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Changelings in folklore weren’t shapeshifters though.
This isn't necessarily true. In some versions of the legend they were fully adult fey pretending to be babies basically just to mess with people. Those were clearly shapeshifters given they could turn into a baby. In others they were some sort of created duplicate, or a fey child left in place of a human child.
The Eberron version and the Golarion version do, in fact, have some of the root mythological inspirations in common. That said, they've gone very different directions with it and have probably got about as much in common with each other at this point as either does with White Wolf's Changeling games (which is to say very little).
Thank you Rysky for trying, thank you Deadman for bringing more information (also Love Changeling the Lost personally, so that's the one I always think about and they use the whole created duplicate to replace the human version of the Changeling ^w^).
Eberron Changelings seem to be based more on the versions of adult fey pretending to blend into human society, only the adults are pretending to be adults instead of babies. Meanwhile, Golarion Changelings are more based on the Fey Child being left with a Human family.
So both of them take pieces from different versions of the original Changeling, but neither of them is completely true to the Source material.
Eberron Changelings don't replace babies, they just don't that's not a part of the race and for you to try to ham fist it in Tender is weird... They could if they wanted to, but last I checked they want to raise their children themselves if able to.
Golarion Changelings aren't replacing anyone else's child, they're just an extra child if that... I mean the hag Could steal the family's baby and replace it with her own, but I think there'd be a noticeable difference between the babies since they're Not Shapeshifters and Changeling children are pale and heterochromatic...
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Eberron Changelings don't replace babies, they just don't that's not a part of the race and for you to try to ham fist it in Tender is weird... They could if they wanted to, but last I checked they want to raise their children themselves if able to.
It's mentioned a couple of times in the lore that they sometimes do the cuckoo thing with their children, not so much in terms of stealing children, but inasmuch as their kids look human (or whatever race the mother was in the form of when giving birth) for a while and they sometimes leave them with humans (or whoever) to raise (who are then surprised when the kid shapeshifts later). It's not super common but it comes up.
Honestly, if you want to believe that changelings aren't at all related to the real world myths about them that are entirely about being a shapeshifter (it is literally in their name) then I won't get in your way.
Pedant Hat On: The "Changelings" of folklore are not inherently at-will shapeshifters- the "change" in question is an exchange with a fey who resembles the human baby but is always a mite odd. They did not, as a rule, maintain any sort of shapechanging powers, being noticeably physically different from human children in many cases, while others fall back on the "they just act weird" view.
For some nice peer-reviewed fun with the concept, please see:
The Changeling (ML 5058) Irish Versions of a Migratory Legend in Their International Context
I won't link this one because the text isn't available, but: "Away with the fairies" : the motif of fairy abduction and of the changeling, from Irish mythology to the Irish diaspora. - Good fun if you can track down a copy of the thesis.
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Pedant Hat On: The "Changelings" of folklore are not inherently at-will shapeshifters- the "change" in question is an exchange with a fey who resembles the human baby but is always a mite odd.
Eberron Changelings don't replace babies, they just don't that's not a part of the race and for you to try to ham fist it in Tender is weird... They could if they wanted to, but last I checked they want to raise their children themselves if able to.It's mentioned a couple of times in the lore that they sometimes do the cuckoo thing with their children, not so much in terms of stealing children, but inasmuch as their kids look human (or whatever race the mother was in the form of when giving birth) for a while and they sometimes leave them with humans (or whoever) to raise (who are then surprised when the kid shapeshifts later). It's not super common but it comes up.
I did say if able to :) but thank you for the correction. And if I were a Changeling that'd be enough of a reason for me Not to leave my children with other humanoids because of the social stigma (and paranoia of others) that comes with being a Changeling... But if you have to, or if you just don't care, it's definitely an option. Also, see again, don't replace children, just an extra child... Orphans are a thing no matter the race >.>
I would like to see ancestries of monstrous races that have traditionally been too powerful to be PCs, but were otherwise a neat idea for a race. This was not previously possible in 1E without serious adjustments, but should be possible now with ancestry feats to simulate that monstrous ancestry's growing power over time as the character matures, such as nereids, fauns, and the like.
Beyond that, I have always liked many of the more niche races that could pass for human if disguised well enough or if you did not look too closely. That said, the ancestries not already announced for inclusion in an upcoming release that I would like to see are:
Androids
Vishkanya
Lashunta
Samsaran
Triaxian
Vanara
Suli
Kitsune
Nagaji
Kasatha
Wyrwood
Gathlain
Ghoran
Wayang
YsokiAs far as a completely new concept, I would like to see some sort of ooze-like ancestry as a new playable ancestry or maybe even a Tiny-sized, flying, fey-like ancestry of some sort, like pixies or sprites. I think the design of 2E is more likley to make something like these ideas more plausible in the system than 1E was ever capable of.
I'm all aboard with everything on this list I know it's too much to hope that didn't come out within the first two years but here's hoping
I read Golarion Changelings as largely working via:
- Hag has a child.
- Hag doesn't feel like raising the child, but wants an heir so doesn't just eat it.
- Hag finds locates some infant that is similar enough to her own, switches the two, and consumes the baby that wasn't hers.