Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion (PFRPG)
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Unlock the powers of your ancestors and combine the might of two worlds with Pathfinder Player Companion: Bastards of Golarion! Whether you’re the abandoned progeny of elven royalty or the feared result of hag trickery, your lineage is both strange and storied, and you must channel the brawn and guile of your forebears to prove yourself to a harsh and uncaring world—no matter the costs.

Inside this book, you’ll find:

  • Ten new heritages and alternate racial traits for half-elves and half-orcs—from the seafaring children of aquatic elves to the brash kin of desert orcs.
  • Details and new character options for adventurers from the famous half-elven refuge of Erages and the half-orc port city of Averaka.
  • Four character themes to represent bastards of all races and pasts, including the envied celebrity, the misbegotten illegitimate, the scorned outcast, and the neglected unfortunate.
  • A slew of generation tables to inspire grim character backgrounds and determine the physical features inherited from non-human progenitors.
  • New archetypes, feats, spells, magic items, traits and more for bastard characters of all walks!

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

Written by Judy Bauer, Neal Litherland, Ryan Macklin, and David N. Ross.
Cover Art by Ralph Horsley.

Each monthly 32-page Pathfinder Player Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for all types of characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-602-7

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

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Not worth the price

2/5

This product would have gotten four stars were it half the price. At its listed retail, however, the value just isn't there.

There are some wonderful illustrations of the common fantasy half-breeds, especially half-orcs. However, the work itself seems a bit unfocused, with not enough material in some cases (gill men) and bland material in others. What crunch there is seems to be so minor or insignificant as to be an after thought.

The true "bastards" - half-tiefling, half-aasimars, etc. - are relegated to a paragraph apiece. A true shame and a missed opportunity.

A large swath of this work was devoted to character backgrounds - material that could have been condensed to one or two paragraphs per concept, leaving more room for discussion on actual half-breeds.

A work on this subject could have easily been double this size and packed with awesome information. It's very unlikely we'll ever get that chance again for Pathfinder.


Bastards of Heroics

5/5

After looking at this book again recently, I can say that it is much better then I thought it would be. Not only do half-elves and half-orcs get a lot of love but several other races get a little something cool as well.


Pretty good

3/5

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

Bastards of Golarion is a rather better book than I was expecting, even if it does at times seem unsure of its focus. It contains a lot of advice and suggestions for creating characters who are either half-human characters or outcasts from society in some way or another. As with any Pathfinder Player Companion, there are quite a few new mechanical options, but these are mostly limited to new traits that help support the “fluff” of the book. The emphasis of the book is very much on the background information, and this pleased me a great deal.


Disappointing

2/5

A disappointing book that tries to do too much. You get some good fluff and an occasional gem amidst a lot of chaff and a few real head-scratchers. Admittedly, Half-Elves are my favourite core race and I was hoping for better quality content than what I found here.

Positives: Good fluff all round. Half-Orc Subraces are well done. Great cover and I have to single out the Half-Orc pic on page 10 for making me consider playing my least favourite race.

Negatives: Most of the new options are forgettable. Far too many races with their own dedicated Players Companions are represented. Background and Distant Heritage options are things you could work out for yourself with little actual mechanics.

I have to call out some specifics now as examples; some of this stuff perplexes me. The Shoreborn give up Low-light Vision and Keen Senses for Swim and Sailing buffs; the buffs are understandable but you’d think Aquatic blood would make for better vision rather than worse. Spireborn are a little too good, they trade Adaptability for Spell-Like abilities. The rest generally trade Elven Immunities for terrain-specific skill buffs which are of questionable utility aside from very specific campaign settings.

The Unusual Origins feat is actually four feats, depending on which of the applicable races you are. Why isn’t it four separate feats? I don’t know, I can’t think of a single reason why. This one feat takes up an entire double page spread too with some seriously ugly artwork. I hate saying that but that particular piece of artwork rubs me in every wrong way possible.


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Contributor

Momo Kimura wrote:
Quote:
This book has some CRAZY cool feats. My favorite is this one that allows you to spend an immediate action when you are targeted by an area effect spell to try and block the attack with an adjacent opponent's face.

Ow my ribs hahaha!

Did half-orcs get some cool racial?

I like the Craigborn trade, but overall I'm not impressed with half-orc traits.

Half-Orc Alternate Racials:

Evader (Gloomkin): Trades intimidating for +5 racial on Survival checks to avoid becoming lost and a +1 racial bonus on Stealth checks.

Burning Assurance (Sandkin): Trades intimidating for a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy check.

Warded Skin (Rainkin): Trades orc ferocity for spell resistance vs. divine magic equal to 6 + rainkin's level and divine spells cast on the rainkin by demon worshipers have a 10% failure chance.

Cliffside Charger (Craigkin): Trades orc ferocity and weapon familiarity for Woodland Stride in mountain terrain and a +10-ft. racial bonus to speed while charging.

Unflinching Valor (Frostkin): Trades intimidating for +2 racial bonus on saves vs. fear effects and a +1 racial bonus to CMD vs. grapple checks.


That Craig sure must've gotten around to have a whole group of half-orcs named after him.


Kajehase wrote:


That Craig sure must've gotten around to have a whole group of half-orcs named after him.

Well, they are Half Orcs... the other half had to come from someone.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Looks like I will have to settle for Rainkin instead of Sandkin for my Osirian half-orc Cavalier with Order of the First Law (Strongly against Divine Magic).

Craigkin is the best overall trait indeed that comes with a package deal of woodland stride (mountains) and a +10 movement speed increase when charging. I am halfway expecting a magic item in this book called: Craig's List.

Half Elves defiantly got the lion's share for racial traits. If I were rate them from 1-5 I would say:

Spoiler:
Child of the Seas (** or *****): Trades low-light vision and keen sense for a +4 racial bonus on Swim and Profession (sailor) checks (as well as any Wisdom checks made to pilot a seafaring vessel). Also cannot get lost at sea.

(If it were a skull & shackles campaign it would easily be 5 stars... theirs not much reason not to pick this if you weren't Undine if you want to be better at seafaring. If your character is not going to be spending much time at sea, this is pretty bad aside from the racial to swim checks)

Thinblood Resilience (****): Trades elven immunities for a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease as well as the poison use ability.

(Better saves versus disease and poison is always a positive. No longer immune to sleep is alright unless your GM feels like every enemy you face should now know the sleep spell. No bonus versus enchantments.)

Jungle affinity (** or *****): Trades multitalented for a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while within jungle terrain and the woodland stride ability while within jungle terrain.

(Pretty much the same as Child of the Seas. Unless you are in your "natural" habitat this racial is pretty bad)

Mordant Envoy (****): Trades adaptability for a +1 bonus to caster level with transmutation spells and the following spell-like abilities 1/day if the half-elf has a Charisma of 11 or higher: comprehend language, detect secret doors, erase, read magic.

(Over all it is pretty much like the Envoy racial trait for Elves except that it makes you better also with Transmutation spells.)

Spire Languages (* or *****): Trades standard half-elf languages starting languages for Azlanti and Elven.

(Depending on how you want to spin it; this either makes it hard for you to communicate with the party because you no longer know COMMON and your party will be annoyed if no one else knows Elven or Azlanti... or the best roleplay set of starting languages as you do get Azlanti as a free starting language and you can talk to somebody else in your party and also saves you a skill point for the Linguistics skill)

Cold-Honed (** or *****): Trades elven immunities for woodland stride in cold terrain (snow and ice only) and a +4 racial bonus to avoid nonlethal damage from cold environments.

(Same as Child of the Seas and Jungle Affinity)


Heine Stick wrote:
There's not a lot of changeling-specific info. A paragraph and a trait, it seems. That goes for all the non-half-elf/orc races. A total of two pages with each race getting a paragraph and a trait. The rest focuses on half-elves and half-orcs (providing various heritages) and fluff/game mechanics for half-races in general (A Bastard's Origins, The Celebrity, The Illegitimate, The Outcast, The Unfortunate, and Distant Heritages).

Wow....that's..... disappointing.

Think I'll pass on this one.


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The idea of a Blood of the Coven (Hag/Changeling) book really sounded like it would be great. Covering stuff for full Hags, Changelings, and even non-Changelings somehow implicated by Hags, maybe with non-Hag connected Witches and Hex-Maguses and Shaman-related material tossed in.

Vulcan Olympian wrote:
Looks like I will have to settle for Rainkin instead of Sandkin for my Osirian half-orc Cavalier with Order of the First Law (Strongly against Divine Magic).Looks like I will have to settle for Rainkin instead of Sandkin for my Osirian half-orc Cavalier with Order of the First Law (Strongly against Divine Magic).

Sounds like the character would be better off coming from Rahadoum, where the OotFL actually is grounded in the setting? They also speak Osirioni and are of the Garundi ethnicity/were ruled by Osirion at one point in the past. They also have a more significant Half-Orc population, AFAIK. Incidentally, the Jungle affinity can also work there because the far South of the country is inundated by rainstorms from the Eye of Abendengo. You could be from that region, and/or have served your Order there, rooting out cultists and deists infiltrating from the Sodden Lands.


Half-Elf

Children of the Sea is OK, and interestingly it's also 'compatable' with the ARG Water Child option as they replace different things... Unfortunately, the result is even more underwhelming. I would have inserted a clause into CotS that if you take both of those, they gain an actual Swim Speed. As is, the net bonus to Swim skill and Take 10 aspect correlated to what a Swim Speed grants you, but a real Swim Speed is just much nicer in terms of action economy, 5' steps, Charging, etc.

Thinblood Resilience is nice, Poison and Disease are major categories of Fort Saves you will face, so nice to counter the Racial penalty to CON. Interesting to see if this will be PFS legal, and if it will have similar allowance to Alchemist re: Poison access.

Mordant Envoy (and Envoy) seems GREAT for Ranger/Paladin/etc Casters that don't get Cantrips/Orisons (especially Ragecasters who can't prepare from their entire list each day, but must live with their Spells Known), they now have access to Read Magic so they can use Scrolls without blowing a 1st level spell (or a Wand of Read Magic, etc). As well as qualifying for Arcane Strike, etc. The Comprehend Languages option is also nice if you choose to not speak Common (Spire Languages). Personally, I like a less ridiculously Common-centric game-world, so I applaud options like Spire Languages.


nighttree wrote:
Heine Stick wrote:
There's not a lot of changeling-specific info. A paragraph and a trait, it seems. That goes for all the non-half-elf/orc races. A total of two pages with each race getting a paragraph and a trait. The rest focuses on half-elves and half-orcs (providing various heritages) and fluff/game mechanics for half-races in general (A Bastard's Origins, The Celebrity, The Illegitimate, The Outcast, The Unfortunate, and Distant Heritages).

Wow....that's..... disappointing.

Think I'll pass on this one.

It's probably not going to tip the scales one way or another but there is also a feat for Changelings as well that gives them bonuses if they're around other Changelings. It's easy to miss in the PDF because it's part of a two-page spread (which they've been doing more of lately).

In more general stuff about the book, was I the only one who thought the map showing the distribution/territories of the various races was pretty cool?


Quandary wrote:

Thinblood Resilience is nice, Poison and Disease are major categories of Fort Saves you will face, so nice to counter the Racial penalty to CON. Interesting to see if this will be PFS legal, and if it will have similar allowance to Alchemist re: Poison access.

Not to double-post, but IIRC (I don't have the PDF on-hand) the Thinblood Resilience trait also replaces different things than the suggested half-drow stuff in the ARG.


Half-Orc

Evader seems not thrilling but good enough as well, if you're more interested in Stealth than one more +1 to Intimidate.

I like Burning Assurance/Sandkin for the setting implications.

Warded Skin really does make the most sense in Southern Rahadoum.

Cliffside Charger is decently nice, I can't help but think it should also work in any 'rocky ground' difficult terrain, just because I can't imagine why it would work on a given terrain in the mountains but identical terrain in a Cave or rocky ground as a result of Stone Call wouldn't qualify.

Unflinching Valor is not thrilling but decent and a worthwhile trade-out for Intimidating. I don't think you can really expect a huge ability in exchange for something so minor like that.


Oh man. So much excitement as I saw that I had my download... I've been really keen for this one. Then so much disappointment when I remembered that I don't have internet for the next few weeks at home, and I can't download these things at work... sigh.

What I'm saying here is throw all of the spoilers at me! (the stuff so far has me pretty happy, though it definitely sounds like Half-orcs got the short end of the stick compared to Half-elves.)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
MythicFox wrote:
In more general stuff about the book, was I the only one who thought the map showing the distribution/territories of the various races was pretty cool?

I haven't gotten vary far into my read yet, but yes, right now, that is the best part I've seen so far.

On a completely different note; why, when we just had Blood of the Moon which introduced them not three months or so ago, did Paizo waste space putting in a trait for Skinwalkers?! I realize I am probably in the minority on this, but I really don't have much use for Skinwalkers in the first place, particularly not when it takes up space that could have gone to better flesh out one of the other, longer-present races.

Finally, add my vote in favor of a 'Blood of the Hag/Coven/Cuckoo/etc...' I have loved Changelings since I first read mention of them in the Carrion Crown Player's Guide & then read the description in AP #43.

Contributor

@Irnk: I can't think of another demi-human race they could have given the space to. And if Bastards of Golarion is going to be the definitive product on demi-human races, skipping the skinwalker would have been a huge oversight.

Plus you could make the same argument for the geniekin races, which are getting a new product called Blood of the Elements this summer. And dhampir, which were highlighted in the controversial Blood of the Night.

Contributor

@MythicFox: While I thought the map was cool, I would have preferred if it was like the Magical Marketplace map. Magical Marketplace had each shopkeeper's face marking the location of their shop. I didn't find those crazy symbols they used to be all that intuitive.

Contributor

Tinkergoth wrote:

Oh man. So much excitement as I saw that I had my download... I've been really keen for this one. Then so much disappointment when I remembered that I don't have internet for the next few weeks at home, and I can't download these things at work... sigh.

What I'm saying here is throw all of the spoilers at me! (the stuff so far has me pretty happy, though it definitely sounds like Half-orcs got the short end of the stick compared to Half-elves.)

Whenever I buy a Player Companion, I'm usually satisfied if I can find at least one new player option that is either extremely unique and innovative or is filling a noticeable niche in current game design. I'll pay $12 for some awesome fluff and one good option for at least one class.

For me, the new bard archetype is worth the book's price in spades. It is a much-needed archetype and allows even better synergy between cavalier and bard for the purpose of qualifying for the Battle Herald prestige class. Its essentially a bard that gains a new performance that grants him solo tactics (as an inquisitor) while he performs as well as bonus teamwork feats instead of versatile performance.

There are a couple of really nice lone-wolf feats in the book and as always, the flavor content is bar-none.

I thought it was weird that Bastards of Golarion printed new drugs (three of them, if memory serves) because I wouldn't personally consider drugs as an appropriate inclusion in a Player Companion. It seems like a more GM topic to me.


MythicFox wrote:

It's probably not going to tip the scales one way or another but there is also a feat for Changelings as well that gives them bonuses if they're around other Changelings. It's easy to miss in the PDF because it's part of a two-page spread (which they've been doing more of lately).

In more general stuff about the book, was I the only one who thought the map showing the distribution/territories of the various races was pretty cool?

That feat sounds way to situational to be of much use....

What is the lone trait like ?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

@Alexander: I do make that same argument for the Geniekin races, in fact. I just hadn't gotten that far exactly. Practically that entire page could have been better used in my opinion, which would address to a degree, your point about what race they could have devoted the space to. As an example, while I don't personally have much interest in Gillmen, giving them the page when, to my knowledge they never even got a write-up in the ARG, would have been a fairer use then what happened.
Obviously, my opinions do not match Paizo's or the Author's. I'm sure I will still get a fair amount of use from this, particularly given my fondness for Half-Orcs, even if they did get the short end of the stick from the 'pretty's' (i.e. Half-Elves)...

edit: Yeah, the drugs bit was odd. Though I only saw names for two of them, though that could have simply been because I haven't done more than skim it so far. The names were nicely evocative however.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Damn! That Half-Orc female streetfighter type on pg. 10 is Hawt!

edit: Paizo people, if you read this, when you update the avatars Please add her!


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
nighttree wrote:
MythicFox wrote:

It's probably not going to tip the scales one way or another but there is also a feat for Changelings as well that gives them bonuses if they're around other Changelings. It's easy to miss in the PDF because it's part of a two-page spread (which they've been doing more of lately).

In more general stuff about the book, was I the only one who thought the map showing the distribution/territories of the various races was pretty cool?

That feat sounds way to situational to be of much use....

What is the lone trait like ?

Creative Manipulator:
(Changeling): Once per day, you may reroll a Charisma check you just made. You must take the result of the second roll, even if it is worse.
Silver Crusade

Oh my, the title is real.

I guess the word Bastard is not a unpolite word on the boards now.


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GM Elton wrote:
I guess the word Bastard is not a unpolite word on the boards now.

My Sword of Illegitimate Parentage takes exception to this.


Quandary wrote:
Sounds like the character would be better off coming from Rahadoum, where the OotFL actually is grounded in the setting? They also speak Osirioni and are of the Garundi ethnicity/were ruled by Osirion at one point in the past. They also have a more significant Half-Orc population, AFAIK. Incidentally, the Jungle affinity can also work there because the far South of the country is inundated by rainstorms from the Eye of Abendengo. You could be from that region, and/or have served your Order there, rooting out cultists and deists infiltrating from the Sodden Lands.

Spoiler:
Osirion like the PFS faction. Rahadoum for the birthplace and hometown.

Has the Freed Slave (Will version) trait (Was kept as a slave for a corrupt cleric who sought to honor and appease their god through gladiatorial combat with the use of slaves) and the Divine Denier trait from the Faith & Philosophies companion. I honestly wouldn't mind tweaking his backstory a bit to accommodate the Rainkin heritage.

Spell Resistance 6+Level Vs Divine is very good. Along with a 10% spell failure chance on Divine Spells.

I kind of wish this racial trait was in People of the Sands as it would have made it all the more complete for me at least.

I am really eager to get my hands on my copy that is currently shipping. It so far sounds like a real hoot and aside from a few speed bumps the content still has me very intrigued to learn more of whats inside.


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@Vulcan:

PFS character:
Ah, cool...

Funnily enough, even before I got to reading the 'slave for a corrupt cleric' part, I had thought "Hm, Andoren Faction might also be an option for this character." Andoren being anti-slavery, but they are also said to seek to "banish mysticism", so a Rahadoumi Pure Legionnaire's sentiments wouldn't be wholly out of place there. Of course Rahadoum itself allows slavery, but there's no reason you can't crusade against slavery while upholding the First Law (albeit Rahadoum doesn't actively seek to impose that law outside it's borders). Osirion might work from the angle of trying to facilitate good relations with a 'sister' Garundi country, but any pro-religion faction missions would be grating...???

I could see Rainkin fitting into that background by saying your character was kidnapped/enslaved in the Shackles area, where gladiator combat is common, along with strange cults... You eventually escaped, and had to survive the jungle of the Sodden Lands to return to Rahadoum, where you joined the legion and helped fight infiltrating deists from the South... etc.

Hope that was useful! ;-)


Quandary wrote:
@Vulcan: ** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:
Indeed it was helpful. You make strong points and I did write him similary though the Shackles wasn't present in the backstory as their wasn't the new racial trait.

Andoren wouldn't be a bad idea, however the character I envisioned is someone who is more interested in the political workings and history than fighting the tyranny of slavery.

As for religion based missions for the Osirion faction as that is part of knowledge gathering: It is a means to an end by taking notice of religious practices and learning their inner workings. As it is better to enlighten one's self on various practices and religions to know what you are fighting against than to keep one's self in ignorance. As not all religions are the same and recognizing key practices, prayers, simple rituals, even holy objects or certain garb can keep one on their toes when faced with it.

True the First Law does not seek to push their order outside of the lands of Rahadoum. However I am looking at PFS as a physical and mental journey for the character to discover the knowledge of the world more for what it holds, both good and bad. A way to allow the character to grow more and not be trapped in the bottle that is known as Rahadoum for much of their life.

So far the snippets of information on archetypes have also been fairly entertaining on how to give characters more interesting backgrounds.


The Gillmen were in the ARG but they only got a couple of pages.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

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I really want to play a half drow in PFS now (my only current game)

Spoiler:
I had a Forgotten Realms character who wasn't a half drow but looked it (moon elf slave mother Lantan owner/father so she had the white hair, dark skin part). She was an acrobat kit.

Great amount of fun destroying a stone guardian in one adventure. Ran up to the top of a 5 story building. jumped to another building, Golem tries to follow, takes falling damage, then climbs up the new building. Wash, rince, repeat. DM gave up when he realized as a mindless construct, it would keep doing this.

She'd be a natural Pathfinder.

Silver Crusade

Cthulhudrew wrote:
GM Elton wrote:
I guess the word Bastard is not a unpolite word on the boards now.
My Sword of Illegitimate Parentage takes exception to this.

I'm laughing out loud, now. :)

I have a sword of illegitimate parentage!

Silver Crusade

WOO! Got the download. Probably won't be able to fully read through until the hardcopy comes in, but should have time to check stuff before the power goes out. (yay ice!)


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Aasimars, Tieflings, Dhampirs and the Geniekin—Ifrits, Oreads, Sylphs, and Undines—all get mentions here but have or are going to have their own books. This book is centrally concerned with half-elves and half-orcs. It gives reference to the others because they fit the overall theme, but nothing more.

They explain why there are no half-dwarves, half-gnomes, and half-halflings: they are not compatible races. Those that can breed with humans are either magical in nature or are close enough to produce young successfully. They acknowledge that half-dwarves could exist due to powerful magic, but they would be rarer than rare. The rules for unique backgrounds can allow you to build a half-dwarf if you like (with the Advanced Race Guide rules).

And a final note on the word Bastard. They make it very clear in the intro that while a child of mixed parentage growing up with loving, accepting parents and a village or community that accepts them completely is possible and definitely exists on Golarion. That is not what this book is about as there needs to be some other factor in that background in order to make an interesting character. This is a book about those who fall through the cracks in society through no fault of their own but the nature of their heritage. The downtrodden, the discriminated against, the despised. In other words, the Bastards of Golarion.

Silver Crusade

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Oh hell yes, half-orcs are getting their own distinct culture in Averaka. There are hints about what it's like, but it really makes me hungry for more details.

Was really hoping for origin support for peaceful orc-human parentage. :( There might be hints of that possibility in the Half-Orc intro but I might be reading a bit into what's written.

Okay, reading further, there are possible stronger hints of that in the Sandborn entry. Also, the art seems to be of an Osirian half-orc. :D

Rainkin? Jackpot! Mwangi and orc tribes intermarrying to strengthen each other in both their stands against the demon-worshippers of Usaro? YES. That coupled with the details about how the orcs of the Mwangi expanse have their own separate culture and how their progeny(and likely they themselves) concentrate on anti-demon tactics really points to some strong possibilities for a decent orc culture to pull from. :) Imagining a rainkin barbarian with Mwangi/jungle orc-styled Celestial Totems now...

Cragkin... I'm really hoping I'm reading this right, because this is the cultural holy grail for me for orc/half-orc characters. If the communities mentioned in this entry could have Shoanti culture, oh God yes. Now to figure out which Quahs they would be affiliated with.

Averaka. Population shows a ton of half-orcs, a small number of humans and a smaller number of dwarves. Not mention of any full orcs. :( Really like the optimistic vibe of the place.

I think this is the first time I've noticed, but I really like that centerfolds also come in their own file now. :)

Nualia?! If she's there, then who are the other three? Dhampir guy on page 22 looks familiar, but I can't quite place him. There's no way page 26 is who I suspect, is there? No visible elf ears, must be someone else.

Extremely curious and hopeful about the possibilities raised in the Celebrity entry with that line about Lastwall.

The Distant Heritage and Inherited Features sections look like natural fits for sorcerer players wanting to emphasize their bloodlines a bit more.

Looking back at the beginning. I have to admit I think that sidebar mention about the "bastard" focus and how the book wouldn't really support non-tragic characters was a misstep, especially since this is pretty much the book for half-orcs and half-elves for the foreseeable future. Even with that though, stuff like Averaka made it through. It does have me a bit worried that the possibilities I got excited about earlier may have just been me reading things into it that weren't there.

One of the three Wrath of the Righteous spoilers I know of(plz don't tell me any more):
It's particularly frustrating after we finally got a half-orc character born from a a loving, consensual human/orc couple.
A bit more support for characters with that kind of origin would have been greatly appreciated, and it wouldn't have exactly removed all adversity from the character's life considering there's still all that prejudice out in the wider world for them to deal with.

That aside, this book is much much more helpful to half-orc players than the old Orcs of Golarion. Even sharing its book space with a lot of other races, it raises a lot more possibilities to play with. :)

Gah, really need that print copy now!


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Mikaze wrote:
Nualia?! If she's there, then who are the other three? Dhampir guy on page 22 looks familiar, but I can't quite place him. There's no way page 26 is who I suspect, is there? No visible elf ears, must be someone else.

Look more closely at the eyes. I'm pretty sure she is supposed to be a Changeling. Of course, part of that could just be that Changelings are my second favorite half-breed in Golarion.

Personally, I kind of think the Celebrity might actually be a picture of Nualia from before the 'Late Unpleasantness', but again, I could simply be reading in & 'wish fulfilling'...

Silver Crusade

Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal wrote:
Personally, I kind of think the Celebrity might actually be a picture of Nualia from before the 'Late Unpleasantness', but again, I could simply be reading in & 'wish fulfilling'...

Nah, you're right. That's totally who that is. There's no way that isn't Nualia before the Unpleasantness. :)


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Mikaze wrote:
A bit more support for characters with that kind of origin would have been greatly appreciated, and it wouldn't have exactly removed all adversity from the character's life considering there's still all that prejudice out in the wider world for them to deal with.

Agreed. Considering most of the Inner Sea's opinion of orcs, and if reality is any guide, I'd expect the kids of consensual stable orc/human parents to have worse experiences--both parents are sticking their necks out even further by being exceptions to the rule in most cultures. The violence and vitriol toward the family could be tremendous.


Personally, I never really liked half-orcs as a race. Their basic origin story is "your mother was raped by an orc". This basically means that your character has to come from a region where orcs and humans are in conflict and orcs have successfully taken human villages. So that's pretty constraining, roleplay wise...and there's also the whole cheap "rape as drama" thing.


Axial wrote:
Personally, I never really liked half-orcs as a race. Their basic origin story is "your mother was raped by an orc". This basically means that your character has to come from a region where orcs and humans are in conflict and orcs have successfully taken human villages. So that's pretty constraining, roleplay wise...and there's also the whole cheap "rape as drama" thing.

That's one possible origin story. The only thing required for being a half-orc is orc and human parentage.

I love me some half-orcs. Glad they finally got a player companion (Orcs of Golarion doesn't count...)


Feros wrote:

Aasimars, Tieflings, Dhampirs and the Geniekin—Ifrits, Oreads, Sylphs, and Undines—all get mentions here but have or are going to have their own books. This book is centrally concerned with half-elves and half-orcs. It gives reference to the others because they fit the overall theme, but nothing more.

They explain why there are no half-dwarves, half-gnomes, and half-halflings: they are not compatible races. Those that can breed with humans are either magical in nature or are close enough to produce young successfully. They acknowledge that half-dwarves could exist due to powerful magic, but they would be rarer than rare. The rules for unique backgrounds can allow you to build a half-dwarf if you like (with the Advanced Race Guide rules).

And a final note on the word Bastard. They make it very clear in the intro that while a child of mixed parentage growing up with loving, accepting parents and a village or community that accepts them completely is possible and definitely exists on Golarion. That is not what this book is about as there needs to be some other factor in that background in order to make an interesting character. This is a book about those who fall through the cracks in society through no fault of their own but the nature of their heritage. The downtrodden, the discriminated against, the despised. In other words, the Bastards of Golarion.

I love that, apparently humans can mate with orcs and freakin' aliens (Yes, the elves,) but they can't mate with the two other native races of Golarion, dwarves and halflings?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Ashram wrote:

I love that, apparently humans can mate with orcs and freakin' aliens (Yes, the elves,) but they can't mate with the two other native races of Golarion, dwarves and halflings?

Yeah, I don't that either. Dwarves are more human-like than elves to the point where I'm not sure how or why they're a separate race at times.

Still, I love half-elves and by the sound of things this book will finally make half-orcs interesting to me. Eagerly awaiting my PDF.

Developer

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Mikaze wrote:
Irnk, Dead-Eye's Prodigal wrote:
Personally, I kind of think the Celebrity might actually be a picture of Nualia from before the 'Late Unpleasantness', but again, I could simply be reading in & 'wish fulfilling'...
Nah, you're right. That's totally who that is. There's no way that isn't Nualia before the Unpleasantness. :)

Ding ding ding. Glad you like the easter egg. :] While developing the Celebrity section, I had a hard time thinking about anyone who fit the bill better than our most famous aasimar.

Developer

Mechalibur wrote:
Axial wrote:
Personally, I never really liked half-orcs as a race. Their basic origin story is "your mother was raped by an orc". This basically means that your character has to come from a region where orcs and humans are in conflict and orcs have successfully taken human villages. So that's pretty constraining, roleplay wise...and there's also the whole cheap "rape as drama" thing.
That's one possible origin story. The only thing required for being a half-orc is orc and human parentage.

Don't forget that half-orcs aren't hybrids, either. That is, when two half-orcs love each other very much, they make a half-orc baby. This can also happen with a half-orc and a human on occasion (memory serving).

Contributor

Question about Dirty Trick Master:

As written, the feat allows you to "trade up" two applications of the dazzled condition for dazed. Normally a character can spend a standard action to remove a negative condition imposed by a Greater Dirty Trick (and this is noted by the feat), but if you are dazed, you are unable to take any actions which means you cannot remove the dirty trick. Add to this that Dirty Trick Master can potentially daze opponents for 3, 4, or more rounds (more than any other feat, spell, or ability) with no saving throw (you only need to make a successful combat maneuver check); doesn't this make Dirty Trick Master a smudge overpowered? Granted, this feat requires a whooping four feats and a Base Attack Bonus of +11 to pull off.

Gods, I'm really hoping I don't get this feat nerfed TOO bad. I adore the concept. My suggestion would be to have dazzled stack to staggered instead of dazed, personally.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Well, my copy finally got in today...

Quote:
New archetypes, feats, spells, magic items, traits and more for bastard characters of all walks!

The spells part is a lie. Alas. I was admittedly curious as to what assembly of spells would be appropriate for half-elves and half-orcs.

For those interested primarily in the crunch:

Spoiler:
Two magic items: Kin's Face Tattoo (1,600 gp), Ring of Culturemeld (7,500 gp)
Two new archetypes: Averaka Arbiter (bard), Greensting Slayer (magus)
Eight new feats: Betraying Blow (Combat), Dirty Trick Master (Combat), Divert Harm (Combat), Solo Manuevers (Combat), Unusual Origins (Changeling), Unusual Origins (Dhampir), Unusual Origins (Fetchling), Unusual Origins (Gillmen)
One new bardic masterpiece: The Canticle of Joy
Two new drugs: Felwil and Silvertongue
Thirty new traits: Adaptable Flatterer (race, fetchling), Aerial Observer (race, sylph), Azlanti Inheritor (race, gillman), Chip on the Shoulder (social), Creative Manipulator (race, changeling), Curse in the Blood (race, skinwalker), Cynical Ear (social), Doublespeak (social), Elven Serenity (race, half-elf), Expert Smuggler (regional, Erages), Fiery Glare (race, ifrit), Finish the Fight (race, half-orc), Friends in Low Places (social), Heart of Two Worlds (social), Improvised Defense (social), Iron Control (race, half-orc), Marked by Unknown Forces (social), Martyr's Blood (race, aasimar), Open-Minded Explorer (regional, Averaka), Overwhelming Beauty (magic), Practiced Impression (race, suli), Rest for the Wicked (social), Signature Moves (social), Spell Duel Prodigy (regional, Erages), Stoic Dignity (race, oread), Tempter's Tongue (race, tiefling), Trade Talk (race, half-elf), Undead Slayer (race, dhampir), Undine Loyalty (race, undine), Whole-Hearted (regional, Averaka)
Ten alternate racial traits: Burning Assurance (half-orc, replaces intimidating), Child of the Sea (half-elf, replaces low-light vision and keen), Cliffside Charger (half-orc, replaces orc ferocity and weapon familiarity), Cold-Honed (half-elf, replaces elven immunities), Evader (half-orc, replaces intimidating), Jungle Affinity (half-elf, replaces multitalented), Mordant Envoy (half-elf, replaces adaptability), Thinblood Resilience (half-elf, replaces elven immunities), Unflinching Valor (half-orc, replaces intimidating), Warded Skin (half-orc, replaces orc ferocity).

Personal opinions: Some interesting stuff here. Like others, I was interested in the map, finally giving us something of a concept of what races are where; I hope eventually we will have a huge hardcover book called Races of Golarion like the Advanced Race Guide except with a lot more Golarion-specific material and how all the races specifically fit into things, with a much bigger map along these lines with more details. But not before that updated hardcover version of The Great Beyond!

The ring of culturemeld is pretty interesting, neat for a diplomatic or silver-tongued type, allowing you to pick up languages quickly and boosting your diplomacy. Kin's face tattoo makes me shudder when they describe how it pulls your face into a different shape, but seems like a neat option for half-orcs who want to occasionally pass as one or the other, though I kind of wish it was just at-will for as long as they want.

Iron Control trait on page 10 seems to be in error, though...I think it should read subtract 1, not 10? Or am I missing how it's supposed to work?

The descriptions of the various kinds of half-elves and half-orcs are nice, give you some potential food for thought when creating a character, and even some thought for DMs who would like to churn up some drama.

Many of the traits are pretty interesting, though the ifrit one seems pretty powerful, potentially. Like a lot of the little details, such as skinwalkers being regarded by Ulfen as beings blessed with strength by the animal spirits. Canticle of joy looks like a nasty masterpiece too, especially if the DM allows you some creativity, but even without...though ahhhhhh Joyful Things.

Overall, pretty interesting stuff.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:

Question about Dirty Trick Master:

As written, the feat allows you to "trade up" two applications of the dazzled condition for dazed. Normally a character can spend a standard action to remove a negative condition imposed by a Greater Dirty Trick (and this is noted by the feat), but if you are dazed, you are unable to take any actions which means you cannot remove the dirty trick. Add to this that Dirty Trick Master can potentially daze opponents for 3, 4, or more rounds (more than any other feat, spell, or ability) with no saving throw (you only need to make a successful combat maneuver check); doesn't this make Dirty Trick Master a smudge overpowered? Granted, this feat requires a whooping four feats and a Base Attack Bonus of +11 to pull off.

Gods, I'm really hoping I don't get this feat nerfed TOO bad. I adore the concept. My suggestion would be to have dazzled stack to staggered instead of dazed, personally.

It also allows you to stack two sickens up to nauseated, which would also prevent making standard actions, only move actions. I'm personally of the opinion that it's fine, though, since you'll only get to do it at 11th level and after a fairly hefty feat investment...powerful, yeah, but you've still got to pull off a combat maneuver, and a lot of higher level foes tend to have a pretty hefty combat maneuver defense. Casters get dazing spell anywho...mmm, dazing black tentacles...or dazing ball lightning...well, that's just my personal opinion.

Contributor

That's a good point, Luthorne.


I'm curious about the Unusual Origins feats. Are they all similar?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Unusual Origin:

Your heritage is strange or difficult to trace, and people fear your otherworldly powers.
Prerequisite: Changeling, dhampir, fetchling, or gillman.
Benefit: Varies; see below.
GILLMEN
Benefit: As a so-called “Low Azlanti,” you have abilities supposedly tied to mysterious ancestors who still watch over you and your ilk. Your divination spells and spell-like abilities manifest at 1 caster level higher. In addition, once per day while fully immersed in water, you can cast augury as a spell-like ability.
DHAMPIRS
Benefit: Your undead progenitor left you with more than a hint of vampiric nature. You gain a natural bite attack that deals 1d4 points of damage. Once per day upon making a successful bite attack, you can choose to deal an additional 1d4 points of bleed damage to the creature struck.
Special: You can only select this feat at 1st level.
FETCHLINGS
Benefit: You have the mysterious ability to see into the Shadow Plane, but only in your dreams. Once per day while sleeping, you can create a magical sensor, as arcane eye except this sensor can view only your current location as it exists on the Shadow Plane. This effect lasts for 1 minute per character level, and can be used during any point while you sleep.
CHANGELINGS
Benefit: Your mother was part of a powerful hag coven, and it shows when you are near your kin. As long as you are within 30 feet of at least two other changelings, you gain a +2 bonus on concentration checks and dispel checks. If at least two of these changelings also have this feat, these bonuses increase to +4.
Special: This version of Unusual Origin is a teamwork feat.


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Huh, much disappoint in the Changeling version (interesting idea and nice effect but too hard to use for most PCs), but the Dhampir version is really good and the fetchling and gillmen ones are of limited use but really interesting.

I was kind of hoping for support for changelings of different kinds of hags, but I guess that would be an alternate racial trait and also this was never the book that was likely to have it.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
The Golux wrote:

Huh, much disappoint in the Changeling version (interesting idea and nice effect but too hard to use for most PCs), but the Dhampir version is really good and the fetchling and gillmen ones are of limited use but really interesting.

I was kind of hoping for support for changelings of different kinds of hags, but I guess that would be an alternate racial trait and also this was never the book that was likely to have it.

This is one of the reasons why several of us have started agitating for a 'Blood of the Coven/Hag/Cuckoo/etc' in the line sometime soon. On the other hand, an all-Changeling/all-Oracle party would kill if they all took that feat...


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I would indeed like to see that book, Changelings are really cool, and I agree a party of them would be a lot of fun with that feat.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

That Practiced Impression race trait for suli -- what is the general gist of it?


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
David knott 242 wrote:
That Practiced Impression race trait for suli -- what is the general gist of it?

You're good at making first impressions, so you get a +2 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks made against NPCs whom you've known for less than an hour.

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