I propose that both Humans and Halflings should recieve a bonus language (chosen from those to which they have access, in addition to the languages they already recieve).
Mechanically the benefit would be to improve the two ancestries with the weakest initial benefits. As it stands these ancestries are functional, but lackluster in that other ancestries recieve quality of life features (such as low-light and darkvision) for free. I know that access to Ancestry feats is supposed to counter this, but in practice it doesn't appear to actually do so even now. Further, I am certain that as more ancestry feats are published, power creep will eventually homoginize the average power level of every ancestry's feat list.
Flavorfully, the first benefit would be that Humans would become natural polyglots; learning Taldane and two or three languages of their choice (usually regional or ethnic). The second benefit would be that Halflings would be able to learn the regional/ethnic language of their current or former masters (in addition to Halfling and Taldane). These changes would better represent these ancestries' places in Golarion.
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I think only the Halfling really needs help. Humans have access to superior ancestry feats.
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I'd want the option to take 3 bonuses and a flaw, potentially as a base human heritage feat.
Halflings need something extra, a buff to stealth seems logical.
Humans have access to superior ancestry feats.
That is what we were told... but do they really? I'll grant Natural Ambition is great, especially at 1st level before everyone has already had at least one chance to pick a 1st level class feat. However the actual list of 'human' feats is painfully generic, in addition to being somewhat shorter (due to also having to host the entire feat lists for two other "ancestries"). Further several options (like Adapted Spell and Unconventional Weaponry) are significant and obvious downgrades compared to other ancestry's comperable feats (such as First World Magic and Weapon Familiarity (Gnome)), or else side-grades at best (such as General Training).
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The human ancestry feats are generic but powerful. Being allowed to swap out your ancestry feat for a general feat or an extra skill feat is a big deal.
The human ancestry feats are generic but powerful. Being allowed to swap out your ancestry feat for a general feat or an extra skill feat is a big deal.
Versatile? Yes. Powerful, no, not even a little bit. Natural Ambition and General Training are only as good as whatever you actually pick with them. For example, a goblin's Rough Rider is better than General Training (Ride) at 1st level. Skill feats are a terrible waste of a general feat though.
At 1st level those are decent options, nobody else has a General Feat yet, and your initial Skill Feat is tied to your Background. Same goes for Natural Ambition, not everybody has a class feat yet. By 5th level neither is particularly valuable anymore compared to the options available to other ancestries.
Meanwhile, the other ancestry's retain their superior initial benefits; and if they really, really want to dip into General Training for their remaining 3 Ancestry Feats (assuming that by 5th level they've already picked whichever two were their favorites). They can pay the 'Adopted By Humans' tax to gain access to the entire Human list too.
Versatile? Yes. Powerful, no, not even a little bit.
Some first-level class feats are amazing. Getting an extra one is SUPER powerful.
I'm on the side that thinks that humans need no help here. They're powerful enough.
guys, the thread you ressurected is 2 months old.
agree that Humans at this point is like the top dog in ancestries.
Whoa, didn't even bother checking when it popped up on the new posts page.
Versatile? Yes. Powerful, no, not even a little bit.Some first-level class feats are amazing. Getting an extra one is SUPER powerful.
Especially since that grows in versatility with new content added for classes. It's a feat that essentially creeps in power alongside the game's power creep.
Please note that I started this thread long before the Heritage update.
With seperate Heritages, Humans no longer especially need further boosts, and even most of my complaints about the Half-Its are gone now that a 1st level Half-Elf can actually select an elven ancestry feat.
Natural Ambition remains an option that's only as good as what you can select with it. It isn't inherently a powerful feat, just a very versatile one. Which is great if you need whatever it's offering.
For example, one of my player's is playing a Human Bard without Natural Ambition, because neither of the remaining 1st level choices were as interesting to her character as other options. On the other hand, another player took Natural Ambition as a Human Monk so that they could start with both Monastic Weaponry and Ki Strike.