Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Sahuagin
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 พ.ค. 2019
- From the adventures in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, the Sea Devils or Sahuagin have been the bane of many aquatic races and all communities who dwell on the coasts of a wide number of the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons.
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This jelly that sets fire sounds really cool, but I can't find mention of it anywhere, can you point me in the right direction?
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17337/Monstrous-Arcana-The-Sea-Devils-2e WELL worth the price
@@AJPickett awesome, thanks
@@AJPickett i cant seem to find a page for it. help please?
New to the channel and DND generally. Love oceanic lore and cultures. Thanks for this!
Am I the only grizzled adventurer who has horrible flashbacks of sahuagin brutally killing and devouring the entire party whenever the DM mentions the ocean?
A hilarious quote from that dragon magazine article you mentioned "Skip Williams suggests that telemarketers
make a good model for sahuagin because
both tend to strike without warning, tirelessly attack again and again if they don’t immediately succeed, and would gladly consume their own children."
Great Vid, but to go from deeply nerdy to full geek: Water isn't just air you swim in, it has some really major physical considerations. Such as acceleration, friction and cavitation. This means some air based weapons just don't work. Such as the whip, the sling, and the net. In air you spin a net above your head, the drag of the net is nothing compared to your feet pushing on the ground so you can accelerate it and throw it. Underwater you can't get the tips of the net up to speed and if you are floating the drag of spinning the net will spin you around in the water. You simply can not get the net weights to accelerate enough to throw it. Tho net traps can work, either dropping them or having 4 swimmer pulling them through the water to ensnare something.
Hundreds?..soon to be...thousands...
Huh, so that's how you pronounce it.
Again, good discussion, good choice of art. The Sea Monkeys reference was hilarious.
I'll be honest. I have a character concept that's a Half-(Sea) Elf Berserker who fears that his rage comes from Sekolah. Your lore really feeds that fear. Outstanding.
Steve Marsh created the Sahuagan? He's not related to the Innsmouth Marshes is he? ;)
Seamus wuz here twice!
What a coincidence that a guy who invented these deep one like monsters for d&d has the surname of one of most prominent families in Innsmouth where deep ones were rising.
Too many fish. We need sea sponge people.
15:27 I love the part about embryotic cannibalism amongst their young. So shark-like. With so much of a connection to sharks, I wonder how Weresharks are viewed in their culture. Or if they would willingly accept that specific form of aquatic lycanthropy. Since they would also thrive in the Nine Hells, I wonder if Fiendish variations are common as well. A 600 yo Fiendish mutant variety with 4 arms would be a sight to behold.
Oops, looks like you answered my question before I finished listening to the video lol.
Recent studies have found the embryos of shark only consume embreyos who have a different fathers, fun fact od the day
36 minutes on straight up fish people with images.that's why I love this channel
I've got sinister secret of saltmarsh! Great game!
I remember seeing the ad for it in Dragon and biking, must've been 20 miles to buy the first module. Think I still have all 3.
That was one of the greatest modules, I ever played!! TSR UK, knew how to write and balance an adventure out.. I was always one to enjoy an adventure that was more cerebral, than ‘hack and slash’.👍👍👍
Thanks for doing a feature on the Sahuagin.
29 years ago, I ran a campaign where we all played as Sahuagin & Locathah, a big underwater war between them that raged on and on..
My main npc (whom I enjoyed voicing & terrorizing the players with)
was Klytus, the ancient Tyrant Lord of the Sahuagin (he whom also had the four arms) and was about twelve feet tall.
Brought back some memories.
Only the sahuagin can make you thankful for the lizardfolk.
I kind of imagine the Sahuagin and all similar aquatic species would have that gurgling gilly sound when they speak, like Rahab from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Reminds me of Zora Link from Majora's Mask.
Sahuagin taste like sharks according to Bronze Dragons, Bronze Dragons love the taste of shark meat.
I adore the sahuagin as nautical enemies, jumping onto the pc's boat en mass. My favorite part is their mutable nature, you can give them crazy crab claw hands, tentacles on their backs or coral outgrowths as armor, the oceans the limit!
AJ you would really like some of the Forgotten Realms collections of short stories like Realms of the Arcane and Realms of the Underdark. In the former, the Sahuagin were created by a Wizard with the unwilling assistance of his Wemic slave. It details the creation and corruption of sea elves as well as the creation of the Malenti in a cool way that really makes sense.
Great stuff.
Wow, this is really detailed. Thanks for this. I swear each video helps me become a better dm.
I could listen to that opening theme and waves on loop to go to sleep
I'd love for these guys to be a playable race in 5e.
Best underwater race, good or evil. Very well fleshed out. Great vid. No player should want to run into these if they are played properly by the DM, especially if they're being led by a 4-armed mutant wereshark
Stephen Marsh is a great guy! I've met him at a couple cons, and he is always the nicest guy. Talking to him is like being hugged by a marshmallow.
I played an old sea elf that had dentures made of the teeth of Sahuagin he killed.
Epic video AJ, 36 minutes & 36 seconds. Its seems to me the underwater creatures always have a better back story, than any land creature. It's funny you said they arena fight all the time. That adventure over at DDB is an one-shot arena fight. I never knew the Sahuagin were so violent. I thought the Kuo Toa where badazz's. Thanks AJ, this one is a giant pearl of wisdom and as always have a great day.
The trenchers in Aquaman pretty much screamed Sahuagin in attack frenzy and appearance.
Absolutely
I wish I had you in my last campaign. These buggers were a major player. I thought I used them to the max, including the faux Aquatic Elf agents. The players settled in the New World (escaping the conflicts of the old world and liking a world inspired by the Maztica book trilogy). The thing is that the New World was already hostile to potential invaders from their old world. They were working at peace. The old world people were getting attacked by Aquatic Elves which... nevermind. Star Trek Cardassian level intrigue given birth by its Romulan mother. Veteran players, they never get simple stories. My Sahuagins were very simple compared to this and they were REALLY complex... or so I thought. In short, great video AJ.
One of my friends was DM for a campaign. He had this Sahuagin priest of.... I forget. some deep sea aspect of a god in shark form. We killed that bastard I dont' know how many times. Each time he was brought back. Either by his own machinations and once these were exhausted, by the machinations of his "bosses". By the end he was some undead slave of some necrotic power.... One of his spells was this ghostly shark's maw that would launch at you.
One of the few NPCs I ever really came to hate!
Dang, son.
I am more than a fish,
I am more than an Elf,
Death will rise, from the tide! I am Sahuagin! I am DEATH!Hunter of the tide,
I, will end your life,
Mourn, your fallen brave,
Sleep in a sunken grave!
Feel the deadly fin,
My nets drag you in,
Bloodstained sand and gore,
All, that's left upon the shore!
I cant afford to join right now, but I've been subscribed, and I always leave a like for the best d&d youtuber out there.
Playing through ghosts of saltmarsh. This was so helpful tysm
I re-watched this because my mind went back to one of the last campaigns I ran. Sahaugins in my campaigns have a true origin akin to my Orcs (and goblin-kind) and Drow, an evil corruption of Elves of their environment (Tolkein inspiration, again).
Main differences:
Gill-lungs. They have gill slits on their backs too, much like my Aquatic Elves, that are connected to their lungs. Those seal up when they go on land. Land is dry and uncomfortable, but they have no real problems long-term save for dehydration doubling for long treks and time in dry, arid environments. They still speak via their head gills, so the "air" voice is the same.
2 or 4 Arms: They cannot really do much more, mentally speaking, in arm use than 2 armed species aside from basic climbing and claw attacks with the 4 arm form. No arms are "bad", just fine mental control can only be done with one or two at a time like 2 arm species. The 4 arm advantages are more subtle than obvious. 4 arms are also a higher status symbol. 2 armed Sahuagins tend to be tougher with better weapon control and ironically are far better craftsmen.
Warm-blooded when required: They are cold-blooded like most fish but barely, they are amphibious and can move fast on land. When they need to be, they switch right to being warm-blooded with all the advantages with that (and back when needed).
Any Water Breathing: Salt, Fresh, Chlorinated, Sewer, or even Swamp water, it's all Sahuagin water. They may not like nasty water but they can still breathe it and eventually get used to it. This made them feel a special kindred for Bull Sharks over their other shark affinities.
Diabolic Blood: Sahuagins have their exceptionally rare rogues, alignment-wise. Some may even be Chaotic or even Good. None can be Chaotic Good, that is far too far from their nature.
As for their faux Aquatic Elf mutations (Maliente, if I spelled that right), that's an encouraged playable race in my campaigns. They are Lawful Evil in nature but players can happily ignore that if they wish, they are rogues to begin with if they are player characters. They almost have the best of Sahuagin and Aquatic Elf in a mixture to be an adventurer. They are absolutely perfectly amphibious, with no hindrances on land or in the water... better than both races in that. They don't have the Sahuagin advantages from their tail, claws, teeth, etc but are as tough otherwise from skin toughness down to the bone. Well, except for retractable claws that they normally keep hidden. Even though they look perfectly Elven, they don't have Charm and Sleep resistances. They also must take care of where they go. Sages are aware of their species as well as Aquatic Elves... and know their species is far more all-environment capable than either species save for those who have magical items (ultra-ultra-rare). Their species is well-known to be, if not killed at birth, born and bred to be Sahuagin spies. So, I homebrewed these guys to be like playing a Drow in 1st Ed without the immediate fear and hate. Oh, and they are Half-Elf in lifespan... far shorter than either species. Well, at least they can start their adventuring career far earlier because they are fully functioning adults really, really, really young. Gotta' love the Sahuagin brain for that boost (and early cap).
I've been hoping you'd cover the sahuagin! "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" was my first encounter with Lovecraft's work and aquatic horrors have always struck a chord with me.
This pleases me. I am pleased, and a bit peckish for seafood.
My favorite undersea race. Hands down. Have been since I first saw them. Thank you!!! Underwater campaign here I come!!!
What no image of the Creature from the Black Lagoon? The Sea Monkey ad in the beginning was a great touch. ZI can see them using giant anemones as a defense for their lairs and the High priestesses using the spell Summon Jellyfish Swarm to incapacitate adventurers. Also in addition to nets and tridents/spears they also use jellyfish (Tendril) whips.
Great video AJ
Sea Devils and sea monsters in general have always been sources of mild terror for me ever since I saw Jaws at the age of 6 haha
Sharks are both cool and terrifying and make great basis for underwater foes and sometimes fierce friends.
I'm thinking of giving my Sahuagin a literal Roman vibe complete with Romulus and Reman origins as that would suit them pretty well I reckon. Sharks and Sekola as a stand in for Wolves and Jupiter.
Unless someone's taken piercing or slashing damage, I generally just go with the "someone under half HP is bloodied" bit from previous editions, which is normally just for flavor...unless it's a situation with fuckin' sharks or shark-people. We ran into some of these guys in the Savage Tide campaign I'm in and somehow managed to not have to fight them? Which was weird, but our sorcerer somehow manages to solve lots of situations without violence.
These things are pretty terrifying, especially if you are afraid of deep water like I am.
If you were feeling Click Baity, you could beat MrRex to the punch and call it _What They Don’t Tell You About The Sahuagin_
Another social cue from Sahuagin, there is no such thing as a smile. You are baring your fangs, it's a challenge. Easy mistake to make but a serious error.
Great video, my players will hate these
Huh, the origin I heard was they came from sea elves, either as a curse laid on them or descended from a shark god cult (like Yuan’ti with a snake god).
Running the origional saltmarsh modules at the moment, my players had enough problems with there first encounters who knows what these will do when / if they show up!....
16:45 in Baldur's Gate II there was a King who presided over priestesses
Ironic, and foolish
Kudos to you for a video well done!! Sahuagin remind me of Merman from Masters of the Universe. I'm curious if he's somehow related. You should do a wereshark/sharkwere lore video for Shark Week!! As always, keep up the great work you do for this channel!!!!
Another great video thank you.
Luvd it
I understand that there was a lot of content to go through...but I am still pretty bummed that the Darfellan didn't get mentioned considering that the Sahuagin nearly wiped them out and the Darfellan hate them more than nearly any other race as a result
Darfellan are no longer an intact culture, the genocide has basically reduced them to a bunch of small groups of refugees.
Thanks for the vid sir.
DUDE! I loved this video! I'm just about to make a triton NPC to help my players around the depths and I have a encounter set up with the Sahuagin and watching this really made me excited about it and even gave me a few new ideas so thank you for this helpful video!
🤓🤓🤓
Sahuagin rock! With an X.
⚔️Love these Vids 👍⚔️
Curiosity question. Is there an underwater variation of the jelly’s, jams and oozes monster family? Or is an aquatic environment incompatible with these monsters biology? If not, i was thinking it would be the perfect environment for them
Right, especially, you know the jelly fishes.
Right in line with you're thinking.
Hmmm, no doubt, but I need to research that very topic before I can give you a definitive answer.
I would just have slimes being native to various watery enviroments but less aggressive because any body of water capable of sustaining them would have great bounties to reap. Maybe they just sit on the bottom, eat and be eaten as other things would have developed to deal with a sea slime. Perhaps they first came to the surface by catching a ride on boats and then slowly developed to take advantage of the sea faring surface dwellers.
A psychopathic cousin of the creature from the black lagoon That's why I see Fishman ass but error have to inspire by the deep ones from HP Lovecraft Or remind me of that 80s b-movie called humanoids from the deep
what if they tie rope at the end of a spear. from under the water an attack is made. a pc get one through his body then dragged into the water. bleeding. frenzy and drowning.
Reverse harpoon fishing, a regular tactic of sea races that attack land dwellers.
good video AJ
You are incorrect about their origins. they were actually originally a separate species entirely that worshipped a god that poured a lot of their personal essence into making their lives easier. Sea elves feared their power when their god decided to incarnate as a Sahuagin, and invaded their homes, slaying the infant god king by turning him and his 'father' to stone.
the remaining members of their people were adopted by Sekolah, who transformed them into his likeness, and erased the memories of their past lives.
also, Malenti exist because a bunch of elf mages used magical experiments to try to make sea elf/sahuagin hybrids for unknown reasons related to the great elf schism. the victims who escaped then passed along their tainted genes amongst the general population, and now, whenever sahuagin encampments are too close to sea elves, or if a sea elf enters within a mile of their territory, a combination of magic and sea elf pheromones in the water trigger the birth of Malenti in their ranks.
Very nice
Look. AJ. Buddy. Pal. You can be honest with me. Youre actually a connuration wizard that accidently found himself in our reality.
That shot at Mr Rhexx though.
When was it? Did I miss it? XD
@@laucorn123 When he said something clickbaity and "the secret's of" insert random thing here.
Not taking a shot, just giving a shout out. I love Mr Rhexx's stuff. Calling something clickbait is not inherently negative and I was not intending it that way.
@@AJPickett That's the youtuber policy for you. Avoiding conflict, even if it means denying reality.
Glad I'm not the only one who caught that ha. I enjoy watching all the utube did ecologies but aj (but i may be bias because my nickname growing up was aj)and jorphdan are my favorite. Rex is ok. Has a decent library,but again, ajs is easier to navigate and you know what ur getting into. Keep up the good work my friend.
As underwater threats go, the Sahuagin were always one I wanted to try. I often bring them up when babble on Reddit. I like reading posts for Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and hopes other people have of maritime campaigns, but I always feel like warning them about how dangerous it can be when their essential ship becomes a combat target, since their optimizing and powers rarely change the stats of the stock vessel, and its loss...how long can you swim? Sahugin always seem like a wonderful example, as they can attack from below, and at night, so with stealth. Wonder if they were ever a threat in 2e Red Steel?
The Sekolah content was also reminded me of another 2e anomaly I like to read about; the Squark. I'm not holding my breath that 5e will grace us with Dark Sun, but the unique pink, psionic, half shark half giant squid was just so out of nowhere, on the Dune-like world of Athas, and it would be funny to see a specimen like it using its psionic might to control a population of Sahuagin, if they wouldn't just worship in outright, anyway. A wonderful video!
Hmm so grumpy shark boys got it
Annnnnd... another reason for me to avoid the water.
Man your videos are just awesome, love watching them for years now
But what is up with those intros xD
1.) So are the deep sea trenches the underddark of the sea, or is that the bodies of water in the underdark? Is there a difference?
2.) Dose that mean that they are immune to things like a green dragons breath weapon or would it still be absorbed through its gills?
3.) How do the sahuagins relationship to aquatic races compare to goblinoids and/or orcs and their neighbors?
3.) Are the four armed barons the ones that mutate due to doing something with krakins, or are those something else? Also, are they an acceptation to them not liking mutants?
4.) If a land-based were creature infects a sahuagin, would it have no effect or would they become something like a were-shark?
5.) How does he summon demons if he is in the nine hells?
6.) If you touch the shrine, is it certain death from a trap or special magical effect, or just that the sahuagin will kill you if they find out?
7.) Will they serve things like krakin, or try to oppose them?
1.) the underdark is below the sea, within the underdark, there are also seas and lakes.
2.) They can still be poisoned through the gills.
3.) Similar.
3.) yes, they are, originally there were just one common type of mutation, the lore was changed and now Barons are ritualistically self-made.
4.) No effect.
5.) He doesn't, he summons them to other places, Sekolah has avatars that operate in many realms.
6.) The Sahuagin will kill you if they find out.
7.) They often don't have a choice.
@@AJPickett 10/10 reply. Damn AJ, you are hard-core. My former DM self wants to put you in a time machine to pick your brain.
Nobody:
Not a single soul:
The bard: *USES SEDUCE*
Question!
What if a druid wild shapes into a shark near a sahuagin? Telepathic control saving throw? Happened at tonight's game. I had the sahuagin freak out cuz this particular shark wasnt responding to them.
I would say it's up to the DM in the end.
@@Wiromax3 I wound up ruling the druids shark form as a wierd dead space within the sauhuagin telepathy range. They dont immediately respond violently but I made it clear to the players that this method is hit or miss trying it
@@AmigoRoberto
Cool.
If a Malenti mated with a were-shark, what might the off-spring be like do you think?
Delicious. (sorry, could not resist), The offspring would be a Malenti were-shark (the Offspring of a Malenti is always another Malenti, a mutant Sahuagin).
@@AJPickett Haha awesome and cheers for the speedy reply! I'm wondering, what happened if Iakhovas mated with Laaqueel before he died. Perhaps she had children afterwards...and/or what happened to Iakhovas after he died...the evil fun to be had!
NOT DRAGONS BUT SOME DRAGONS DO ENJOY MUNCHING ON THEM GIVEN THEY TASTE LIKE SHARK!!
Shark meat *is* delicious.
Pretty sure they were Sahuagin in MM 1st Ed. I've had a copy since 82 ish, and I remember no "Shark Kin". The 4 armed mutants were even mentioned. Pedantic? Yeah, some. Otherwise what's the point of having old 1st printings?
When I think of Sahuagin, I think of Merman from He-Man
11 adventures disliked this video because a Sahuagin slayed them
18 now. I guess they had children. ;)
What if a Marid and a yellow dragon had a Romeo and Juliet story and lived in a brine pool on the bottom of the ocean being worshipped by these things. High priestess's might pick up salt/brine based breath weapon? ... it's just what came to mind as I was listening to this.
Love the Sea Monkeys ad, that was popular in comics from the 70s and early 80s. Would these critters be the equivalent of The Deep Ones by HPL?
The Murlocs from wow
Having played more WoW than I care to admit, I can say with confidence that I would rather fight a dozen murlocs than one sahaugin.
Edited for spelling.
Fish dudes!
Gonna have a full set of deeply nerdy mugs one day.
You forgot the barbed net. Maybe it's only in the Mel Odom trilogy Threat from the Sea. Much scarier.
Check out deep wars if you want see some cool under water terrain and game environments
Are they edible?
Could a party desperate for food consume them?
They don't taste great but, only the mutants are actually toxic.
Much like carb, you'll want to smoke them
Much like carp, you'll want to smoke them
Since these "sea devils" are LE and their deity dwells in the 9 Layers of Hell, wouldn't they be more likely to summon aquatic devils (or even yugoloths) rather than demons? Or is there some reason they summon demons specifically, like they are looking to avoid being locked into devilish pacts?
Maybe he just misspoke? Or maybe demons match a shark god's savagery more closely than devils? If he didnt just misspeak it is an interesting twist.
The Maw of Sekolah in Saltmarsh is weird. It's Neutral Evil and supposed to be an avatar of Sekolah.
I love it, ya I'm actually celebrating getting back with my brother by making a session where your fighting these dudes. I got the idea because I'm ditching our sister and leaving the tri cities to go and move to California with my brother, shes on the boat and all these deep sea devils come out lol, I quit on her
How can anything throw a spear underwater?? I know you can shoot one out of a gun, but even a giant shark man shouldn't be able to throw one with any force under water... Right?
Spear guns, tridents, etc. The technique is more like a thrust and release than the sort of over shoulder throw. It most certainly can be done.
IMPORTANT QUESTION
My only player asked me how it is that Dwarven and Elven teeth last so long? Do their cultures have amazing dental plans? Tell us oh wise one.
They cast mending on them.
Maybe they shed and regrow them like sharks.
Technically swim bladders in fish have the same evolutionary root as lungs in terrestrial animals
It's also why our vision is so poor. Our eyes evolved to function under water and latter adapted to air.
I don't get the shark origin with regards to the art. They look nothing like a shark as they sport a clearly non-cartilage based skeleton. Any thoughts on that?
and this is why I hate were-anything. Along with the Sahuagins and the shark gods.
Actually running the Campaign for Ghosts of Saltmarsh but setting this in the Inner Sea of Fallen Stars close to the Vilhon Reach for more Psionic influences the players are gonna stumble into and may gain some benefits to fight against the eldritch underwater forces that are attempting to rise out of the bottom of the Abyss itself maybe.
Deepspawn: Do you have any plans on covering them? I used one in an adventure recently (along with a bit of Far Realm for flavor) to great effect. But the write up for them was quite incomplete and left me with loads of unanswered questions. I had to house rule almost half of the Deepspawn write up to answer them. (I used the Monsters of Faerûn 3.5 version as a base). I think they deserved their own entry in Lords of Madness. There's so much you can do with them.
Sure.
Melenthi.... Nice concept.
I've always used that concept with Illythid (1 in 10,000). They're powerful "human" psionicists that hunt for the Mind Flayers. They avoid sunlight as much as possible but are not harmed by it, hindrance of -2 to everything in the direct sunlight, -1 to indirect. Otherwise they are Illythid.
I got here late, but I got here.
Did you bring the beer? Damn... you forgot the beer, didn't you?
Wasn't that WHY you were late? The beer run... for shame.
@@That80sGuy1972 I brought the beer, it was just the wrong kind so I had to go back and get a different kind!
Off topic question because TH-cam refuses to inform me when you are live.
AJ would you consider a ghost or banshee to be the soul of a creature trapped in the material plane? And if so does this mean souls can be created by casting True Polymorph on a rock and turning it into an unbound soul. Just an idea for a necromancer character im in the conceptual stages for.
Technically the Souls are trapped on the border Ethereal plane, with the ability to cross back and forth. A soul can't be created from a polymorph spell, at all.
Final fantasy 7 got these in the sewers of midgar
Hey AJ Im about to start a Pirate Adventure in a 5e homebrew setting soon. I really wanted a larger selection of aquatic creatures to use. Any suggestions?
Where there are ships there are rats, so also dire rats and wererats, parrots or course, so why not pseudodragons and drakes, Barnacles so, aquatic versions of all the fantasy vermin, giant bugs, giant crabs, the sharks, octopi, give the big cats a swim speed and create some marine seal predators, convert a piercer to a flying fish that leaps out of the water and skewers sailors, sea serpents are basically the purple worms of the sea, the marine dinosaurs, dragons (always) and lots of undead are perfectly fine in the water, plus elementals and the aquatic races, also rival pirates and the sanctioned navy ships of the various foreign nations of your world.
So nobility is founded by brutality? Trying to figure out how nobiliy established.
Bash enough heads in and people eventually stop asking questions, that and the Sahuagin have a theocracy which probably backs up the nobility. Also, they have outsider influence in their blood, they don't think like you or me.
Also biggest makes bestest for them. If you've ever seen a clutch of fish eggs hatch there are always babies that become bigger fish than their siblings.
weird buzzing with the audio n this one.
Another amazing video. Here's a comment because YT can't make the likes matter