Physical Description. Though sailors will oft describe them as spell-casting jellyfish, the other races that call the ocean home think of them as resembling translucent eels. Built like merfolk, dohrnii have long tails that they whip back and forth to propel themselves through the water, while their upper bodies possess the basic humanoid features (head atop a torso that bears two arms) but that is where the similarity ends. Dohrnii lack a rigid skeleton, instead having a cartilaginous skeleton like sharks and rays. Additionally, their skin is translucent enough that many think that they can see the outline of bones and organs. Dohrnii are amongst the rare races with the ability to emit bioluminescent light of a myriad of colors. The normally nocturnal dohrnii use these bioluminescent patches to create breathtaking displays of light and color.
Dohrnii are not born or hatched like the other races in the Cyan Shelf or Green Coast, instead they grow from polyps that break off of their sole parent's body. When a dohrnii dies, is killed, or loses a large part of their body, the dying tissue reverts to a younger state, which breaks off from the rest and grows into a polyp that floats to the surface. Most polyps are eaten by predators, but enough reach maturity to become a juvenile that must seek out other dohrnii. How most achieve this is not told to outsiders, but some believe that the ancestral memories contain a location that juvenile dohrnii are drawn to. Others believe that most dohrnii group together with the survivors of their polyp groups.
Society. Most outsiders are baffled by dohrnii society, as something seems to be lacking from it at nearly every level. Few surfacers learn that the most basic, underlying structure of society on land is entirely absent from dohrnii society: the family. Dohrnii have only the barest concept of family beyond ancestral lineage, and even then not in the way that most other races think of it. To dohrnii lineage is determined by memories, not bloodlines.
What dohrnii society truly centers around is knowledge and the esoteric. Diving below the layers of the conscious mind to a place where reality is fluid, where dreams are formed, and even deeper past the subconscious mind. Rare is the dohrnii concerned solely with the material, and dohrnii society is so interwoven with the layers of mind and consciousness that such an individual would be shunned out of dohrnii society.
Relations. Though distant and aloof, the dohrnii nonetheless have maintained cordial relations with the tabemisu and koup'ira (even if both are too focused with the material as far as the dohrnii are concerned). The zang are seen as little better than the sahuagin that treat their kind as slaves and delicacies while the squoros are flighty annoyances. Merfolk are judged on an individual basis, as some of the greatest heroes and villains of the Cyan Shelf have belonged to that race.
Alignment and Religion. Dohrnii are largely concerned with the ephemeral and immaterial, to the point that centuries may pass them by as they dive deeper into the layers of dream and consciousness. This lack of concern for the world around them, combined with the fluid nature of such realms, results in a tendency towards Chaotic Neutral. Though dohrnii acknowledge the divinities worshiped by the other races of the Cyan Shelf, few actively worship any of the gods.
Adventurers. Though most dohrnii are possessing the powers of psychic magic, few feel the call to roam and travel for wealth and glory. Most are content to wait the passage of centuries to allow their power to grow as they reach further into the ephemeral. The few that aren't often feel a strange urge to see the waters where other races dwell.
Names. All dohrnii that deal with other races have two names: one in their own language based on the first thing they see upon reaching maturity and one in Aquan. Most are reluctant to share their dohrnii names with other races, as there is a great deal of intimacy that most dohrnii don't feel comfortable assuming with other races.
Dohrnira Names. Blue-Current, Dawning-Star, Evening-Tide, Red-Sun, Twilight-Shadow
Chosen Names. Annulayn, Lorroly, Malmano, Nooslano, Yennalln
Dohrnii Racial Features
- +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength. Dohrnii are flexible and possess a keen intellect, yet the soft bones that give them their flexibility can't offer the support that solid bones do.
- Racial Buoyancy1 -30 Depth Tolerance2 1000 feet Pressure Sensitivity3 30 feet
- Medium Dohrnii are medium creatures and as such receive no bonus or penalty based on size.
- Dohrnii. Dohrnii are humanoids with the dohrnii subtype.
- Swim Speed. Dohrnii have a swim speed of 30 feet, but can only drag themselves on land at a speed of 5 feet without a Climb check.
- Bioluminescence. Dohrnii can control the intensity of light from their bioluminescent patches, from no light to that emitted by a hooded lantern.
- Low-Light Vision. Dohrnii can see twice as far as humans in conditions of low light.
- Resistant. Their bizarre anatomy gives dohrnii a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects and poison.
- Shards of the Past. Every dohrnii possesses fragments of memory from all that came before them in their family line. Little more than flashes of images and emotions, when taken together these memories when taken together grant a +2 racial bonus to a single skill, chosen at character creation.
- Languages. Dohrnii adventurers begin play understanding Aquan and Dohrnira, a nonverbal language composed of patterns of color and light from their bioluminescence. Dohrnii with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Akkardian, Grindilow, Koup'irola, Squoran, and Zang.
Length and Weight
Base Length Modifier Base Weight Modifier
3’11” 1d12 55 lbs. ×5
Age Stats
Adulthood -- 5
Barbarian, Kineticist, Rogue, Spiritualist 1d3
Fighter, Occultist, Psychic, Ranger 1d4
Medium, Mesmerist, Monk 1d6
Middle Age -- 80
Old -- 170
Venerable -- 475
Maximum -- +5d%
Sample Dohrnii
Character
Malmano "Red-Bloom"Dohrnii Ranger 1
Humanoid (dohrnii) CN
Init +8; Senses Perception +5, low-light vision
Defense
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +4 Dexterity)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fortitude +3, Reflex +6, Will +1
Offense
Speed 30 ft. swim
Melee trident +5 1d8+3
Tactics
Red-Bloom is a fairly straightforward fighter: he rushes in and tries to make his opponent bleed so as to draw in sharks.
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Attack +1, CMB +4, CMD 18
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Climb +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (geography) +4, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +5, Survival +5, Swim +15
Languages Aquan, Dohrnira
Traits Anatomist, Knowing the Enemy
SQ track, wild empathy, favored enemy (fey +2)
Gear trident, kelp-weave armor, cure light wounds yinu (2), inkpod4, backpack, kelp rope (150 ft.)
- Buoyancy is a mechanic developed by Alluria Publishing for their Cerulean Seas setting. It is used in place of weight and can be positive or negative, representing a tendency towards sinking or floating.
- Another mechanic from Cerulean Seas, depth tolerance is how deep a race can typically go before suffering ill effects from the water pressure.
- A similar mechanic as Depth Tolerance but reversed, used primarily for races that are native to the deeper ocean which determines how shallow the race can go before suffering ill effects.
- Mechanically a smokestick that only works underwater. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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