Gwenevere Rothwell
Oct 27, 2023
Versatile Heritages are a relatively new and completely unique element of Pathfinder 2nd Edition. They kind of remind me of Templates from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, but instead of making your character only slightly different with a few +1s here and there, it’s instead a complete overhaul of your Ancestry.
Versatile Heritages
Versatile Heritages are a relatively new and completely unique element of Pathfinder 2nd Edition. They kind of remind me of Templates from Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, but instead of making your character only slightly different with a few +1s here and there, it’s instead a complete overhaul of your Ancestry.
Overhaul or Small Adjustment?
I say overhaul, but the amount of change a Versatile Heritage brings to your character is up to you, but at the very least, from a roleplay perspective, it creates a drastic change in your character. No longer are you just a human, you’re now an Aasimarian Human who is descended from an angel or a Tiefling Human who was born out of a deal made between your father and a devil.
How Versatile Heriages work are pretty simple. When you pick your Heritage, instead of going for the options that are available to the standard member of your race, you instead pick a Versatile Heritage which is usually associated with some sort of strange creature you are descended from or has influenced your bloodline in some way. Mechanically, this replaces your standard Heritage, gives you an ability or two tied to the Versatile Heritage you’ve selected, and gives you access to feats tied to that Versatile Heritage. The influence the Versatile Heritage has over your character from then on depends entirely on you. You could only grab feats from that Versatile Heritage, you could go for a mix, maybe you only want one or two feats, or maybe you just picked the Versatile Heritage entirely for thematics or for what the Versatile Heritage itself gives you. Because of this, a Versatile Heritage can vary from an overhaul of your Ancestry to only a slight adjustment.
Kitsune are an interesting case when it comes to Versatile Heritages as one of the key features of a Kitsune is their ability to shapechange into either a standard human or a fox. This is determined by the Kitsune’s Heritage, and with Versatile Heritages this is no different. When a Kitsune selects a Versatile Heritage, they are given the Tailless form (a medium humanoid) as their alternate form tied to the Change Shape ability. It should be noted Versatile Heritages are exceptionally potent on Ancestries that don’t have as many feat options because they can sometimes double your feat selection. This isn’t a bad thing or even “op”, but it can add a lot of flexibility to an otherwise stiff Ancestry.
Lineage Feats
Lineage Feats are completely unique to Versatile Heritages. These are feats that can only be taken at first level that determine or give you an effect tied to the specific source of your heritage. For example, a Changeling is descended from a Hag, but what kind of Hag is something that can vary from Changeling to Changeling. This is where Lineage Feats come into play. Lineage Feats are, in a sense, the Versatile Heritage’s own Heritages. The catch is, these aren’t gained for free. They are a feat after all.
You might be wondering why Lineage Feats aren’t automatic, and I believe it has to do with balance. Most Versatile Heritages give something small as a base such as Low-Light Vision or Darkvision, but they also give you access to an entire extra list of feats that no one else can access. Perhaps you are a Kobold who has molten rock instead of scales covering your body so you take Cindersoul to represent this. Or maybe you want your appearance to be relatively similar to a standard Kobold, if a bit smouldered with burning eyes, so you take the Lavasoul lineage.
House Rule Advice
Pathfinder 2nd Edition feels like a very rules tight system, but once you know the system well enough it’s fairly easy to make some small adjustments without breaking the game, and Versatile Heritages are ripe with some interesting House Rule options.
For starters, you could treat Versatile Heritages as a reward later down the line. Maybe there’s a potion or a ritual or a quest or maybe even just exposure to something affiliated with the Versatile Heritage that will cause your players to gain one down the line if they didn’t start with one. This doesn’t even have to replace the players’ starting Heritage, as long as all of your players are gaining the Heritage as an option. This might give them enhanced vision or resistances, as well as access to the entire list of feats. You could alternatively give your players access to specific feats without giving them the entire Heritage.
Another option is if all your players decide to play with Versatile Heritages, you could give them a free feat at 1st level that can only be used to gain Lineage Feats. Take care not to do this option if not all players are playing Versatile Heritages.