Maidhc O Casain
Na Bith Mo Riocht Tá!
Yep, and that would be fine - no monetary advantage over buying upgrades to any other item in the Pearl. That doesn't throw off our wealth by level balance.
Just got the Advanced Races book today, and I have to say I'm reasonably impressed. There's some good stuff for the races we already allow, especially the mermaid, which gets an alternate racial ability that grants a 15' land movement, and if we want to allow other races in the future, it gives a pretty good idea of what we can expect them to be like. The rules for custom races is actually a pretty small portion of the book.
Except the way it's written, it's not really an alternate trait - they didn't specify which of the existing (already fantastic) traits it replaces . . .
It looked to me that they cut swim speed so that instead of 5' and 50' swim, it's 15' and 30' swim. Either way, I don't expect anything to be approved immediately. I was just saying that my initial impressions of the book was positive, and a few of things like that adjustment could very much help if it holds up to the scrutiny of examination.
Yeah, I picked it up this morning and started flipping through - so far I like most of what I see.
I just happen to have a (strong, and previously expressed) bias against Mermaids as PCs. They seem grossly unbalanced (+6 Abilities w/ no penalty (vs. +2 net that includes a penalty for most races), +2 Natural Armor and immunity to trip, and the only drawback is their land speed). Removing that drawback at the cost of reducing their speed in their natural environment to what most land-lubbers already have in their own - especially when that reduction comes in an environment in which they will very rarely adventure outside of a specialized campaign? You've gotta be kidding! Might as well be free, IMO.