Howdy! This is a bit of a first for me on this forum, but I took the time to brew up a playable race of a fantasy creature I've always quite loved, the Selkie from Scottish, Irish, and Icelandic mythology. The design process was a bit difficult, and I went through a few iterations; I initially had plans to give them a pseudo-beast shape ability, but it was difficult to balance in a way that was fair, fun, or useful, so I went an alternate route.
The lore pertaining to D&D was mostly brewed up by myself. I'm aware that Selkies have been a thing in past sets, but what I could find was lacking. Ultimately the lore is whatever the DM decides to go with..
I decided to lean into Siren territory a bit for the Selkies in order to give them their most notable class feature, the Selkie Song. I wanted something that could be flavorful and useful without breaking the game, and a limited Bardic Inspiration power struck me as something that could be both very fun and very clutch. The die itself is typically pretty low, and effects that would block sound make it useless. But getting to change the course of battle while being potentially any class sounds fun.
For this reason I decided to make their tied ASI +1 Charisma, and give them Performance proficiency. These seemed like fun features that could be rolled together well, and drags Selkies into some flavorful classes; druids, rangers, paladins, bards and sorcerors.
Harbor Seals were meant to capture the fleeting romantic aspect of the Selkie, though with a bit more of a balance in gender. They're probably the most normal of the lot, and could be either very friendly or very sharp.
Ringed Seals were both to give a more inhumanly patterned subrace and to lean into the aspect of Selkie as a being that belongs to nature. They're less versed in the ways of people, but are fantastic men and women of the sea.
Walruses, well...first of all, I wanted a more monstrous race, and it was between Walrus and Leopard Seals. And Walruses are funner. Plus, they're powerful animals and a notable symbol in several maritime cultures. These are the ones you'll probably run into with horned helmets, chanting a song to a war god before they land on the enemy shore.
I'm torn on the movement speed. Partially I wanted to emphasize their aquatic nature without coming across as lame, and to balance out some of the powerful features I'd worked in. I'm not sure if it's too much, if it's too little, or if its sorta pointless either way.
Cold resistance made sense both from lore and because cold resistance seemed rarer to me than other varieties.
Breath holding versus amphibiousness was another tough call, but I felt that this was the fairer option. This is part of why I want feedback.
So, please, if you have any criticisms (or compliments), I'd love to talk about these. And if you'd like to use these in one of your own games, please let me know how it goes!
Howdy! This is a bit of a first for me on this forum, but I took the time to brew up a playable race of a fantasy creature I've always quite loved, the Selkie from Scottish, Irish, and Icelandic mythology. The design process was a bit difficult, and I went through a few iterations; I initially had plans to give them a pseudo-beast shape ability, but it was difficult to balance in a way that was fair, fun, or useful, so I went an alternate route.
Here's a link to the homebrewery!
Thought process behind some design decisions
So, please, if you have any criticisms (or compliments), I'd love to talk about these. And if you'd like to use these in one of your own games, please let me know how it goes!
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