Darfellan
Image © Wizards of the Coast, by Joel Thomas. Accessed at the Stormwrack Art Gallery here
[As I previously mentioned, I like the new playable races in Stormwrack better than in Sandstorm or Frostburn. One of them, the aventi, are nothing special, but the darfellan and hadozee both have an easy descriptive hook (orca men! flying monkeys!) and solid mechanics. A short lived Savage Tide game I played in in my 20s featured one of my friends playing a darfellan PC, named Squee-ha, her attempt at rendering orca wailing into phonetic English.
As an aside, I didn’t mention it in the entry proper, but I imagine that the darfellans have a positive relationship with the ocean striders ]
Darfellan CR ½ CN Humanoid This burly humanoid has glossy and hairless skin, marked with a striking black and white pattern. Their hands and feet are webbed, and their wide mouth is filled with conical teeth.
Darfellans are a species of humanoids with the features of both human and orca. Darfellan lore says that they once had the shore of an entire continent to themselves, but were ravaged by war with the sahuagin, who viewed their amphibious nature as worthy of jealousy and their bodies as excellent for sacrifice. The darfellan homelands were seized and they were forced into flee, living in small pods and trying to maintain their culture in the face of attempted genocide.
Darfellans live in communities based on bloodline, and matriarchs are seen as highly valued. Communities come together for athletic competitions, matchmaking and trade, but these meetings are rarely in the same place twice, as the darfellans keep ahead of their sahuagin enemies. Darfellans live along beaches and cliffs adjacent to coastal forests, and use both resources of land and sea. They are experts at animal husbandry, especially pinnipeds, and treat sea lions and seals as other cultures treat dogs or sheep. They occasionally hunt whales, but hunting orca is taboo and seen as an act of cannibalism. Any orca local to waters in which darfellans live are venerated and sacrifices of meat are made to them on special occasions.
A darfellan averages between six and seven feet in height. They have lifespans equivalent to half-elves. No two darfellans have exactly the same pattern of markings except for the rare all-black or all-white individual; these mono-colored darfellans are seen as auspicious births, and many rise to positions of leadership.
Darfellans as Player Characters A darfellan does not have racial Hit Dice and advances by character class. Bard, barbarian and ranger are common classes among darfellans. A darfellan character has the following racial traits +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Dex. A darfellan has both a strong body and personality, but they are somewhat muscle-bound. Slow speed A darfellan has a move speed of 20 feet on land, but also has a swim speed of 40 feet +1 natural armor Bite A darfellan gains a bite attack as a primary natural weapon that deals 1d4 points of damage. Limited echolocation A darfellan has blindsense 20 feet, but only underwater. Hatred A darfellan gains a +2 racial bonus on attack rolls against sahuagin Hold Breath A darfellan can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 6 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning. Marine Mammal Trainer A darfellan gains a +4 bonus on Handle Animal rolls and wild empathy checks made to influence marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, seals, walrus and sea otters. Languages A darfellan begins play speaking Aquan and Darfellan. They can select from the following as bonus languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan.
