Homebrew Fishperson Species Details

Aggressive and very territorial, Fishpeople live ocean-faring and isolated lives hunting fish, mollusks, and the occasional interloper. During their adolescence and adulthood, their hunting grounds range from sea level to the middle of the Abyssal zone, though they make for competent hunters even in shallow and fresh water. 

Life of a Fishperson

Their society is a loose collective which only gathers once per year, during the neap tide. During these gatherings, some elder and greater Fishpeople choose to make the years-long trek over land to mountain streams where they spawn and die. During that journey, their skin toughens, their teeth sharpen, the webbing on their lower appendages recedes, and all manner of physiological changes occur to make survivability over land more viable. Female Fishpeople lay their eggs embedded in the clay and once fertilized, Fishpeople roe are activated by freezing temperatures, where the ice crystals in the eggs shatter the tough inner casing. This allows development of Fishpeople to grow past a certain size. Then, the newly formed Fishpeople must break free of their egg of their own strength before the spring glacial melt pulls them loose and dashes them against the rocks. Swimming downstream is an arduous journey in and of itself, contending with all manner of predation and danger, including other Fishpeople. In the ocean, the surviving Fishpeople scatter to develop their own territory. Inside of their own territory they grow to a size relative to their territory's size and resources. 

There is one last trial that all adolescent Fishpeople must face: the A'laukulu, or "The Burning". To enter adulthood, Fishpeople must swim to the bottom of the ocean and meditate in the billowing underwater smoke of undersea vents. The meditation is complete when the entire Fishperson's body is singed black in snaking tattoo patterns, and their eyes turn blood red from the oceanic pressure. Many do not survive this, but the strongest of Fishpeople intentionally stay in the scalding smoke longer, where the sulphur deposits a pale yellow shine over their blackened scales.

The yellower shine the of the Fishperson, the more they are to be feared. 

Underwater Savvy, Overland Unwieldy 

Fishpeople are accustomed to being apex predators underwater, and are very territorial by nature. Within their own territory, they attack on sight, without warning. They are incredibly dexterous and stealthy underwater, with the ability to completely disappear and re-appear and their teeth and dorsal spines can inflict deadly injury in a matter of seconds. 

Acclimation to land is gradual and physiological, but socially and psychologically Fishpeople are extremely slow to adapt. Upon first arriving on land, the necessity of cooperative work is abundantly clear due to the physical maladaptation, but most Fishpeople still work independently and isolated from any cooperative group, as they stubbornly do not recognize a difference between aquatic and terrestrial life. Some bonds may form across species over time, but only so long as they don't interfere with the Fishperson's autonomy. Their territorial nature is still evident even over land, and they may behave very violently if their property or space is violated. 

Mysticism at Sea

While not at all magically adept, a certain mysticism exists in the isolated and predatory life Fishpeople lead. A Fishperson may choose whether or not to critically examine this innate mysticism. There can be no doubt, however that the A'laukulu is inherently bound to this subtle truth of Fishpersonhood. 

 

 

 

Fishperson Traits

Mostly due to physiology, Fishpeople are unique in their overland and underwater dynamics.

Ability Score Increase

Your Strength increases by 1, and your Constitution increases by 1.

Age

Fishpeople reach adolescence at 2 years old, and on average live to 25 years. 

Alignment

Fishpeople tend towards chaotic neutral. Being aggressive, territorial loners, they do not tread lightly or subtly, but can cooperate with others out of necessity in achieving their goals of procreation, death, and defense of territory. 

Speed

Due to unweidly webbing, your base walking speed is 20 feet, but you have a swimming speed of 45 feet.

Walking speed increases to 25 at air breathing level 6. 

Aquatic to Amphibious

You can breathe water always and blood in a pinch, but your ability to breathe air must be trained.

Gain a skill Air Breathing that starts at 4 and progresses up to 10, when you become completely amphibious. 2 times per day, roll a d20. If you roll < 20 - 2*[skill level] , you enter a "Fish Out Of Water" panic in which you have 3 of your own player's checks or turns to find water or non-acidic blood before passing out. When passed out you have 3 of any other player checks/turns to be given water or blood, before entering death saving throws. Upon a successful death saving throw, you remain passed out until either receiving water or blood or the next Air Breathing check, when you enter again into death-saving throws. Skill increases by 1 upon successful rolls or successful death-saving throws. 

Oceansight

Fishpeople do not use motionsense, they instead use an excellent wide angle vision. Underwater they can see 250 feet regardless of light conditions. Overland, they can see 75 feet, regardless of light conditions. 

Overland Physiologic-Shift

All modifiers to physical rolls have a -1 penalty overland. This decreases to a 0 penalty upon reaching an Air Breathing skill of 20. 

Upon reaching an Air Breathing skill of 10, also gain +1 modifier to biting and dorsal spine attacks. 

Aquatic Supremacy

+1 bonus to all physical skills and abilities when underwater. +2 modifier to all biting and dorsal spine attacks. 

Size

Fishpeople grow to fit their territory and resources. Routinely they grow to 3 meters long and >750 pounds. Your size is large. 

Language

You can speak, read, and write Primordial. You cannot read and write Common, and only upon reaching a skill level of 6 in Air Breathing can you speak common.

Creature of the Deep

Adapted to the ocean, you resist cold and all negative underwater effects. 

The A'laukulu

Performing the A'laukulu:

The A'laukulu can only be performed once and it requires an undersea vent. Roll a d6 until an unsuccessful roll where N is the number of previous successful rolls. A successful roll is a roll of >N. Bonuses below are stacked based upon the total number of successful rolls. 

0: Nothing (100%), 1: Wisdom +1 (83.3%), 2: Constitution +1 (55.6%), 3: Fire Resist (27.8%), 4: Strength +1 (9.3%), 5: Fire Immune (1.5%).

If performed during a campaign: 

Upon an unsuccessful roll, you may choose to either escape, or roll once more. A successful roll is defined in the same way, and if successful, escape the undersea vent with the additional successful roll (e.g. if you roll unsuccessfully on your fourth roll, then roll successfully on the subsequent roll, you would permanently gain all the bonuses for 4 successful rolls). A second unsuccessful roll causes you to pass out. You must be recovered from the vent within 1 hour with another characters Dexterity roll or enter death saving throws. Death saving throws repeat each hour until either rescued or dead. 

If performed before a campaign: 

Roll until unsuccessful, no additional rolls allowed.