Astrazoan Change Shape and Ancestries

[Megge]

Hi,

The description of the "Change Shape" feat says that you can transform into any Small, Medium and Large ancestry "you know" (...).

Do you need the feat "Ancestral knowledge" for each ancestry you want to morph in, or is it a GMs decision if you "know" this race?

Thx
Markus

[Suulathanna]

Requiring a feat for each ancestry known seems like an excessive tax.

This is likely something the player and GM should talk about before the astrazoan character enters play, so that its player has a feel for how generous the GM is likely to be.

By default, I would consider all ancestries in Player Core to be known by all PCs. Doing the same for Galaxy Guide could be argued as well. (IMO, the ancestry least likely to be widely known is astrazoan, but you already are one.)

For Galactic Ancestries, I'd say that it depends on where your astrazoan came from, and where they've been since. One from the Pact Worlds would likely know ancestries native to that system, like ryphorians and shobhads, while one from the Veskarium probably know ijtikri and talphi. And I would consider all of the legacy ancestries to be widely known, at least in the Pact Worlds and Near Space.

I haven't been able to find a ruling on this for Society play. I've only just started playing an astrazoan in Society, but they probably won't be shifting much due to the species' taboo about revealing themselves. They're an aquazoan who defaults to kalo form, and would probably be most familiar with other species native to Bretheda and its moons (like maraquoi) and widespread species like the core ancestries. I plan to keep a record of ancestries they meet in scenarios in case I need to justify any uncommon choices.

[Dragonchess Player]

As a guideline that's already in the game, any ancestry that's Common can likely be assumed as "known." Uncommon and Rare ancestries probably require justification and GM approval.

[Perses13]

Since Khizars are the only Uncommon ancestry, if you follow that guideline you know every species except them.

[Dragonchess Player]

Considering that infospheres allow access to biological and medical data about common ancestries, an astrazoan can probably "know" almost all of the races well enough to take on their physical appearance.

Certain ancestries, such as the ones with Limited Telepathy, will likely be avoided as astrazoans can't replicate abilities beyond the basic form (including natural weapons with a feat)... and be exposed as an imposter pretty quickly.