Selkie (3.5e Race)

Author: Paleomancer (talk) Date Created: 12 May 2015 Status: In progress Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Selkie

A oceanic people who can transform between human and seal forms.

Personality

Selkies, or silkies as they are also known, behave similarly to both seals and to humans. Like humans, they are a highly social, yet clannish people, and live in small groups of 25 to 75 members, known as pods. Like wild seals, selkies tend to be standoffish, but inquisitive and playful, and may willingly approach strangers who are obviously non-threatening. Selkies old enough to breed, especially males of adult age categories are sometimes prone to aggressive and territorial behavior, and may challenge adult humans and seals who look like a potential rival.

Selkie society is highly based on survival and deception, with selkies posing either as harmless seals or as coastal humans, depending on the situation. Most of the time, this deception is purely for self-defense. If known, their shapeshifting ability can get them falsely persecuted as lycanthropes, and since a selkie in seal form is almost indistinguishable from a normal seal, occasionally pods are killed by hunters. As a result, most selkies consider it dangerous and irresponsible to reveal one's true nature to strangers, as it risks the safety both of oneself and one's pod. Selkies do not have the same mores against lying as do many other races, and some even practice it as an artform. Selkies often fight among themselves, but rarely does this result in death and most selkies find kin slaying abhorrent. This view does not always extend to other sapient races, and some selkies willingly raid coastal settlements or ships for supplies, even hunting crew for food on occasion.

They are very communal beings, prone to depression when isolated or imprisoned. On occasion, pods may adopt non-selkies into their pod, and individuals have been known to informally claim a human or seal mate and their relatives as their new pod. While selkies tend to be easygoing about personal slights, they are downright vengeful about injuries to pod members. Many a protracted conflict between a coastal community and a selkie pod resulted when a pod member was killed by hunters.

Physical Description

Regardless of form, selkies rarely stand out as unusual or atypical, although selkies are generally considered attractive to both humans and true seals. In human form, a selkie has roughly the same height and weight limits as normal humans, although they tend to be on the larger size. Migratory pods of selkies behave much like intelligent seals, and build up fat for the winter, making their human forms seem overweight. In seal form, selkies often seem unusually small for their apparent species, but are otherwise unremarkable in appearance, save for their eyes, which betray their intelligence. One exception is hair color and length, as the hair color of his or her human form matches the fur color of his or her seal form, and most selkies, even females, naturally have short to medium length hair. Selkie pups often, though not always, have white hair and fur, which in adulthood eventually darkens to grey, black, or brown. Selkie irises are usually dark brown or black, and do not significantly change in appearance between human and seal forms.

Selkies cannot wear clothing in seal form, find it an obstacle in changing forms, and frankly are resistant enough to temperature extremes as to have little need of it even in human form. In general, selkies have no real concept of modesty, although most pods are familiar enough with the cultures of surface races as to see the value of wearing clothing. Selkies prefer loose-fitting clothing that is easy to remove when shapeshifting, such as simple tunics, sandals, and loincloths. They are overly fond of pouches, belts, and similar personal storage devices, and when not masquerading as a mundane seal, a selkie will done several such items to carry its mundane possessions. While selkies are mostly carnivorous, and as such have no issues hunting other animals for food and clothing, they never knowingly wear seal hide items, in case it actually came from a selkie.

Relations

Selkies are not well known outside of coastal communities in colder climates, but in those environments, selkies have a mixed reputation. The mere fact that they are shapeshifters colors the responses of many outsiders, especially those who mistake them for another kind of lycanthrope. While most selkies use their shifting powers to hide their pods from outsiders, some instead behave as raiders on lone ships or isolated communities, stealing supplies and hunting residents for sport and food. While definitely the exception, these selkies have an understandable, if disproportionate, effect on selkie reputation.

Humans and selkies have a love and hate relationship, as most humans find selkies to be very attractive (and vice versa), but selkies also have a reputation for being deceitful and predatory, while humans often kill selkies while hunting seals. There are many tragic stories of humans and selkies who have fallen in love, and even raised families, before the selkie is drawn back into the ocean, and others where selkies have saved or even adopted shipwrecked or drowning humans. Selkies often do reciprocate human affection, and even though they are ocean creatures, may sacrifice that life to be with a human partner. A child born of such a union is usually human, albeit with a love for the ocean, but sometimes yields a selkie.

Selkies have few relations with other humanoid races. Elves like the nature-loving aspect of selkies, but find them as crude as humans. Halflings, gnomes, and dwarfs rarely encounter selkies, and treat them as they would any animal shapeshifter. Selkies do get along well with half-orcs and half-elves, sharing the feeling of not quite fitting into any species or environment. As a coastal people, the selkies rarely encounter other marine peoples, but have no real conflicts with them. The notable exception are the sahuagin, whose dominance of most ocean regions and predatory xenophobia makes them a formidable threat, and their love of the hated shark only cements them as a threat to a selkie. It is thought that the selkie make a point of their masquerade as common seals more to avoid sahuagin attention, then of land dwellers.

Alignment

Like humans, a selkie can be of any alignment. Like seals, most are indifferent to devoted moral positions, and most are either true neutral or have at least one neutral component to their alignment.

Lands

Selkies generally live in migratory pods in cold or temperate coastal regions, following food and resting in sheltered isolated areas. They have no lands of their own, and live in the shadow of other terrestrial and marine races.

Religion

Most selkies have a shamanistic or druidic faith, praying to ancestor and water spirits for succor. Selkies who marry into and live in human communities often supplement their pod's spiritual traditions with the religion of their spouse. Selkies tend to be attracted to deities with a focus on survival, travel, or nature, but some also embrace deities of decide or knowledge.

Language

The native language of selkies, known as Selkie, is a strange tongue that changes sound depending on form. As a seal, a selkie can speak with other selkies and with seals on a basic level, and only comprehend languages or tongues reveals that a selkie is not merely barking. In human form, it sounds vaguely musical, but recognizably as speech. Selkies are born with the ability to speak this language, even if they are isolated from birth. It has no written form, so Selkie uses the Elven script.

Racial Traits

• Humanoid (Shapechanger): Selkies are humanoid beings with the ability to transform between human and seal forms. 
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a selkie has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Selkie base land speed is 30 feet.  
• Change Shape (Su): As a standard action, a selkie may change between unique and personal human and seal forms. In seal form, a selkie gains a 40 ft. swim speed and corresponding +8 bonus on Swim checks, his base land speed is reduced to 10 ft., he gains a +2 bonus to natural armor, and he gains a 1d6 primary bite attack. They also receive a +8 bonus on Disguise checks made to appear to be a seal. However, a Selkie cannot wear a selkie they lose the ability to speak in anything except Seal, or manipulate objects with their hands, including casting spells
• Automatic Languages: Common, Selkie. In addition, selkies may communicate on a basic level with seals and other selkies while in seal form.
• Bonus Languages: Any
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +
• Effective Character Level: 1

Vital Statistics

Table: Selkie Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
5 years years	+1d3	+1d4	+2d3

Table: Selkie Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
25 years	43 years	60 years	++2d20 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: Selkie Random Height and Weight

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

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