Pathfinder 2 Human Ancestry
You can find Ancestry Rules here.
Hit Points 8
Size Medium
Speed 25 feet
Ability Boosts Two free ability boosts
Ability Flaw None
Languages Common, additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).
Traits Human, Humanoid
Humans’ ambition, versatility, and exceptional potential have led to their status as the world’s predominant ancestry. Their empires and nations are vast, sprawling things, and their citizens carve names for themselves with the strength of their sword arms and the power of their spells. Humanity is diverse and tumultuous, running the gamut from nomadic to imperial, sinister to saintly. Many of them venture forth to explore, to map the expanse of the multiverse, to search for long-lost treasure, or to lead mighty armies to conquer their neighbors—for no better reason than because they can.
If you want a character who can be just about anything, you should play a human.
You Might...
- Strive to greatness, either in your own right or on behalf of a cause.
- Seek to understand your purpose in the world.
- Cherish your relationships with family and friends.
Others Probably...
- Respect your flexibility, your adaptability, and—in most cases— your open-mindedness.
- Distrust your intentions, fearing you seek only power or wealth.
- Aren’t sure what to expect from you and are hesitant to assume your intentions.
Physical Description
Humans’ physical characteristics are as varied as the world’s climes. Humans have a wide variety of skin and hair colors, body types, and facial features. Generally speaking, their skin has a darker hue the closer to the equator they or their ancestors lived.
Humans reach physical adulthood around the age of 15, though mental maturity occurs a few years later. A typical human can live to be around 90 years old. Humans often intermarry with people of other ancestries, giving rise to children who bear the traits of both parents. The most notable half-humans are half-elves and half-orcs.
Society
Human variety also manifests in terms of their governments, attitudes, and social norms. Though the oldest of human cultures can trace their shared histories thousands of years into the past, when compared to the societies of the elves or dwarves, human civilizations seem in a state of constant flux as empires fragment and new kingdoms subsume the old.
Alignment and Religion
Humanity is perhaps the most heterogeneous of all the ancestries, with a capacity for great evil and boundless good. Some humans assemble into vast raging hordes, while others build sprawling cities. Considered as a whole, most humans are neutral, yet they tend to congregate into nations or communities of a shared alignment, or at least a shared tendency toward an alignment. Humans also worship a wide range of gods and practice many different religions, tending to seek favor from any divine being they encounter.
Names
Unlike many ancestral cultures, which generally cleave to specific traditions and shared histories, humanity’s diversity has resulted in a near-infinite set of names. The humans of northern tribes have different names than those dwelling in southern nation-states. Humans throughout much of the world speak Common (though some continents have their own regional common languages), yet their names are as varied as their beliefs and appearances.
Half-Elves
Other Halves
By default, half-elves and half-orcs descend from humans, but your GM might allow you to be the offspring of an elf, orc, or different ancestry. In these cases, the GM will let you select the half-elf or half-orc heritage as the heritage for this other ancestry. The most likely other parent of a half-elf are gnomes and halflings, and the most likely parents of a half-orc are goblins, halflings, and dwarves.
A half-elf is born to an elf and a human, or to two half-elves. The life of a half-elf can be difficult, often marked by a struggle to fit in. Half-elves don’t have their own homeland on Golarion, nor are populations of half-elves particularly tied to one another, since they often have very disparate human and elven traditions. Instead, most half-elves attempt to find acceptance in either human or elven settlements.
Half-elves often appear primarily human, with subtly pointed ears and a taller stature than most full-blooded humans. Half-elves lack the almost alien eyes of their elf parents, though they do have a natural presence—and often a striking beauty— that leads many to become artists or entertainers. Despite this innate appeal, many half-elves have difficulty forming lasting bonds with either humans or elves due to the distance they feel from both peoples as a whole.
Half-elves live longer than other humans, often reaching an age around 150 years. This causes some of them to fear friendship and romance with humans, knowing that they’ll likely outlive their companions.
Playing a Half-Elf
You can create a half-elf character by selecting the half-elf heritage at 1st level. This gives you access to elf and half-elf ancestry feats in addition to human ancestry feats.
You Might...
- Keep to yourself and find it difficult to form close bonds with others.
- Strongly embrace or reject one side or the other of your parentage.
- Identify strongly with and relate to other people with mixed ancestries.
Others Probably...
- Find you more attractive than humans and more approachable than elves.
- Dismiss your human ethnicity and culture in light of your elven heritage.
- Downplay the challenges of being caught between two cultures.
Half-Orcs
A half-orc is the offspring of a human and an orc, or of two half-orcs. Because some intolerant people see orcs as more akin to monsters than people, they sometimes hate and fear half-orcs simply due to their lineage. This commonly pushes half-orcs to the margins of society, where some find work in manual labor or as mercenaries, and others fall into crime or cruelty. Many who can’t stand the indignities heaped on them in human society find a home among their orc kin or trek into the wilderness to live in peace, apart from society’s judgment.
Humans often assume half-orcs are unintelligent or uncivilized, and half-orcs rarely find acceptance among societies with many such folk. To an orc tribe, a half-orc is considered smart enough to make a good war leader but weaker physically than other orcs. Many half-orcs thus end up having low status among orc tribes unless they can prove their strength.
A half-orc has a shorter lifespan than other humans, living to be roughly 70 years old.
Playing a Half-Orc
You can create a half-orc character by selecting the half-orc heritage at 1st level. This gives you access to orc and half-orc ancestry feats in addition to human ancestry feats.
You Might...
- Ignore, embrace, or actively counter the common stereotypes about half-orcs.
- Make the most of your size and strength, either physically or socially.
- Keep your distance from people of most other ancestries, in case they unfairly reject you due to your orc ancestors.
Others Probably...
- Assume you enjoy and excel at fighting but aren’t inclined toward magical or intellectual pursuits.
- Pity you for the tragic circumstances they assume were involved in your birth.
- Get out of your way and back down rather than face your anger.
Human Heritages
Unlike other ancestries, humans don’t have significant physiological differences defined by their lineage. Instead, their heritages either reveal their potential as a people or reflect lineages from multiple ancestries. Choose one of the following human heritages at 1st level.
Half-Elf
Either one of your parents was an elf, or one or both were half-elves. You have pointed ears and other telltale signs of elf heritage. You gain the elf trait and low-light vision. In addition, you can select elf, half-elf, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.
Half-Orc
One of your parents was an orc, or one or both were half-orcs. You have a green tinge to your skin and other indicators of orc heritage. You gain the orc trait and low-light vision. In addition, you can select orc, half-orc, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.
Skilled Heritage
Your ingenuity allows you to train in a wide variety of skills. You become trained in one skill of your choice. At 5th level, you become an expert in the chosen skill.
Versatile Heritage
Humanity’s versatility and ambition have fueled its ascendance to be the most common ancestry in most nations throughout the world. Select a general feat of your choice for which you meet the prerequisites (as with your ancestry feat, you can select this general feat at any point during character creation).
Wintertouched Human
The power of winter flows through you. This heritage is most common among the Jadwiga of Irrisen, due to their descent from Baba Yaga, and certain Erutaki touched by the spirits. You gain cold resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1), and you treat environmental cold effects as if they were one step less extreme (incredible cold becomes extreme, extreme cold becomes severe, and so on).
Human Ancestry Feats
At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a human, you choose from among the following ancestry feats.
Prerequisites spellcasting class feature
Through study of multiple magical traditions, you’ve altered a spell to suit your spellcasting style. Choose one cantrip from a magical tradition other than your own. If you have a spell repertoire or a spellbook, replace one of the cantrips you know or have in your spellbook with the chosen spell. If you prepare spells without a spellbook (if you’re a cleric or druid, for example), one of your cantrips must always be the chosen spell, and you prepare the rest normally. You can cast this cantrip as a spell of your class’s tradition.
If you swap or retrain this cantrip later, you can choose its replacement from the same alternate tradition or a different one.
You have tattoos on your body corresponding to one of the ancient Thassilonian schools of magic. Choose one of the following schools of magic: abjuration (shield), conjuration (tanglefoot), enchantment (daze), evocation (electric arc), illusion (ghost sound), necromancy (chill touch), or transmutation (sigil). You can cast the associated cantrip (listed in parentheses) as an innate arcane spell at will.
The short human life span lends perspective and has taught you from a young age to set aside differences and work with others to achieve greatness. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus on checks to Aid.
Trigger You critically fail a Diplomacy check.
Requirements You’re in a settlement or community, and you haven’t used Courteous Comeback in this settlement or community within the past month.
You grew up in the proud Padishah Empire, where even insults have a certain poetic wit. Reroll the triggering Diplomacy check, using the second result.
You know more about the habits of devils than is entirely safe. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks against devils and saving throws against their abilities. In addition, whenever you meet a devil in a social situation, you can immediately attempt a Diplomacy check to Make an Impression on that creature rather than needing to converse for 1 minute. You take a –5 penalty to the check. If you fail, you can engage in 1 minute of conversation and attempt a new check at the end of that time rather than accepting the failure or critical failure result.
Special If you have the Glad-Hand skill feat, you don’t take the penalty to your immediate Diplomacy check if the target is a devil.
Prerequisites Tian-Dan ethnicity
Many Tian-Dan claim to have dragon blood in their veins, and in your case, this is true—you can spit energy, and you might have an especially visible sign of your draconic heritage. Choose one of the following cantrips: acid splash, electric arc, produce flame, or ray of frost. You can cast this spell as an innate arcane spell at will, and when you cast it, the spell’s energy emerges from your mouth.
Your adaptability manifests in your mastery of a range of useful abilities. You gain a 1st-level general feat. You must meet the feat’s prerequisites, but if you select this feat during character creation, you can select the feat later in the process in order to determine which prerequisites you meet.
Special You can select this feat multiple times, choosing a different feat each time.
Prerequisites Nidalese ethnicity
Gloom holds few terrors for you, and the pall of darkness over Nidal has made you comfortable in dim light. You gain low-light vision.
Trigger You are affected by an emotion effect.
Taldan pride means you never show weakness. Roll a Deception check and compare the result to any observing creatures’ Perception DCs. On a success, that creature believes you were unaffected by the emotion effect. A creature tricked in this manner can’t benefit from the emotion effect and can’t use abilities that require you to be under this emotion effect; for example, if you successfully use this ability to trick a will-o’-wisp (Pathfinder Bestiary 333) into believing you aren’t under a fear effect, it can’t use its Feed on Fear ability on you.
Frequency once per day
Trigger You roll a critical failure on a saving throw against an emotion effect.
You center yourself and call to mind the Vudrani monastic ideals of mindfulness and self-knowledge. You fail the save against the emotion effect instead of critically failing.
You were raised to be ambitious and always reach for the stars, leading you to progress quickly in your chosen field. You gain a 1st-level class feat for your class. You must meet the prerequisites, but you can select the feat later in the character creation process in order to determine which prerequisites you meet.
Your ingenuity allows you to learn a wide variety of skills. You gain the trained proficiency rank in two skills of your choice.
You grew up among the Shoanti tribes, with the spirits watching over you, and they offer you guidance. You gain the trained proficiency rank in the skill listed for your quah (or another skill of your choice, if you’re already trained in that skill). You gain the Assurance skill feat in that skill, as the spirits’ help guides your actions.
Lyrune-Quah Religion
Shadde-Quah Athletics
Shriikirri-Quah Nature
Shundar-Quah Diplomacy
Sklar-Quah Intimidation
Skoan-Quah Medicine
Tamiir-Quah Acrobatics
Frequency 3 times per day
Requirements You must spend 10 minutes just after your daily preparations examining the sky or consulting a star chart or you can’t use this action that day.
The ancient Saoc Brethren were the masters of astrology, and while your knowledge may be but a pale shadow of their wisdom, it still comes in handy. You recall the stars’ predictions about your current situation. If your next action requires you to attempt one or more skill checks, roll 1d8. On a result of 6, 7, or 8, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the first such skill check you attempt. On a 3, 4, or 5, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus. On a 2, you gain nothing. On a 1, you take a –1 circumstance penalty to the skill check.
Prerequisites You have a spellcasting class feature with the divine or primal tradition
You know the truth behind old stories that tell of sending a fetish of bone and sinew to seek vengeance. These old magics allow you to conjure constructs with ease. Add the summon construct spell to your spell list. The constructs you summon have a distinct ivory scrimshaw appearance, and if you include a drop of blood, lock of hair, or other portion of a creature’s body as part of the spell’s material component, the summoned construct gains a +4 status bonus to Perception checks to sense or locate that creature.
You’ve familiarized yourself with a particular weapon, potentially from another ancestry or culture. Choose an uncommon simple or martial weapon with a trait corresponding to an ancestry (such as dwarf, goblin, or orc) or that is common in another culture. You gain access to that weapon, and for the purpose of determining your proficiency, that weapon is a simple weapon.
If you are trained in all martial weapons, you can choose an uncommon advanced weapon with such a trait. You gain access to that weapon, and for the purpose of determining your proficiency, that weapon is a martial weapon.
You trained with shields and weapons as soon as you were old enough to hold them, eager to win honor and glory for yourself. You gain the Shield Block reaction and are trained in your choice of the battle axe or longsword.
You and your family have fought long and hard against witches, particularly the winter witches of Irrisen, and you’ve learned to be wary of their curses and the otherworldly powers their patrons grant. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against curses, and to saving throws against spells cast by a witch or hag. If you roll a success on a saving throw against a curse or a spell cast by a witch or hag, you get a critical success instead.
Prerequisites Adapted Cantrip, can cast 3rd-level spells
You’ve continued adapting your magic to blend your class’s tradition with your adapted tradition. Choose a cantrip or 1st-level spell from the same magical tradition as your cantrip from Adapted Cantrip. You gain that spell, adding it to your spell repertoire, spellbook, or prepared spells just like the cantrip from Adapted Spell. You can cast this spell as a spell of your class’s magical tradition. If you choose a 1st-level spell, you don’t gain access to the heightened versions of that spell, meaning you can’t prepare them if you prepare spells and you can’t learn them or select the spell as a signature spell if you have a spell repertoire.
You’ve learned how to handle situations when you’re out of your depth. You gain the Untrained Improvisation general feat. In addition, you can attempt skill actions that normally require you to be trained, even if you are untrained.
Prerequisites Gloomseer
Zon-Kuthon smiles upon you—even if you curse his name—granting you pitch-black eyes that allow you to see in shadows and darkness. You gain darkvision.
Prerequisites Arcane Tattoos
You expand your tattoos to encompass greater magic. Choose a 1st-level arcane spell from the same school as your Arcane Tattoos, either a common spell or another to which you have access. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate arcane spell.
Prerequisites Bonuwat ethnicity
You have been blessed by the sea, granting you the ability to swim like a fish. You gain a 15-foot swim Speed.
Special If you have the Bonuwat Wavetouched background, you can take this feat at 1st level instead of 5th.
Prerequisites Cooperative Nature
You have developed a soul-deep bond with your comrades and maintain an even greater degree of cooperation with them. If you are at least an expert in the skill you are Aiding, you get a success on any outcome rolled to Aid other than a critical success.
Prerequisites Dragon Spit
The blood of the Dragon Kings runs strong in your veins. Your draconic heritage is clearly visible, with hair that is almost entirely crimson, azure, or the like, and that shines like a dragon’s scales. You can cast the dragon breath sorcerer bloodline spell (Pathfinder Core Rulebook 403) as an innate arcane spell once per day, but you can use only the dragon breath that is associated with your heritage and that matches the energy type of your Dragon Spit feat. At 12th level and every 3 levels thereafter, the spell is heightened by an additional spell level.
Prerequisites Saoc Astrology
In the past, you would have been a proud initiate of the Saoc Brethren. Today, you carry on their legacy. When you use Saoc Astrology, roll 1d4 instead; on a 1, you take a –1 penalty to the skill check. On any other result, you gain a circumstance bonus of that value (for instance, a +3 circumstance bonus on a 3).
Prerequisites Clever Improviser
Frequency once per day
Trigger You attempt a check using a skill you’re untrained in.
A stroke of brilliance gives you a major advantage with a skill despite your inexperience. Gain a +4 circumstance bonus to the triggering skill check.
You’ve learned to split your focus between multiple classes with ease. You gain a 2nd-level multiclass dedication feat (for more about multiclass archetypes, see page 219), even if you normally couldn’t take another dedication feat until you take more feats from your current archetype.
If you’re a half-elf, you don’t need to meet the feat’s ability score prerequisites.
Prerequisites Garundi, Mauxi, or Tian-Yae ethnicity
Your ancestors hailed from the flying cities of the Shory, and a few simple tricks have come down through the ages to you. You can cast 4th-level fly on yourself as an innate arcane spell once per day.
Prerequisites Ornate Tattoo
Your tattoos are a work of eldritch genius, a masterpiece of art, magic, and skin. Choose a 3rd-level arcane spell from the same school as your Arcane Tattoos, either a common spell or another to which you have access, including a lower-level spell heightened to 3rd level if you wish. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate arcane spell.
Prerequisites Jadwiga ethnicity, wintertouched human heritage
You can trace your direct descent from one of the Queens of Irrisen and thus from Baba Yaga herself. Your resistance to cold increases to 5 + half your level, and you can cast 5th-level wall of ice as an innate arcane spell once per day.
Prerequisites Nidalese ethnicity
Thousands of years ago, your ancestors made a pact with Zon-Kuthon. He has not forgotten, even if you might wish he had. You can take 1 damage to mix blood and shadows to cast 5th-level creation as an innate divine spell. You can use this ability as often as you wish, but you can have only one such object in existence at a time. If the object encounters bright light, the spell ends and the object dissolves into shadows.
Prerequisites Garundi, Mauxi, or Tian-Yae ethnicity; Shory Aeromancer or ability to cast fly
Unique in Golarion’s history, the Shory people developed fighting styles dedicated to combat in the air. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Acrobatics checks to Maneuver in Flight and a +5-foot status bonus to your fly Speed whenever you are flying via magic.
Prerequisites Unconventional Weaponry, trained in the weapon you chose for Unconventional Weaponry
You’ve continued to advance your powers using your unconventional weapon. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in certain weapons, you also gain that proficiency in the weapon you chose for Unconventional Weaponry.
Half-Elf and Half-Orc Ancestry Feats
A human with elf or orc blood is called a half-elf or half-orc, respectively, which is represented by the corresponding heritage. If you have the half-elf or half-orc heritage you can select from additional ancestry feats not available to other humans.
Half-Elf Ancestry Feats
The following feats are available to half-elves.
Your elven blood runs particularly strong, granting you features far more elven than those of a typical half-elf. You may also have been raised among elves, steeped in your elven ancestors’ heritage. You gain the benefits of the elf heritage of your elven parent or ancestors. You typically can’t select a heritage that depends on or improves an elven feature you don’t have. For example, you couldn’t gain the cavern elf’s darkvision ability if you didn’t have low-light vision. In these cases, at the GM’s discretion, you might gain a different benefit.
Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.
Your elven lineage is subtle enough that you look barely different from other humans, and you’ve learned to use that to your advantage. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Deception (or another skill of your choice, if you were already trained in Deception). You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to Impersonate checks to pretend you aren’t a half- elf. Observers are never granted circumstance bonuses to Perception checks due to you Impersonating a full-blooded human, and you never take circumstance penalties due to you Impersonating a full-blooded human.
Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.
You’re extremely extroverted, and you often spend your time carousing or otherwise socializing. You are trained in Diplomacy (or another skill of your choice if you were already trained in Diplomacy), and you gain the Hobnobber skill feat.
Your own actions inspire your allies to great achievements. Whenever you critically succeed at a skill check, you automatically qualify to use the Aid reaction when attempting to help an ally using the same skill, even without spending an action to prepare to do so.
The elven magic in your blood manifests as a force you can use to become more appealing or alluring. You can cast 1st-level charm as an arcane innate spell once per day.
Half-Orc Ancestry Feats
The following feats are available to half-orcs. Some of these feats are common to people with orc blood, and have the orc trait, while others are specific to half-orcs and have the half-orc trait.
Your dual human and orc nature has given you a unique perspective, allowing you to bridge the gap between humans and the many intelligent creatures in the world that humans consider monsters. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy checks against non-humanoid intelligent creatures and against humanoids that are marginalized in human society (at the GM’s discretion, but typically at least including giants, goblins, kobolds, and orcs). You also gain this bonus on Perception checks to Sense the Motives of such creatures.
Frequency once per day
Trigger You would be reduced to 0 HIt Points but not immediately killed.
Fierceness in battle runs through your blood, and you refuse to fall from your injuries. You avoid being knocked out and remain at 1 Hit Point, and your wounded condition increases by 1.
Prerequisites low-light vision
Your orc blood is strong enough to grant you the keen vision of your orc forebears. You gain darkvision, allowing you to see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can in bright light. However, in darkness, you see in black and white only.
Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.
Trigger You attempt a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, before rolling.
You defend yourself against magic by relying on techniques derived from orc cultural superstitions. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your saving throw against the triggering spell or magical effect.
In combat, you favor the brutal weapons that are traditional for your orc ancestors. You are trained with the falchion and greataxe. In addition, you gain access to all uncommon orc weapons.
For you, martial orc weapons are simple weapons, and advanced orc weapons are martial weapons.
Many consider half-orcs little more than dumb brutes. This is offensive to you, but it can occasionally be useful. You are trained in Deception (or another skill of your choice if you were already trained in Deception), and you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Lie when specifically claiming ignorance and to Deception DCs against Sense Motive checks to uncover such lies.
Most half-orcs have visible tusks, but yours are particularly large and sharp, capable of gouging deep wounds. You gain a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage.
Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.
Prerequisites Orc Weapon Familiarity
You are brutally efficient with the weapons of your orc ancestors. Whenever you critically hit using a falchion, a greataxe, or an orc weapon, you apply the weapon’s critical specialization effect.
Trigger You bring a foe to 0 Hit Points.
Your victories in battle fill you with pride and imbue you with the energy to fight a bit longer despite your wounds. You gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Constitution modifier until the end of your next turn.
Prerequisites Orc Superstition
You steep yourself in superstition and practice ancient orc mental exercises for shrugging off the effects of magic. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against spells and magical effects at all times.
Prerequisites Orc Ferocity
Given time to collect yourself after a near-death scrape, you can rebuild your ferocity and withstand additional finishing blows. You can use Orc Ferocity with a frequency of once per hour, rather than once per day.
Prerequisites Orc Weapon Familiarity
Your orc affinity blends with your class training, granting you great skill with orc weapons. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in a given weapon or weapons, you also gain that proficiency in the falchion, the greataxe, and all orc weapons in which you are trained.
