Homebrew Sharkfolk Species Details

Sharkfolk travel the seas, in search of triton and sea elf settlements to raid, destroying the towns with the help of giant sharks and other monstrous sea beasts. Recently, they made an alliance with the Sahuagin (in which the Sharkfolk are dominant), allowing them to unleash more destruction upon the other aquatic races.

Deep Sea Hunters

Sharkfolk first inhabited the Elemental Plane of Water, where they fought a savage war with the tritons. This war lasted centuries, until the Sharkfolk were driven to the Darkened Depths by a coalition of tritons, sea elves and other aquatic peoples. From there, the Sharkfolk escaped to the Material Plane along with their future allies, the sahuagin. They immediately began to lay waste to the seas, forcing the tritons to follow them to the Material Plane.

In the time before the tritons arrived, the Sharkfolk adapted to the new environment and built up a predatory culture of hunting and slavery. They spread across the oceans and dominated the area around the portal to the Plane of Water. Then, after a few years, the tritons arrived and began efforts to halt the Sharkfolk's conquest of the sea, setting up colonies and settlements all over the Plane. The Sharkfolk fought back by staging Great Hunts every few years to cull the triton population in areas under their control. However, despite these massacres, the tritons beat the Sharkfolk back into the deepest reaches of the oceans.

Now exiled, the Sharkfolk secretly gathered their forces and made an alliance with the sahuagin to get revenge against their ancestral enemies. Together, the two groups began efforts to reclaim the oceans for themselves and re-establish themselves at the top of the oceanic food chain. 

Savage Beastfolk

Sharkfolk are naturally savage, known for eating their foes and sometimes even others of their kind. Any members of a tribe or slaves that are judged as weak are ritually consumed by the High Priest of Sekolah within the tribe. Any and all triton captives are sacrificed to Sekolah and fed to sharks.

Sharkfolk warriors also employ dirty tactics. Often, Sharkfolk will attack from all directions, doing their best to surround enemies and annihilate them utterly. They only take prisoners if the tribe is short on slave labor and or need sacrifices. Another favored tactic of the Sharkfolk is throwing octopuses and squid at their foes so that the ink temporarily blinds them. The most often used tactic, however, is to simply charge with tridents and teeth out.

During a Great Hunt, Sharkfolk are particularly violent, occasionally killing each other in blood frenzies. This creates massive clouds of blood that make it impossible for them to tell friend from foe. In most Hunts, a tribe will lose almost as many members as they kill tritons. This means that the tritons can retaliate almost instantly and destroy Sharkfolk settlements, and causes a cycle of mutual destruction which neither race can escape.

Tribal Culture

Sharkfolk tribes are divided into a strict caste system made up of four tiers. No Sharkfolk can move up in the order unless those above them are killed.

Chieftains. Sharkfolk chieftains are the most powerful members of the tribe. They can control sharks and often a tribe's chieftain will have a pet giant shark, which acts as a mount and bodyguard. Chieftains are always guarded by a small group of Sharkfolk hunters.

Priests. Priests oversee rituals and the High Priest is the only one who is permitted to ritually consume a prisoner (other tribe members can only eat prisoners in a hunt situation). All priest can morph into shark forms and are capable of summoning and commanding sharks.

Hunters. The grunt warriors of a tribe are the hunters. They are trained in the use of tridents and other similar weapons and guard more important tribe members. Within this category there are the Sharkriders, Beasttamers and Seasweepers, along with the normal troops.

Workers. This tier is made up of slaves and pariahs. They are most often tritons or sea elves but can occasionally be disgraced Sharkfolk. A worker can be ordered by any other tribe member. They can also be put to death for no particular reason.

Sharkfolk Traits

Your Sharkfolk character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1.

Age

Sharkfolk come of age around 18 but their lifespan is unknown.

Alignment

Sharkfolk tend toward chaotic evil. As killers of the darkest reaches of the sea, their culture pushes them toward chaos and murder.

Size

Sharkfolk are slightly taller than humans, averaging about 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

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

Amphibious

You can breathe air and water.

Shark Telepathy

As a Sharkfolk, you can telepathically communicate simple ideas and feelings with any shark you can see within 120 feet and you have advantage on Charisma checks to convince sharks to help you.

Bite

Your shark 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.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. While underwater, the range of your darkvision increases to 120 ft. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Hunters of the Depths

Adapted to even the most extreme ocean depths, you have resistance to cold damage and suffer no effects of swimming in deep places.

Languages

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