Adoptive Parentage human racial trait

[EvilMinion]

So a question regarding the racial trait Adoptive Parentage from the Advanced Race Guide.

The trait says it replaces the human bonus feat... but does not mention replacing the human language, just that you gain the other race's languages.

So is this adding the adoptive races languages to the common humans normally get? Or replacing it?

ie: would a human (who normally starts with just common as a language), adopted by a strix (who normally only get strix as a language)... know common and strix, or just strix? (same for any other adoptive race that does not start knowing common).

Additionally, from a PFS point of view, assuming the adoptive race does not have racial weapon familiarity, how does one adjudicate what is or is not an appropriate skill/weapon for the Skill Focus/Weapon Focus feat?

[James Risner]

EvilMinion wrote:

does not mention replacing the human language ... common and strix

PFS ... race does not have racial weapon familiarity, how does one adjudicate what is or is not an appropriate skill/weapon for the Skill Focus/Weapon Focus feat?

both languages

Snag Net ... exotic weapon

This sounds like a good weapon in this case, but basically it is either a racial weapon or something in the picture or write up.

[Nefreet]

You couldn't do Adoptive Parentage (Strix) in PFS anyways.

[EvilMinion]

Nefreet wrote:

You couldn't do Adoptive Parentage (Strix) in PFS anyways.

You could not? Why not?

I know there's a ruling that you have to be the race in question to use the stuff in that book for that race.

But this would be a human using a human racial trait substitution.
Or does the afore mentioned rule even preclude that?

Thus limiting its use to just core races?

[Nefreet]

People get this confused often. There is a lot of misinformation out there, often perpetuated by non-PFS players.

Choosing qualities of another race, whether they be Race Traits via the Social Trait "Adopted", or a Human taking the Racial Heritage feat, or an Aasimar with the Scion of Humanity Racial Trait, or whatever, is of itself 100% legal.

The detail that trips people up is the clause found in the Additional Resources document.

Advanced Race Guide wrote:

Alternate racial traits, racial archetypes, racial evolutions, racial feats, and racial spells are only available for characters of the associated race.

This clause only exists for the ARG and a couple splatbooks. If you want anything Strix, you have to find it in a legal source outside of the ARG (of which I'm pretty sure there aren't any). If you want anything Elf, or Dwarf, or Tengu, or Tiefling, whatever, the same rule applies, but those races generally have more sourcebooks you can pull from.

Does that make sense?

[EvilMinion]

Hmm, did not trip up, as I'm aware of the rule you mention, just did not think it applied here.

Adoptive Parentage gives none of those things listed (whereas the other stuff you mention does).

All you get is a language (which is not prohibited), a feat (skill focus or weapon focus) (also not prohibited), and some character fluff so you can claim you were raised by Strix (also ok).

Admittedly, further down in the additional resources, it says everything in the Strix entry is not permitted... which then takes the Strix language off the table for PFS (unless it shows up elsewhere, as you mention). So perhaps you're right there.

OK, I concede the Strix!

But what if we pick a different race, like a fetchling? The fetchling language is legal for non-fetchlings, so now we're not conflicting with any of additional resource stuff.

[David knott 242]

So it appears that weapon familiarity or skill focus and languages are not covered by the Additional Resources restriction (as weapon familiarity is not an alternate racial trait -- it is a standard racial trait for the race in question and thus not in the list of items cited). What blocks it is this line later on:

"In Chapter 3, nothing from the changelings, duergar, gillmen, merfolk, samsarans, strix, svirfneblin, and vanaras entries are currently legal for play."

So the only way to get Adoptive Parentage to work for Strix would be to find its weapon familiarity (if any), skill bonuses, and languages in a PFS legal source.

And it appears that the Adopted social trait should work, since the restriction is on racial traits (which are not "traits" at all in the accepted sense) and not on race traits (provided that the race traits in question are themselves legal, of course).

[EvilMinion]

Some of the race entries are disallowed in their entirety (like the afore mentioned strix), so those are still out.

[David knott 242]

EvilMinion -- lest anyone think you are crazy, I was editing my post as you responded to it since I had just noticed the same thing.

[EvilMinion]

Heh, they might think me crazy anyway!

[EvilMinion]

But more on topic... well, semi-off topic, but at least on that off-topic...

Not sure there are any traits listed in the ARG to pick up with Adopted anyway, are there?

Those typically come from other sources and are restricted there. (For instance I think the goblin book disallows picking goblin traits on non-goblins)

I could be wrong though (and often am!)

[Nefreet]

There are no Race Traits in the ARG, ironically.