[DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

Are there any DF-style racial templates for merfolk floating around? I've got a watery adventure planned and was thinking of letting my daughter play a mermaid. I was thinking of using the Sea Elf from DF3 (p. 7) as the foundation. Maybe adjusting land movement to be a slower and water movement to be faster? Maybe add some sort of minor dependency on water? (Could be instead of or in addition to the fire phobia.)

Anything canonical out there that I'm missing? Or anything created by community members?

Thanks!

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

I'm not specifically aware of anything, but first you'll need to decide what interpretation of a mermaid you want to go with. Personally, I'd be inclined to have them with a high Appearance (the gills would either be invisible or - if you want to throw in some realism - be on their torso; that, or they don't ruin their appearance, as is assumed for the sea elves) and have Musical Ability of some level (mermaids are often associated with sirens, and tend to have music-based magic of some flavor). In some stories, mermaids have the option of switching their fishy-bits for human-bits, but I assume you'd rather they stay mermaids - No Legs (Slithers... or maybe Bounces for some humor) [0] would be appropriate. It's common to require they - or at least their gills - stay moist in order to be able to properly breathe, but that's arguably more a Quirk than, say, Dependency (everyone has to carry water around to stay hydrated anyway, they just sometimes need to use a little extra to wet their gills). A Vulnerability/Weakness to desiccation might be appropriate, however.

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

I think GURPS Fantasy has a mermaid.
I created these for my setting I wanted ones who could easily move around on land as well as water.

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

No, but Banestorm has a 52pt template. Merfolk, page 195. It would need adaptation for DF.

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

This is DF - Why make the kid play a Mer-Bard if her heart yearns to be a Mer-Barbarian? :D

~~~~~~~

BASIC MER-PEOPLE [30]:

Choice Professions: None.

Marginal Professions: None.

Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Doesn't Breathe (Gills -50%) [10]; Enhanced Move (x0.5) (Water) [10]; Nictitating Membrane x1 [1]; Night Vision x4 [4]; Pressure Support x1 [5];

Disadvantages: Dependency (Moisture, Daily) [-10]; No Legs (Slithers) [0];

Features: Night-Adapted Vision x5 [0];

Notes: Can't share lower body armor with humanoids and most other body types. Takes full penalties for attempting to swim while wearing armor. Generous GMs may wish to allow individuals to purchase Arrowproof Nudity [1], or at least Enhanced Dodge (Can't Wear Armor -40%, In Water Only -20%) [6/Level].

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

A merbarian would work - with a trident of course - as well as the merdruid summoning up krakens and creating all kinds of mayhem with coastal cities. But how do we get them to do the dungeon delve?

In the same vein, we would need octopi (not to be confused with octopee).

Underwater dungeon? Octopus necromancer lich anyone? (Octopi as skeletal undead....hmmmm)

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

Sunken ruins from ancient civilizations.

Mysterious cave systems.

A giant reef.

The OP did mention that they planned the adventure to be water based.

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

Many races have choice vs marginal professions. That said, the fishy part of a merperson tends to have more mass than human legs do, and is often fairly muscular (particularly for merfolk that can move around on land), so making merfolk strong would make sense, and musical talent isn't really a necessity. Their habit of near-nudity make them an excellent candidate for being barbarians as well, of course.

I think this is the only part of your template I take exception to. Humans already have a Dependency-like mechanic revolving around water (we have to drink), and you'd expect a race that's obviously adapted/designed to function on land to have a mechanism to keep their gills moist (sweating, a thin layer of mucus, etc) so at best you could call for something like Increased Consumption 1 (Water Only -50%) [-5], which would require you to consume twice as much water each day as a human. I personally wouldn't require any additional water intake (humans have to drink more when it's hot and dry anyway).

Same way you get any delver to do so - money. The merfolk being considered here can function on land, so it doesn't have to be an aquatic dungeon (although merfolk will certainly excel when you reach a flooded part of a more typical dungeon).

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

*shrug* That works, too. Point is I'd go for an easy minimalist version.

SAMPLE UNDERSEA OR MOSTLY-UNDERSEA DF PARTY:

MER-PERSON SWASHBUCKLER: Fast and fearless. Weapon Mastery with Trident and Net combo.

MER-PERSON BARBARIAN: Raised by sharks. Master of tracking, wrestling, and the ornate giant turtleshell shield-fighting style of his or her extinct tribe.

MER-PERSON BARD: Music + Mind Control. Being a Princess optional.

MER-PERSON DRUID: See the above-mentioned krakens and whatnot.

SEA ELF WIZARD: Water Magic specialist.

WATER-INFUSED HUMAN SCHOLAR OR INNKEEPER: A jack-of-all trades type.

Re: [DF] Mermaid racial template?
 

Wouldn't No Legs be "Aquatic" [-5] rather than "Slithers"? Slithers makes me think snakes, not fish. Ground Move becomes 0, Water Move is Speed sans fractions.

Semi-Aquatic [0] is also viable, given merfolk have arms; Ground Move is 1/5 Water Move