Custom Lineage is basically Variant Human except (a) +2 to one stat instead of +1 to two stats, and (b) no bonus skill proficiency. This has some applications for extremely SAD builds at low levels.
One trait is exactly worth a feat. Think about if, if you said "one feat for all traits" literally everyone would pick half-Human, get their feat back, and then get a free proficiency and free Inspiration every long rest.
So darkvision is worth a whole feat? Nope. Keen senses is worth a whole feat? Nope. Fey ancestry worth a whole feat? No, No and No. You can’t even use most of the Dragonborn traits if you only have one trait. You need the dragon ancestry trait to make the other traits work, but the dragon ancestry trait has no mechanical influence on the game on its own. You are correct about the problem with human combo, but if it’s one trait it’s worthless and a trap for new players to waste a feat on. I wanted to avoid having to go through each species and decide what was balanced to give as a feat, but it might take that much focus. That means the feat wouldn’t cover species outside of the PHB and would be long and wordy.
One trait is exactly worth a feat. Think about if, if you said "one feat for all traits" literally everyone would pick half-Human, get their feat back, and then get a free proficiency and free Inspiration every long rest.
So darkvision is worth a whole feat? Nope. Keen senses is worth a whole feat? Nope. Fey ancestry worth a whole feat? No, No and No. You can’t even use most of the Dragonborn traits if you only have one trait. You need the dragon ancestry trait to make the other traits work, but the dragon ancestry trait has no mechanical influence on the game on its own. You are correct about the problem with human combo, but if it’s one trait it’s worthless and a trap for new players to waste a feat on. I wanted to avoid having to go through each species and decide what was balanced to give as a feat, but it might take that much focus. That means the feat wouldn’t cover species outside of the PHB and would be long and wordy.
I can't really see a practical way to balance this kind of open-ended modular system. There's literally dozens of races, and some of their traits were ribbons while others were broken, so any kind of feat for this, narrow or wide, is going to swing wildly in performance based on the particular pick. Overall, I think the upcoming system of "you can have whatever parents the DM allows, just pick one block for traits" is the best way to allow the option to exist without driving everyone to insanity trying to maintain a semblance of balance across all past, present, and future race options.
So darkvision is worth a whole feat? Nope. Keen senses is worth a whole feat? Nope. Fey ancestry worth a whole feat? No, No and No.
Sure, some species features are underpowered for a feat. Some aren't, and there's no good way to separate them out aside from giant lists of "and these things are worth a feat, and these things are worth a half-feat, and ..." which is the type of point build system D&D doesn't want to get involved with.
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
It is absolutely not fine to give all traits at level 1. With your system, there would be literally 0 practical reason not to pick up the feat to get a human's traits, since it only costs 1 feat and it gives you a feat and more. Suddenly literally everybody is going to be either partially human or actively shooting themselves in the foot. Human is a prime example of how a species is worth more than a single feat.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
So darkvision is worth a whole feat? Nope. Keen senses is worth a whole feat? Nope. Fey ancestry worth a whole feat? No, No and No. You can’t even use most of the Dragonborn traits if you only have one trait. You need the dragon ancestry trait to make the other traits work, but the dragon ancestry trait has no mechanical influence on the game on its own. You are correct about the problem with human combo, but if it’s one trait it’s worthless and a trap for new players to waste a feat on. I wanted to avoid having to go through each species and decide what was balanced to give as a feat, but it might take that much focus. That means the feat wouldn’t cover species outside of the PHB and would be long and wordy.
That's not how toolbox design/balance works; you peg the balance point of a toolbox to its strongest options, not its weakest ones.
Like if you wanted to, you could take the Magic Initiate (Sorcerer) feat to pick up True Strike, Gust, and Ray of Sickness. On most builds, you would then conclude that Magic Initiate didn't do much for you and therefore that the feat is weak. And you would be wrong to think that, because there are much better options available for that feat. Those better options are what you - and more importantly, WotC - should be balancing the feat against, because people will naturally gravitate to those strongest options.
Sure, some species features are underpowered for a feat. Some aren't, and there's no good way to separate them out aside from giant lists of "and these things are worth a feat, and these things are worth a half-feat, and ..." which is the type of point build system D&D doesn't want to get involved with.
Exactly this. The best feature on a given species is worth a feat. The ones that aren't won't get picked. It's common sense.
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
It is absolutely not fine to give all traits at level 1. With your system, there would be literally 0 practical reason not to pick up the feat to get a human's traits, since it only costs 1 feat and it gives you a feat and more. Suddenly literally everybody is going to be either partially human or actively shooting themselves in the foot. Human is a prime example of how a species is worth more than a single feat.
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
Gaining all of a species features for the cost of two feats is probably going to be okay, but is unavailable to any build that doesn't start with a human.
Sure, some species features are underpowered for a feat. Some aren't, and there's no good way to separate them out aside from giant lists of "and these things are worth a feat, and these things are worth a half-feat, and ..." which is the type of point build system D&D doesn't want to get involved with.
Exactly this. The best feature on a given species is worth a feat. The ones that aren't won't get picked. It's common sense.
Not one single trait from any one dnd species is worth the cost of a feat. No not one. Looking at 5e races I would say flight is about the only one I see as having good value compared to other feats you could take. If you only get one trait a feat like this would be a trap. You would be better served taking any other first level feat.
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
It is absolutely not fine to give all traits at level 1. With your system, there would be literally 0 practical reason not to pick up the feat to get a human's traits, since it only costs 1 feat and it gives you a feat and more. Suddenly literally everybody is going to be either partially human or actively shooting themselves in the foot. Human is a prime example of how a species is worth more than a single feat.
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
I'm saying if you start as anything besides a human, there's literally no reason not to become a half-human. The feat cost pays for itself and more.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
I mean, sure you could be a half-human and trade one of your 1st-level feats for a 1st-level feat. Seems a bit pointless but go for it.
My point being that being a let’s say an elf and picking to be mixed human with this feat just so you get to also still have another feat isnt better than just being a human and getting two feats at level 1.
My point being that being a let’s say an elf and picking to be mixed human with this feat just so you get to also still have another feat isnt better than just being a human and getting two feats at level 1.
Um.
Elf (regular): gain darkvision, elven lineage, fey ancestry, trance, 1feat.
Elf + Human (by your scheme): gain darkvision, elven lineage, fey ancestry, trance, resourceful, skillful, 1 feat
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
I mean, sure you could be a half-human and trade one of your 1st-level feats for a 1st-level feat. Seems a bit pointless but go for it.
My point being that being a let’s say an elf and picking to be mixed human with this feat just so you get to also still have another feat isnt better than just being a human and getting two feats at level 1.
So you're saying that every option is worse than being a human? What?
If you're an elf, there's literally 0 reason not to take the feat you made for human. It costs you absolutely nothing, and it gives you a couple of not-insignificant benefits. If you're suggesting that your feat is balanced if everybody only ever plays as humans, then I shouldn't have to point out to you why it's flawed.
Sure, some species features are underpowered for a feat. Some aren't, and there's no good way to separate them out aside from giant lists of "and these things are worth a feat, and these things are worth a half-feat, and ..." which is the type of point build system D&D doesn't want to get involved with.
Exactly this. The best feature on a given species is worth a feat. The ones that aren't won't get picked. It's common sense.
Not one single trait from any one dnd species is worth the cost of a feat. No not one. Looking at 5e races I would say flight is about the only one I see as having good value compared to other feats you could take. If you only get one trait a feat like this would be a trap. You would be better served taking any other first level feat.
Look at Giant Ancestry from Goliath. A better version of misty step PB times per long rest seems well worth a feat to me. Fiendish Legacy and Elven Lineage seem comparable to Magic Initiate, while the Orc's Adrenaline Rush is a great use of a bonus action.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
It is absolutely not fine to give all traits at level 1. With your system, there would be literally 0 practical reason not to pick up the feat to get a human's traits, since it only costs 1 feat and it gives you a feat and more. Suddenly literally everybody is going to be either partially human or actively shooting themselves in the foot. Human is a prime example of how a species is worth more than a single feat.
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
I'm saying if you start as anything besides a human, there's literally no reason not to become a half-human. The feat cost pays for itself and more.
You only lose the ability to choose a better species, but now I see that flaw. If you had no intention of being another mixed ancestry and you aren’t playing a human it’s simply better to take this feat and mix it human because you don’t lose anything. You gain a Proficiency and one roll with advantage. So is the fix to leave human off the feat, or to create a feat for each species that is balanced. Cosidering what traits humans give is there a balanced feat worth creating from their traits?
You only lose the ability to choose a better species, but now I see that flaw. If you had no intention of being another mixed ancestry and you aren’t playing a human it’s simply better to take this feat and mix it human because you don’t lose anything. You gain a Proficiency and one roll with advantage. So is the fix to leave human off the feat, or to create a feat for each species that is balanced. Cosidering what traits humans give is there a balanced feat worth creating from their traits?
Every species, if you incorporate all the features, is worth more than a feat. The only way you could have 'all features from X and all features from Y' at first level and have it be balanced is if you sacrificed both your first level feat and one of your ASIs (sacrificing your feat and your +2 would certainly be balanced, sacrificing your feat and your +1 is a maybe).
PF2 I’m pretty sure just does it like, the feats are species specific. There’s an elven lineage feat for example. And you take that as your first level feat, and you can only take it at 1st. Then it gives you some, but not all of the elven species traits. I always thought that was a better way to get at it, instead of a single feat applied to every species, which I’d just going to be too broad l. Then you can be sure to only assign a few traits and make them, generally, worth a feat.
Obviously, you then need to make a few dozen feats, one for each species, and add a new one every time you introduce a new species, so it gets really unwieldy. But that seems like a better way to pull it off over mix-and-match freely, since you can kind of figure out what each combo could be. I wouldn’t want to be the person at WotC five years from now that has to look at their new feat in comparison to all the base species traits, but then I’d be getting paid to play D&D so I think I’d manage.
Look at Giant Ancestry from Goliath. A better version of misty step PB times per long rest seems well worth a feat to me. Fiendish Legacy and Elven Lineage seem comparable to Magic Initiate, while the Orc's Adrenaline Rush is a great use of a bonus action.
Actually, this could be fun, let's come up with some more.
... Obviously, you then need to make a few dozen feats, one for each species, and add a new one every time you introduce a new species, so it gets really unwieldy. ...
Or, and here's a novel, never-before-uttered idea...give the DM and player both some guidelines on how to mix species traits in a way suitable to their specific game.
Here. Let me give you some examples.
"If you wish to go beyond using one parent species' abilities for your character, you can work with your DM to create a homebrew mixture of traits from your parent species. When doing so, try to keep your character's inherited abilities within the same broad level of strength as a single-heritage character. Traits that affect your ability to take or deal damage, offer you alternative movement speeds or types, or which offer innate spellcasting are inherently more valuable and powerful than features that don't offer these things. As well, the less often a trait appears the more unique and valuable it tends to be. You should try to avoid making your homebrew mixed heritage a collection of just the most powerful traits from your parent species. Instead, consider the story your homebrew heritage tells about your character and how their mix of both strong and weaker traits can inform their history and upbringing."
"For example, you may wish to make a character that descends from both human and elven heritages. You've decided your character is uncomfortable in both human and elven lands, feeling like they don't properly fit in either of their parents' societies. Looking at your character's human parentage gives you three options: Resourceful, Skillful, and Versatile. Your elven parent contributes five options: Darkvision, Elven Lineage, Fey Ancestry, Keen Senses, and Trance. The human's Versatile trait is one of the most powerful species traits in the game and their most defining trait as a people, it's probably too strong to include in your homebrew heritage. Resourceful, however, is also unique to humans and fits the idea of your character as a self-sufficient wanderer that always has a reserve of heroism within them, so you decide to incorporate Resourceful into your heritage. From the elven side, Trance is the most species-defining trait of elven characters while contributing to their sense of isolation from other peoples, as they do not sleep. You decide that your character's inability to Trance is one of the largest wedges between them and their elven heritage, but your character clearly has Fey Ancestry so you include that trait in your heritage.
You now have two traits - Resourceful and Fey Ancestry. Your character has had to learn to be flexible since their earliest days and spent a lot of time bouncing between settlements, so you decide they've picked up some extra talents from their human side and also grant your character the Skillful trait from their human heritage. To finish off, you give your character a distinctly non-human ability to help set them apart from their human kin and reinforce the idea of a character that feels out of place in both worlds, and incorporate the elves' Darkvision into your heritage so you literally see the world differently than your human kin. Your homebrew heritage then consists of Resourceful, Fey Ancestry, Skillful, and Darkvision, which your DM decides is a good mix of traits and signs off on including in your game. Excellent!"
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Custom Lineage is basically Variant Human except (a) +2 to one stat instead of +1 to two stats, and (b) no bonus skill proficiency. This has some applications for extremely SAD builds at low levels.
So darkvision is worth a whole feat? Nope. Keen senses is worth a whole feat? Nope. Fey ancestry worth a whole feat? No, No and No. You can’t even use most of the Dragonborn traits if you only have one trait. You need the dragon ancestry trait to make the other traits work, but the dragon ancestry trait has no mechanical influence on the game on its own. You are correct about the problem with human combo, but if it’s one trait it’s worthless and a trap for new players to waste a feat on. I wanted to avoid having to go through each species and decide what was balanced to give as a feat, but it might take that much focus. That means the feat wouldn’t cover species outside of the PHB and would be long and wordy.
I can't really see a practical way to balance this kind of open-ended modular system. There's literally dozens of races, and some of their traits were ribbons while others were broken, so any kind of feat for this, narrow or wide, is going to swing wildly in performance based on the particular pick. Overall, I think the upcoming system of "you can have whatever parents the DM allows, just pick one block for traits" is the best way to allow the option to exist without driving everyone to insanity trying to maintain a semblance of balance across all past, present, and future race options.
Sure, some species features are underpowered for a feat. Some aren't, and there's no good way to separate them out aside from giant lists of "and these things are worth a feat, and these things are worth a half-feat, and ..." which is the type of point build system D&D doesn't want to get involved with.
I’m realizing at level 1 it’s fine to give all traits even for a human. Human characters normally would select two feats at level 1. So if you start human or start a another species and take this feat you end up in the same place. Additional traits plus one feat. If you choose to combine two non human species you have more opportunities for trait combo shenanigans. If you choose to be a species other than human and skip this trait you get one feat. The breakdown comes when gaining the late bloomer feat at later levels. While it functionally works the same it is far different in power. A character adding human gets to take a level appropriate feat as well. I suppose the easiest fix is to remove the ability to take Late Bloomer after first level and rename Mixed Ancestry. Problem with that is this would become a level 1 feat tax on anyone wanting to play mixed ancestry. Considering it would give all traits I feel it’s a fair tax, but that’s my opinion. I can see how someone who had other plans might want different feats early and would grab Late Bloomer at lvl 8 to flesh out the character they have been calling dwelf the whole time. Maybe other feats are more important to how they want to play the game. I acknowledge that there is no easy fix. I like to think about possible fixes. There is a functional answer we just haven’t come up with it yet.
It is absolutely not fine to give all traits at level 1. With your system, there would be literally 0 practical reason not to pick up the feat to get a human's traits, since it only costs 1 feat and it gives you a feat and more. Suddenly literally everybody is going to be either partially human or actively shooting themselves in the foot. Human is a prime example of how a species is worth more than a single feat.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
That's not how toolbox design/balance works; you peg the balance point of a toolbox to its strongest options, not its weakest ones.
Like if you wanted to, you could take the Magic Initiate (Sorcerer) feat to pick up True Strike, Gust, and Ray of Sickness. On most builds, you would then conclude that Magic Initiate didn't do much for you and therefore that the feat is weak. And you would be wrong to think that, because there are much better options available for that feat. Those better options are what you - and more importantly, WotC - should be balancing the feat against, because people will naturally gravitate to those strongest options.
Exactly this. The best feature on a given species is worth a feat. The ones that aren't won't get picked. It's common sense.
Being a non mixed human gets you two feats. Instead of getting traits I could just get another feat.
I mean, sure you could be a half-human and trade one of your 1st-level feats for a 1st-level feat. Seems a bit pointless but go for it.
Gaining all of a species features for the cost of two feats is probably going to be okay, but is unavailable to any build that doesn't start with a human.
Not one single trait from any one dnd species is worth the cost of a feat. No not one. Looking at 5e races I would say flight is about the only one I see as having good value compared to other feats you could take. If you only get one trait a feat like this would be a trap. You would be better served taking any other first level feat.
I'm saying if you start as anything besides a human, there's literally no reason not to become a half-human. The feat cost pays for itself and more.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
My point being that being a let’s say an elf and picking to be mixed human with this feat just so you get to also still have another feat isnt better than just being a human and getting two feats at level 1.
Um.
The second is obviously superior.
So you're saying that every option is worse than being a human? What?
If you're an elf, there's literally 0 reason not to take the feat you made for human. It costs you absolutely nothing, and it gives you a couple of not-insignificant benefits. If you're suggesting that your feat is balanced if everybody only ever plays as humans, then I shouldn't have to point out to you why it's flawed.
Look at Giant Ancestry from Goliath. A better version of misty step PB times per long rest seems well worth a feat to me. Fiendish Legacy and Elven Lineage seem comparable to Magic Initiate, while the Orc's Adrenaline Rush is a great use of a bonus action.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
You only lose the ability to choose a better species, but now I see that flaw. If you had no intention of being another mixed ancestry and you aren’t playing a human it’s simply better to take this feat and mix it human because you don’t lose anything. You gain a Proficiency and one roll with advantage. So is the fix to leave human off the feat, or to create a feat for each species that is balanced. Cosidering what traits humans give is there a balanced feat worth creating from their traits?
Every species, if you incorporate all the features, is worth more than a feat. The only way you could have 'all features from X and all features from Y' at first level and have it be balanced is if you sacrificed both your first level feat and one of your ASIs (sacrificing your feat and your +2 would certainly be balanced, sacrificing your feat and your +1 is a maybe).
PF2 I’m pretty sure just does it like, the feats are species specific. There’s an elven lineage feat for example. And you take that as your first level feat, and you can only take it at 1st. Then it gives you some, but not all of the elven species traits.
I always thought that was a better way to get at it, instead of a single feat applied to every species, which I’d just going to be too broad l. Then you can be sure to only assign a few traits and make them, generally, worth a feat.
Obviously, you then need to make a few dozen feats, one for each species, and add a new one every time you introduce a new species, so it gets really unwieldy. But that seems like a better way to pull it off over mix-and-match freely, since you can kind of figure out what each combo could be. I wouldn’t want to be the person at WotC five years from now that has to look at their new feat in comparison to all the base species traits, but then I’d be getting paid to play D&D so I think I’d manage.
Actually, this could be fun, let's come up with some more.
And all of the above ignore the combinations that give flight or teleportation, which are worth a 1st-level feat on their own.
Or, and here's a novel, never-before-uttered idea...give the DM and player both some guidelines on how to mix species traits in a way suitable to their specific game.
Here. Let me give you some examples.
"If you wish to go beyond using one parent species' abilities for your character, you can work with your DM to create a homebrew mixture of traits from your parent species. When doing so, try to keep your character's inherited abilities within the same broad level of strength as a single-heritage character. Traits that affect your ability to take or deal damage, offer you alternative movement speeds or types, or which offer innate spellcasting are inherently more valuable and powerful than features that don't offer these things. As well, the less often a trait appears the more unique and valuable it tends to be. You should try to avoid making your homebrew mixed heritage a collection of just the most powerful traits from your parent species. Instead, consider the story your homebrew heritage tells about your character and how their mix of both strong and weaker traits can inform their history and upbringing."
"For example, you may wish to make a character that descends from both human and elven heritages. You've decided your character is uncomfortable in both human and elven lands, feeling like they don't properly fit in either of their parents' societies. Looking at your character's human parentage gives you three options: Resourceful, Skillful, and Versatile. Your elven parent contributes five options: Darkvision, Elven Lineage, Fey Ancestry, Keen Senses, and Trance. The human's Versatile trait is one of the most powerful species traits in the game and their most defining trait as a people, it's probably too strong to include in your homebrew heritage. Resourceful, however, is also unique to humans and fits the idea of your character as a self-sufficient wanderer that always has a reserve of heroism within them, so you decide to incorporate Resourceful into your heritage. From the elven side, Trance is the most species-defining trait of elven characters while contributing to their sense of isolation from other peoples, as they do not sleep. You decide that your character's inability to Trance is one of the largest wedges between them and their elven heritage, but your character clearly has Fey Ancestry so you include that trait in your heritage.
You now have two traits - Resourceful and Fey Ancestry. Your character has had to learn to be flexible since their earliest days and spent a lot of time bouncing between settlements, so you decide they've picked up some extra talents from their human side and also grant your character the Skillful trait from their human heritage. To finish off, you give your character a distinctly non-human ability to help set them apart from their human kin and reinforce the idea of a character that feels out of place in both worlds, and incorporate the elves' Darkvision into your heritage so you literally see the world differently than your human kin. Your homebrew heritage then consists of Resourceful, Fey Ancestry, Skillful, and Darkvision, which your DM decides is a good mix of traits and signs off on including in your game. Excellent!"
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