Triton

"Ah, the tritons. Imagine if the elves spent a few centuries far beneath The Sea, where their arrogance and pretension could grow undisturbed. At least the tritons spent that time Fighting Sahuagin and worse, so you know you can count on them in a fight." —Brego Stoneheart, sea captain

Tritons guard the ocean depths, building small settlements beside deep trenches, portals to the elemental planes, and other dangerous spots far from the eyes of land-bound folk. Long-established guardians of the deep ocean floor, in recent years the noble tritons have become increasingly active in the world above.

Aquatic Crusaders

Centuries ago, tritons entered the world in response to the growing threat of evil Elementals. Tritons waged many wars against their enemies on the Plane of Water, driving them into the Darkened Depths where they escaped into the crushing pressure and utter darkness. In time, the tritons noticed that their ancient elemental foes had grown quiet. Expeditions to the depths revealed that krakens, Sahuagin, and far worse foes had fled the Plane of Water for the Material Plane.

The tritons, driven by a sense of duty and responsibility, would not allow their foes to escape so easily. A great conclave of tritons chose volunteers skilled in weapons and magic as part of an expeditionary force to enter the Material Plane and seek out their enemies.

Those tritons spread across the world’s oceans and established protectorates to watch over deep sea trenches, portals, undersea caves, and other locations where their enemies might lurk. They defeated their foes when they found them and drove the rest into hiding.

With their foes banished to the deepest reaches of the sea, tritons settled in to watch for any sign of their return. Over time, the tritons extended their stewardship over the sea floor from their initial settlements and built outposts to create trade with other races. Despite this expansion, few folk know of them. Their settlements are so remote even Merfolk and sea elves rarely encounter them.

Haughty Nobles

As a result of their isolation and limited understanding of the Material Plane, tritons can come across as haughty and arrogant. They see themselves as caretakers of the sea, and they expect other creatures to pay them deep respect, if not complete deference.

This attitude might grate on others, but it arises from a seed of truth. Few know of the tritons’ great victories over dreadful undersea threats. The tritons make little allowance for such ignorance and are delighted to expound upon the great debt others owe them.

Tritons also have a tendency to emerge from their isolation under the assumption that other folk will welcome them as respected allies and mentors. Again, distance drives much of this attitude. The tritons’ limited view of the world leaves them ignorant of the kingdoms, wars, and other struggles of the surface world. Tritons readily see such concerns as minor events, a sideshow to the tritons’ role as the world’s true protectors.

Staunch Champions

Despite their off-putting manners, tritons are benevolent creatures at heart, convinced that other civilized races deserve their protection. Their attitude might grate, but when pirate fleets prowl the waves or a kraken awakens from its slumber, they are among the first to take up arms to protect others.

Tritons readily sacrifice themselves for the common good. They will fight and die for humans, merfolk, and other creatures without question. Their self-absorbed nature makes them overlook the history of other creatures, but they also endure a sense of guilt over allowing the evils of the Plane of Water to enter the Material Plane and threaten its inhabitants. The tritons believe they owe a debt of honor to the world, and they will fight and die to pay it.

At times their fervor and ignorance of the world can lead them astray. Tritons encountering other creatures for the first time can underestimate them, leaving the tritons vulnerable to deception. With their strong martial tradition, tritons can sometimes be too eager to leap into a fight.

Strangers to the Surface

Given their isolation, most tritons have never been to the surface world. They struggle with the idea that they can’t easily move up and down out of water, and the changing of the seasons mystifies them.

Tritons also find the variety of social institutions, kingdoms, and other customs bewildering. For all their proud culture, they remain innocent of the surface world. The typical triton protectorate is tightly regimented, organized, and unified around a common cause. A triton on the surface becomes easily confused by the bewildering array of alliances, rivalries, and petty grievances that prevent the surface folk from truly unifying.

At its worst, a triton’s arrogance compounds the tendency for the triton not to understand the ways of the surface world. It’s easy for a triton to blame baffling social practices on what the triton perceives as the barbarism, weakness, or cowardice of surface folk.

Triton Personality

Far from flawless, these champions of good mean well, but they are easily frustrated by others. You can select, roll, or adapt a triton-specific quirk from the Triton Quirks table. Use the quirk to inform how you portray your character.

Triton Quirks

Triton Names

Most triton names have two or three syllables. Male names typically end with a vowel and the letter s, and female names traditionally end with an n. Tritons use their home protectorate as a surname, with the name formed by adding a vowel followed by a “th” to the end of the protectorate’s name.

Female Triton Names: Aryn, Belthyn, Duthyn, Feloren, Otanyn, Shalryn, Vlaryn, Wolyn

Male Triton Names: Corus, Delnis, Jhimas, Keros, Molos, Nalos, Vodos, Zunis

Triton Surnames: Ahlorsath, Pumanath, Vuuvaxath

Triton Traits

Your Triton character has the following racial Traits.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Age. Tritons reach maturity around age 15 and can live up to 200 years.

Size. Tritons are slightly shorter than Humans, averaging about 5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water. In addition you have a Swimming speed of 30 feet.

Control Air and Water. You can cast Fog Cloud with this trait. Starting at 3rd Level, you can cast the Gust of Wind spell with this trait. Starting at 5th Level, you can also cast the Water Walk spell with it. Once you cast any of these spells with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Emissary of The Sea. You can communicate simple ideas to any Beast, Elemental, or Monstrosity that has a Swimming speed granting advantage on charisma checks when communicating to them⁠. It can understand your words, though you have no special ability to understand it in return.

Guardians of the Depths. Adapted to the frigid ocean depths, you have resistance to Cold damage.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.

Random Height and Weight

You may roll for your character’s height and weight. The roll in the Height Modifier column adds a number (in inches) to the character’s base height. To get a weight, multiply the number you rolled for height by the roll in the Weight Modifier column and add the result (in pounds) to the base weight.