My first DM's Guild review!
Positives: The ocean always needs more love, and this article manages to wrap mermaids, sirens, Atlanteans, and Lovecraft's Deep Ones all into a single speices. The variety of public domain art was a nice touch, and the art's era helps remind the reader the long tradtion of fantasy to which we are heirs. (In light of Lovecraft, the old-school-looking picture of Dagon was a great choice!) The race's mechanics, while not perfect, seem basically balanced and useful. Go for Deepborn if you want monstrous warrior who can take a chomp out of enemies, Sirenid for a seductress, and Ancient Blood for a mysterious genious! Favorite turn of phrase: "Some of those names are evocative Aquan words... while others reflect the madness that lies at the darkest depths of the oceans."
Negatives: A stylistic choice, I don't love the name "Child of the Sea;" most races are a single word or a compound word. I am also not sure why "Ancient Blood" is two words but "Deepborn" is one. On a more concrete level, the name of this web-page is not properly capitalized, and that made me hesitant to take a look at this article (though I am glad I did). A trustworthy editor or co-author would help make this article's prose more distinctive. I would take a second-glance at both the mechanics and the formatting of the race itself; indention for one-line entries is distracting. The race's fluff didn't exactly engage me, so I would think about editing the entry so that it meets the standard format: quote, brief description, appearnance, personality, society, adventurers, and names. This article already does the adventurers and names entries, and those are effective. Makes me want MOAR!
Overall: 3 out of 5 Stars! The presentation of this race is a little lacking, but the idea is creative and effective enough that I want to learn more. I think the racial mechanics need a second-glance, but I would let my players use this race in a heart beat! I look forward to future updates!
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