The Pokemon franchise is designed around single-player experiences and PVP multiplayer battles. It’s not built for the group party dynamics of a game like Dungeons & Dragons, but the monsters from Pokemon can still be used as enemies for parties to face. To this end, we have statted out Lapras for use in D&D adventures.
Lapras was one of the Pokemon that every trainer received for free in Pokemon Red & Blue, as it’s given to them over the course of the game. They were a nightmare to catch until the Sinnoh era, where they could be encountered on Victory Road. As time went on, they became easier to encounter in wild areas. It’s clear that Lapras was an important Pokemon to the developers, as beta designs of it appeared in some of the earliest concept art for the series. The fact that the overworld sprite for a Pokemon using Surf was a Lapras shows that this was what Game Freak was imagining as the default sailing Pokemon. Lapras would go on to have a major role in the Pokemon anime, as Ash used one to ferry his crew across the water during the Orange Islands filler arc. We have yet to see any Lapras evolutions or Z-movies, but we did get a Gigantamax Lapras in Pokemon Sword & Shield.
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Lapras’ Stats
Most Dungeons & Dragons campaign worlds rely on ships for travel across bodies of water. There are magical spells and items that can make this process easier, but there aren’t always mages at hand to make this possible. As such, vessels are still very much a part of daily life in most kingdoms, either as trading vehicles, means of travel, or transportation in times of war.
There are lots of monsters that have the ability to ferry humans across (or under) water. A common tactic among spellcasters is to summon a Water Elemental when their ship is going down so that it can transport them to safety. Not all sailors are blessed with spellcasting abilities, but there are monsters that have been known to help people trapped at sea: Lapras.
Lapras are large marine animals with a thick shell on their back. They are aquatic creatures and can descend beneath the waves to feast on fish, but they are most commonly seen sailing on the surface of the water. It’s not uncommon to see entire groups of Lapras going on migratory journeys across great bodies of water. Sailors will often hear Lapras long before seeing them, as they communicate with each other using a harmonious noise that resembles singing. This singing is also their connection to druidic magic, as it can be used to temporarily quell harsh seas and ensure brief moments of smooth sailing. There are bards who spend their entire life trying to emulate the beautiful song of the Lapras.
There are some Lapras that are captured by humans and domesticated. These Lapras are used as transport for short distances, especially in places with sunny climates. The cost of raising and maintaining Lapras isn’t cheap, as they consume a lot of food, so they are often exclusively kept by the very wealthy. Lapras can also defend themselves with a beam of frost magic, though it’s not always easy to coax them to do this, so would-be Lapras pirates shouldn’t rely on them in battle.
Lapras numbers were once threatened, as they were hunted for their meat. This was especially prevalent by sailors on long sea voyages, as they provided an easy source of food, so long as they were encountered on their own. Fortunately for the Lapras species, they came under the protection of the sea elves, as well as many aquatic druid orders, so their numbers have started to rise once more.
Next: How To Turn The Slowpoke Line From Pokemon Into D&D Monsters
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Scott has been writing for The Gamer since it launched in 2017 and also regularly contributes to Screen Rant. He has previously written gaming articles for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz. He has been gaming since the days of the ZX Spectrum, when it used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set.
Scott thinks Chrono Trigger is the best video game of all time, followed closely by Final Fantasy Tactics and Baldur’s Gate 2. He pretends that sorcerer is his favorite Dungeons & Dragons class in public but he secretly loves bards.
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