Adopted Ancestry and Fortuitous Shift

[Bmj]

Somebody in my group is asking about taking Adopted Ancestry (as a human) in order to take Unexpected Shift / Fortuitous Shift. Normally I'd say that unless you're a gnome that would be impossible on account of having a first world body versus learning something from a heritage; however, they are also wanting the background Feybound as a way of explanation. I'm inclined to allow it - but I am curious how other DMs feel about it.

[Cordell Kintner]

It's your game, do what you feel is best.

Also, this should be in Advice as there's no actual rules question.

[Aw3som3-117]

What Cordell said.

But also, personally I'd allow it... If I allow feybound at all, that is (It is a rare background, after all). The fact that they brought up Feybound as a way to make it make sense in game suggests to me that they're actually thinking about the lore and are willing to work with you to make it work, and I like to reward that kind of ambition in players. Though, I might put extra restrictions on it depending on the situation and/or require some more info about their backstory. It really depends on the general vibe of the group.

[HumbleGamer]

Take a little time to check at least all the common ancestries and what feats a player might be able to take or not.

Though I understand your concerns, keep in mind that limiting too much the feat would result in ( I am taking it to the extreme) a character using it just to take weapon proficiency.

Finally, characters are the exception to the world/adventure, so it would do no harm allowing them to mix things.

Try considering it like the half elf/orc variant rather than "spending time among people of a specific ancestry", assuming some of the character's ancestors were gnomes, for example.

[Bmj]

Thanks guys - I'm going to allow it. I think it's a cool concept. Also, I apologize - I thought it was a rules question, but I'm still new to DM and PF2E as a whole, so the line between advice and rules gets a bit blurry for me.