Merfolk 5e: Stats, Underwater Fights and the 2024 Merfolk Skirmisher

Merfolk are CR 1/8 aquatic creatures with AC 11, 11 hit points, a 40-foot swim speed and a 10-foot walking speed. A merfolk's spear hits at +2 for 3 damage, which makes it one of the weakest combatants in the game on land and a real nuisance in deep water, where the party moves at half speed and it doesn't. The 2024 rules rename it the Merfolk Skirmisher, add cold damage and a slowing effect to its spear, and change its type from Humanoid to Elemental.

Table of Contents

• •Merfolk Stat Block (2014)
• •The 2024 Merfolk Skirmisher
• •How Merfolk Fight
• •Running a Merfolk Encounter
• •How Players Beat Merfolk
• •Merfolk Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Merfolk Stat Block (2014)

This is the SRD 5.1 merfolk, a Medium Humanoid that speaks Aquan and Common.

Every combat number here is low. Strength 10 and Dexterity 13 give a +2 attack, the spear deals 3 damage one-handed or 4 two-handed, and 11 hit points vanish to one good hit. Amphibious lets it breathe air and water, but its 10-foot walk means a merfolk on a beach crawls.

Merfolk at CR 1/8 are best as people, not threats: traders, guides, a village that needs help, or a crowd the party has to win over. When they fight, they fight where the party is weakest.

The 2024 Merfolk Skirmisher

Two changes matter. The Ocean Spear returns to the merfolk's hand after every throw, so a skirmisher can throw every turn from 20 feet and never run out. And the slow stacks badly with swimming: a character with a 30-foot speed and no swim speed pays 2 feet per foot swum, so 30 feet becomes 15. Hit by an Ocean Spear, that character's Speed drops to 20, which is 10 feet of swimming.

The type change matters for spells. Hold Person and Charm Person work on a 2014 merfolk and can't target a 2024 one. Protection from Evil and Good, which covers Elementals in both editions, now applies.

How Merfolk Fight

Stay in the water. A merfolk on land has 10 feet of movement. In the water it has 40 and the party, without swim speeds, has about 15. The whole fight plan is: keep the party in water or on a boat, and stay out of reach.

Throw from range. The spear's 20/60 range lets a group of merfolk surround a rowboat and throw from 20 feet. Underwater, the rules differ by edition:

• •2014: a thrown spear underwater has no disadvantage within normal range (the SRD 5.1 exception for thrown weapons like javelins and spears), and spears are exempt from the melee penalty too. Merfolk weapons were built for the sea.
• •2024: every ranged weapon attack underwater has Disadvantage within normal range, thrown spears included. Skirmishers fight better in melee below the surface and should throw from the surface instead.

The math. A +2 attack against AC 16 hits on 14 or better, 35% of the time. A 2024 skirmisher averages about 1.8 damage per attack (5 on a hit). Six skirmishers average about 10 damage a round and slow two characters. The danger is the slow, the swimming and the clock, not the spears.

Pick off the swimmer. Merfolk should gang up on whoever ends up in the water: the character knocked overboard, the one who dove in after a dropped item. That character moves at half speed, attacks at Disadvantage with most melee weapons, and is out of reach of the rest of the party's swords.

Running a Merfolk Encounter

Merfolk are 25 XP each. For four level 1 characters, using the 2024 XP budget (200 / 300 / 400):

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) multiply eight merfolk's 200 XP by 2.5 to 500, past the Deadly threshold for a level 1 party. In practice the terrain decides it. Eight merfolk against a party on a beach play like an easy fight, because the merfolk can barely move. Eight merfolk around a sinking boat earn that Deadly rating.

How Players Beat Merfolk

• •Get out of the water. On land a merfolk moves 10 feet a turn. Pull back to a dock, a beach or a ship's deck and they can't follow quickly.
• •Area damage. 11 hit points falls to most 1st-level area spells. Thunderwave (2d8) kills a merfolk outright on a failed save about one time in three (it needs 11 or more on 2d8) and leaves most of the rest on a few hit points. Fire is weaker: anything fully underwater has resistance to fire damage in both editions.
• •Use piercing weapons underwater. In 2024, characters without a swim speed have Disadvantage on underwater melee attacks unless the weapon deals Piercing damage. In 2014, only daggers, javelins, shortswords, spears and tridents avoid it.
• •Talk. Merfolk are neutral. A party that offers trade or help can turn the fight into an alliance against something worse, like merrow.

Merfolk Encounter Ideas

The fishing dispute. A fishing village has been netting in merfolk hunting grounds. The merfolk have started cutting nets and sinking boats at night. Both sides have a point. The party can fight, negotiate a boundary, or find out who has been stirring it up.

Escort through the reef. A merchant ship needs a guide through a reef. The merfolk who know the way demand a price, and halfway through, a rival band of skirmishers attacks with slowing spears while the ship is pinned in the shallows.

Merrow hunters. A merfolk scout begs the party for help: merrow have taken their sea cave. The merfolk will fight alongside the party, giving the DM a group of weak but useful NPC allies.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR are merfolk in 5e?

Merfolk are CR 1/8 (25 XP) in 2014. The 2024 Merfolk Skirmisher is also CR 1/8 (25 XP).

Are merfolk Humanoids or Elementals in 5e?

In 2014, merfolk are Medium Humanoids (merfolk). In the 2024 rules, the Merfolk Skirmisher is a Medium Elemental, so Humanoid-only spells like Hold Person can't target it.

Can merfolk walk on land?

Yes, but slowly. Merfolk have a 10-foot walking speed and a 40-foot swim speed, and they're amphibious, so they can breathe air.

What does the Ocean Spear do?

The 2024 skirmisher's spear deals 1d6 piercing plus 1d4 cold, reduces a creature's Speed by 10 feet until the end of its next turn, and returns to the merfolk's hand after a ranged attack, hit or miss.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.