Homebrew Jellyfolk (Genial Jack) Species Details

Powerful psychics, jellyfolk have a unique form of social organization known as a Bloom, consisting of a group of jellyfolk – usually between three and thirty individuals – that have telepathically linked with one another to form a kind of loose hive mind, wherein the individuals retain their autonomy and independent consciousness, but are able to converse and share ideas and thoughts with one another. Such Blooms also reproduce together and raise children in common.Many jellyfolk in the wider ocean are a powerful military force, controlling a large swathe of the Gilded Sea in the form of the Gelatinous Empire, whose physical and mental domination have made them the stuff of nightmare. In Jackburg, however, renegade jellyfolk have found a different life. Here they work as philosophers, psychologists, scholars, and psychic labourers, using their telekinetic and bioelectric abilities to power machines, lift heavy loads, or even defend the city against its enemies. Physically, they have a medusoid cap like a jellyfish, with roughly humanoid bodies and prehensile tendrils conducting their psychic abilities; they have translucent, colourful skin, and can glow brightly. After about fifty years, jellyfolk revert to a polyp stage for a year and are “reborn” as new individuals with some of the same personality traits and memories of their previous self; many jellyfolk are on their third, fourth, or fifth “self.”

Jellyfolk (Genial Jack) Traits

Jellyfolk have the following traits.

Ability Score Increase

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

Age

Jellyfolk have a complex life cycle, hatching into a larva which becomes a polyp which eventually buds into a new, adult jellyfolk, a process which takes about a year.

Alignment

Jellyfolk are natural collectivists and are usually Lawful in alignment.

Size

Jellyfolk can compress themselves to Small size, but usually are of Medium size.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet and your swim speed is 20 ft.

Limited Amphibiousness

You can breathe both water and air but need to be submerged at least once every 24 hours to avoid dehydration, suffering one level of exhaustion.

Psychic

Jellyfolk know the cantrips Light, Mage Hand, Message, and Shocking Grasp. At 5th level, you can cast Levitate once, and it recharges after a short rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Bloom

Jellyfolk can form a psychic link by which skills and experiences can be shared. Jellyfolk can become proficient in a Skill, weapon, or tool of their choice, provided someone in their Bloom has that proficiency. They may change the proficiency after a short rest.

Languages

You can read, speak, and write Common and Jetsam. You can think in the jellyfolk tongue ofMeld, which has no spoken or written form.