Race: Merfolk
Overview
The merfolk are a predominantly marine dwelling race. They have scaly skin, long powerful tails and arms with webbed fingers. They typically have a dorsal fin as well as fin like frills around their head and arms. Their appearance can actually be quite disparate even within a family.
All merfolk have at least a small amount of magical power. In particular they can alter sea plant growth and can change their own forms slightly. Some believe this is the main reason behind their disparate appearances but it is predominantly used to morph their body into one capable of terrestrial life and movement.
They typically do not wear much clothing, though jewelery capable of lasting underwater is common among both genders.
Traits
The Power of Change
All merfolk have a small amount of magical ability that helps them survive in their underwater environment. Even those untrained in the arcane arts can instinctively enforce their will to alter living organisms. They use this ability to speed up and direct the growth of corals and kelp in order to create living quarters or defenses. This magic is not particularly fast acting but has allowed them to build towns and cities in spite of the difficulty of mining and smelting underwater.
They also use this magic to generate small changes in their physical form. This is predominantly used to tranform into their landshape, a form in which their gills are sealed and lungs reformed to handle oxygen as well as small changes to their bone and musculature to allow for easier movement by land. This change is not entirely effective and while merfolk can go weeks without water, they steadily wear out and can die if they go too long without retaking their sea form.
Freeform Society
Within their natural habitats most Merfolk are full capable of being self sufficient and as such have more limited societal structures. Merfolk towns and cities are less common than in other races and tend to be more spread out, with laxer laws and regulations and less policing of their own people. Various forms of government are still present however they functions mostly by convincing people to do what it thinks is best, rather than enforcing policies by military power or withholding resources. If they didn't any Merfolk disatisfied with what's presented is liable to just leave. As such regardless of what form leadership takes in a society, government tends towards a democratic model, with many public discussions and forums.
On a personal level, merfolk families typically do not stay together long. Both parents will help take care of a child from when the egg is laid up till adolescence (normally their are fierce discussions around these schedules). While there is love in these family units, their drive for independence usually overwhelms any familial sentiment and as soon as a batch of children near maturity they are likely to seek their own life and will rarely see their parents again. Especially as those same parents are likely to take new partners as soon as they are able, often while still raising their first lot of children.
Sign Language
While Merfolk are not mute, underwater communication via speech tends to be heavily distorted and have a significantly longer range that desirable. As such the majority of Merfolk use a form of sign language as communication, reserving vocal calls as warnings, expressions of extreme emotion or to draw attention to their hands. In spite of this Merfolk voices are extremely elegant and haunting. Wordless singing is a common joy held by many of them.
Similarly the written language is based around body positions and hand motions rather than vowels and consonants and can be quite difficult to interpret. There is a spoken form of the language, though it's mostly used to communicate names and languages between races. The Merfolk have also made up their own phonetic signs to allow them to communicate about other races words but have put little effort into completely signing foreign language.
Merfolk typically have two names. A spoken name and a signed name. Both are typically kept quite short for easy communication and have no relation to their families.
Merfolk Traits
You share the following traits with all Merfolk regardless of subrace.
Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age: Most Merfolk maure at around 15 and can live to around 150 years.
Size: Merfolk are typyically about nine to ten feet long. Their tails make up the majority of their length and on land they tend to raise their bodies up about 5 feet from the ground.
Speed: Merfolk have an average land speed of 30 feet and a swimming speed of 40 feet.
Marine Race: The Merfolk can naturally breathe underwater and receive no penalty to their vision from being underwater.
Trance: Merfolk do not sleep, they spend along rest in a form of meditative trance and are only fully unaware for 4 hours instead of 6.
Benthotic Manipulation: Merfolk have an instictive ability to use magic to manipulate underwater plants and corals. They know the Benthotic Manipulation cantrip:
Benthotic Manipulation
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Components: Somatic
Duration: Permanent
You accelerate and direct the growth of aquatic plants or coral. You may either accelerate the growth of coral, to create an addition 1 cubic foot of relatively dense coral, or collectively grow a 5 foot radius of other aquatic plant life by 1 foot. The manner and shape of the growth is up to you, coral could grow evenly, in a thin sheet, in thick blocks, or be sculpted to the casters desire. The affected area of plant life can become difficult terrain, or grow cleanly and easy to travel through. If the plant provides fruit, the ability can be used to make it grow fruit instead.
Subrace: Merfolk can be grouped into three main categories. Equatorial Merfolk, Polar Merfolk and Deep Merfolk
Equatorial Merfolk
Living in the warm shallow seas along the equator, equatorial merfolk benefit from abundant resources, pleasant temperatures and have a greatly increased contact with the terrestrial races. They are more settled than other merfolk and with less time occupied by survival have advanced significantly and are generally better educated and more practiced in arcane arts.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Control Air and Water (6): Practiced in utilising your magical abilities to shape the world around you. You can cast Fog Cloud with this trait. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast Gust of Wind with it, and starting at 5th level, you can also cast Wall of Water with it. Once you cast a spell with this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Healing Hands: Once per day as an action you may touch a target to heal a number of hitpoints equal to your level.
Polar Merfolk
The Polar merfolk live in colder harsher and often deeper waters. They are mostly nomadic and highly aggressive. Much of their diet comes from fish, seal and even whales on occasion. Roaming in small tribes each member is expected to provide or be self sufficient and the elderly and weak, if they lack any valued skill or knowledge are often left behind.
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.
Keen Hunters: Tribal merfolk are all trained with a variety of weaponry for hunting and self defense. You have proficiency with the spear, trident, light crossbow, and net.
Aggressive: Honed by constant battle Polar merfolk are quick to take advantage of a situation and are adept at lunging rapidly towards their enemies with an exteme burst of speed. As a bonus action you may move your speed toward an enemy.
Arctic Resilience: You have resistance to cold damage.
Deep Merfolk
Living much deeper than other merfolk where light barely penetrates the water and both plant and animal life struggles to survive. They have become slender pale creatures with wide eyes capable of seeing with minimal light. The create their homes near volcanic vents, and are well adapted to both the extreme pressure, the cold of the open ocean and the boiling water of the vents.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constituation score increases by 2 your charisma score decreases by 1.
Effulgent glow: Deep Merfolk are adept at using their magic powers to generate light, both to help raise plant life and to lure prey. All Deep Merfolk know the cantrip dancing lights.
Extreme Resilience: You have resistance to cold and fire damage.
Dark Vision: You have dark vision of up to 60 feet and can see clearly in dim light.