Monster Manual 5E

2I8

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MERFOLK

Aquatic humanoids with the upper body of a human and

the lower body of a fish, merfolk adorn their skin and

scales with shell decorations.

Merfolk tribes and kingdoms span the world, and

their people are as varied in color, culture, and outlook

as the human races of the surface. Land folk and

mer folk rarely meet except by chance, though star-eyed

mariners tell tales of romance with these creatures

along the shoals of faraway islands.

Merfolk lack the materials and practical means to

forge weapons beneath the waves, to write books and

keep lore, or to shape stone to raise buildings and

cities. As a result, most live in small hunter-gatherer

tribes, each of which holds unique values and creeds.

Only occasionally do mer folk unite under the rule of a

single leader. They do so to face a common threat or

to complete a conquest. Such unifications can be the

beginning of undersea kingdoms with dynasties lasting

hundreds of years.

Merfolk Settlements. Merfolk build their settlements

in vast undersea caverns, mazes of coral, the ruins of

sunken cities, or structures they carve from the rocky

seabed. They live in water shallow enough that the

passage of time can be marked by the gleam and fade

of sunlight through the water. In the reefs and trenches

near their settlements, merfolk harvest coral and farm

the seabed, shepherding schools of fish as land-based

farmers tend sheep. Only rarely do merfolk venture into

the darkest depths of the ocean. In such depths and

in their undersea caverns, merfolk rely on the light of

bioluminescent flora and fauna, such as jellyfish, whose

slow pulsing movements lend merfolk settlements an

otherworldly aesthetic.

Merfolk defend their communities with spears

crafted from whatever materials they can salvage from

shipwrecks, beaches, and dead undersea creatures.

1 MERFOLK

Medium humanoid (merfolk), neutral

Armor Class 11

Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)

Speed 10ft., swim 40ft.

STR

10 (+0)

DEX

13 (+1)

Skills Perception +2

CON

12 (+1)

Senses passive Perception 12

Languages Aquan, Common

Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)

INT

11 (+0)

WIS

11 (+0)

Amphibious. The merfolk can breathe air and water.

ACTIONS

CHA

12 (+1)

Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft.

or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1 d6) piercing damage,

or 4 (1d8) piercing damage if used with two hands to make a

melee attack.