightless depths.
Far-Flung Kingdoms. Merfolk kingdoms span the globe and are as varied in culture and appearance as other humanoids. Their skin can be as many colors as a tropical fish. Merfolk who dwell in the shallows tend to be darker-skinned to protect themselves from the sun’s refracted rays, while those who live where the sun cannot reach them are so pale as to be almost truly white, with comfortable layers of body fat to protect them from the cold and pressure.
Although they sometimes salvage metal from shipwrecks, merfolk rarely use metal in their clothing, jewelry, or tools. Instead, they clothe themselves in seaweed, fish scales, and shells, and use bones, carved coral, and sand-glass for tools. Similarly, they have little use for the writing implements of land-dwellers, relying instead on a capacious oral tradition that extends farther back than most written histories.
1 A distant coral castle
2 Glowing jellyfish in cages
3 A blooming coral reef guarded by underwater shriekers
4 A merfolk sentry
Merfolk can be found in oceans and seas, as well as on the Elemental Plane of Water.
CR 0–2 1d8 merfolk ; 1d4 merfolk with giant octopus ; 1d4 merfolk with swarm of quippers
Treasure polished coral (100 gp), silver comb (25 gp), healing potion
CR 3–4 merfolk knight ; merfolk knight riding giant seahorse ; 3 merfolk with 3 reef sharks
Treasure 2 pearls (100 gp each), 5 sea coals that allow you to light a fire underwater (25 gp each)
CR 5–10 2 or 3 merfolk knights riding giant seahorses ; merfolk knight with 2d10 merfolk ; merfolk knight riding killer whale
Treasure 3 pearls (100 gp each), coral-studded scale armor (750 gp), potion of diminution , lantern of revealing that can be ignited underwater
CR 11–16 4 merfolk knights with 1d20 merfolk ; merfolk monarch ( gladiator or mage with merfolk template applied) with 2 or 3 merfolk knights , all riding giant seahorses ; 3 merfolk knights riding hunter sharks
Treasure pearl necklace (2,500 gp), 2 potions of speed , trident of fish command
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.