Merfolk (4e Race)

Merfolk

By John Derek Murphy

"I want to be where the people are, oh look and here we go... Well that was easy." ~~ Half-fish, half-human, 100% dolphin safe.

Racial Traits

Average Height: 7 feet long in fish form, average human height in human form

Average Weight: 125-200 lbs in human form; 200 lbs in fish form.

Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence or Dexterity

Size: Medium

Speed: 6; swim 7. squares

Vision: Low-light

Languages: Common, Deep Speech

Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Dungeoneering

Fishy Shifter: Merfolk can take either their normal, fish-tailed form, or appear as a human. Transformation takes a standard action.

Aquatic: You are an aquatic creature. While in fish-tailed form you can breathe underwater, and in aquatic combat you gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls against non-aquatic creatures. Finishing an extended rest while away from a large source of water requires an Endurance check as if you were dehydrating.

Merfolk Weapon Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the trident.

Siren Song: You gain the power Siren Song as a Encounter power.

Siren Song	Merfolk Racial Power
Your enchanting song washes over your foe, putting him completely in your power.
Encounter, Charm
Standard Action	Close burst 3
Target: One target in burst
Attack: Charisma + 2 Vs. Will
Hit: Target is dominated by you until the end of your next turn. Level 11: Charisma +4 Level 21: Charisma +6

Native dwellers of the oceans of the Feywild, Merfolk are capricious warriors of the deeps. They live in underwater villages of 300 to 2000 individuals. They are usually located in underwater canyons and trenches for easy defense.

Play a Merfolk if you want...

• To be a member of a race glorified in stories.
• To be equally at home underwater and on land.
• To be a member of a race that favors the Bard, Warlock, Warlord and Wizard classes.

Physical Qualities

While in Merfolk form, Merfolk have a long fish tail that can be blue, green, or even purple. They also have long gills along their neck and cheeks. Their skin tone ranges between shades of white to pale blue or pale green. Their hair can be brown, green, purple, black, or red. Females and non-warrior males wear their hair long and flowing, and most males wear beads. Warriors wear their hair short-cropped and often spiked in intricate patterns that designate rank. Merfolk tend to have green eyes, but virtually all shades are present in the population. Merfolk typically wear little to no clothing while in the water, although they will wear armor.

While in human form, their tails turn into legs and their skin turns into a human skin tone that most closely matches their Merfolk pigment. They lose their gills and the ability to breathe underwater. Their hair and eyes will stay the same color, which is one of the ways to tell a Merfolk apart from a normal human. While on land, Merfolk adopt the clothing styles of the locals so as not to stand out.

Much like the Eladrin, Merfolk have a 300 year lifespan and remain healthy throughout their lives.

Playing a Merfolk

Merfolk are a mysterious race that has maintained underwater cities for much of human history. Their own history remains largely unknown, primarily because they do not share it with others. Still, most historians believe that they are the descendants of ancient Eladrin who shirked their land form for aquatic prowess. These ancient Eladrin once lived in a mighty empire at the center of one of the fey oceans. Many stories depict them as malicious tricksters, using their singing ability to lure sailors to their doom, though this was used to protect the empire from outside influence. When the empire fell, most of the Merfolk scattered throughout the seas and worlds. Merfolk today are more moderate and friendly towards other races.

Merfolk are powerful protectors of the sea. They do the bidding of the sea gods, although they do not always agree on which god to worship. Some historians believe that religious strife led to the fall of the first Merfolk empire. As such, Merfolk worship many different sea gods, ranging from Melora to Poseidon to Neptune to even Circe and Mannanan Mac Lir. More twisted Merfolk tend to worship such non-deities as Dagon and the Charybdis. Regardless of their beliefs, all Merfolk are friends with their fellow sea creatures and seek to protect them from the harmful influence of fisherman and other land-based predators. For this reason,they are all vegetarians and prefer to eat seaweed. However, they have no such inhibition when it comes to land creatures.

Merfolk Characteristics: Capricious, charming, daring, impulsive, independent, protective, seductive, zealous

Male Names: Drake, Salas, Aquis, Sedor, Agrata, Typhon, Nido, Latus

Female Names: Anosa, Kella, Atlise, Morea, Soreen, Corselle, Ulanda, Ari

Merfolk Adventurers

Three sample merfolk adventurers are described below.

Bubbles is a Merfolk Bard who coveted the land life too much to stay underwater. She lives a fine life as a local entertainer, and sells seashells by the sea shore for extra gold pieces. When she learns that her underwater village is under attack by Kuo-Toas, she hires a band of adventurers to help her save her village from destruction.

Salas is a Merfolk Warlock who made a bargain with the sea-serpent god Ooga-Booga. In exchange for phenomenal cosmic powers, Salas traded his entire family to work as slaves to the serpent god. Yeah, pretty messed up, isn't it? As he wanders the world and gains experience, he slowly realizes just how bad a decision that was. Unbeknownst to Ooga-Booga, Salas begins to collect a group of warriors to rise against Ooga-Booga and save his family from slavery.

Kella is a Merfolk Wizard who does not fit in with her fellow Merfolk, specifically the Mermen. After her father arranges her betrothal to a nice man, Kella runs away from home and seeks out her destiny outside of Merfolk society. Along the way, she rescues a woman from a shipwreck and takes her to safety ashore. The woman, Susan, turns out to be a swordmage on a quest to save her lord from an evil archmage. Kella decides to join her because it sounds like a worthy task and, honestly, she has nothing better to do.

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