Seafolk (5e Race)

Seafolk

“

Mermaids? You're in the wrong place then, mate.

”

Physical Description

By Drin VS

The seafolk are a mysterious race of humanoids with many piscine and features of mollusks. Their skin is often moist and gets slimy as it dries, being predominantly blue in color. Their body has an odd shell-like coating that overlaps on parts like plates. This usually grows out of their skulls as well, giving them flared, boney structures to crown their heads. This armor is naturally pliable to allow their powerful muscles leeway in movement. They are completely hairless, instead growing tentacles out of the back of their head. Like a fish, their nasal area is flat and continuous onto their lips and chin, and their eyes are often described to be "dead" as they are incapable of blink those cloudy orbs.

History

When the cthulhi and elder ones moved to expand into the oceans, they used shoggoths to pave the way for underwater construction. The deep ones were not fond of this expansion, often aiding in rebellious shoggoths in their endeavors to overthrow the elder ones. With the death of the elder one's civilization, the deep ones were free to proliferate with the rest of earthen life, and many came to influence early humans. Special deep ones, known as sea shoggoth, were a more amorphous form than their amphibious neighbors but partook of influence on the land dwellers all the same. The seafolk came about as a result of these early interactions, making them distant cousins of the kuo-toa and modern deep one hybrids. Rather than appearing solely like fish in the image of Dagon, the seafolk took forms from different sea creatures whose matter agglutinated within the sea shoggoths. People should be wary to liken them to tritons, for, despite their similar appearances, the seafolk bear an alien demeanor that can seem malicious due to their aberrant origin.

Society

Seafolk are divided into those who live on the coast, and those who dwell in the deep depths. These two halves frequently exchange messengers. Those who live on the coasts are adapted for living in exposure to air and bipedal ambulation. Their dwellings are usually caves sheltered from prying eyes in hidden coves or underwater caverns. Depth dwellers live in old abandoned elder one cities deep in the oceans and trenches. They are highly adapted to the water pressure and are excellent swimmers. Both communities have roughly the same structure, with a single chief who mates with all the females. Males who challenge the chief and win successfully become the new chief, while losers are either killed or made into slave soldiers. The caste system is rather strict, with the chief on top, a military and chief's circles, civilians, and slaves at the bottom.

Personality

Like lizardfolk, seafolk can be cold and unfeeling, puzzled by emotions of those with warm blood. However, there is a malignant streak to their thoughts, and they often despise that which is not like them or not strong. They find pleasure in taking advantage of the weaknesses many mammals have, like the need for heat and air. Seafolk of the coast have an ill-known sport of drowning unsuspecting humans in the surf for entertainment. They do not laugh, but rather feel something close to superiority when they are amused or pleased, and so they search for the stimulus to this emotion. Deep dwellers have less access to this stimulus, and so have dulled their need for pleasure nearly altogether, preferring to focus on daily tasks and doldrums. It is thus rarer for a deep seafolk to venture out than a coastal dweller.

Seafolk Names

Seafolk take Aquan names, but also know a fair amount of Undercommon.

Male: Kaihoon, Hioton, Alven, Oceassk

Female: Undian, Nikarint, Lugrina, Ardmalin

Seafolk Traits

Beings of sea shoggoths and early humans
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Age. Seafolk mature like humans, reaching adulthood by age 20. they live up to roughly 300 years.
Alignment. Seafolk have a streak with being neutral and evil, but many can be good.
Size. Seafolk are about the height and weight of humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Weapon Training. You are well-versed with the weapons of seamen. You are proficient with spears, nets, and tridents.
Amphibious. You can breathe both air and water.
Languages. You can read, write and speak Common, Aquan, and Undercommon.
Subrace. Choose either the coast or deep subrace.

Coastal

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Half Swimmer. Adapted to the land life, you lost a bit of your swimming ability. You have a swimming speed of 20 feet.
Toughened. Living out of the water means you need a tougher shell sometimes. While unarmored, your Armor Class is equal to 12 + your Dexterity modifier. You may use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Deep

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Swift Swimmer. You have a swimming speed equal to your base walking speed.
Underwater Weaponry. When you make a ranged weapon attack in underwater combat, you have no disadvantage on the attack roll, and the weapon does not automatically miss beyond the weapon's normal range.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
5′ 5''	+2d8	160 lb.	× (1d6) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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