Notes from the Nails: this one is largely inspired by the video game, Baldur's Gate. Though my sirines are more like sirens than water nymphs - wild, beguiling and not bound to a particular place.
Sirine
A sirine is a beautiful, amphibious fey creature often found on beaches and riverbanks. Humanoids regard them as unpredictable and dangerous, but the reality is more nuanced.
Beach Party
To a sirine, nothing is more important than living in the moment. They act as they please, seeking joy and pleasure wherever it may be found - especially if that happens to be by the seaside! Sirines love the fresh breeze and the feel of warm sand between their toes as much as anyone else; staking out the best spots on beaches to make sure their frolics attract just the right amount of attention.
As with most fey folk, their emotions are strong and shift rapidly, such that they may want to kiss someone one minute, and kill them the next. And a sirine's commitment to spontaneity is deep: they do not hesitate to act on these impulses. This can make them seem wild, but to a sirine, it is the natural state of things.
Sirines may gather on the shore to dance and sing, but they always return to their sunken villages when night falls. There, they hunt pearls, catch fish and grow crops much like humanoids, if humanoids could breathe underwater. Some sirines even share their homes with other aquatic creatures such as undines and merfolk, leading to great confusion among humanoid sailors.
Unearthly Beauty
Any humanoid that sees a sirine is liable to be struck by their incredible beauty. With perfectly clear skin that ranges in tone from pinks through golds to greens and blues, delicate flowing hair (in equally vibrant color) and lithe, elegant bodies, there is no such thing as an ugly sirine. Furthermore, all are born with a fabulous singing voice, though some may be too shy to use it.
Sirine Names
Sirines have short, beautiful names that flow off the tongue like water.
Male Names. Adro, Boroda, Cas, Miza, Nook, Sharo, Zebus
Male Names. Adro, Boroda, Cas, Miza, Nook, Sharo, Zebus
Female
Names. Banu, Esta, Jalli, Kohi, Noella, Roxin, Shora, Simi
Sirine Traits
Sirines
have the following racial traits:
Ability Score Increases. Your Charisma score increases
by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age. Sirines grow quickly, reaching adult-size by age 10.
Their personalities remain childlike, however, until they are much older. A
sirine can live up to 600 years.
Alignment. Sirines are generally fickle
and impulsive, and favor chaotic alignments.
Size. Sirines are slightly taller
than humans. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30
feet and your base swimming speed is 30 feet.
Amphibious. You can breathe
normally in either air or water.
Fey Creature. You have advantage on saving throws against
being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You are, however, affected by
any ability that would normally affect fey creatures. Your plane of origin is the
Material Plane.
Song and Dance. You have proficiency in the
Performance skill.
Innate Spellcasting. You can cast the charm person spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Once you
reach 5th level, you can cast the suggestion spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so after you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells and you
require no material components to cast them.
Languages. You can speak, read and write
Sylvan and one other language of your choice.
Changelog: 3/24/17: Innate Spellcasting: Spider climb replaced by suggestion
Fluff is spot on, but looking at it I reckon it needs a bit of a buff mechanically. Compare with Elves or Tieflings I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree. Compared to tieflings you're losing darkvision, fire resistance and a cantrip, but gaining advantage vs charm, water breathing, a skill and a swim speed. Compared to drow you're losing a cantrip, weapon training, regular darkvision (superior is cancelled by sensitivity) and trance, which is a ribbon, but gaining the swim speed and amphibious. I feel that's fair. Perhaps on the lower end of the scale, but it's bang on WotC's water genasi (swap acid resistance for a skill), and you don't hear anyone complaining about that.
DeleteThis race is pretty well balanced. It's not on the higher end of races but it's far from the low end as well. It fits snugly in the middle ground.
DeleteWhy Spider Climb? Wouldn't Suggestion or Enthrall fit better? Also why no cantrip? Most raves with innate spells get a cantrip at 1st, a 1st level spell at 3rd level, and a 2nd level spell at 5th. I think Friends would work perfectly here. I'd say Shape Water but OGL...
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't Spider Climb when I wrote it - it was Suggestion. Maybe the Finger changed it? I dropped the cantrip because Charm Person is so central to the concept that I wanted it 1st level. I think it's a fair trade-off.
DeleteI don't believe I changed it. Weird. I'll switch it over to Suggestion post-haste
DeleteMaybe it was from the dhampyr, if you used the same template.
DeleteThe languages should just be Common and Sylvan. There are no PC races without Common in 5E. Other than that I like it.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually one of the more important parts of this race, in my opinion, so I'm glad someone gave me the opportunity to expound on it. Not speaking Common sets sirines apart from humanoids in a way that is just as fundamental as being vulnerable to Protection from Good and Evil (one of the implications of the Fey Creature trait). Language is the cornerstone of culture, after all.
DeleteOf my many fey races, only a handful get Common by default; Sylvan is the common language of the fair folk. Having playtested this aspect extensively, I am completely happy with how it plays.
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DeleteYou can just take common as the extra language, or get it from a background.
DeleteExactly. Or you could be a monk. Or learn Comprehend Languages via class or a feat. Or - radical suggestion - you could make do without Common!
DeleteI get that the WotC precedent is that all player races have Common by default, but I've made a deliberate, conscious decision to break from that with these races. What would be the point of writing homebrew content if I didn't break new ground and give you options you can't get in the core rules?
And anyway, you get Sylvan and one other language of your choice. Wanna speak Common? Choose Common! :D
DeleteHeheh...missed that Idan had already said that 😜
DeleteReaaly hope to see more fey inspired stuff or more options for your own classes like alchemist and witch
ReplyDeleteI hear you! Obviously I have a ton of fey stuff in the works, so don't worry about that, and if you support us on Patreon you may have noticed that the 'MFoV Expansion Pack' was the runaway winner in the June book poll. Thus, we're working on new subclasses for the Alchemist and Witch right now for release in just a few months!
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DeleteI was wondering, what do you roll to determine the height and weight of a sirine character?
ReplyDelete(Shooting from the hip) Roll as if for a human, then stick 1d4 inches on the height without changing the weight.
DeleteThank you!
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