PFS Rules and Half Races

[andreww]

I am trying to work out whether or not half-elves and half-orcs can take Human alternate favoured class bonuses in PFS and getting rather confused.

The most recent FAQ says:

Quote:

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.

Additional Resources says:

Quote:

Note: Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race. Racial equipment and magic items can be purchased and used by any race as long as the specific item permits it (for example, only halflings can purchase and use solidsmoke pipeweed).

Now I have been told that this means that human alternate class favoured bonuses are not available to Half Elves or Half Orcs however the additional resources quote does not specify favoured class bonuses. It only covers racial traits, archetypes, evolutions, feats and spells. Am I missing something here?

So, if you are a Half Elf can you, for example, choose the Human Sorcerer bonus spells known favoured class bonus?

[Tumskunde]

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: The restriction does not cover favoured class bonuses in the ARG. That is beside the fact that the Human favoured class bonuses were first printed in the Advanced Players Guide, Page 23, and that the APG lacks the restriction.

[BigNorseWolf]

Tumskunde wrote:

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: The restriction does not cover favoured class bonuses in the ARG.

That dichotomy is making my head hurt.

Any reason its one but not the other?

[Bbauzh ap Aghauzh]

For now I'd err on the side of conservative. Assume anything in the ARG, whether explicitly mentioned or not, is off limits unless you are specifically that race.

[Nefreet]

Check out my thread HERE. Mike Brock recently said he and John were discussing it.

[Furious Kender]

Well, I hope they answer this soon.

[Mystic Lemur]

Furious Kender wrote:

Well, I hope they answer this soon.

I'd rather they took the time to answer it carefully. Knee-jerk reactions cause confusion when they're implemented and more when they're reversed.

[Furious Kender]

Mystic Lemur wrote:

Furious Kender wrote:

Well, I hope they answer this soon.

I'd rather they took the time to answer it carefully. Knee-jerk reactions cause confusion when they're implemented and more when they're reversed.

The FAQ came out in early October. Threads started appearing soon after. We are well past the "knee-jerk" phase.

[The Masked Ferret]

As all of the outsider races (tiefling, ifrit, etc.) have been ruled to be half human, shouldn't they get the same access to the stuff?

[Nefreet]

The Masked Ferret wrote:

As all of the outsider races (tiefling, ifrit, etc.) have been ruled to be half human, shouldn't they get the same access to the stuff?

This is often mistaken. Native Outsiders are not half-human, they are of human descent (as opposed to gnome/elf/orc/etc).

The FAQ in question concerns only Half-elves and Half-orcs.

ADDENDUM: The PFS FAQ was in response to players wanting to know if they could make a small-sized Aasimar, since the Blood of Angels book presents options for Aasimars that are descended from non-human races like halflings.

[Mimo Tomblebur]

Yes, but Aasimars can take the "Scion of Humanity" alternate racial trait and be counted as both outsider and human. That makes the half-race question valid again.

[Nefreet]

That would be a question for the Rules Forum. Once (If) they then issue a 2nd FAQ, it would apply to PFS, barring any additional ruling by Mike Brock.

As it is now, the FAQ only mentions Half-elves and Half-orcs, so it only applies to them.

[The Masked Ferret]

Nefreet wrote:

The Masked Ferret wrote:

As all of the outsider races (tiefling, ifrit, etc.) have been ruled to be half human, shouldn't they get the same access to the stuff?

This is often mistaken. Native Outsiders are not half-human, they are of human descent (as opposed to gnome/elf/orc/etc).

FAQ wrote:

Here

Are races such as tieflings and aasimars considered as half-human in Pathfinder Society Organized Play?
Yes

According to this Pathfinder Society FAQ, by RAW, all Aasimars and Tieflings are considered explicitly to be 'half-human', not just human descended.

I agree that the other FAQ in question directly deals with Half-orks and Half-elves.

[Mystic Lemur]

See my post regarding knees jerking. The question was "can we play small/elf/orc aasimars and tieflings?" and the (in my limited and often wrong opinion) knee-jerk response was to claim that all aasimar and tieflings were "half-human" when that clearly isn't what was meant.

So yes, even though the FAQ has been around a while, that doesn't mean it's been on the OP dev team's radar. I'd rather they take the time to consider the implications before they make any changes or new rulings so they can reduce confusion.

[Nefreet]

I already gave you context for the PFS FAQ, Masked Ferret (which you chose to remove when you quoted me). It does not mean what you think it does.