Introduction
Introduced in Ghosts of Saltmarsh and made playable by Locathah Rising (affiliate link). Locathah Rising offers almost no detail on the Locathah beyond their traits, describing them as “proud fish folk”. The official art depicts them as somewhat goofy fish-like humanoids with big webbed hands and feet, a comically wide mouth, and whisker-like things similar to a catfish.
Mechanically, the Locathah is uncomplicated, but solidly designed, versatile, and well-balanced. Strength and Dexterity increases on the same race are rare (only the Bugbear and the Locathah have increases to both), you get some natural armor, two good skills, and Advantage on saves against 6 status effects. Limited Amphibiousness makes the Locathah great for an aquatic campaign, but if you have a big enough barrel you can still manage overland travel. The Locathah doesn’t have any activated abilities to manage, so despite their unique combination of traits they’re very easy to play.
With the custom origin rules in place, the Locathah becomes even more versatile. They get the typical +2/+1 increases, two skills, natural armor, and the resistances provided by Leviathan Will. That makes them a broadly resilient basis for nearly any build. Without any active abilities, the Locathah is low-complexity and easy to play, but doesn’t add any additional active options except skills.
DnDBeyond denotes the Locathah as “Noncore D&D Material”, which means that they’re only semi-official so you shouldn’t assume that you can use them in your campaign without your DM’s permission. I consider myself an “amateur expert” on race design in 5e, and personally I would allow the Locathah in my campaigns. They’re roughly as strong as most of the races in the Player’s Handbook and they don’t have any traits that could turn into abuse cases. They’re also allowed in Adventurer’s League, so even WotC seems to be happy with the Locathah’s design.
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.
The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.
Locathah Classes (Customizable Origins)
This section assumes that you’re using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. If you’re not using those rules, scroll down to the next section.
Artificer
Despite their exceptional durability, the Artificer doesn’t get protection from the conditions handled by Leviathan Will until you get Stroke of Genius at high levels. Artificers also seem uniquely well-suited to produce a solution to the Locathah’s Limited Amphibiousness, though it doesn’t exactly take a genius to arrive at a bath tub as a solution.
Barbarian
Barbarians have poor Will saves, making charm, fear, and sleep effects extremely dangerous for them. Leviathan Will provides some much-needed protection. Two skills also help to make the Barbarian useful outside of combat, which is a much-needed improvement.
Bard
Two additional skills are great on a class that’s so well-suited to using skills, and Leviathan Will provides some helpful protections for a class that’s generally frail.
Cleric
Leviathan Will is a great way to keep your party’s primary healer from being taken out of a fight by one spell or special ability.
Druid
Leviathan Will is a great way to keep your party’s primary healer from being taken out of a fight by one spell or special ability. It also appears to work while using Wild Shape, but I’m not totally certain.
Fighter
Fighters have poor Will saves, making charm, fear, and sleep effects extremely dangerous for them. Leviathan Will provides some much-needed protection. Two skills also help to make the Fighter useful outside of combat, which is a much-needed improvement.
Monk
Two skills helps close the skill gap between the Monk and the Rogue, making it easier to serve as your party’s Scout. Leviathan Will coupled with the Monk’s saving throws will make you extremely resiliant, especially at high levels once you have proficiency in all saving throws.
Paladin
Paladins are already extremely resilient, so you’ll be basically untouchable once you get Aura of Protection. Two skills help to expand beyond Face skills, allowing you explore other options.
Ranger
Two skills helps close the skill gap between the Ranger and the Rogue, making it easier to serve as your party’s Scout.
Rogue
Two extra skills allow you to cover a broad range of skill-based roles, and Leviathan Will protects from you from things that don’t touch your already excellent Dexterity saves.
Sorcerer
Two extra skills help to expand beyond Face skills, and Leviathan Will provides some durability which is difficult to replace with spells.
Warlock
Two extra skills help to expand beyond Face skills, and Leviathan Will provides some durability which is difficult to replace with spells.
Wizard
Leviathan Will provides some durability which is difficult to replace with spells. There aren’t many Intelligence-based skills, so the Wizard’s skill options are generally limited.
Locathah Classes (Default Rules)
This section assumes that you’re not using the option “Customizing Your Origin” rules presented in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything or the updated version of the race published in Mordenkainen’s Monsters of the Multiverse. If you are using those rules, scroll up to the previous section.
Artificer
No Intelligence increase.
Barbarian
Increase to both Strength and Dexterity are a great start for the Barbarian, and the Locathah’s additional skills help to broaden your capabilities beyond hitting stuff. Natural Armor will be redundant with Unarmored Defense, but that’s perfectly fine. Leviathan Will will also help protect from a lot of non-damage problems which could take you out of a fight.
Bard
Lacking a Charisma increase is hard, but if you don’t use your spellcasting offensively you can do reasonably well. Martial subclasses like College of Valor and College of Swords are your best bet.
Cleric
Without a Wisdom increase, the Cleric is a hard choice. You could try for a martial build like War Domain or something, but you’ll still lag considerably compared to other clerics.
Druid
Without a Wisdom increase, the Druid is a hard choice but maybe not as hard as the Cleric. Leviathan Will looks like it would work while using Wild Shape, which is an interesting defensive option, and the two free skills are always great. You’ll lag behind other druids in terms of spellcasting, but Circle of the Moon could still work well if you avoid offensive spells.
Fighter
Increases to both Strength and Dexterity mean that you’ve got flexibility in your weapon choices, but Strength is likely still the better choice. Between a Strength increase and proficiency in Athletics, not focusing on Strength seems like a lost opportunity.
Monk
The Dexterity increase and the additional skills works great for the Monk, and Leviathan Will offers some helpful defenses. Strength and Natural Armor will go unused, but that’s fine. I think the Monk isn’t quite as appealing to the Locathah because it doesn’t capitalize on the Locathah’s traits as well as the Fighter or similar classes, but it’s still a good option.
Paladin
Dexterity is much less useful for the Paladin than for the Barbarian and the Fighter, but otherwise the Locathah makes a fine paladin. Leviathan Will covers several conditions not already handled by paladin class features, which makes you very hard to incapacitate.
Ranger
Increases to both Strength and Dexterity make it easier to build a Strength-based build because you can manage decent scores in both at 1st level. Two additional skills help close the skill gap with Rogue, too. Given the choice between the Ranger and the Rogue for a stealty Locathah, I would go for the the Ranger.
Rogue
The Dexterity increase is all that you really need, but not needing armor is nice and the additional skills are always welcome on a high-skilled class like the Rogue.
Sorcerer
No Charisma increase.
Warlock
No Charisma increase.
Wizard
No Intelligence increase.
