Merfolk

Merfolk are humanoids with blue-tinged skin, short, wide hands and feet, with webbed fingers and toes. They have flexible fins that run up their forearms and lower legs, as well as across the sides of their hairless heads. They have gills beneath their chins that run like a collar around their necks and their skin has a subtly scaled texture as well. They are roughly human is size.

Ancestral Traits

Your merfolk character has several distinctive traits, thanks to your aquatic ancestry.

Age. Merfolk mature at the same rate as humans and live for about as long.

Size. Merfolk are about the same size as humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base speed is 30 feet and you have a swim speed of 30 ft.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.

Scales. You have a scaly skin that provides a measure of protection. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use this score to determine your AC if worn armor would leave you with a lower score. You may benefit from a shield as normal.

Cultural Traits

Merfolk communities are almost always underwater, in villages near vital ocean ecosystems, such as coral reefs. For this reason, merfolk communities are almost exclusively populated by people of merfolk ancestry, though a few exceptions have occurred. The merfolk communities see themselves as the shepherds of the sea, caring for the local ecosystems and tending the reefs and schools like gardeners might.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom all increase by 1.

Alignment. Merfolk culture tends to value protecting the weak and the natural, which leans most of its members toward goodness.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan.

Inured to the Deeps. You have resistance to cold damage.

Stewards of the Sea. Your time spent cultivating the ocean ecosystems has taught you how to befriend the creatures of the sea. You can cast animal friendship at will with this trait, but you can target only beasts with a swim speed that are Medium or smaller.

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