Reef Shark

A reef shark on the party's side is a stretch and the right kind. A sea-druid wild shape, a sahuagin ranger's bonded companion, a triton's patrol animal, a marid's pet sent to escort the party through a contested reef, or a witch's charm on the local school for one tide cycle.

In combat the shark adds one Bite per round at +4 doing 2d4+2, plus 30-foot swim faster than any PC in water. Pack Tactics triggers when allies are within 5 feet. The real value is target denial. A circling shark on the party's side keeps enemy sahuagin, merrows, and other reef sharks at distance. Predators read each other's body language and a confident fish in the area changes the calculus. Use it as area control, not damage.

Out of combat the shark is a sensor. Blindsight 30 feet means it notices anything in water nearby: invisible attackers, hidden currents, the silhouette of something bigger below. Have it surface and circle once before any genuine threat.

The shark will not stay loyal past the bond's expiration. When the wild shape ends, when the druid leaves the coast, when the charm wears off, the shark is a wild animal again. Its goodbye looks exactly like its hello. One fin, gone.

A reef shark is the warning shot before the bigger sharks arrive. CR 1/2, 22 HP, AC 12, swim 30 feet, walk 5 feet. Bite at +4 doing 2d4+2 piercing. Pack Tactics grants advantage on attack rolls when allies are within 5 feet. Blindsight 30 feet means the shark perceives anything in water within close range, including invisible swimmers.

Run reef sharks in groups of three to five. One alone is a speed bump. A school is a problem. Open with the first shark already in melee with whoever fell off the boat, then have two more close from different angles in round one. The shark picks the bleeding target. Track which PC has taken damage in the water. That is the one the next shark goes for, not because the shark is cruel, but because blood does the targeting.

The 5-foot walk is a hard limit. A shark that beaches itself on a rock is no longer a threat. Reward smart positioning. A PC who climbs onto a bobbing crate ends the encounter for that one shark. The fight becomes about whoever is still in the water. If three of four PCs make it to the boat and one is still flailing, the question is whether the others jump back in. That question is what the reef shark encounter is for.

Sharks do not retreat from a kill. They retreat from being hurt. Once a shark takes serious damage below half HP, it leaves and the others follow within a round.

Describe the dorsal fin once before initiative. One fin, then a second, then a third.