Homebrew Sharkfolk Species Details

 

In the lowest deeps of the oceans — far below the slopes where trees grow and where the water is cold — dwell the reclusive sharkfolk. Few folk can claim to have seen a sharkfolk and fewer still can claim friendship with them. Skarkfolk wander the oceans where food is plentiful and so are the threats. Their bodies look as if they are hardy and tough and give them great physical stamina. Their spirits take after the flowing water, making them nomads who wander from trench to trench. Their hearts are infused with the cold regard of their frigid realm, leaving each sharkfolk with the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying.

Driven Competitors

Every day brings a new challenge to a sharkfolk. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the lowest of trenches. A single mistake can bring doom to an entire tribe, while an individual’s heroic effort can ensure the entire group’s survival 

Sharkfolk thus place a premium on self-sufficiency and individual skill. This dedication to competition has a dark side. Sharkfolk are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a sharkfolk slays a dragon, he or she might seek out a larger, more powerful wyrm to battle. Few sharkfolk adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments.

Fair Play

For sharkfolk, competition exists only when it is supported by a level playing field. Competition measures talent, dedication, and effort. Those factors determine survival in their home territory, not reliance on magic items, money, or other elements that can tip the balance one way or the other. Sharkfolk happily rely on such benefits, but they are careful to remember that such an advantage can always be lost. A sharkfolk who relies too much on them can grow complacent, a recipe for disaster in the oceans.

This trait manifests most strongly when sharkfolk interact with other folk. The relationship between peasants and nobles puzzles sharkfolk. If a king lacks the intelligence or leadership to lead, then clearly the most talented person in the kingdom should take his place. Sharkfolk rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and mock folk who rely on society’s structures or rules to maintain power.

Survival of the Fittest

Among sharkfolk, any adult who can’t contribute to the tribe is expelled. A lone sharkfolk has little chance of survival, especially an older or weaker one. Sharkfolk have little pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the sharkfolk concept of fair play.

A permanently injured sharkfolk is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a sharkfolk dies attempting to keep up, or the sharkfolk slips away in the night to seek the cold will of fate.

In some ways, the sharkfolk drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A sharkfolk would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the slow decay of old age. Few folk have ever meet an elderly sharkfolk, and even those sharkfolk who have left their people grapple with the urge to give up their lives as their physical skills decay.

Because of their risk-taking, sharkfolk tribes suffer from a chronic lack of the experience offered by long- term leaders. They hope for innate wisdom in their leadership, for they can rarely count on a wisdom grown with age.

Tribes

Sharkfolk live in small tribes that numbered between forty and sixty sharkfolk. This was usually made up of three to five extended families. Most sharkfolk lived in the same tribe their entire life. On rare occasions, a tribe that got too large would split into smaller tribes or smaller tribes would merge together.

Sharkfolk tribes had a number of key roles that were filled by the most capable members. Summaries of these roles are included below:

• Chieftain: The primary authority figure in a tribe. The chieftain was responsible for choosing when the tribe should move on to new lands. The chieftain also chose who filled some of the other key roles in the tribe.
• Captain: Two captains were assigned to each of the important jobs each morning. These jobs included hunting, gathering, cooking, and scouting. The captains then built their own teams and set out to achieve their task. Two captains were assigned to each task to encourage healthy rivalry.
• Streamwatcher: Often the most experienced druid or shaman of the tribe. Streamwatchers made sure that resources are not over harvested and game animals weren't needlessly slaughtered. Streamwatchers were often exempt from the teams that the captains assembled each morning. Streamwatchers also oversaw festivals, rituals, and celebrations.
• Dawncaller: Responsible for guarding the camp overnight and alerting the tribe if there was trouble. At dawn, they sung or bellowed tales of sharfolk bravery or heroics to wake everyone up. Dawncallers were assigned daily and given less work throughout the day so they could rest and be alert at night.
• Adjudicator: Adjudicators settled disputes. Unless urgent, an adjudicator would hear disputes after the evening meal. Tough decisions were often settled with a contest of the adjudicator's devising. If a sharkfolk appealed against an adjudicator's decision, the chieftain had to settle the dispute, but would also have to dismiss the adjudicator from their position. Adjudicators also acted as referees for sports.
• Tent-mother: The only sex-specific role in the tribe because one of her jobs was to be a wet-nurse. Chosen by the chieftain each morning, the tent-mother was responsible for care and teaching of the tribe's infants and toddlers, as their parents were often busy with other responsibilities. It was also tent-mothers who decided when young sharkfolk were old enough to start contributing to the tribe (usually around the age of 10).
• Lamentor: Responsible for determining when a member of the tribe was too old or weak to serve as a productive member of the tribe. Good lamentors would then approach the individual to explain their decision and consult the chieftain. Once it had been decided, the lamentor prepared a long chant to commemorate the sharkfolk before the tribe exiled the old or weak individual from the tribe.

Tribe chieftains only maintained power as long as they could prove they were suitable for that role. As a result, leadership constantly changed.New leaders were chosen by contests. Any sharkfolk could challenge the chieftain in an attempt to replace them. If this happened, the chieftain and the challenger competed in three tasks. The challenger had to win all three to become the new chieftain. The old chieftain would then leave the tribe permanently. Due to the fact that few sharkfolk lived to old age, sharkfolk tribes relied on innate wisdom in their leaders rather than wisdom gained from years of experience.

The competitive nature of sharkfolks meant that the attitude and achievements of one would quickly inspire the whole tribe. Individuals within tribes would constantly be trying to outdo each other's good deeds. This meant that nearby settlements often stereotyped sharkfol as a heroic and good people.

Hapless Soft Ones

At their core, sharkfolk view other humanoids with an indifference verging on pity. Born into the world lacking thick skin and sharp teeth, it’s a wonder they have managed to survive for so long. The typical human would barely make it through a day in the oceans.

Still, if other creatures prove useful to sharkfolk, those creatures can trigger a protective response made all the stronger by their apparent weakness. The lizardfolk assess such beings as hatchlings, young ones incapable of protecting themselves but who might prove useful in the future if they receive care.

Sharkfolk Traits

Your sharkfolk character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Sharkfolk mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat longer than humans do, up to 200 years.

Alignment

Sharkfolk society, with its clear roles and tasks, has a strong lawful bent. The sharkfolk sense of fairness, balanced with an emphasis on self- sufficiency and personal accountability, pushes them toward neutrality.

Size

Sharkfolk are between 6 and 7 feet tall and weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Bite

Your fanged maw is a natural weapon, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Amphibious

You can breathe air and water.

Predator's Instincts

You gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.

Natural Armor

You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Hungry Jaws

In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points (minimum of 1) equal to your Constitution modifier, and you can’t use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.

Predator of The Depths

Adapted to even the most extreme ocean depths, you have resistance to cold damage, and you ignore any of the drawbacks caused by a deep, underwater environment.

Languages

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