Mephling, Water
Scholarly lore contains two different origin stories for the mephlings. In one, mephlings are planetouched offshoots of long-ago unions between mephits and an indeterminate race of humanoids. The other is a darker tale of a megalomaniacal mage seeking to imprint his essence on another race.
What is true is that a mephling will occasionally be born to mephit parents. Weaker than their mephit ancestors, mephlings are put out of mephit communities as undesirable runts. They're left to the mercies of the inhospitable planes. Mephit parents revolted by their humanoid child will leave the babe on a hostile plane. Kindly parents will place the child on a habitable plane where it will easily be found by other creatures. Sometimes other creatures adopt the abandoned baby and it grows to reach adulthood.
As foundlings raised by parents very different from themselves, mephlings frequently feel out of place. They usually are loners who desire an elusive sense of belonging. Nevertheless, they're attractive and personable, generally liked by people around them.
Mephlings in general look like less homely versions of their mephit parents with stunted wings. A typical mephling stands less than 3 feet tall and weighs around 30 pounds, with females slightly taller and heavier than males. A water mephling resembles a small, fish-scaled human with black, bulbous eyes.
Fire Mephling Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, -2 Int, +2 Cha. Water mephlings are sturdy and durable.
Favored Class (Monk): A multiclass water mephling's monk class does not count when determining whether they suffer an XP penalty for multiclassing.
Racial Traits:
- A water mephling's base land speed is 30 feet.
- Humanoid: Mephlings are native to the Elemental Planes. They have the humanoid type and gain the extraplanar subtype when not on their respective ancestral plane. Unlike their mephit ancestors, mephlings do not have an elemental subtype.
- Small: As Small creatures, mephlings have a +1 bonus to Armor Class, a +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 bonus on Hide checks.
- Breath Weapon: Each mephling has a breath weapon, the effect of which varies by the mephling's heritage.
- Elemental Casting: Mephlings cast spells with an elemental descriptor that matches their kind (air, earth, fire, or water) at +1 caster level.
- Simple Weapons: Mephlings are proficient with all simple weapons.
Level Adjustment: +1