Well, I'm currently (still) working on a csmpaign set in Ustalav, and recently finished reading/listening to Bloodbound.
I'm looking to find any and all examples of superstitions true or false, prejudices against races and classes whether they be well-founded or not.
Seems Orcs and Half-Orcs get bad treatment due to historical wars.
Ratfolk, Catfolk, Vanara, Kitsune, Grippli, etc are treated as if they might as well be lycanthropic for some reason. I've read somewhere that Catfolk specifically find themselves as circus attractions.
Vampirism is a no-no for Pharasmins (aka most Ustalavics) and dhampirism is widely seen as no better than vampirism (though few enlightened or warm-hearted individuals might be capable of showing mercy due to the technicalities of dhampirism.)
In some circles, arcane spellcastic brands you a Witch, which is automatically evil for some reason, though you can be a Wizard/Sorcerer and be treated with the same prejudice.
Being undead in ANY way (and being recognized as such) is a severe taboo, and puts a target on your head, lichdom especially, due to the fear Tar-Baphon instigates.
Is there anything I'm missing, or any details I haven't read up on?
Where my campaign comes in, my PCs consist of a Skinwalker Brawler, a Tiefling Asmodean Inquisitor, a Catfolk Rogue (Cat Burglar) a Jian-Shi-Born Dhampir Samurai from Tian Xia, and a Ratfolk Wizard (Necromancy) and probably a Kuru Bloodrager/Cleric of a custom apocryphal sect of Jezeldans (whom believe Jezelda does NOT judge non-werewolf lycanthropes differently from werewolves) that does his best to hide his habits of eating humanoids whilst bluffing he is a Cleric of Pharasma and thus has solitary business with their deceased humanoid enemies and is coincidentally a bit of a chef. How much should this party be ostracized, and under what occasions?
Well, if the townsfolk know what they are, they would not be welcome anywhere where the people can drive them out by force.
Seriously. If they can't lie their asses off and use a bit of disguise they will find the local population - at least in the rural parts - quite unfriendly. Heck, they might get jeered if they came with a carnival as the main attractions. There are several characters there that are enough to cause a riot by themselves.
Did the players know they would be in Ustalav when making these characters? Because it does seem like they intentionally picked something that would cause a pitchfork party wherever they showed up.
To be honest...that party would have problems in almost all the Inner Sea, outside of maybe the Shackles or Katapesh...
This... is not a good party for Ustalav. At all.
The Kuru and/or Skinwalker might-might- work as a shady element in a more "normal" group, and depending on how the Tiefling looks, maybe that one as well, but...
This is a party for Kaer Maga, or the Shackles, or the seedy side of Absalom, or Katapesh...
They'd be weird most places, but could probably manage... almost anywhere but Ustalav.
Jibbers Crabst!
That party's best hope is that a violent argument breaks out among the peasants over whether to burn them, drown them in holy water, bury them face down alive, or catapult them to the next town and trust Pharasma and falling damage to take care of the rest; they can escape during the dispute.
Greetings, everybody. Creator of the Kuru PC here. None of the characters were intentionally made to contradict the tenets of Ustalavic culture actually. All of us were relatively new to Pathfinder (myself having the most experience, though I still didn't know too much about all the nations) and even the GM didn't know all of this. He actually requested us make spooky-esque characters to help compliment the gothic horror feel, and now we're all too attached to our characters to not play them lol.
Please don't misunderstand my joke--I wasn't intending to be critical of the choices. But as written, yeah, Ustalavs would be stocking up on torches and pitchforks at the sight of the party. :)
THAT SAID...
I think this might be one of those "You make Golarion your own" moments. GMs can feel free to depart from the official vision of Ustalav at will, especially if having fun is at stake! If the canonical version of Ustalavic xenophobia doesn't work with the party, I'd advise toning it a bit, or even chucking it entirely.
EDIT - Or, yeah, what Adam said. Evil PCs would fit right in. Or NOT fit in, in all the right (wrong) ways.
Well, it started fundamentally as "gothic horror-themed campaign", but upon gathering the most common canon setting for such a theme, I settled on Ustalav later, the party was made after that but prior to becoming more acquainted with Ustalav. I actually might be interested in how such a party might stick together (as long as one of them doesn't eat the others xD)
So, exactly how might they be given away during or after disguise, and if so, what reactions are common in Ustalav (or if possible, common in certain areas/with certain common mindsets)
Skinwalker (Werebear-kin) seems like disguise is unnecessary, as the only common tell in this case would be larger body frame/larger build, and probably more prone to body hair, esp if female. However, bluff may come in handy IF anyone thinks their body a bit odd, to persuade them into believing she was just born a bit more rugged. No Bestial Form. If noticed, probably 7/10 will mob and attempt to end her life, 1/10 would run her out of town, 1/10 would allow her stay but be VERY begrudging about her presence and judge her harshly, or perhaps even avoid her out of mild fear, while 1/10 would be wary but not crude with her. My guess. Diplomacy probably has little effect due to the affiliation with something that is rationally feared.
Ratfolk? Pretty much just wear a hooded cloak and do something about the tail. Beyond combining bodily coverage with disguise/bluff, Disguise Self and the like could help. Avoid casting spells, especially necromancy spells, and even more especially necromancy spells that actually call upon the undead, in clear sight. Could someone elaborate on how arcane magic is treated throughout Ustalav? It feels like besides necromancy, it's just uncommon, but I've also read enough that points to paranoia surrounding arcane magic and the association with witches. Diplomacy probably can help moderately get across "I'm not lycanthropic, you just view me as humanoid vermin. Now you see why I cover my face and hide my tail." So long as the spellcasting doesn't 'rat' him out as a bad apple.
Catfolk. Very similar to Ratfolk, but maybe Diplomacy has more practical use than for the Ratfolk, as cats (at least not black ones lol) might be treated with a tiny bit less disdain than rats. This player however, may choose to forego any subterfuge concerning his feline appearance, so he may need to resort to diplomacy sooner than later.
Dhampir. So as Bloodbound taught me, Jadain is a huge exception to what is common for an organized follower of Pharasma, thus, despite it not making 100% sense to shun someone who was BORN (Pharasma's "gift" so to speak) half-undead or not, when already it's not entirely sensible to seek to eliminate vampires due to their examples of undeath are a tad different than what Pharasma's ire is defined by. To muddle things farther, I'm not entirely certain how a Jiang-Shi OR Jiang-Shi-Born follows the usual description of a vampire or dhampir. They are certainly undead (or are counted as such, even in game terms) and do draw a form of essence from the living, in the process harming them to... survive per se, but beyond that I'm unsure. His class shouldn't be judged much beyond "like a cavalier... but foreign... hmmm, idk" Also, depending on description of his physical appearance, a disguise check shouldn't fail much as long as he avoids the sun/chooses to change his weakness racial trait and doesn't get noticed if/when positive/negative energy affects him.
The Kuru. Yeahhh. Disguise & Bluff are his allies. Also roleplaying dialogue with locked lips, as his teeth would A. Brand him a vampire. B. Be treated with oblivious fear C. Give away his racial identity and thus his cannibalistic habits. He has the most obstacles to dodge, as he seeks to hide his identity as a very commonly cannibalistic race not just from the locals, but also from his allies.
The Tiefling? Uhh, similar with Skinwalker and Dhampir... depends on how human he came out. Which if I've been told correctly, he's as fiendish looking as possible, with an obvious brand/holy tattoo of Asmodeus on his face. Without Disguise Self, etc I don't think he's long for the Material Plane. Which fortunately, I suppose, is sort of the plan.
It all introduces a rather interesting set of circumstances and limitations.
It also interestingly makes them tip-toe around certain features or abilities when in plain sight. So, for example, even if summoning a skeleton or something would be convenient, it may not always be wise.