Why are water leapers worth so much glory? (100 Glory)

I read their stats and they seem to be pretty unimpressive fighters.

Let's give it a try:

Could depend on their ability to kick Knights from boats or other water vehicles. If I rembember correct, it is not too difficult for a water leaper to sent a Knight swimming.

And Knights are mostly well-armored and seldom good swimmer, both facts combined leads to some kind of menace.

I guess.

I thought a 100 Glory was overly generous, too.

My lot hardly broke sweat dispatching several of them but they are dangerous if you go overboard as KingCerdic points out. A redcap on the other hand wiped out my entire party, and they're not worth that much more.

in my campaign, my players choose between fight in armor (and the impossibility to swin), or fight without armor (and so, no armor protection)... at the result, 2 characters died (one in armor, that cannot swim, and the other without armor, died after some wounds...)...
so, if you insist on the canoting, the swimming (both aren't skills where the characters have a good score), and the ferocity of theese creatures that jump from the water to hit a person and fall in the water, I think that 100 Glory points are good... moreover, the water wasn't clear, so, the caracters had difficulty to prepare their attack....

Glory isn't always related to a creature's combat effectiveness (actually, it rarely is - there are lots and lots of inconsistencies there).

That said, Water Leapers are very dangerous if you use them properly - but it's not inherently obvious how to do that. They are probably the only creature in the published supplements that requires a bit of game-mechanical consideration to use to their fullest.

IIRC, each water leaper attack is a simultaneous grapple - if they win the attack, there's a good chance that knight is going in the water. Once in the water, if you're feeling ruthless, have the leapers swarm around that hapless victim and killing him, while he scrambles for air, and the other players can probably do little to save him.

Also, each attack by a leaper automatically includes movement. They leap, attack, and drop into the water again. I ruled that if a knight hit the leaper, and knocked it down, it landed on the boat/raft/whatever, but would be dodging back into the water next turn so finish it fast!

Also, you could have them gangup - knights usually face them in a boat or raft, possibly spread out across multiple boats. The leapers should attack one or two knights, who are separated from the others, then spend a few rounds swimming into a new position, before leaping again.

The few encounters my players have had with them have always been very tense: they die easily, but every roll has the potential to be a one-shot kill (they hit you, you go in the water, the end).

My players were in 3 coracles (2 knights per coracle). They roped the coracles together, and roped themselves to the boat. If one of them went in (which didn't happen) they would be able to pull him out or at least keep him on the surface. OK I didn't use the gang up tactic that Darren describes. My players may as well be rock climbers; every chance and out come the ropes :)

That sounds very sensible.

Although, probably a bit unwieldy. Opportunities for boating rolls to make any progress with the boats being tied together, at risk of being capsized, etc. :)
Dex rolls to avoid being tripped over by their own ropes as they whirl around to face leapers coming from different directions, etc.

On the other hand, your players prepared well, and if the fight was easy, that's a good reason for winning a decent reward.

Boats tied together? It reminds me f the scene in Jaws.

"He went under with three coracles on 'em!" :o

;D