D&D 5e - Fanmade underwater Playable Races - Sahuagin

Ever thought of an underwater D&D adventure? Me too. Ever thought "damn, there aren't many playable underwater races available"? Yeah, me too.

To be precise, there are 5 playable races that are capable of living underwater: Water Genasi, Sea Elves, Tritons, Locathahs and Simic Hybrids (at least, one version of them). I wanted to expand this list a little further, including other humanoid races.

At first I looked on d&d beyond's homebrew section, but I'm sorry to say that I couldn't find much that suited my tastes (some races were overpowered, others were incorrect). So I decided to create them by myself and started researching the matter. Sahuagin, Koalinth, Merfolk, Kuo-Toa, Bullywug and Firenewt, all them can breath water for as long as they desire. I tried to be as strict as possible, giving them options that suited the lore and descriptions in the Monster Manual and other sources, like some previous editions material (that's where I discovered the Anguillian, Shalarin, Pahari, Crabmen, Selkies and Vodyanoi). Enough with this wait, let's begin.

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Here's the first race I made, the Sahuagin. If you need a quick dip of lore, read their entry on the Monster Manual or go here. If you want an overload of Sahuagin lore, buy this book from 1997 (old printed copies are also available on eBay, if you are lucky you can get one with the poster still attached inside).

©Wizards of the Coast

These people technically are a highly mutant folk, with at least three common subraces (the basic one, the four armed one and the elf-looking Malenti). Due to my willingness to balance things out, I cut out the possibility to play the four armed ones, because they are those who become Barons, they are much stronger than the basic Sahuagin and in the end everyone would play them. Besides, Barons are the least frequent of the more common mutations (convoluted, right?). I decided to call the basic Sahuagin Common, because "basic Sahuagin" sounded a bit lame. For the Malenti I tried to mimic the Sea Elves, of course, but not entirely. I imagined they would receive training to become betters spies, so I added the Undercover trait and the light crossbow proficiency.

Sahuagin Traits

Ability Score Increase. +1 Constitution +1 Intelligence

Age. Sahuagin mature around 20 years old and can live indefinitely, as they don't die of old age.

Alignment. Lawful Evil. Exceptions are more unique than rare.

Speed. 30 ft.

Darkvision. 60 ft.

Blood Frenzy. As in the monster version.

Shark Telepathy. As in the monster version.

Sea Devils' Weaponry. You are proficient with tridents, spears and nets. In addition you have two types of unarmed attacks: bite (1d4 piercing) and claws (1d4 slashing).

Languages. Sahuagin.

Subraces. Common, Malenti.

Common Traits:

Ability Score Increase. + 1 Strength.

Size. About 6 feet tall, 200 lbs. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Swim 40 ft.

Improved darkvision. You gain an additional 60 ft. of darkvision.

Endless Growth. The unarmed attacks become more powerful at level 5 (bite becomes 1d6 piercing, claws becomes 1d6 slashing) and at level 11(bite becomes 1d8 piercing, claws becomes 1d8 slashing).
Limited Amphibiousness. As in the monster version.

Malenti Traits:

Ability Score Increase. + 1 Dexterity.

Size. Like elves. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Swim 30 ft.

Additional Languages. You can also speak Aquan and Elvish.

Undercover. You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks. You also have proficiency with light crossbows.

What classes would they best fit in? The Common would be quite a good warrior. Barbarian, fighter and paladin should work well with theme and stats. Maybe even a ranger. But also a cleric of the Nature or Tempest domain, to represent Sekolah's clergy. With a little bump in Charisma they could work well event with a Pact of the Blade Warlock. A Great Old One as patron (Dagon, Cthulhu and the like), a Fiend patron (after all Sekolah swims in the oceans of Stygia) o the UA Lurker of the Deep will fit thematically well.

The Malenti screams Rogue. Mastermind, Assassin, Thief, Scout, Swashbuckler... And why not a Divine Soul sorcerer? Maybe their sorcerous origin is the reason because they were born as a Malenti all along (a soul originated from Deep Sashelas maybe?). Ranger looks doable and warlocks too (see above). Definitely not clerics, as Malenti are shunned by most of their own race.

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They should work for now. Let me know your thoughts! I hope they're not unbalanced, but I'm expecting them to be so. Remember: none of this is professional work, neither it's official.

Be kind to each other and to yourselves.

Daniele