Homebrew Kelpie Species Details

“He watched the wheeling eddies boil,
Till from their foam his dazzled eyes
Beheld the River Demon rise"

— Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake

Spoken of chiefly in whispers and feared by all the gods-fearing people of the lakes and waters, the kelpie is the horror of the loch. A menace and a demon, as lovely as they are deadly. Their songs are as horrid to the ear as durges, and their shiny gleaming black coats and silky soft and gorgeous skin are as deadly as Poison Ivy.

 

Or so you've been told.

Gorgeous and Deadly

Kelpie are demonic in their heritage, widely believed to be the result of a Centaur and a Siren's "unholy" courtship. Much like their centaur cousins, Kelpie appear to be tauric when on land, specifically with the Feathered hooves of the Shire pony (and the height of one as well); unlike centaurs, however, Kelpie have their hooves on backward. When in the water, a kelpie’s back legs become a powerful tail, much like that of a hippocampus. Their spines are like a shark's, allowing them to accelerate through the water at terrible speeds.

To be engaged in combat with one of these lake taurs is a guaranteed defeat.

Their mouths are full of sharp teeth, telltale sign of their carnivorous (and occasionally man-eating) diets. Their eyes are solid colors—black, red, white, silver, or gold—with no visible sclera or pupil. Their skin tones cover the full range of human coloration, and on their necks, and flanks, one could inspect the skin and find gills. Their hair is almost always Black, and even if combed and cleaned, somehow, seaweed will get in it, a dead giveaway for a kelpie attempting to impersonate a land dweller.

Objectively, kelpie are highly attractive. Their beauty is only amplified if the beast happens to be using it’s minor shapeshifting abilities to modify its appearance. While a rare ability only found in strong kelpie, a number of the members of this species can change their appearance from their basic tauric form to anything from a Satyr to a human to even an ordinary horse. It’s important to note that as long as they retain their hooves, the placement will be backwards.

Heavenly Voices

Kelpie have an uncanny ability to entrance beings with their voices that rival even the sounds of siren's lovely notes. While many malevolent kelpie are known, a few stories have been told about people seeking out these water demons to hear their lovely voices take away all their worldly troubles, even if only for a short while. 

Of course, Malevolent Kelpie also utilize this ability to their advantage when hunting for meals.

Victims of Superstition

As a stereotype, Kelpie live alone in lakes where they Prey on passerbys, however, it isn’t uncommon for a traveler to find a community of Kelpie. There, a traveler would be forced to confront some biases, and realize that kelpie are not necessarily monsters. These communities tend to be rare, however, as kelpie are generally treated with complete and utter disdain by elves, dwarves, humans, halflings, and even orcs in most cases. “Lake burning”, a process in which a Kelpie Lake is coated in pitch or oil and then lit on fire to drive the sleeping community underneath up into the blaze and tar is a common and horrible method used to evict kelpie. Many of the kelpies that haunt the lochs and lakes of the world are victims vowing revenge on society.  

Still, it’d be remiss to say that Kelpie are incapable of love or are doomed to lives of fear. Some kelpie leave their communities to go seek a life beyond the lakes. If they do, they tend to hide their true nature, passing themselves off as humans. They are not quick to trust anyone who claims to be a friend, but when a kelpie’s companions demonstrate that they trust him or her, they may be graced with the rare and beautiful sight of a kelpie in their natural form, and the trust and respect of a powerful ally.

Kelpie Names

Kelpie tend to have names that are similar to that of the nearest species to live in their area, or they use a name that is reflective of their demonic heritage. Even still, most Kelpie that you will meet will change their names so's to blend into their surroundings...

 

"Your kind have no place here"

Kelpie have good reason to fear or hate society. Unless a kelpie has snapped into a chaotic evil monster from mistreatment at the hands of society, you can almost be certain that a kelpie will be terrified of being around larger groups of people. Since nearly all kelpie that leave their homes are gifted with being able to shift, when in towns, kepie will remain in human forms. A reveal of heritage in most towns will result in being banned from buisnesses or far, far worse. 

Kelpie Traits

The Kelpie has Certain traits begetting it's Unseelie orgins and the demonic influences on its orignal creation.

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 3

Alignment

Kelpie's tend towards evil due to their nature as an Unseelie fey, while individuals may break these trends.

Size

Kelpie stand between 7 and 8 feet tall and stand at around 4 1/2 feet at the withers while in their natural form. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 40 feet.

Fey

Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Charge

If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn you can add 2d6 extra damage of the weapons type to the attack.

 

Death Grip

A Kelpie's skin is exceptionally sticky, granting them advantage on grapple checks. In addition when they have a creature grappled they can restrain it as an action, pinning the creature to their body.

Heavenly Voice

You know the sleep spell. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the suggestion spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the hold person spell as a 3rd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Shapechanger

As an action, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height and weight, up to one size smaller or one size larger than Medium. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You can’t duplicate the appearance of a creature you’ve never seen. Your clothing and equipment aren’t changed by this trait.

You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until a number of hours equal to twice your proficiency bonus have passed.

Languages

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