Who are the Kuo-Toa (and why they are special)

Within a certain area of Baldur’s Gate 3players may come across the kuo-toa, a strange group of fish in the middle of an even stranger ceremony. A group of creatures stand praising a bloody altar, upon which a powerful redcap will appear if players get close enough to trigger the cutscene. Depending on how players handle the interaction, they may end up fighting with the entire group, or they could gain a powerful new ally.

It is a completely optional encounter and, due to the strangeness of the kuo-toa, it is an encounter that attracts the attention of whoever encounters it. But what exactly are these creatures and why do they have the powers they do? The kuo-toa are raised directly from Dungeons and Dragonsand the existing lore surrounding the tabletop RPG may provide a little more information about these suspicious folk.

Who are the Kuo-Toa in Baldur’s Gate 3

The story of these fanatical creatures

Kuo-toa first appeared in 1978, deployed by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax for a module called “Sanctuary of the Kuo-Toa”. Unlike the more slender and physically capable sahuagin, the kuo-toa are described as short, pot-bellied, and covered in slime. However, they possess immense mental power, being capable of perceiving invisible creatures or even those that move through other planes. They normally stay in the Underdark, as their vision is poorly adapted to sunlight.

Like another group of Underdark dwellers, the duergar, the kuo-toa have a history with mind flayers. The Illithid conquerors drove many kuo-toa mad through psychic torment, and this corruption of the mind persisted long after the collapse of the mind flayer empire. The kuo-toa’s abilities, combined with their new madness, have resulted in a rather peculiar set of powers and practices that appear in Baldur’s Gate 3.

The Kuo-Toa have a special ability

The power of belief

The madness of the kuo-toa caused them to start believing in new gods, created entirely by their own imagination. The things they would see on other planes, combined with a general disturbed mindset, led the fish people to create their own deities, and their psychic power made them real. These gods, manifested and maintained by pure belief, would defend the creatures and, in turn, give them power.

But other creatures can sometimes take advantage of the kuo-toa’s faith. This happens in Baldur’s Gate 3 when the redcap who goes by BOOOAL convinces a group of kuo-toa to worship him. Once the party finds this conniving fellow, they can challenge him and fight his horde of acolytes. Or they may sacrifice a party member to ingratiate themselves with the kuo-toa. This may leave players one character short, but it provides a powerful buff, a strong weapon, and a potential ally in the third act of Baldur’s Gate 3.