It would also be slightly silly for the primary goddess of Nagaji to have an unarmed attack using the mouth that didn't count the Nagaji ancestry's default (mouth-based) native unarmed attack.
As a proud member of the PF2e Bards Need To Get Spookier Club, I really like Occult casting for them, honestly? As other folks upthread have mentioned, the Occult list is really broad, thematically (and each individual bard only gets a relatively small portion of it), so your Bard can be a very conventional, uplifting sort, with maybe Shelyn as a muse, running stuff like soothe, charming spells, and a couple of sonic spells... or you can play one of a much wider range of concepts - a spirit-speaker binding ghosts and stirring the lower souls of the living, or a Lovecraftian cultist of the squamous pipers (Summon Aberration is the unique Occult summon for a reason), or any of the many many ways to do a "warrior muse" bard that aren't "PF1e Skald Again" (some ideas: drunkard with a good right hook and a head full of drinking songs, warrior-poet in the Ancient Chinese model, a bagpipe-tooting battlefield coordinator, or any sort of person who finds a unique emotional release in the middle of a good fight). All a "warrior muse" means, mechanically, is that you can stretch a magic a little further when you're in a scrap, and there's a lot of concepts that that can support.
I don't think they became homogeneous in PF2, I think the intended narrative is that a fleshwarp has so little in common with whatever their original ancestry's physical form was that you're functionally a completely distinct creature. I think that narrative could be sold more effectively if they had an Adopted-like effect to still get more cultural feats from their previous ancestry, and I think a less-completely-Fleshwarped versatile heritage would absolutely be appropriate as well. The intended narrative for the Fleshwarp ancestry is that you did in fact get mutated so hard that effectively nothing of your original traits remains, and the majority of the canonical fleshwarped NPCs we know about who weren't born that way actually have memory problems. While there's justification for Fleshwarp being a distinct ancestry, it would certainly make sense for them to also have a level one feat to grab adopted ancestry, and maybe make it easier for them to pass as their original ancestry (similar to Skeleton's one).
And speaking of capturing a visual or aesthetic idea while skirting the right side of coypright law, I'd also like to once more ask for an aberration versatile heritage. A, you've been touched by great old ones or the Dominion of the Black in a way that nephilim or geniekin have. My personal want there would be for a "similar to but legally distinct from" mind flayers but you could do a lot of fun stuff with that all the same. I would like to once more nominate Fleshwarp as the ancestry most deserving of also getting a versatile heritage when remastered - a hybrid fleshwarp would give us a really good aberration option in the same vein as hungerseed or geniekin.
Considering they do seem to have a fair few elements of continuous culture, I think dragons probably do generally keep their eggs close, and probably their young hatchlings as well (maybe dragons can start hearing things while they're still in the shell, like in Temeraire). But the main thing to remember is that dragons are sapient people, if generally very large and predatory ones, so the primary factor in how a dragon parent will treat their clutch, or any unusual eggs that slip in, is going to be that dragon's specific personality. Some dragons who don't want to look after eggs but find themselves with a clutch might scatter them around in reasonably suitable locations, so people might have to deal with surprise wyrmlings, others might be more inclined to actual childcare, and it wouldn't surprise me to find a dragon who actually quite likes having adopted children running around!
Counterpoint: I would like the Player's Guide because I wanna build characters!
Think the tech book will have SROs? I really hope so! Do em like Awakened Animal, with a customisable size and heritages based on purpose, but y'know, robots!
I would think Erastil's services are less like a Sunday service at an Earth Christian church, and rather more like a church potluck plus community discussion - feeding everyone is an excellent exercise in community-building, and he's always struck me as more of the works than faith sort of deity. Still with stories of the deity, but with a certain amount of shared meal and possibly small-town town hall stuff as well. As for other core deities, I think that Shelynite temple would have a wide range of art... not quite classes? Like, life drawing sessions, potter's workshops, and (rather improvisational) music events. Not super structured, but there's a signboard by the door with a schedule, and just about anyone can talk to the priest to add something within their own creative talents.
Wow, thank you all so much for such a great book! I literally cannot pick a favourite statblock, there's so many excellent options!
Athamaru can already be stinky - Emit Defensive Odor is a 1st-level ancestry feat with a whole feat chain of stinky after it. So I guess as long as your teenage self smelled like fish...?
Might I suggest calling that "Pharmaceutical Lore" instead? Much clearer, and doesn't feel like you're sticking two lores together.
Got started with 1e because I got invited to a game. Enjoyed the table but not so much the system (sorry, I just cannot stand the 3.5-descended action system). Got invited by another friend to join in on the 2e playtest, had a great time, and then didn't think about the system again for like 2 years. Eventually acquired the core books for 2e in a bundle, and am now running my own campaign, and playing in another.
Aquatic Adventures, despite the name, isn't actually an adventure book - it's in the vein of stuff like Guns & Gears or Howl of the Wild, more of a big book of lore (did you know that the Embaral Ocean has an El Niño and La Niña system? I really hope they do something with that), aquatic player options, and monsters. So a 2e version, with a remastered Undine, some of the 1e aquatic ancestries updated, and some specialised archetypes, spellshapes and magic stuff for being underwater is definitely a good option. And, while I would prefer that we get a Wet Stuff book before getting an underwater AP, but I don't think the situation is as dire as you're suggesting. Put "strongly recommended: Athamaru, Azarketi, Merfolk. Recommended: Seaweed Leshy, Undine, Swimming Awakened Animal" in the Player's Guide, and give everyone with Athletics Underwater Marauder for free and you're most of the way to making it work.
I really want an Ocean Stuff book. We've got enough aquatic ancestries to do a whole adventuring party without doubling up, but we've only got the Player Core and GM Core paragraph each for underwater rules. A version of Aquatic Adventures for 2e, especially with a full suite of underwater hazards, would be very cool, or even a Lost Omens: Wide Seas. Give us a Grindylow Goblin, an Aquatic Elf, or maybe a Triton or Cecaelia, and maybe a Fleshwarp heritage for aquatic stuff - algollthu and krakens both appear to do fleshwarping. Maybe a spellshape to do fire effects as steam, so they work underwater? And of course a bunch of magic items and spells for underwater stuff (I'd love to see some rituals based on real sailor superstitions, too - whistle up the wind and blow down a storm!)
Part of the reason I suggested looking into Turkish coffee specifically is because the Impossible Lands book calls the coffee preparations "intricate," and a Turkish-style preparation of finely ground (sometimes on the spot) coffee and water heated specifically in a basin of hot sand is the most intricate coffee ritual I'm aware of that doesn't require the invention of the espresso machine. (you can also absolutely do a less elaborate preparation over a fire, for cowboy coffee) Some other culinary ideas: remember couscous comes in both sweet (often served with honey, sesame and fruit, particularly dates) and savoury (with vegetables, chickpeas, and stew) - it's a very versatile dish, as befits a major staple. The mentions of thick milky tea being drunk by the industrial workers makes me think of spiced chai (you could possibly also lace it with something with a little more kick, hidden in the spice mix and picked up off the black market...). Actually, I bet they keep the tea hot by putting it on the boilers or steam pipes, because the factory barons sure as hells aren't shelling out for an employee kitchen! The agriculture section mentions figs, pomegranates, and dates, so generally Middle Eastern and North African cuisine seems like a good starting point - but it also mentions avocados, so getting some South American stylings is also a good plan (I don't know if there is corn, though. The eternal question of Golarion's Fantasy Columbian Exchange!).
The Impossible Lands book also mentions people in Alkenstar City having couscous and green tea for breakfast, which suggests North African culinary stylings. The mentions of elaborate coffee rituals during Surgetime also makes me think of Turkish coffee - actually, considering how into coffee and tea Alkenstar is, going for a very coffeehouse-and-cafe style dining style seems appropriate. Maybe add some flatbread, yogurt, and richly flavoured stews (not too capsaicin-spicy though - I would bet the Brighite lot sort "enough spice to make you cry" onto the "illogical foods" list)
There's actually very little in the way of Mwangi aesthetics in Alkenstar for one very simple reason - the bloody enormous mountain range in the way. It increases the effective distance between the Impossible Lands and the Mwangi Expanse from "right next to each other" to "long and incredibly difficult mountain crossing, or long and incredibly dangerous underground travel". Makes immigration a little difficult! As for a more blended aesthetic, how about waistcoats with back panels of Jalmeray silks (perhaps in the style of watered silks, or shot silk with a pattern), or a fashion for skirts printed with Katapeshi techniques? From Nex, there might be enchanted fabrics, like the glamourweave of Eberron, or strange, custom-built fleshwarp pets (definitely not also designed as scrying targets, oh no!). Geb mostly exports food, so I'd expect their cultural influence to be more in the direction of "default staple grains" rather than more overt blending.
Awakened Animal isn't actually an effective translation of most of the anthro-adjacent suggestions in this thread, I think? Awakened Animal's big strength and weakness is that you're Rare. Trending towards being a one-off weirdo is great for outsider narratives (see also: Yaoguai, Yaksha, Android), but if you want to be part of a people , it's not a particularly good pick. Thinking about what the culture of the hypothetical Ancestry is like half the fun! (or figuring out how Paizo'd rework 1e races or monsters into weirder, more diverse cultures)
I have the sneaking suspicion we'll get a proper Jotun species name once the book actually drops. Calling a new fantasy creature by a made-up name in a press release months before the book drops sounds like a great way to confuse people. Anyway, I'm loving how weird and biologically grounded the Jotunblood look - I know it makes them very different from giants, but these days proper giants are like half-elemental, rather than being flesh-and-blood creatures. The improvised armour is also very cool, and I'd love to hear more details about their native plane - are the Jotunblood from an Outer or Inner Plane, or are they from a parallel universe entirely?
Your GM is free to rule in favour of restricting mixed heritages to humanoids only, but I'm gonna be honest, putting a mixed heritage on a former-Humanoid ancestry like Skeleton or Automaton mostly seems like a fun way to flavour having originally been an elf or orc, without having to futz about with Adopted Ancestry. As for poppets, maybe you were made by and in the image of whichever ancestry you take?
It seems like what people want out of a "play as someone's animal companion/familiar/minion" is actually a bunch of fun co-ordinated action options, which might be better represented as an archetype? Some kind of teamwork manoeuvres focused thing, like a melee version of sniper duo.
I want an Untamed Druid battle form that doesn't scale size too big, or maybe a feat that reduces the size of a battlefront. As cool as it is to transform into a huge or gargantuan monster and stomp around... Sometimes you need to be regular bear sized to fit in a dungeon or tavern. Yeah, it'd be really nice to have an actual high-level Medium battle form before the literal capstone shapeshifter feat. Some extra forms for some of the spells could also be nice - plant form literally only has two options, for example, and monstrosity form only has three!
Honestly, I'd love to see SOMEWHERE do one of my favourite little historical artefacts - the moving royal or imperial court, and I vaguely recall somewhere in central Asia historically having done that (not having any luck tracking down a citation, though). An itinerant court would make for an interesting justification for having such a widespread network of roads - even if any individual ruler is short-sighted and greedy, maintaining that public infrastructure is still gonna happen, just so that the ruler's travels aren't a colossal pain in the neck. Otherwise, love to see more about trade goods, Keleshite magical practices (are there spells and rituals limited by the fact that there's literally three mines on the planet for one of the required gemstones?), and any weird ancestries hanging around.
Well, the freely available playtest document gives them a 2nd-level feature, Rune Crafter, which gives them the Magical Crafting feat, even if they lack the prerequisites, and also gives them the formulas for ALL fundamental armor, shield, and weapon runes. Also they don't need a formula book for any rune formula, they just keep it in their heads. At 9th level they then gain a feature that increases their degree of success on any downtime check to craft runes, which is a level beyond what any other class can do on pretty much any kind of check. I would say that playtest Runesmith is quite possibly the Best Class At Crafting Runes, and I don't see any reason why that would need to be changed in the final class.
The actual description of an ikon says:
I would like to see an AP focusing on the First World, and that would be an obvious one to focus on gnomes for - not sure what bit of Golarion you'd want to put it in, but hopping in and out of the first world for adventuring, bargaining, or hunting could be cool (my brain handed me the mental image of a well that you climb down, only to descend a rope out of the sky)
Oh the Gladiator one sounds like fun! Don't think Paizo would do that now that they have abolished slavery across the inner sea and and are not mentioning it elsewhere, but I may have to homebrew it. Considering the demographics of real gladiators (some, but not many, were free people), you could very well have a gladiator AP where the fighters are free (but high-risk) or debt-indentured, and part of the AP involves messing with your awful boss to improve the working conditions of the arena. Healing magic can cost money, that's a great way to make sure your best performers can't leave!
In light of War of Immortals being available, I am now actually banning something in my games - because "kilted breastplate" is visibly a hoplite's armour, and quite literally none of its traits are accurate (ah, yes, the ~30kg heavy infantry armour, notable for restricting mobility, should definitely be a light armour with the flexible trait). This ticks me off, so I'm refusing to deal with it in my games.
I think the only thing I've actually banned in PF2e is the Investigator, for reasons of "please don't make me think up a bunch of clues for this homebrew game I'm planning *maybe* three weeks in advance" - though I did tell my players in session zero that the aesthetics of the Guns & Gears classes was a level of technology that straight up hadn't been invented yet, on account of being in the Late Medieval, so they'd have to accept some reflavouring if Gunslinger or Inventor really grabbed them. I basically handle both rare and uncommon items as "ask first" and for the region-locked stuff try and figure out how widespread their equivalent would be for my own setting.
I guess maybe once you punch (/bite/claw/gore) someone, they get limned in clinging flames? It's definitely a bit weird without having regular, non-persistent fire damage, but you could flavour it as the unarmed attack is on fire, but doesn't burn you or things you touch, *until you let go*
Are we really going to tell people how they should play their PC ? When it is this loaded an issue, advising caution and sensitivity in order to avoid upsetting or potentially triggering your fellow players is generally a good idea - the game is only fun if the whole table's having fun. Anyway, more character ideas! How about a taciturn talos dwarven gunslinger (way of the drifter), sent as part of a small delegation from Dongun Hold, sent both to scout out the potential of diplomatic overtures, and to open up purchasing opportunities for the orcs of Belkzen. Would probably want to check with the GM if the concept is a bit awkard for the AP, but I think it could be fun to play.
I like that they have a centaur hellknight, it looks cool! Not a fan of colonizing in general, but taming the wild and savage lands of Belkzen does have a certain appeal. Uhhh, mate, please don't take this as an insult, but that thing you just said is in fact extremely colonialist. Calling an environment where people live wild and untamed, with the implication of taming it by turning it to agricultural land that can be better exploited by state powers as an unambiguous positive is pretty much colonialism 101. Like, if you want to play this character, absolutely sure, go have fun! But do be aware that the organisation your character serves is monstrous.
I think a coatl option won't be a Nephilim option, for the same reason Hungerseed are their own thing now - Coatl are Holy Beasts, not actually any kind of Outer Plane entity, so they don't fit in Nephilim's Outer Planetouched bag. I still really hope we see them though (c'mon, Lost Omens: Arcadia!) On another note, it would be interesting if spitespawn (if Div are in fact still around), actually ended up being their own thing, patterned off the various elemental Planetouched (if remaster Div retain being corrupted elementals), rather than being a nephilim lineage. Admittedly I am suggesting this at least partly because nephilim is already so packed with lineage feats.
I've only really started posting on the forums fairly recently, but I think the frequent chorus of "New Wizard is Bad! We Don't Like Oracle Anymore!" is uh... somewhat discouraging if you're interested in discussing builds or further character options.
I did consider putting them alongside the divspawn in my post, but they are the only creatures that I know of in pf2e that comes with a content warning, so it might not be one Paizo want to put out for general use. Nah, the content warning sidebar in Monster Core is pretty extensive, including basically all the demons, a number of the devils, and a fair spread of other creature types. While "embodiment of human(oid) fears" is a fairly edgy pick for an unpleasant ancestor, so is "embodiment of horrible ways to die" and yet Grimspawn are in Player Core! Besides, on a PC versatile heritage, the whole body horror aspect gets fairly toned down.
I do think we are probably getting the already existing Outer Planetouched remastered, but I do hope we also get a sahkil lineage - fear-based outsiders are really evocative, conceptually, and it's a shame we've gone two editions without getting a planetouched option for them.
Alright, poking over the 1e list of Great Old Ones... I will confess to a soft spot for both Bokrug and Yig, but I'm not sure either of them makes for a very good center of a campaign - considering one is a big sleepy lizard and the other literally doesn't care unless you're mean to snakes. Maybe we could do something with Atlach-Nacha and Leng Spiders, poking about with webs of dreaming minds and lucid dreamers? Or go back to the Lands of Black Blood, with Orgesh (bonus points for giving a perfect excuse for a 2e version of the Black Blood Oracle, and a look at the Darklands now that they're not full of drow. Black Blood serpentfolk could be cool). Though, if we do get a Dominion and Numeria AP, I kinda hope Paizo invents an original Great Old One about it? A lot of the literary set of great old ones don't really suit, and I bet the Paizo team could come up with something properly nightmarish.
And I can't believe I forgot about skelms! They're legitimately my favourite new monster category from PF2e, but none of the existing skelms are really the right vibe, plus most of them are a bit low-level... Maybe some kind of Dojo Skelm? One dealing with toxic masculinity and the monopoly on violence, through the lens of every terrible martial arts guy ever? That could definitely work...
Okay, so giving an ancestry attack a combat trait like shove or grapple does actually do something, though - it allows you to add the item bonus from Handwraps of Mighty Blows to your checks, rather than needing a separate item to boost your Athletics. |
