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Why isn't Pathfinder Society allowed to be a campaign like any other, where some stuff is appropriate to the setting and themes while other stuff isn't?
I am quite happy with this on the condition that said setting and themes are explicitly described in the open (and maybe discussed in the open too), rather than appearing only through banning such and such part of the games, rules and setting.
Like a GM explicitly describing his setting, his houserules and his bans BEFORE the game begins. And ideally being open to changing them based on his players' feedback.
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Like a GM explicitly describing his setting, his houserules and his bans BEFORE the game begins. And ideally being open to changing them based on his players' feedback.
How is this different from PFS?
Setting is described in the PFSGTOP.
House rules and bans are in the PFGTOP and Additional resources before anyone makes a character.
PFS has been open to changing based on player feedback (un-banning of magical knack, arrows from elves of golarion, unlocking of Hellknight Signifer and Winter Witch as playable PrCs, many others).
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So I can be a Half-Elf Paladin (Stonelord, Dwarf Only) or a Half-Orc Druid (Treesinger, Elf Only) because I took the Racial Heritage feat? Interesting.As written, yes.
In PFS, no.
I'm good with either option, I just don't like this in-between state.
Huh. Sounds like the feat should either be banned or become a rare boon that works as intended.
If I wanted to be redundant in PFS I could be a Half-Elf with Racial Heritage (Elf) and just have a second iteration of my racial trait. In a home-campaign I could be the wiser and be a Half-Elf with Racial Heritage (Elf) so I could go Magus (Spell Dancer).
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Like a GM explicitly describing his setting, his houserules and his bans BEFORE the game begins. And ideally being open to changing them based on his players' feedback.How is this different from PFS?
Setting is described in the PFSGTOP.
House rules and bans are in the PFGTOP and Additional resources before anyone makes a character.
PFS has been open to changing based on player feedback (un-banning of magical knack, arrows from elves of golarion, unlocking of Hellknight Signifer and Winter Witch as playable PrCs, many others).
Problem I see is that some of the overarching rules that result in bans are apparently NOT described per se (see thread on Necromancers). Knowing them might in fact allow us to anticipate what will be allowed or banned in the next update of the Additional Resources.
Racial Heritage is a HUMAN ONLY feat, so dwarves, elves, orcs, etc cannot take it.
Also, shouldn't PFS be the "try it and buy it here!" campaign setting? Why limit options in the "trial mode"?
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Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race.
Choose another humanoid race. You count as both human and that race for any effects related to race. For example, if you choose dwarf, you are considered both a human and a dwarf for the purpose of taking traits, feats, how spells and magic items affect you, and so on.
Does access to racial stuff count as an effect of being a member of the race? Additional Resources says you must be of the associated race, and racial heritage says you count as that race for any effect related to that race. It seems to work in PFS (Unless there is something else I am unaware of).
There was a FAQs a while ago that said yes. For a long time there were two contradicting FAQs.
Half-Elf or Half-Orc: Can a character of either of these races select human racial archetypes (such as from Advanced Race Guide?
Yes. Half-elves and half-orcs may select racial favored class options, archetypes, traits, and so on, as if they were a full member of both races (a half-elf can select elf and human rules elements, a half-orc can select human and orc rules elements).
Edit 9/26/13: This is a reversal of an earlier ruling. This resolves a discrepancy between this FAQ and two Advanced Player's Guide FAQs.
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Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race.Choose another humanoid race. You count as both human and that race for any effects related to race. For example, if you choose dwarf, you are considered both a human and a dwarf for the purpose of taking traits, feats, how spells and magic items affect you, and so on.Does access to racial stuff count as an effect of being a member of the race? Additional Resources says you must be of the associated race, and racial heritage says you count as that race for any effect related to that race. It seems to work in PFS (Unless there is something else I am unaware of).
It works for in game effects and such. The AR is NOT an in game effect, it is a set of house rules restricting access. No in game feat or trait will supersede an AR restriction, unless called out specifically in the AR (see Bestiary feats for example).
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Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race.Choose another humanoid race. You count as both human and that race for any effects related to race. For example, if you choose dwarf, you are considered both a human and a dwarf for the purpose of taking traits, feats, how spells and magic items affect you, and so on.Does access to racial stuff count as an effect of being a member of the race? Additional Resources says you must be of the associated race, and racial heritage says you count as that race for any effect related to that race. It seems to work in PFS (Unless there is something else I am unaware of).
No. In PFS, it does not. In fact, that's the entire point of this thread, which is clearly spelled out in the very first post.
The Racial Heritage feat from the APG allows humans to "count as both human and [another humanoid] race for any effects related to race."
However, in PFS, the ARG and most racial sources include the caveat "Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race" in their Additional Resources entry. In essence, this makes the Racial Heritage useless for non-core sources, which is where most people would prefer to choose their alternate traits/archetypes/etc from. This leads to a lot of confusion and a feat that isn't terribly useful.
Possible fix: Make Racial Heritage the exception to the AR restriction. However, this will result in the opening of a number of things that I suspect have not yet been evaluated for Society play (such as the Scarred Witch Doctor and God knows what else).
Proposed Solution: I recommend the feat be banned, since its function is severely limited in non-obvious ways.
Terrible Feat!
Nerfed badly.
Only great for Non-Orc/Elf humanoids, though why you want to be a Half-Gnome or Half-Halfling beyond me.
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No. In PFS, it does not. In fact, that's the entire point of this thread, which is clearly spelled out in the very first post.
I would think it would. Still, if it doesn't work, oh well. You can still take the Favored Class Bonus with it, and most of the racial feats/archetypes are sub-optimal or banned anyway. I think it would be better to fix it though.
Only great for Non-Orc/Elf humanoids, though why you want to be a Half-Gnome or Half-Halfling beyond me.
How can you be a half-Halfling but twice as tall? Wouldn't that make you a Quarterling?
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Why is PFS any different? Why isn't Pathfinder Society allowed to be a campaign like any other, where some stuff is appropriate to the setting and themes while other stuff isn't?
Because most campaigns have 4 to 6 players and a highly focused theme or story. PFS has 55,000+ active players and over 110,000 players overall, and is alllll over the place in terms of subject matter.
I'd consider going for a dhampyr bloodline, just for Cruoromancer, but no dice...
