Human / Merfolk hybrid help

[MagusIryani]

So, my friends and I are starting a new campaign with all new characters after two of our people moved and someone wanted to make a new character. I'm trying out something I've never done before by being a Magus but her race is tripping me up. I'd like to give her the ability to breathe water and have an affinity to water. Much like Orin and Kaldur'ahm from young justice. But I'm having trouble picking and choosing which racial traits she would gain from her human mother and which she would gain from her merfolk father without completely overpowering her. I was trying to find a minus to give her but being half human she would lose the land-cumbersome tail of the merfolk. Humans don't really have any specific drawbacks due to there versatility and the best a could come up with is she wouldn't know Aquan having been raised among humans. Other than that I could take away the extra skill points and/or the bonus feat all humans get at level 1. I've decided she would not be eligible for any merfolk archetypes since she grew up on land.

Here is what I came up with. Any suggestions?
+2Dex, +2Con, +2Cha
Medium size
Normal speed
Normal swim speed?
Amphibious
Lowlight vision
Bonus feat at lvl1?
+1 skill rank at level 1?
Languages - Common

[Claxon]

Play as an Undine and take the alternative racial ability that makes you Amphibious.

Quote:

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Strength: Undines are both perceptive and agile, but tend to adapt rather than match force with force.

Native Outsider: Undines are outsiders with the native subtype.

Medium: Undines are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Normal Speed: Undines have a base speed of 30 feet on land. They also have a swim speed of 30 feet, can move in water without making Swim checks, and always treat Swim as a class skill.

Darkvision: Undines can see in the dark up to 60 feet.

Spell-Like Ability: Hydraulic push 1/day (caster level equals the undine's level).

Energy Resistance: Undines have cold resistance 5.

Water Affinity: Undine sorcerers with the elemental (water) bloodline treat their Charisma score as 2 points higher for all sorcerer spells and class abilities. Undine clerics with the Water domain cast their Water domain powers and spells at +1 caster level.

Languages: Undines begin play speaking Common and Aquan. Undines with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Auran, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Ignan, and Terran.

Quote:

Amphibious: Some undines are born with a permanent bond to water. Undines with this racial trait gain the aquatic subtype and amphibious special quality. This racial trait replaces the spell-like ability racial trait.

[Luthorne]

If you're making a custom race...humans only get a bonus to a single stat, unless you're going for dual-talented, which lets them get a bonus to two different stats, so I would personally suggest either making it +2 to two of those three stats instead of all three, and removing the bonus feat and skills, or making it a +2 to any, as per human, and keeping the bonus feat and skills, just saying your human versatility came out on top there. Or just keep one of them...remember, half-orcs and half-elves are both half-human, but neither gets the free bonus feat or extra skills...

I would also consider giving them a slow speed as a disadvantage because their legs might not be as adapted to normal movement as a pure human's would, forcing them to move more slowly. Thus, they would still be more at home in the water, but far more adapted to being able to move around on land. You could also consider losing low-light vision, due to having more human eyesight.

Ultimately, whatever your DM is fine with works. Personally, I think I'd go with a +2 to Con/Cha or Dex/Cha, 20 ft. land speed, 30 ft. swim speed, amphibious, low-light vision, and skilled as being reasonable, off the top of my head, but up to you and your DM in the long run.

Edit: Alternatively, you could also ask about using Gillmen as a reflavored human/merfolk halfbreed, possibly changing the aboleth vulnerability.

[LazarX]

I second Claxon's suggestion.. it's simple, elegant, and yields a playable character.

[MagusIryani]

Thanks so much everyone! :)

[Westphalian_Musketeer]

I third Claxon's suggestion. Remember to examine the full gamut of race options before jumping to the race-builder.

[Black_Lantern]

The way your race is built right now is more powerful than the merfolk or the human; therefore, you should revise it. Reduce the stat bonuses, its land movement speed, and remove the bonus feat. There's also the option of playing a undine, even though their outsider type make their overall RP build suffer and makes them an inferior race. Though, if you don't care about that then they're a perfectly fine race to play.