Selkies (3.5e Race)

The Selkies

Introduction

Selkies are Fey creatures native to the ocean. They are comfortable in the deep sea and on the ground. As a general rule they are beautiful, strong and agile and in some legend they are able to shapeshift in a special siren-form. They are of the descendant of the Mandea'Ada.

Physical Description

Selkies are the beautiful sea-people, they slightly resemble elves but have some difference. They alway have shinning blue hairs (dark or light) and deeps blue or more rare green eyes. They do not have any facial or body hair (useless underwater) and alway have a soft pale skin. Male are usually muscular while female are mored delicate and graceful. They otherwise do not show any other signs of their underwater heritage. It is not rare for human to fall in love with male or female Selkie, because of their innate beauty and charm.

Personality

Selkies are both fierce and calm, they are able to fight. Female are wiser and calmer than male, making them natural leaders of the tribes. Male are bold and brave, they are the hunters and warriors of the tribes. Many men and women are free-spirited and open minded, but they value honour and harmonies greatly. They are passionated and sentimental, experiencing powerful emotion (not nearly as strong as elves however).

Relations

Selkies lived underwater for millennium before tribes begin to returning to the surface. They haven't made many allies but no more enemies. They are welcomed by Salds and maintain friendly relation with them. They share deeps hatred for Naga and Lamia. They get along in the wild and most often wild-oriented races. They treat humanity with distrust for their prominence in th Era of Sloth.

Alignment

Selkies tend toward neutrality in both good and evil, law and chaos axis.

Lands

The Selkies are mostly present on the shore of tropical islands and coastal regions. Many of them can be found underwater but they are hardly reachable and don't warmly welcome visitor. They are nomadic and thus have no land of their own. They simply leave their possessions behind and return to the sea where they travel to a new land.

Religion, Beliefs and Tradition

Selkies are pure shamanic and druidist, they may worship independent deities, but those worship are rare. They worship both the spirit of nature and their ancestors. Some worship the gods and goddesses of sea.

Art & Culture

Selkies aren't much artist, they have no real architecture, no paint, but they have a strong tradition in jewelry and clothing, oral history and songs. When they build house (tent) it is mostly made of hide, coral and other random material.They can make entire suit made of precious underwater stone like pearls, or sea sapphire.

Society

Selkies society is tribal, leaded by shamans and druids (or other spellcaster). They are nomadic and live in a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Like other shamanic society, spirituality take a great importance in everyday matters. Their society is matriarchal, but indirectly. If the spiritual class lead the, society most are females. Males are hunters, they fight for the survival of the tribe and females guide the tribe with their wisdom. Males and females are considered equal. Selkies travel from beach to beach, installing their tents and huts and if the resource are sufficient they may remain in place for many years.

Language

Selkie talk mostly aquan, they may learn other language however (to be able to deal with the native).

Names

Selkies do not care much for names, they often name their child with a short simple name. Adult Selkies may change name as they see fit.

Example of Selkies Children Names: Oy, Kad, Lea etc...

Clothings

Clothing is mostly made of sharkskin (basically leather); it is usually nothing more than a bikini and loincloth (as they often live underwater which make them useless and encumber them). Some Selkies use other kinds of hide, mostly in more cold regions where the suit is expanded. Selkie shamans often wear robes made entirely of jewels, they may not cover much, but they are insanely expensive.

Armours

The light armours are made of sharkskin, while medium armours are made of scale or coral. The armours often only cover the breast, because full armor would encumber the Selkies on their favourite terrain the sea.

Weapons

Most weapons are made of coral, and are of primitive weapons.

Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, −2 Constitution, −2 Intelligence, +4 Charisma: Selkies are agile but more fragile than other races. Selkie also lack cunning but possess a shard personality.
• Humanoid (Aquatic): Selkies are humanoid at ease both in water and on the ground.
• Medium Humanoid (Aquatic, Selkie)
• Selkies base land speed is 20ft: however Selkies have a base swim speed of 30ft and get a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. They can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. They can use the run action while swimming, provided they swim in a straight line.
• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• Siren Form: When in water, the Selkie may take the form of a siren with a seal tail. In Siren form the selkie is granted a +4 Bonus to Dexterity and a swim speed of 40 ft. but take a -2 penalty to attack roll to attack any creature outside of water.
• Water Breathing (Ex): Selkies may breath in water (salt or fresh) as if it is air, and may never drown.
• Water Adaptation (Ex): Selkies are vulnerable to hot climates and become thirsty twice as fast, they get -2 to fortitude save to resist hot climate, and they become thirsty in half the required time for an human. However they get +2 to resist cold environment. Swim is always a class skill.
• Frost Resistance 10, Acid Resistance 5, Fire Weakness 10
• Automatic Languages: Common, Aquan.

Bonus Languages: Any (except secret language like druidic).

• Favored Class: Sorcerer
• Level Adjustment: +1

Special Trait

• Selkie druid can only wild shape into an aquatic creature, however they can wild shape one more time per day.

Vital Statistics

Table: Selkies Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
years	+	+	+

Table: Selkies Aging Effects

Middle Age^1	Old^2	Venerable^3	Maximum Age
years	years	years	+ years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Selkies Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	' "	+	lb.	× () lb.
Female	' "	+	lb.	× () lb.

Scaling Selkies

At 1 HD: All racial traits shown above.

At 5 HD: Resistance to Cold and Acid: +5

At 8 HD: Swift Siren Form transformation. (Move Action)

At 10 HD: Resistance to Cold and Acid: +10 (do not stack with HD 5 benefit)

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Races