the Jester
Legend
My homebrewed campaign world is an infinite ocean, and I've either considered running or run underwater adventures on several occasions. Early on I decided I wanted a sort of dolphinwere pc race, and thus was born the merellin. Here's the 3.5 version of same; any feedback? Anything that needs fixin'? Did I underestimate (or overestimate) the LA? Whatcha think?
MERELLIN
The merellin are a cetacean shapechanging race. In their natural form, merellin look like Medium-size dolphins. They can also assume a humanoid shape in order to travel on land, and they often act as the go-betweens between human fishermen and the dolphins and whales. Universally known as ‘good guys of the sea,’ merellin are good companions with a number of diverse abilities.
Personality: Merellin tend to be curious, playful, good-natured and loyal. They love to perform spectacular acts of swimming, to play harmless practical jokes, singing and dancing. Merellin are sometimes reckless and driven to foolishness by their inherent curiosity.
Physical Description: Merellin have blue-grey skin that looks almost silvery when wet. They have almost no hair in either of their forms; what little they do have is typically silver, white, grey, black or blue. In humanoid form a merellin stands 5 ½’ to 6 ½’ tall, with both sexes running the gamut of sizes. Most merellin weigh from 200-300 lbs. In the merellin’s natural, dolphin form, its length extends about 20% but its weight remains the same.
Relations: Dwarves distrust “fish” but merellin like their fundamental goodness and tendency to see the right and wrong of a situation. Humans tend to overfish and so merellin have less tolerance for them than they do for other races. Most land-based races enjoy merellin for their good nature.
Alignment: Merellin are usually lawful good. There are exceptions, but even most of these are good-aligned or lawful neutral.
Religion: Being sea creatures, almost all merellin worship the Sea Queen.
Language: Merellin speak Dolphin (which has no written form). The most likely other tongues for a merellin to know are Whale, Aquan, Forinthian, Peshan, Sahuagin and Locathah.
Names: Merellin names sound like dolphin noises to human and demihuman ears. Their names tend to things like Akkakathan.
Adventurers: The same curiosity that gets so many merellin into trouble often draws them into the life of an adventurer. They sometimes begin adventuring in order to protect their friends from menaces above the waves (or below), going where others cannot due to its ability to change shape.
MERELLIN RACIAL TRAITS
-2 wisdom, +2 charisma. Merellin are fun to be around but tend to get into trouble due to their impetuous curiosity.
Medium size. No special bonuses or penalties due to size.
A merellin’s base land speed is 20’ (humanoid form only). It has a swim speed of 30’ in humanoid form or 60’ in dolphin form.
A merellin has the humanoid type and the shapechanger subtype.
A merellin can see twice as well as a surface-dweller in water.
Blindsense: underwater only, as a free action on her turn, 60’ radius.
Change shape: a merellin may change shape as a full-round action, changing from dolphin to humanoid form or vice-versa at will. Equipment does not change with the character, but may fall off or something similar; merellin harnesses will stay on the creature in either form. In dolphin form, the merellin has a +3 natural armor bonus and a slam attack (this is a primary attack, deals 2d4 hp of damage).
Hold breath: in either form, the merellin can hold its breath for 6 x its constitution score rounds before it risks drowning.
As a creature with a swim speed, a merellin has a +8 racial bonus on swim checks and can choose to take 10 even if distracted or threatened. It can use the run action when swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Automatic languages: Dolphin and Peshan or Forinthian. Bonus language: Whale, Aquan, Locathah, Sahuagin.
Favored class: paladin. Merellin do not suffer any penalty when multiclassing as a paladin and may continue to take paladin levels even after taking levels in other classes.
Level Adjustment: +1. A merellin’s ability to function both on land and underwater, where others cannot, and its blindsight within the water make it a stronger race than standard pc races.
MERELLIN
The merellin are a cetacean shapechanging race. In their natural form, merellin look like Medium-size dolphins. They can also assume a humanoid shape in order to travel on land, and they often act as the go-betweens between human fishermen and the dolphins and whales. Universally known as ‘good guys of the sea,’ merellin are good companions with a number of diverse abilities.
Personality: Merellin tend to be curious, playful, good-natured and loyal. They love to perform spectacular acts of swimming, to play harmless practical jokes, singing and dancing. Merellin are sometimes reckless and driven to foolishness by their inherent curiosity.
Physical Description: Merellin have blue-grey skin that looks almost silvery when wet. They have almost no hair in either of their forms; what little they do have is typically silver, white, grey, black or blue. In humanoid form a merellin stands 5 ½’ to 6 ½’ tall, with both sexes running the gamut of sizes. Most merellin weigh from 200-300 lbs. In the merellin’s natural, dolphin form, its length extends about 20% but its weight remains the same.
Relations: Dwarves distrust “fish” but merellin like their fundamental goodness and tendency to see the right and wrong of a situation. Humans tend to overfish and so merellin have less tolerance for them than they do for other races. Most land-based races enjoy merellin for their good nature.
Alignment: Merellin are usually lawful good. There are exceptions, but even most of these are good-aligned or lawful neutral.
Religion: Being sea creatures, almost all merellin worship the Sea Queen.
Language: Merellin speak Dolphin (which has no written form). The most likely other tongues for a merellin to know are Whale, Aquan, Forinthian, Peshan, Sahuagin and Locathah.
Names: Merellin names sound like dolphin noises to human and demihuman ears. Their names tend to things like Akkakathan.
Adventurers: The same curiosity that gets so many merellin into trouble often draws them into the life of an adventurer. They sometimes begin adventuring in order to protect their friends from menaces above the waves (or below), going where others cannot due to its ability to change shape.
MERELLIN RACIAL TRAITS
-2 wisdom, +2 charisma. Merellin are fun to be around but tend to get into trouble due to their impetuous curiosity.
Medium size. No special bonuses or penalties due to size.
A merellin’s base land speed is 20’ (humanoid form only). It has a swim speed of 30’ in humanoid form or 60’ in dolphin form.
A merellin has the humanoid type and the shapechanger subtype.
A merellin can see twice as well as a surface-dweller in water.
Blindsense: underwater only, as a free action on her turn, 60’ radius.
Change shape: a merellin may change shape as a full-round action, changing from dolphin to humanoid form or vice-versa at will. Equipment does not change with the character, but may fall off or something similar; merellin harnesses will stay on the creature in either form. In dolphin form, the merellin has a +3 natural armor bonus and a slam attack (this is a primary attack, deals 2d4 hp of damage).
Hold breath: in either form, the merellin can hold its breath for 6 x its constitution score rounds before it risks drowning.
As a creature with a swim speed, a merellin has a +8 racial bonus on swim checks and can choose to take 10 even if distracted or threatened. It can use the run action when swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Automatic languages: Dolphin and Peshan or Forinthian. Bonus language: Whale, Aquan, Locathah, Sahuagin.
Favored class: paladin. Merellin do not suffer any penalty when multiclassing as a paladin and may continue to take paladin levels even after taking levels in other classes.
Level Adjustment: +1. A merellin’s ability to function both on land and underwater, where others cannot, and its blindsight within the water make it a stronger race than standard pc races.
