Ancestries and Heritages Preview: A World of Possibility

Love the Gnome art here. I think it is new art?

is it just me or does that half-orc Dromaar look a bit more elvish than expected?

Love the Gnome art here. I think it is new art?

It is not, it's from the Lost Omens character guide! It is very cool though!

is it just me or does that half-orc Dromaar look a bit more elvish than expected?

I think orcs are also supposed to have pointed ears, but the artwork of the orc and the dromaar is inconsistent on that point.

is it just me or does that half-orc Dromaar look a bit more elvish than expected?

Maybe its a Orc with versatile Half-Elf heritage

Why does the orc look like a green human with tusks and slightly pointy ears, when they used to look like this?

Kelseus wrote:

is it just me or does that half-orc Dromaar look a bit more elvish than expected?

Maybe its a Orc with versatile Half-Elf heritage

Or an elf with the dromaar versatile heritage...

Oh, are dromaar and aiuvarin part of the mixed ancestry heritage we saw a while back, or has something changed between then and now somehow?

Dromaar is the name for mixed orc ancestry, generally. The text of the Player Core says, the mix is "typically human." They and the aiuvarin fall under the heading of "Mixed Ancestry" now. There is also a paragraph on Custom Mixed Heritage. Spoilers! :)

Why does the orc look like a green human with tusks and slightly pointy ears, when they used to look like this?

This art is not new and appeared in Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, page 49. It represents the spectrum of orc appearance, not a shift in orc art concept.

There is some new art in the Player Core, but this is a good example of how the remaster is also a remix of sources.

Who made the Nephilim? That's an amazing piece, I love everything about it.

EDIT; nevermind, I thought I had seen it once before: back in a 2020 book, I think the APG? Pedro Kruger Garcia is the artist.

schnoodle wrote:

Why does the orc look like a green human with tusks and slightly pointy ears, when they used to look like this?

This art is not new and appeared in Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, page 49. It represents the spectrum of orc appearance, not a shift in orc art concept.

There is some new art in the Player Core, but this is a good example of how the remaster is also a remix of sources.

Ah, thank you. I appreciate the spectrum a lot more than one-size-fits-all.

Dromaar is the name for mixed orc ancestry, generally. The text of the Player Core says, the mix is "typically human." They and the aiuvarin fall under the heading of "Mixed Ancestry" now. There is also a paragraph on Custom Mixed Heritage. Spoilers! :)

Ah, so exactly what I was hoping for! Thank you!

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

Are other mixed heritages possible?

And if you can have cosmetic features from heritages you do not have, does that apply to my ancestry’s heritages? Can my talos nagaji look like a sacred nagaji with a snake lower half?

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

In Player Core 2 they're going to bust out with the "Ling" ancestry, and everyone is going to be so surprised.

Even if the text doesn't call them out, I'm excited for to make a Dwarf Dromaar someday.

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

Well we get to publish a whole set of new dragons in March with the Monster Core and then we’ll see what happens.

JiCi wrote:

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

Well we get to publish a whole set of new dragons in March with the Monster Core and then we’ll see what happens.

I'm just getting tired of NOT having a substitute for the Half-Dragon template.

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

I meant a new one like Aiuvaren and Dromaar.

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

We still don't know what Dwarves call themselves do we?

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

We still don't know what Dwarves call themselves do we?

They call themselves Dwarves. They just own it.

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

We still don't know what Dwarves call themselves do we?

Dwemer obviously :P (Dromaar make me think of Elder Scrolls)

I'm just happy the pictured Leshy took the Slay comma Drag Queen feat.
With the versatile ancestry Fierce.

I'm just happy the pictured Leshy took the Slay comma Drag Queen feat.

With the versatile ancestry Fierce.

Well, that particular Leshy is a fungus leshy and like a normal white capped mushroom has 140+ sexes, some fungi have upwards of 23,000 different sexes within a given organism.

Why does the orc look like a green human with tusks and slightly pointy ears, when they used to look like this?

Seems like a majority of fans like their kawaii, so I'm sure that's something guiding the art.

Personally, I'm thrilled that the leshy art looks fierce, and I'm sure a number of people are thinking "why does that leshy not look as cute and adorable as they usually do?"

So make your orcs (or dromaar) look as fierce as you want; or make your leshy look as brutal or as sweet as you want, as well.

I think the point of this preview is to show off even more versatility and choice with the Ancestry and Heritage options in the remaster.

Love the Leshy art and how vicious it looks. I still really don't like the name Nephilim just seems way too angelic of a name that encompasses so many varied outsiders

Maybe its a Orc with versatile Half-Elf heritage

One interesting side note is that if you look back at some of the formative setting material for Golarion (specifically page 54 of "Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited"), one will uncover a line that states that Golarion's elven population has historically taken GREAT PRIDE in the fact that their own bloodlines have remained completely incompatible with those of orcs.

Unless Paizo decides to slap down a sidebar enforcing this old lore, I genuinely look forward to the crestfallen expressions of elven nobles when the news of Dromaar-elf babies starts to filter back to Kyonin. :P

Samir Sardinha wrote:

Maybe its a Orc with versatile Half-Elf heritage

One interesting side note is that if you look back at some of the formative setting material for Golarion (specifically page 54 of "Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited"), one will uncover a line that states that Golarion's elven population has historically taken GREAT PRIDE in the fact that their own bloodlines have remained completely incompatible with those of orcs.

Unless Paizo decides to slap down a sidebar enforcing this old lore, I genuinely look forward to the crestfallen expressions of elven nobles when the news of Dromaar-elf babies starts to filter back to Kyonin. :P

I honestly believe this line to have been related to the incorrect early portrayal of elves as arrogant smug racists, which has been strongly debunked in recent years.

A useful conceit of the setting material is that the Pathfinder Chronicles are an in-world series of records. Thus, stuff like the old portrayal of elves can be quietly adjusted with unwanted depictions being chalked up to errors by the chroniclers.

Graylight wrote:

Samir Sardinha wrote:

Maybe its a Orc with versatile Half-Elf heritage

One interesting side note is that if you look back at some of the formative setting material for Golarion (specifically page 54 of "Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited"), one will uncover a line that states that Golarion's elven population has historically taken GREAT PRIDE in the fact that their own bloodlines have remained completely incompatible with those of orcs.

Unless Paizo decides to slap down a sidebar enforcing this old lore, I genuinely look forward to the crestfallen expressions of elven nobles when the news of Dromaar-elf babies starts to filter back to Kyonin. :P

I honestly believe this line to have been related to the incorrect early portrayal of elves as arrogant smug racists, which has been strongly debunked in recent years.

I'm with Raven on this one - it was made pretty clear for a while there that the portrayal of elves as xenophobic and self-superior is a flawed holdover from the dominance of Tolkienian elves and their aloof modern fantasy descendants. Part of the design of Golarion elves was making them 'actually chaotic good' (where the Tolkien standard was regarded as somewhat more lawful neutral), and therefore make them well-travelled and welcoming, having built a planet-wide network of portals to connect distant lands and peoples. That the elves are described as insular in this blog I would expect stems more from their need for personal space to maintain physiological balance, than a disdain for other ancestries.

I adore that leshy art. Exactly the kind of character I would want to make out of that ancestry. I bet they're friendly in a "bog witch" sort of way.

Idk I liked that elves are not monotoned good guys and you have some that are clearly aweful. Makes for great villain material outside of "bandits bad".

Also it is entirely possible for 2 species to be entirely incompatible but still crossbreed with the same third species. This is in biology is called a ring species. Up until now Elf - Orc was a close ring species because they could live together and not interbreed, but could breed with humans. What makes those five (half-elf and half-orc are their own species) being part of a ring species interesting is that if all species with human genes become extinct then elfs and orcs would be entirely incompatible.

Half-elf and half-orc being true breeding (for at least some genes) also makes the whole thing more complicated.

Idk I liked that elves are not monotoned good guys and you have some that are clearly aweful. Makes for great villain material outside of "bandits bad".

Also it is entirely possible for 2 species to be entirely incompatible but still crossbreed with the same third species. This is in biology is called a ring species. Up until now Elf - Orc was a close ring species because they could live together and not interbreed, but could breed with humans. What makes those five (half-elf and half-orc are their own species) being part of a ring species interesting is that if all species with human genes become extinct then elfs and orcs would be entirely incompatible.

Half-elf and half-orc being true breeding (for at least some genes) also makes the whole thing more complicated.

Elves being portrayed as monotoned jerks is not better.

Temperans wrote:

Idk I liked that elves are not monotoned good guys and you have some that are clearly aweful. Makes for great villain material outside of "bandits bad".

Also it is entirely possible for 2 species to be entirely incompatible but still crossbreed with the same third species. This is in biology is called a ring species. Up until now Elf - Orc was a close ring species because they could live together and not interbreed, but could breed with humans. What makes those five (half-elf and half-orc are their own species) being part of a ring species interesting is that if all species with human genes become extinct then elfs and orcs would be entirely incompatible.

Half-elf and half-orc being true breeding (for at least some genes) also makes the whole thing more complicated.

Elves being portrayed as monotoned jerks is not better.

They didn't read that way to me. They read more like stuck up and elitist, not jerks.

There's also the fact that "elf culture" is not a unified thing. There's of course some the "holdover" aspect from their pre-Earthfall unified origin, but modern Golarion elven groups have pretty different culture from each other.

Do nephilim also cover aphorite and ganzi?

Do nephilim also cover aphorite and ganzi?

If I remember the preview correctly the answer is that technically yes, but for now they are not translated into the nephilim yet, so no feats or abilities yet.

Love the Gnome art here. I think it is new art?

I don't believe so: I think it's in either the Lost Omens Character Guide or the Ancestry Guide.

Like Keftiu I'm here to make dworcs. I wanna make a rock solid barbarian that JUST WONT DIE

Like Keftiu I'm here to make dworcs. I wanna make a rock solid barbarian that JUST WONT DIE

With Living Monolith archetype.

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

We still don't know what Dwarves call themselves do we?

Pretty sure the term dwarf was used for the creature before it became an adjective/verb, so they could've originated it in-universe. I like to think the Dwarvish version is something akin to the older Germanic root that the modern word descends from.

JiCi wrote:

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

I meant a new one like Aiuvaren and Dromaar.

If anything, "halfling" is as common as "dwarf".

I do hope that MORE "half-human" versatile heritages are added. I mean, how have we NOT get a gnome/halfling hybrid ancestry by now is beyond me.

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

JiCi wrote:

Failedlegend The Eternal Gish wrote:

dissapointed halflings didn't get a real name for their race like half-orc and half-elf but 2/3 ain't bad :D

I think both "Kender" and "Hobbit" are trademarked names...

I would have replaced leshies with [not wimpy] kobolds...

For real, Paizo's denial of a draconic ancestry is seriously getting annoying...

I meant a new one like Aiuvaren and Dromaar.

If anything, "halfling" is as common as "dwarf".

I do hope that MORE "half-human" versatile heritages are added. I mean, how have we NOT get a gnome/halfling hybrid ancestry by now is beyond me.

There is also a paragraph on Custom Mixed Heritage. Spoilers! :)

Like Keftiu I'm here to make dworcs. I wanna make a rock solid barbarian that JUST WONT DIE

Meanwhile all my dwelf dreams are about to come true!

Like Keftiu I'm here to make dworcs. I wanna make a rock solid barbarian that JUST WONT DIE

"The name's Rock, Rock Solid."

I have a lore question. How can a leshy be a grimspawn?

I have a lore question. How can a leshy be a grimspawn?

The body could be made of plants watered by the River Styx, or plants from the forests or swamps of Abaddon itself, since the plane is far from barren. The leshy could have been formed in a time of great famine, pestilence, war, or death in general, perhaps in an attempt to alleviate the situation- leshies can grow fruit, might be immune to a humanoid-only disease, could be pressed into a supporting role in war, or carry messages from people who know they won't survive for some other reason. The ritual could have taken place somewhere with a particularly strong connection to Abaddon.

For something more unique, maybe the ritual of creation was performed with a trapped soul instead of proper life essence from nature.

I have a lore question. How can a leshy be a grimspawn?

a significant infusion of daemonic power/magic, most likely? which could come from a variety of sources after their creation, or perhaps even have been involved in the process of creating them somehow (intentionally or otherwise).

this kind of thing comes up quite often in golarion lore, and is the main answer to questions like "how do draconic bloodline sorcerers exist?" and whatnot. the exemplar iconic was not born a nephilim, for example.

I personally think it would also be fun if occasionally leshies just end up inheriting things like that from whoever created them. like an angelkin amurrun druid creates a leshy who unexpectedly has the potential to end up as an angel bloodline sorcerer, or something.