Awakened Ooze Ancestry Speculation

[Brinebeast]

There have been a handful of intelligent oozes, that based on their lore, could work well as Heritages for an Awakened Ooze Ancestry. Or they could possibly be made into their own Ancestry. These oozes provide us with potential Heritage options that have unique and distinct lore within Golarion. I hope these are considered for the Awakened Ooze Ancestry as I always appreciate when Paizo pulls from existing lore. A quick overview of each follows, arranged by Size.

Mindmoppet (Size Tiny)
These little psychic oozes were originally awakened from a laboratory experiment and love science. Mindmoppets were first introduced in the Gatewalkers Adventure Path. As an Ancestry (or Heritage of an Ooze Ancestry) they are similar in role as the Poppet Ancestry but diverge in that they have a psychic inclination and are oozes instead of constructs. (see Gatewalkers, Hardcover, page 265)

Apallie (Size Small)
These small oozes are convinced they are a member of a different Ancestry that somehow turns into an ooze. The Apallie were first introduced in Bestiary 5. Apallie are awakened when strong mental effort is exerted in the proximity of natural slimes and biofilms. The psychic residue from these efforts can infuse the slime awakening an Apallie. (see Bestiary 5 page 30)

Mezlan (Size Medium)
These oozes were created by ancient magics and were once different ancestries that volunteered to be forever changed into oozes. First introduced in the Shattered Star Adventure Path, the Mezlan most recently appeared in 2E’s Bestiary 3. The creation of Mezlans has some parallels to the creation of Automatons. Just as the recent discovery of how to create new Automatons has been made, it is possible that a similar discovery could have been made for the awakening of new Mezlans. Mezlans are more comparable to elves in natural longevity. (see 2E’s Bestiary 3 page 167, and the Dead Heart of Xin page 90)

Doppeldrek, Awakened (Size Medium)
Doppeldreks are oozes that sometimes awaken through magic or other means. The Doppeldreks were first introduced in Bestiary 5. Doppeldreks are primarily a species of mindless ooze, however, on occasion exposure to magic has been known to cause Doppeldreks to awaken, becoming intelligent oozes. Doppeldreks are natural copycats, learning to copy the shape and even abilities of intelligent humanoids. (see Bestiary 5 page 85)

Thorgothrel (Size Large)
These oozes are aliens from another planet and require an atmospheric force field to stay alive. They also require a metal skeleton like frame to move around efficiently on Golarion. Thorgothrels were first introduced in the Iron Gods Adventure Path. Unlike the other oozes on this list, the Thorgothrel are far more representative of an Ancestry than a Heritage. As an alien species from another planet Thorgothrel may not qualify for an Awakened Ooze Ancestry. However, they are still an interesting ancestry and would be a great option for a Starfinder Ancestry. (see The Choking Tower page 90)

I hope the above Oozes are Heritage options for the Awakened Ooze Ancestry we’ll be getting. Additionally, I would appreciate a generic Heritage that can cover the basis any randomly awakened ooze.

What are everyone else's hope for the Awakened Ooze Ancestry?

[The Raven Black]

Thank you, Brinebeast, for all these key pieces of info absolutely new to me. But then, having read some of your previous posts, I should not be surprised, though always amazed, by your deep knowledge of Golarion's ancestries.

I personally doubt we will have heritages based on such little known creatures. I feel Paizo will try to capitalize on well-known oozes, like they did in the pre-Remaster Ooze Form spell with the 4 most iconic oozes of that time, though this has become much more complicated post-OGL since all those oozes, AFAICT, were all imagined for DnD.

So, maybe the Paizo equivalent, though that would be a bet too. Or maybe, like they did for Awakened Animals, Heritages based on differing key characteristics. But I do not know enough about Oozes to guess at what those could be.

Or, similar to what they did for Poppets and Reflections, Heritages based on how the PC came to sapience.

The intelligent oozes you mentioned would then conform to this pattern, with Mindmoppet being represented by a Scientific Experiment Heritage, Apallie being of the Psychic Correlary or Accidental Awakening Heritage, Mezlan and Doppledrek of the Transformed by Magic Heritage, though the former might be of a separate Sapient Species Heritage. Thorgothrel might also use this Heritage or be of a separate Alien Species Heritage.

Or maybe they will be separated, as you listed them, by Size with Tiny Ooze, Small/Medium Ooze and Large Ooze Heritages.

Actually, I feel this would be the most simple way to go, with Feats, including Lineage Feats, being what makes a given Ooze PC's abilities different from another one of a separate origin or species.

[ornathopter]

Yeah, I feel like the heritages will be about ooze makeup rather than trying to copy specific ooze monsters - a plant based ooze, an alchemical ooze, that sort of thing, categories that are broad enough to lend themselves to different character concepts. I do hope that you get to pick different sizes for an ooze PC, and I think some kind of ability to split into a swarm of yourself has to be in there somewhere.

[Perpdepog]

I agree with the others, that the heritages are likely to be more broad and generalized than referring to specific creatures, though I'll happily be wrong. Really rooting for the mezlan to be playable, myself.