Sea Elf Alternate Racial Traits

Racial Variants

Deep Sea Elf: Take the 'Deepdweller', 'Artificial Mana Circuits', and 'Technomancer' alternate racial traits.
The Qida, or Deep Sea Elves, are the most common of the Sea Elves, but also the least commonly seen by the denizens of the surface. Making their home in the deepest oceanic depths and the deepest tracts of seafloor they can find, the Qida are the inheritors of the legacy of High Humanity, and are incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable about many things, including the long-lost ways of High Human technology. Secluded, Secretive, and protective of their knowledge and peace, the Qida are distant from their Sea Elven kin but are feared for their highly technological cities and militaries.

Tropical Elf: Take the 'Boiling Body', 'Surface Diplomat', and either the 'Underwater Scout' or 'Vocal Hypnosis' alternate racial traits.
The Aear, or Tropical Elves, are the Sea Elves most commonly seen and met by the races of the surface. Commonly making their homes near the water's surface(relatively speaking), these Elves are superb diplomats, leaders, and politicians, and prefer to solve their problems by means of negotiation, trickery, subtle manipulations, and machinations over straightforward conflict. To this end, their voices are infectiously soothing, supernaturally so, and to those who know of them, it is best to never let one's guard down around a Tropical Elf, lest their sickly sweet voice grab hold of your mind and influence you in small, subtle ways.

Lava Elf: Take the 'Boiling Body', 'Underwater Battlemaster', and 'Bladetrained' alternate racial traits.
The Infensus, or Lava Elves, are the most militaristic and deadly of all the Sea Elves and commonly make their homes near massive underwater volcanoes, lava vents, or other sources of immense heat where they build their cities suspended over massive lava pools. With a rigid and ordered society focused on weeding out weakness in all forms and increasing the strength of the society as a whole, the Lava Elves are hotheaded but expert warriors who can fight a kraken as deftly as they can a fellow Sea Elf, and who place much greater emphasis on the community and unity than the self and individualism. Trained from birth in all ways of the warriors, they are at home in their scaly armor and wield their blades like an extension of their bodies, using their mastery of combat maneuvers to control the battlefield before dealing the killing blow. Uniquely, they are the only Sea Elves to retain use and mastery of their ancestral weapon, the Elven Curve Blade.

Trench Elf: Take the 'Deepdweller', 'Trench Magic', and 'Huagi Mutant' alternate racial traits.
The Huagi, better known as the Demon Elves or Trench Elves, are deadly and savage Sea Elves who make their homes in deep oceanic trenches, canyons, atop underwater mountains, and in other remote places, where they attack and drown passing surface ships with their savage armies. The ancestors of the Sahuagin who are said to be naught but Trench Elves whose mutations ran away from them and became uncontrollable, Trench Elves are notoriously hideous, with bodies rife with mutation and oddities that grow more and more mutated with age. They have massive deadly jaws of sharp, shark-like teeth, mottled skin, fins, and deadly claws, all of which they use to eviscerate and slaughter their foes with a lethal efficiency that not even the Lava Elves can match. Capable of speaking to sharks with an odd telepathic connection and one of the only races the ferocious Sahuagin pay respect and deference to, they form large raiding parties with shark and Sahuagin alike and often become the bane of both underwater and surface dwellers alike.

Alternate Racial Traits

Eelborn: Ability Scores become (+2 Dexterity, +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma). Replaces Ability Scores.
Born with thin and lithe bodies that resemble lanky humanoid eels more than Elves, some Sea Elves are born with these strange bodies that better lend themselves to quickness and strength of body and wit, but they lack durability and charm of other Sea Elves.

Deepdweller: Gain Cold Resistance 10 and a racial +2 bonus on saving throws versus illusion spells and effects. Your darkvision doubles to 120ft. Replaces Elven Immunities.
Living at the bottom of the deepest oceanic trenches, these bottom-dwelling Sea Elves with dark blue and oceanic colored skin adapt to their harsh new conditions as their skin grows accustomed to the lack of heat in their environment, allowing them to better resist cold while their eyes adapt to the inky blackness to see better within it, as well as through mirages and illusions which often occur at the deepest depths of the oceans.

Boiling Body: Gain Fire Resistance 10 and a racial +2 bonus on saving throws versus evocation spells and effects. Each round you successfully maintain a grapple, you deal 1d4 points of fire damage to the creature you are grappling. This damage increases by one step for every 4HD you possess. Replaces Elven Immunities.
Making their home near flaming underwater Lava Vents, tropical waters, and other hotspots of underwater volcanic activity, these flaming Sea Elves have bodies as hot as magma, skin that is a beautiful mixture of teal and crimson, and an innate resistance to powerful and explosive effects that let them swim freely within boiling and evocative waters.

Trench Magic: Gain a bite attack and two claw attacks that deals damage appropriate to a creature of your size, which count as primary natural attacks(Bite counts as secondary if you wield manufactured weapons). You can communicate telepathically with sharks to a distance of 100ft. This communication is limited to simple concepts, such as “attack,” “come,” and “defend.” Replaces Sea Elven Magic.
A name which was intended to mock the Trench Elves for their brutal and savage way of life, "Trench Magic" is a term for physical violence and brutality used by Sea Elves of all kinds...the Trench Elves, however, have embraced this term and refer to their sharpened claws and powerful razor teeth as "Their Magic".

Artificial Mana Circuits: You may add an amount of bonus damage to all spells you cast that target a foe equal to your HD. If the spell involves a save, they take half of this damage on a failed save. Add +1 to the DCs of all spells of the evocation school you cast. Replaces Sea Elven magic.
A product of their ingenius use of the technology gifted to them by High Humanity long ago, the Sea Elves can, through an incredibly dangerous and often lethal process, implant metallic conduits capable of streamlining and better conducting Mana through their bodies and allowing them to cast their spells with a violent intensity that is unmatched by other mages.

Technomancer: Gain the Technologist feat as a bonus feat. You gain Spellcraft and Knowledge(Engineering) as class skills if you did not already have them, and gain a +2 to one of them. If you have one or both of them as class skills, just add +2 to them instead. Replaces Uphold the Ancient Pacts.
As they study, catalogue, and maintain the technology of High Humanity over the eons, many Sea Elves have become suprisingly adept at the use of the ruined and crumbling relics of the long forgotten past, and the Magitech Engineering used to make them.

Avenger of the Ancients: Gain Hatred against creatures of the Dragon type, or gain Hatred against creatures of the Monstrous Humanoid type(Player Choice). Gain telepathy 100ft. You can be treated as Elf and Human for the purposes of race when it would be beneficial to you. Replaces Uphold the Ancient Pacts.
As one of, if not the only true allies of High Humanity, the Sea Elves were naturally quite furious when the Fall of High Humanity took place...however, their location at the bottom of the ocean meant they did not hear about the fall until after it had already happened...in order to make up for what they perceive as their greatest failure and failing their closest allies in their time of need, many Sea Elves vigorously throw themselves at the creatures responsible for destroying their former allies, hoping to enact a toll in blood to make up for their failure to assist High Humanity in its darkest hour.

Surface Diplomat: Gain Diplomacy and Sense Motive as class skills, and gain a racial +2 to Diplomacy. If you already have sense motive as a class skill, gain a +2 to it instead. Replaces Uphold the Ancient Pacts.
Living in communities in waters frequented by sailors or oftentimes in communities close to the surface, many Sea Elves become quite accustomed to dealing with surface folk and negotiating with them, and as a result learn to use their natural charism usually used for commanding and leading battles for an altogether different purpose.

Betrayer: Gain hatred against creatures of the human and elf subtypes. All such creatures take a -2 penalty to their CMB and CMD while within 20ft of you. This penalty increases by 1 for every 5HD you have. Replaces Uphold the Ancient Pacts.
Not all Sea Elves took so kindly their alliance with High Humanity, as many would assume. Instead, many Sea Elves viewed their airborne allies as tyrants using them for personal gain and often assisted other races and creatures in disposing of them wherever they could. These fringe Sea Elven communities were among the only true allies of the High Lamia during their reign, and were deadly double-agents that betrayed entire communities of their brethren and of humans, turning them over to the High Lamia for consumption and enslavement.

Smoothscale: Gain no Natural Armor Bonus. All Movement speeds gain +10ft, and you gain a racial +2 to Acrobatics and Escape Artist checks. Replaces Scaly Skin.
With smooth bodies lacking scales, some Sea Elves use such a lack of scales to their advantage to zoom through the water and move quicker on land, the water that clings to their body making them even more slippery than their other kin.

Huagi Mutant: Gain a +3 natural armor bonus. Once a day whenever you take damage, you can fly into a frenzy for 1 minute; gaining a +2 racial bonus to Constitution and Strength but a –2 penalty to AC. Replaces Scaly Skin and Uphold the Ancient Pacts.
With a hide rampant with mutation and scaly growths, the Huagi Elves are a feared bunch that are even more durable and resilient than normal, with bodies rife with mutation and tough scaly hides that contain no beauty or sanctity of their kin; Instead, they are brutal and savage mutants who are the more militaristic and warlike of all the Sea Elves, raiding the coasts and denizens of the deep alike alongside their lesser Sahuagin brethren.

Underwater Scout: Gain blindsense out to 60ft, which increases to 120ft when fully submerged in water. Replaces Underwater Warriors.
Their eyes and senses finely tuned to listen for the faintest vibrations in the water, some Sea Elves, though sometimes less than ideal at seeing conventionally, are so acutely aware of their surroundings that they can pick out things based on feel alone...while this ability works to a lesser degree on land, they are keen enough to detect changes in air as they do in water.

Underwater Battlemaster: Gain +6 to their CMB when fully submerged in water, which decreases to +4 on land. Replaces Underwater Warriors.
Rather than possessing slimy skin that allows them to easily escape other attempts to grapple or restrain them, some Sea Elves are born differently than their kin thanks to their environment, and the viscious oil-like slime excreted from their skin not only keeps them moisturized, but also acts a powerful adhesive that assists them in their own maneuvers against their foes.

Maelstrom Dweller: All Water within 30ft of you is always treated as being calm water, and cannot rise above calm unless you allow it. Additionally, for a number of rounds per day equal to your CONMOD(Minimum 1), you and all allies within 30ft of you are unaffected by all effects from being in the waters of a maelstrom, and treat the water as Calm Water. Replaces Seafriend.
For the Sea Elves that call the waters beneath Obliteration Reef North or South their home, they sometimes adapt to become capable of traveling safely above or below the waves, their very presence calming the waters around them and allowing them to pass unhindered...

Titanfish Hunter: Gain +2 to hit and damage, and +1 dodge AC versus all non-humanoid creatures bigger than yourself. 3/day, you can release a mental pulse with a radius of 300ft that alerts you to the presence of any Magical Beasts, Abberations, Animals, Undead, or Creatures with the Water or Aquatic Subtypes. You pick from one of these options each time the pulse is used, and you learn the absence or presence of such creatures and their general location relative to you within the radius of the pulse. Replaces Seafriend.
Trained from birth to combat the massive Kaiju that lurk within the waters of their oceanic home, many Sea Elves fight constantly against these hated foes with such a ferocious dedication that they become more innately capable of fighting and defending themselves against them, and develop their normal empathy with sealife into a type of Sonar Pulse that allows them to detect their prey's presence.

Vocal Hypnosis: As a full-round action that does not provoke AoO, you can force all creatures you wish within 60ft that can clearly hear you(They do not need to understand you, just hear you) to take a -2 penalty on all saving throws versus Charm and Compulsion effects for as long as you keep speaking, plus an additional minute after the last round in which you used this ability. Creatures affected by this ability must make a will save(DC 10 + 1/2HD + CHAMOD) or become one step friendlier to you, to a maximum of friendly. Others do not know they are being affected by this ability unless they are immune to Mind-Affecting abilities. This ability is Extraordinary, and cannot be suppressed even by an antimagic field or mage's disjunction. Replaces Vocal Harmonics.
Putting their beautiful voices to use in other, more mystical and esoteric fields, some Sea Elves learn how to incorporate subtle hypnotic suggestions and compelling speech patterns into their speech, letting their beautiful voices worm inside the minds of those who listen to them and subtly twist their minds to their will. Considered a darker but somewhat acceptable use of one's voice, this hypnosis is rumored to play a large part in Sea Elven diplomacy, where enemy diplomats somehow are persuaded into giving the Sea Elves more advantageous deals and benefits in negotiations.

Obliteration Harmonics: 3/day, you may begin a discordant symphony of destruction as a move action. You can keep the symphony going for a number of rounds equal to (1 + CONMOD, min 1). Maintaining this ability is a swift action on your turn, and you can drop it as a free action. Within 30ft of you while you maintain this ability, all water becomes nearly impassable, requiring DC 25 Swim checks to stay afloat as if in stormy water. All enemies that start their turn inside this radius take 1d8 points of sonic damage and are shaken unless they succeed at a Fortitude save(DC 10 + 1/2 HD + CHAMOD), after which they take half damage and are not shaken. At 4HD and every 4 above it, the damage dice for this ability raises by 1. Replaces Underwater Warriors and Vocal Harmonics.
Special: If you have levels in a class that grants you a bardic performance ability(Like the Skald's Raging Song or the Bard's Bardic Performance), you may add this effect to your bardic performance when you use this ability.
For the Sea Elf villages that lay beneath the legendary Obliteration Reefs, some Sea Elves are entranced by the massive maelstroms of destruction such that they learn to capture its destructive harmonics in their songs, sending harmful harmonic vibrations into their enemies and stirring up the water nearby.

Imperious Voice: Gain a racial +2 on Perform(Sing) and Intimidate checks, and you gain an extra language for every rank you put in linguistics. Replaces Vocal Harmonics.
Their voices booming and layered like many of them are talking at once, some Sea Elves use their naturally commanding voices excellently in battles, skirmishes, and even in politics, where the layered and booming nature of their voices is not only beautiful, but capable of striking fear in the hearts of those who hear them.

Swordtrained: You are automatically proficient with swordlike weapons (including bastard swords, daggers, elven curve blades, falchions, greatswords, kukris, longswords, punching daggers, rapiers, scimitars, short swords, and two-bladed swords). Replaces Weapon Proficiency.
Trained from birth in swordplay, the more Martial Sea Elven communities consistently produce excellent and top-quality warriors that are easily the match of a half-dozen lesser warriors on the surface or from other Sea Elven communities. Taking pride in their excellent martial prowess, these deadly warriors are prideful and take immense joy in proving their immense skill to others.

Cultural Appropriation: You may select any alternate racial trait from High Humans except 'Imperious Dominus', ignoring race-based prerequisites but you must meet all others as normal. If it replaces one, it replaces Sea Elven magic. If it replaces two, it replaces Sea Elven Magic and Seafriend.
As one of the only true allies of High Humanity back when the Aurelian Empire was at its peak, the Sea Elves were the only race granted access to the grandiose Tech Vaults of the High Humans, and were allowed to work alongside them for the purposes of scientific research and discovery. As a result, even long after the fall of High Humanity, many Sea Elves yet retain the gifts once bestowed upon their ancestors.