Archipelago and sea antagonist other than sahuagin?

[Kafana]

I have a whole continent that's consisted of several large islands, several dozen medium ones and hundreds of small ones. Now, I need some antagonists for the world, and the sahuagin are an obvious choice, especially since I'm using races from Stormwrack to populate these lands.

However, what would you say are some other good antagonists for seafaring adventures?

Could you list them by priority, where at the top you would have monsters that could organize enough to threaten half a continent (like the sahuagin), and at the bottom you would have a shadow huge white shark, escaped from the shadow plane, terrorizing a town and the neighboring villages and ports?

[Taveena]

I'm not particularly good at sorting, unfortunately, but my suggestions would be the Leviathan from Elder Evils, Dagon, the obyrith lord, and... well, Aboleths are neat seadwellers!

[TiaC]

Aboleths, the mindflayers of the depths.
Kraken, there aren't many monsters that are both intelligent and able to sink a ship on their lonesome.
Ocean strider is another that can though.
Kopru have potential
Ixitxachitl are dangerous in shoals.

[avr]

If sahuagin are present, aquatic elves should be. Elves are often depicted as arrogant/racist/imperialist bastards and there's no particular reason aquatic elves should be different. Even if good aligned they can still be antagonists.

Mind flayers aren't naturally aquatic but they can certainly operate at sea. Take a look at Spelljammer and modify as appropriate.

Kuo-toa are more dangerous when approached than active evils, but they may decide to raid fishing villages for sacrifices.

If sharks from the shadow plane are a possibility, how about living spells? Control Winds could be a shipping hazard. Or air elementals to the same purpose; a gate to the Elemental plane of Air could be as dangerous as one to any other element.

[ArcturusV]

Sea Elves. Elves are always a popular scourge and antagonist in my campaigns. Sounds like you already got them in the game anyway. Their "holier than thou" attitudes can make them into plausible, satisfying villains.

Lung Dragons. In particular the Typhoon Dragon is fun when you're dealing with islands and open water. No breath weapon suddenly doesn't seem so boring when they can drop a hurricane on top of your ship instead. (And yes, I've had players think Lung Dragons weren't dangerous because they had no breath weapon. Yes, that lasted right up to the point where suddenly they realized just what having a dragon who's surrounded by a hurricane means in practical terms.)

And of course I've always had a soft spot for the Tako. Abberation Octopi who use weapons? It's silly sounding, but can make for a credible threat.

[Epsilon Rose]

I'd throw in Deep Ones and Star Headed Aliens. Both are naturally aquatic, both are threats on a local or planetary scale (espesially if the Deep Ones backers get involved) and they also bring some inter antagonist conflict to the table (the Star Headed Aliens and the Great Old Ones (the Deep Ones masters) are 'mortal' enemies.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Aquatic Races (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#aquaticRaces)
Aboleth (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aboleth.htm)
Chuul (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/chuul.htm)
Kuo-Toa (MM)
Locathah (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/locathah.htm)
Merrow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ogre.htm#merrow)
Scrag (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/troll.htm#scrag)
Skum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/skum.htm)

Just open the Monster Manual to page 4 and look at what's listed for the Aquatic subtype, Water subtype, or in some of the older books under Elemental (Water). You can do the same thing in MM2 p3, MM3 p7, MM4 p221, MM5 p222, Fiend Folio p3, etc. Stormwrack has a bunch of monsters that should be easy to find in aquatic environments. There's also a few at wizards.com if you know where to look (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a).

[gooddragon1]

Aquatic Races (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#aquaticRaces)
Aboleth (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/aboleth.htm)
Chuul (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/chuul.htm)
Kuo-Toa (MM)
Locathah (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/locathah.htm)
Merrow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ogre.htm#merrow)
Scrag (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/troll.htm#scrag)
Skum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/skum.htm)

Just open the Monster Manual to page 4 and look at what's listed for the Aquatic subtype, Water subtype, or in some of the older books under Elemental (Water). You can do the same thing in MM2 p3, MM3 p7, MM4 p221, MM5 p222, Fiend Folio p3, etc. Stormwrack has a bunch of monsters that should be easy to find in aquatic environments. There's also a few at wizards.com if you know where to look (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a).

Can't believe he forgot the Lacedon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghoul.htm#lacedon)...

Also incorporeal undead could be nasty too.

[TiaC]

Can't believe he forgot the Lacedon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghoul.htm#lacedon)...
They aren't (aquatic) though, because (aquatic) means they breathe water. However, undead don't breathe.

[gooddragon1]

They aren't (aquatic) though, because (aquatic) means they breathe water. However, undead don't breathe.


These cousins of the ghoul have the aquatic subtype. They lurk near hidden reefs or other places where ships are likely to meet their end. They have a base land speed of 30 feet and a swim speed of 30 feet and are found only in aquatic environments.

They do have the aquatic subtype.