Homebrew Mermaid Species Details

The People of the Sea

Once there were no mermaids or sirens. There was only the People. To the unlearned, they all seemed female, but among the People there were no males. There is no such a thing as a “merman.” There is only one sex among the People, who often refer to each other as sisters. But the People could not procreate amongst themselves. Thus, they relied on others outside of their species to procreate, and all offspring were also visually and sexually female. Before the Coming of Man, the People procreated with gods, angels, and other beings, including fae and elves. Thus, according to blood, all of the People are hybrids, and many deem them to be related to every known race in the realms.

Then Man came, and with him, he brought destruction and domination. Unlike the fairer and more conscientious elves and fae, they cared only for taming, not for harmony. Unlike gods and angels, they were mortal and therefore feared the forces of nature, including the sea – though they constantly sought to conquer it. The People became divided. Some deemed the necessary action to be to slay these monsters. Some said that they should teach them a better way.

There was a schism of the People. Unable to come to an agreement amongst themselves, the sisterhood broke with much anger and many tears.

One group split off and attacked the humans, slaughtering them like animals and devouring their flesh, saying that they were animals and therefore would be slaughtered, butchered and eaten as such. The others of the People fled, for fear that other Men would come to punish them for the sins of their cousins. The fae and elves abandoned the area as well, now fearing the People and their bloodthirsty actions.

The gods who once loved these People were disgusted and appalled by this display of carnage. The chiefest among these gods cursed those who were responsible, altering them to always give into their carnal natures. They and their descendants would forevermore mate with mortals and devour them, with the intent that they too would eventually be hunted as the monsters they had become.

These became the Sirens. They fled the wrath of the gods and came to the Lands of Men to hide from them. But the gods did not think to remove their enchanting voices or their song, which mortal ears could not hear without becoming mesmerized by them and falling under the sirens' spell. These once fair monsters would disguise themselves as voluptuous, alluring women, singing their cursed music, which would draw many a sailor into their grasp – sometimes even wrecking their vessels on rocks to reach these corrupted People.

The mermaids, as the mortals would later call the gentler ones of the People, eventually pursued their violent cousins to the mortal realms, viewing it to be their responsibility to save Man and to stop the sirens, no matter the cost. More than once, a sailor has, with weakened knees, entered a fishing village to tell of how his vessel was drawn to wreck by the siren song only for him to have been saved by one of their own; this was truly their more noble cousins' doing, the mermaids endeavoring even now to protect the mortals.

Murderous Temptresses

When a siren is desiring to mate, she will climb out of the water onto rocky cliffs or shores, her marine features receding to the appearance of a beautiful, alluring woman. Do not be deceived by her sensual and submissive demeanor, for after she has had her way with a male mortal, she will drag him to the depths to devour. Her large eyes will become pale and fishlike, her teeth elongating to fangs. Her nose will diminish to a skull-like hole, and her smooth skin will sink into gaunt pockets on her face. Spines will appear on her back, arms and hips, her legs melting together into an eel-like tail, ending in a fin like that of a shark. Tendrils Aof rotten flesh will cling to her form.

You have now seen the true guise of a siren.

And it is the last you will ever see.

The Noble Protectors

A mermaid, by contrast, will also emerge from the waters to mate, though she will position herself on smoother, safer shores, or even approach a human settlement or house. She does not devour her mate -- in fact, some even become "shore-bound" (bound to the sea in that area for love of a certain moral). Often a mermaid will bring with them a token or trinket of some worth she found in the sea as an offering, if the mortal and her have not engaged in similar relations in the past. 

If rejected, the mermaid will leave behind the trinket, in an attempt to spread goodwill and generosity in a world that is harsh and cruel.

If one actually were to see a mermaid transform into her true form, her upper half remains beautiful, and iridescent scales will adorn her more prominent features. Her legs will morph into the tail of a fish with a large, translucent fan. Fins will sprout at her forearms and back. 

She will then depart into the sea. If the union results in offspring, she will bring her daughter(s) back to the area to have a choice: join her father as a mortal or her mother as a mermaid. 

There are therefore many on land who may have mermaid blood in their veins. They are often great singers, swimmers and lovers of music and the sea.

 

 

Mermaid Traits

Your merfolk character has certain traits due to your ancestry.

Shapeshifter

Your character is most comfortable and mobile in the sea. But if she chooses, she can transform her lower half from an aquatic creature's tail to the legs of a human. A mermaid can as an action do this. In this form, your fins and scales disappear and you appear to everyone as your father's race. You keep your traits, though your swim speed is reduced to half. 

If you stand in water or are submerged, your body will try to turn back into your natural form. When this happens, make a Constitution or Wisdom saving throw, DC 12. On a success, your land-bound form holds; on a fail, you revert back into mermaid form. You must make this saving throw each time you end your turn standing (or submerged) in water. 

Beautiful in Face and Voice

You are beautiful by almost everyone's standards. Therefore, you can dazzle others with your visage and song. You can have proficiency in either Persuasion or Performance. 

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 1, and your Charisma increases by 2.

Age

Mermaids and sirens mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live much longer than humans do, some living up to 500 years.

Alignment

The People's alignments vary almost completely between the two subraces. Mermaids tend to be chaotic good, always endeavoring to protect the innocent and punish evil. Sirens tend to be chaotic evil, serving themselves alone at the detriment of others, many taking sadistic pleasure in causing harm.  

Size

The People are generally around 5 to 6 feet in length from head to tail, with their fins extending another foot or two behind them. When standing with their "land" legs, they are anywhere from just under 5 feet to 6 feet. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and your more native swim speed is 40 feet.

Amphibious

You can breathe air and water. 

Denizens of the Deep

Adapted to living away from human civilization, your People explored the depths in ages past and are used to such environments. You gain resistance to cold damage and ignore the general drawbacks to being deep underwater, including water pressure and darkness.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial (Aquan dialect). Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.