Merfolk History Deciding Your Subrace

two different planes. Maybe the difference is rather nondescript in your setting, with personal Merfolk history deciding your subrace. No matter what

you choose, I hope that you have fun playing THE SAHAGUIN, BLOODIED, RETREATED INTO Merfolk characters. Onwards, to adventure! THE WATER AND SWAM DOWN. WITHOUT THINKING, MERIELE DOVE AFTER, TRYING TO CUT

OFF THE ESCAPE. AS SHE HIT THE WATER, HER Aquatic Grace FORM BEGUN TO SHIMMER AND SHIFT, AS HER Merfolk, when they are not in the water, can be LEGS BEGAN TO RIPPLE AND COMBINE INTO A almost indistinguishable from humans. Their hair is often long and flowy, and those who can SHINY GREEN SCALED FISH TAIL. CLUTCHING often grow beards. HER TRIDENT IN HER HANDS WHILE HER TAIL Merfolk’s skin coloration encompasses the PROPELLED HER FURTHER AND FURTHER DOWN, normal human range and also includes skin in SHE TOOK A DEEP BREATH, FOCUSING HERSELF shades of silver, bronze, and greenish or bluish- ON FOLLOWING AND DESTROYING THE CREATURE white, hair of green or blue, and eyes like pools of liquid gold or silver. SHE NOW SOUGHT.

Merfolk are a people once thought to be lost to the legends of the past. The tomes in the library A Lost People of Candlekeep speak of a long-lost people In times long past, the Merfolk began as fey destroyed in a conflict with itself. Many children manifestations of mortal’s love for the ocean. grow up believing the Merfolk to be people of However, the Merfolk soon became restless and legend, not knowing that some of these graceful longed for more power. Feuding factions caused creatures walk among them in the above world. near extinction for the Merfolk, and those who were left separated, some finding the Plane of Water and becoming the Merfolk of the Deep, Why Play a Merfolk… and others remaining in their underwater cities, becoming the Merfolk of the Wave. when Tritons, Water Genasi, and Sea Elves exist?

Well, the main reason is that they aren’t merfolk! While I love all of those options for character creation, none of them quite scratch Merfolk Names the itch of playing a full mermaid, in the vein of Merfolk use names derived from Aquan or either classic folklore or the Disney and Elvish, but rarely adopt surnames unless Nickelodeon characters I grew up with. required to by civilizations they meet. Similarly, the Monster Manual’s Merfolk are great for NPCs and villains, but don’t provide a great template for a Player Character. Merfolk Traits Additionally, the lore I’ve set out here should never limit your creativity. Maybe in your Your merfolk character has a variety of natural campaign, the Merfolk of the Wave and the abilities, the result of thousands of years of SampleMerfolk of the Deep are warring tribes in a Aquan culture and innovation. file single city or ocean, rather than coming from

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score They studied the elemental magic of the place increases by two. and learned the secrets of faster travel and Languages. You can speak Common and elemental magic. Aquan, allowing you to converse with speakers Speed of the Tides. Your base walking speed of Primordial and its other dialects, Ignan, increases to 30 ft and your base swimming speed Terran, and Auran. increases to 60 ft. Magic of the Elements. You learn the shape Aquatic Form. When more than half of your water cantrip, for which your spellcasting body is submerged in water, your lower half modifier is Charisma. converges into a large fish tail (color and style of Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score your choice), lowering your base walking speed increases by one. to 0 and increasing your base swimming speed to 50. In addition, you can breathe underwater Customizable Options and your senses and melee attacks are not affected by being submerged. If your table uses the optional Customize Your Age. Merfolk reach physical maturity at around Origin rules from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, 20, and they live to be around 125 years old. here are the replacement traits available to you: Size. Merfolk range from under 5 to over 6 feet Ability Score Increase. When you determine tall and tend to have muscular builds. Your size your ability scores, increase one of those scores is Medium. by 2, and increase a different one by 1. These Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. increases can’t raise a score above 20. You follow When in the water, your base swimming speed is this rule regardless of the method you use to 50 ft. determine the scores, such as rolling or point Darkvision. Accustomed to the darkness of the buy. deep, you have superior vision in dark and dim Languages. Your character can speak, read, conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 and write Common and one other language that feet of you as if it were bright light, and in you and your DM agree is appropriate for the darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of discern color in darkness, only shades of blue. widespread languages to choose from. The DM is Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the free to add or remove languages from that list Perception skill. for a particular campaign. Subrace. Ancient divides between the Merfolk led to two distinct subraces: Merfolk of the Wave Wave Weapon Training. Your character has and Merfolk of the Deep. proficiency in two Simple or Martial weapons, Merfolk of the Wave two tools, or any combination of the three adding up to two total added proficiencies. Most Merfolk of the Wave live in the deep waters of the Material Plane, after choosing to remain after the Great Divide. Trident Wave Weapon Training. You gain proficiency in Tridents and one other weapon of your For easy reference: choice. Type: Martial Melee Weapon Merfolk Combat Training. You have advantage Proficiency with a trident allows you to add on Initiative rolls. your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score attack you make with it. increases by one. Name Cost Damage Weight Special Merfolk of the Deep Properties SampleThe Merfolk of the Deep chose to go to the file Trident 5gp 1d6 4 lbs. Thrown (20/60), Elemental Plane of Water after the great divide. piercing Versatile (1d8)