Novel Inspiration: Sendrians for 5th edition.
Sendrians are a sea lion-like sentient species from the Star Wars Expanded Universe (SWEU). An aquatic parallel to the centaur, the sendrians have a humanoid torso connected to a sea lion’s lower body. Effectively a marine mammal species, the most interesting aspect of sedrians is their society.
From the Wookiepedia:
Sedrian society was based on the worship of the Golden Sun, a communal Force-sensitive intelligence living in a coral reef. Golden Sun was kept in a dome in the Sedrian capital city of Fitsay, where it provided a source of energy for the Sedrians’ early industrial technology. All Sedrian technology was based on energy from the Golden Sun—even their medical science was limited to leaving the sick or injured in the Golden Sun’s cavern so the Golden Sun could use Force Healing on them. The High Priest of the Golden Sun was the ruler of Sedri. Ironically, though the Sedrians worshipped Golden Sun, they did not realize that it was an intelligent, living being. Sedrian Warrior monks served under the High Priest.
As a 5th ed race, all sendrians will likely be on the same planet as the Golden Sun, though plane-hopping may cause a sendrian PC to feel uncomfortable, empty, or psychologically lost. I wouldn’t recommend removing all of a divine or arcane class’ powers if a PC travels to different planes, but the separation from their “god” offers a number of interesting roleplaying opportunities.
Design Note: I wish I could take credit for the design behind the sendrian’s Large size/Humanoid torso traits. Dan Dillon came up with this fantastic piece of 5th ed work when designing centaurs for the Midgard Heroes supplement from Kobold Press, and I think it is a piece of design that will inform many races to come.
Sendrian Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 2, and your Wisdom increases by 1.
Age. Sendrians mature at age 12 and live as long as 80 years.
Alignment. Sendrians are highly social creatures amongst their own race, yet their strong ties to the Golden Sun make many sendrians suspicious, if not xenophobic, of other races. The average sendrian tends toward lawful neutral and lawful good alignments.
Size. Chagrians average 3 feet in height, 9 feet in length, and 800 lbs. Your size is Large.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 10 feet. You have a swim speed of 40 feet.
Amphibious. Unlike the marine mammals they resemble, sendrians possess both lungs and gills. Sendrians are as at home above the waves as below them. You can breath both air and water.
Divine Heritage. Choose one cantrip from the list of cantrips available to clerics. You gain that cantrip. Electrosensitivity. You have blindsight to a range of 30 ft. underwater (10 ft. in air). You lose this ability until the end of your next round whenever you take lightning damage. You may not detect undead creatures or constructs with this ability. Exceptions may be made by your DM for constructs powered by electricity.
Humanoid Torso. Although you are Large, your torso is that of a Medium humanoid. You wear weapons and armor as a Medium creature.
Languages. You speak, read and write Aquan (or Sendrian if you wish to include it as a separate language) as well as one other language (typically Marine Trade or Common)
Backgrounds
Sendrians as a culture is highly spiritual and draw both arcane and divine power from the Golden Sun. Those that don’t connect directly with the Golden Sun’s power become builders, traders, and warriors for their people. Acolyte, Guild Artisan, Hermit, and Soldier are common backgrounds.
Classes
Physically and spiritually capable, sendrian adventurers are particular drawn to classes that focus on physical and spiritual pursuits, such as the cleric, druid, paladin, and ranger classes. The warrior-monks that protect the Golden Sun are paladins take the Oath of Devotion. Some sendrians draw on the arcane power of the Golden Sun becoming oceanic sorcerers. Of course, the aquatic cleric, paladin, sorcerer, fighter, druid, and ranger archetypes from the Aquatic Builds series are all excellent choices for sendrians, as are bards from the College of the Sea Singers.
The Golden Sun in your Campaign
There are a number of ways you can handle the Golden Sun in your game. If you’re looking for a darker version of the sendrians, the Golden Sun could act as a warlock patron that grants access to spells that focus on light and illusion, with abilities that influence the mind. As a living god, clerics that worship the Golden Sun have have access to the following domains: Knowledge, Life, Light, Ocean, or Tempest. You could also us it as both a divine and arcane conduit, allowing both clerics and sorcerers to be created by it. Sorcerers may be Favored Souls or Waterborne if using the Unearthed Arcana options, or the Oceanic bloodline from here on Tribality.
Even though the Golden Sun is a living, physical creature, it is also extremely powerful. If you’d like part of your campaign to include destroying the Golden Sun and “freeing” the sendrians, you can start by giving the Sun traits, Legendary actions, and Lair actions similar to the classic aboleth in the Monster Manual. Double its hit points, replace the mucus cloud with a constant sanctuary effect (DC 18 Wisdom save), replace the tentacle attack’s rider with a charm effect (1 minute, DC 18 Wisdom save each round), and give it the spell casting ability of an 16th level caster (cleric or sorcerer or a mix depending on your needs). Of course, feel free to tweak the DCs and caster level to fit your campaign needs.
In addition to raw power, the Sun would have numerous other defenses, from guards, mind-controlled creatures, and living in the heart complex coral tunnel complex.
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