Anadis are actually spiders who can transform into humanoid. and not "half-spiders". There was a lot of confusion about them due to early statblocks, but with Mwangi Expanse we finally have official info that they are spiders :)
@@massimocole9689 Reminds me of Zabuton (Word for Pillow) who is a giant spider in the anime My Isekai Life as a Farmer. The spider also knits and eat potatos.
"Androids feel like a starfinder character made their way into pathfinder" Well there's a reason they feel like that... (For context: Androids on Golarion originated from spaceships that crash landed in Numeria, which is the setting of the Iron Gods adventure path which has the express option of converting pathfinder canon into eventual starfinder canon. They literally _are_ starfinder characters that made their way into pathfinder.)
The only one I disagree with is Gnolls. Gnolls in Pathfinder 2e is S Adorable for me. Their big deal is that they carry around the bones of the dead as lucky trinkets and as a show of respect. A named Gnoll in a campaign is primarily known for being an awkward introvert.
Joke time: 1) You can choose to be a fruit Leshy. The rules don't define what type of fruit, so you can go with fun flavor (pun intended). 2) undead character options are coming, so you can, technically, make Leshy undead of various sorts. So, you can, if you so choose, make a fruit Leshy who is a lich, and whose fruit is from the soapberry family. Or, as I like to call them, a Lichee.
Honestly, after a long contemplation I decided that human is my favourite ancestry. It's just sooo versatile, and an extra class feat can also make a huge difference when you can't decide between two options. It's also more flavorful than other "generic" abilities, because it's the "My peers are stronger, more magical and live for 10 times as long as me, I need to work twice as hard to keep up" option, and it's just very cool to roleplay a sort of underdog that refuses to be weaker than more talented people. If I liked martials more, Dwarves might've been preferred by me (Rock and stone!) but I played so many martials in D&D that in Pathfinder I never feel like playing anything else than a spellcaster. Maybe I'll play a dwarven cleric one day.
‘Assimar have been around too long,” while kitsune made their first appearance back in ad&d in oriental adventures, and all the basic races have been around since the beginning of ttrpgs. I personally liked the automatons better than androids; more interesting feats, they don’t feel like someone was afraid to introduce constructs and they fit the world lore better.
I would have separated ancestries and versatile heritages. You can't compare them on mechanics, and The way that they combine offers such different experiences.
Wanderer's Guide say Azarketi is from the Lost Omens: Ancestry Guide. 23:17 My favorite part about Pathfinder Tieflings and Aasimar is that they aren't an actual ancestry/race but one that can be added to ANYTHING else so I can play a twin of another player and we can be an Aasimar and a Tiefling!
And Aasimar are not just beautiful. The Ancestry Guide says they garner positive responses with their looks...but there are canon Aasimar that look like "Bible-accurate" Angels... or have horns, or are aflame...
Dwarf Tiefling with Greater Darkvision... who is the 17th child of a Dwarf Aasimar and a Succubus. Grandchild of the high priestess of Cayden Cailean (in Absolam).... Class: Sorcerer (Angelic)... *Envisions the Angelic Halo Glowing above the Tiefling's Head* "Not all tieflings are evil. Btw, meet my mother!"
Mildly disappointed that NoNat didn't rank the ancestries by how unexpectedly hot Paizo made their character art, but cool video all the same. Appreciate all the work, and take care.
So the lore for Automatons is that they are the souls of an ancient civilization shoved into constructs, the empire fell, and the Automatons have been left to fend for themselves for Millenia. Way more interesting than just generic soulless constructs. One of my favorite concepts is an Automaton Summoner with a Devotion Phantom of their spouse who have spent all that time together. That said, awesome video, and glad you're feeling better :D
For me, it's the culture of the Strix that make them so interesting. An adventurer from a rather isolationist culture needs a good reason to leave the roost. Also they can be great in certain campaigns that tie into their histories.
One of my favorite lore details about the Anadi is that the Magaambya has been conducting a centuries-long propaganda campaign in an effort to make spiders seems less scary so that the Anadi don't have to pretend to be humans when they go out in public.
Azarketi released in Lost Omens: Absalom, but because it was delayed we didn't see the physical copy of it for awhile. Paizo released a PDF of just that ancestry when the Ancestry Guide came out since it was featured in the book and it would have been useless if we didn't have the ancestry to go with it.
I have no reason to believe anyone will care to read this, but just fyi regarding the souls of beings like androids. The way it works in pathfinder lore is that if a mechanical or otherwise synthetic creature, even constructs, are capable of sufficiently "advanced" thinking and learning, or some other metric it's not specific what exactly qualifies, then they ATTRACT a newborn soul from out there in the multiverse. Basically, if a thing is capable of properly housing a soul, then it will. In fact in Starfinder there is a somewhat commonly recognized possibility that any robot that is complicated enough in it's programming could potentially gain a soul.
I love changelings. The call is such an awesome start for character motivations and backstory. Also their origin makes how you interact with your family that your mother replaced their baby with you interesting; especially when you learn you are a changeling and you have to handle being the reason your family lost their original child. The feats you get are some fun, "corrupted nature" energy.
The anadi deserve S (cute) for their lore, cuz they arent spider beastkin, they are GIANT SPIDERS that *learned to shapeshift INTO humans* to not scare people
You need to look closer at Duskwalkers! Created through a compact between two psychopomps. Get the option to breathe a cone of frozen hornets that does persistent slashing damage. That alone should be worth a tier bump!
Starting my first pathfinder campaign and was interested in your video. Great bits and presentation, truly. We laughed a lot. What I really wanted to say was that I your naturally pointy top and bottom teeth make you look like a werewolf and it made me incredibly jealous
Nonat: "Stop trying to make Fetchlings happen" Me on my horse: "Get on loser we're going adventuring" I don't think i've ever hit the like button so fast
I ... I squirmed. I want to know why he doesn't love Goblins. Because to me, they're the definitive Paizo ancestry. On a more serious note, it's an interesting and quirky line up. I just feel like it needs a couple more Big Bois. Something to hang with the Firbolgs, Goliaths and Dragonborn of DnD. It's got a colossal advantage on Adorable Small Folk and it's around par for Medium Regular Peoples.
I personally think that Goblins might be more fun if they were retconned into being a branch of the Halfling family. Basically Halflings with green skin, giant pointy ears and a bucket of aggressive ambition.
I love Leshies too much! They are one of the most aesthetically flexible ancestries, allowing players to be super creative. They’re mechanically great too; really fun and useful feats.
Agreed! From the big pool of characters I've made, the Leshy giant totem barbarian demon slayer is the one I liked the most. There's something really fun about small plant person turning into towering ent-like entity, and it's mechanically strong too!
My favorite is Beastkin Kitsune. Kitsune have more magic based feats but if you go Beastkin you can be a Kitsune that can tap more into their beastial side than their magic side. Or both! My Barbarian Kitsune is gonna get Hybrid Dire Form . . . a Barbarian with free Enlarge. Think about that. Then rampaging form. _Shudder_ And she's a Dragon Instinct so she gets Dragon Shape too
Poppets are amazing! My poppet is a Witch who's pact is another witch! Basically him and his sister (a poppet who is his familiar) were tortured and experimented in for the Witch's pleasure. Only by a pact are they allowed to roam free, so she can get more power and knowledge. The end goal is for him and his sister (Jace and Grace) to kill the Witch that made them. Even if it ends their lives, to stop the torment she inflicted in them from continuing. Also, they finish eachother's sentences in rhyme and thats adorable.
How dare you note put Gobbies in Cute. They are litterally the mascot of Pathfinder, and they are by far the best Goblins in Table Top. Yours an Iron Gut Toxicologist Bartender named Phish Stix.
My only Elf was actually an alchemist who played on the back lines as a buff/heal character whose gimmick was basically giving the party helpful mutations
My first pf2e character that I just started with was a Elf. Not because of move speed, but because I wanted an excuse to play a super old cranky hermit. Which makes Elves awesome!
7:20 changeling is actually my favorite to play; as a trans woman I kinda relate to the concept of having had to pretend to be somebody else, so I like playing them cause I can relate more to the character
Disappointed how low Elves, Fetchlings and Changelings are. Changeling is my favorite ancestry because of the lore and it makes for interesting role play abilities. Also think Strix are under rated, they have some pretty dark lore. But at least I can agree that the Aphorite is the worst ancestry.
@ If I want a flightless racist, I can just watch political groups. Seriously, the majority of feats are about how much they hate Humans and their Wings. I can't figure out anything I couldn't use Aasimar or other wing granting option for. I already hate Humans and can't fly.
@ Oh yes, an entire Ancestry whose homes are meant to be safe from people without wings, can't fly until their late 20s. If your species is depicted with wings larger than your height, a increase to jump length isn't good enough. Their lore says they live in places no one but they can access. They only live for 40yrs, why would an adventurer not be able to fly? By all accounts the moron should be able to fly just to get around his home! Strix are a terrible race, and it will take a lot for me to change my mind. A lore change and appearance change so these things can't fly without special means. PCs are all just flightless morons or have suffered significant injuries. Only explanation I can figure with all the shit we're given for them.
Need to tell you that not all aasimars are just beautiful. The goblin aasimars are specifically noted in the Ancestry Guide for being weird: multiple eyes, voice of a choir, and other "BE NOT AFRAID" imagery. Be logical enough to expand that to any other odd ancestry, like Fleshwarps. Where would you rank Battlezoo's Dragon, since Pnoll's on there? S Cool, right?
glad you agree that poppets are basically the best. Gotta be honest when I first read it my mind went first to Chucky (from Child's Play) rather than some cutesy teddy bear type of character (although that is definitely also a cool character to RP and kill dragons with). I mean the possibilities there are near endless, you could be like pinnochio, buzz lightyear or the brave little toaster - something wholesome, whimsical fun, or you could go in really heartfelt or dark and be like the soul of a child that died, reincarnated into their smaller brother's toy to keep them save from beyond the grave. That ancestry is a treasure trove of possibilities is what I'm saying.
After INITIALLY WANTING to play a dhampir bard, but getting to the first fight and not being able to figure out how to heal this bitch, I switched her to a Fetchling (bc a shadow puppet bard sounded awesome) and I don't really regret it. I will not stop trying to make Fetchlings happen
I had a tag-team idea for a character, a Poppet Alchemist who is carried around by a Halfling Rouge, they can play the innocent little girl with her stuffed toy act. I made the Poppet an Alchemist for I believe they ignore poison as a feat if Im correct?
Argument for bumping Anadi up to S-cute: their personality. They are shy and polite. Argument for bumping Anadi up to S-cool: since they're a humanoid, they can be a Beastkin. I plan on the first character I play (forever GM) is a spider-shark. Finally, I had the idea to make a Toy Poppet that's a Giant Instinct Barbarian: the Barbie-barian! I love the mental image of someone mocking the Barbie doll, only for it to get ticked off and grow as big as a house. "Barbie Smash!"
Really great list overall! I will say that I love the Strix, and I feel like you can make them SUPER cool with versatile heritages (slap an Ifrit on a Strix and you get a phoenix person, how badass is that?). But hey, different experiences!
*stares Nonat dead in the eye, no words shared. Pulls out Goblin made effigy with Nonat's face painted on it and tosses on to the fiery altar of sacrifice for the almighty algorithm. As I walk away you clearly sense I am not mad, just disappointed*
I have a poppet that's a wooden dragon toy. Insists it's a full-blown dragon. Dragon instinct barbarian. Another person I know has a poppet that's a creepy doll carried by their eidolon (beast summoner). Poppets are amazing and versatile. Great placement!
Haven't played any pathfinder myself, but from what I've seen, I think a poppet thaumaturge who uses other toys as implements and claims they're alive, such as a plastic teapot as a cleric or an amulet made of felt and string as a champion, would be a fun character to roleplay. Edit: realized alchemist makes more sense for teapot chalice than cleric.
I'm in the process of building a Strix Monk, so yes, some people do play Strix. I have no name for her yet, but I did manage to build a backstory and fill the character sheet. If you think it is difficult to find a reason for Ratfolk to leave their home, having a motive for a Strix is also pretty rough. I actually really do like their flavor after spending quite some time reading through their lore. I'm putting her in partway through the campaign after having some issues with my current character that I have been playing for several months. My DM and I have had to work thorough how we are getting her there and a few other issues, but I also weaved her backstory into events from our campaign. There is a pretty nasty war taking place in the main city that we originally started off in, that may or may not be our fault. We might have accidentally flung the king off the top of the castle using a trebuchet... Well, the flinging wasn't an accident, but our summoner got distracted and forgot to use feather fall so that his landing wouldn't be so... umm... violent. It probably doesn't help that our druid chose a tapestry from the royal wizard's chambers to raise as a new flag on top of the castle causing people to think the wizard may have been planning a coup. Hey, the tapestry had a beautiful tree on it, and she thought it would make a nice flag. Oops... To be fair, there was already a monster army heading towards the city before we got there... So, for my Strix monk, her monastery was in the mountains adjacent to that city. It was built hundreds of years ago as a tribe that broke away from the main settlement in Devil's Perch because of a dispute involving her tribe's acceptance/trust in Dwarves. This friendship has sown distrust between her tribe and the tribes in Devil's Perch basically cutting them off from the main society. Their tribe was fully integrated with an adjacent Dwarven mining community and has accepted Torag as their main god. During the war in the adjacent city, her monastery and the dwarven community were both completely destroyed by wanton artillery rounds, masses of troops plowing through the area, and general pillagers. She is the sole survivor of the Strix tribe (she only survived because she wasn't in the immediate area when the destruction occurred). A small number of dwarves which were deep inside of the mines also managed to survive but have since fled to other dwarven communities. She's pissed and wanted to seek vengeance on the humans responsible for this, but Torag appeared to her personally (hello otherworldly background), said "This is bigger than you, be patient, come with me, and you'll get the vengeance you seek." He's transporting her to our summoner, telling her to trust in him, follow his guidance, and not kill/harm any humans that the summoner says not to harm.
Looking at Fetchling purely from their feats (I still want to play test my character), they are in fact quite OP. They have several innate spells and abilities that just make them extremely suitable as Rogues. Like, imagine a heist situation, you steal the thing, you get discovered, you use Extinguish Light, then use Skirt the Light (Shadow Walk spell) to escape. Or you could use Shadowy Disguise to enter unnoticed, or Clever Shadow + Hefting Shadow to unlock doors and put the stuff in your shadow. Fetchlings just have an nice appeal if you want some occult spells and cantrips without being a full caster.
I made a Poppet Summoner based off Calcabrina from Final Fantasy XIV. A creepy dancing doll that is two different dolls Calca and Brina. Plus summoning even more dolls to dance with itself.
Man I am so excited for the Kickstarter launch it's going to be so amazing and I am not biased what so ever. Also how dare you put Automaton in B tier, they have eyelasers and have a beast mode.
I gotta admit, especially since 5e have veered HARD around Elves and Fey/Fairies (especially given their relation), I've grown a personal antipathy towards fey and elf shenanigans, including dark elf/drow; the whole matter feel like the Mary Sues of 5e, complete with being creator's pets, often shilled, and warping the narrative around them, at least in that edition (being set in FR mainly doesn't help). (We don't need 11+ different variety of elf with practically 0 additional variety to everything else, nor having "chaotic fairyland" be the cop-out for bad writing).
Remember you can play WET human. Just remember that for the elementals. Also here's a question, if you were to make thee strongest midmax character, what would you do and how would you make them. And I mean just throwing EVERYTHING that would make a character unbalanced and able to kill the dm irl dew to its raw power it has.
I'm very attached to the Shadow plane people, it could be that in my Homebrew world I might play the shadows before I made the prime material plane but that might just be me.
I remember Aasimars at the end of 3.5/start of PF1e. The big problem with them was that they were broken; you got lots of extra little powers you could pick and choose from. There was really no reason to choose a non-Aasimar over an Aasimar when designing a character. It got so bad that they were eventually closed from being a choice in Pathfinder Society, and there was SUCH a rush of people trying to play as many adventures as possible with as many new Aasimar characters as possible before the grandfather period ended, it was clear why it had to be done.
I quite like the fetchlings, liked them back in PF1e too :3 Nothing like combining fetchling and a versatile heritage to make for some interesting story. Also just thought of if you and someone else wanted to be funny, if they played a human (whatever class), you could play a fetchling reflection so you have a sora/heartless sora or link/shadow link situation going on and play a similar class (or same if dm and you two are okay with that) but something their 'darker' self would do/feel appropriate. :3
I played a Psychic Poppet that was soul fragmented from their dead owner. It didn't talk, but Psychically screamed and tk items. It sat on another shoulder and had a mind meld mechanic. Super cool
I personally really like elves in pathfinder because of how alien they are. But even with that they are still only B for me because of how many cool ancestry that are in PF2E.
Elves have another cool thing: the Ancient elf Heritage: You gain the multiclass dedication feat for a class other than your own, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite. Good option is playing a universalist wizard, then taking fighter dedication feat (you need to meet str 14 and dex 14 prerequisites), and you will be trained in all basic and martial weapons then take hand of apprentice feat... choose a 1d12 martial weapon and you know the rest.
Only recently found your content and I like most of it quite a bit. With this one I was hoping for more than your gut reaction (as far as apparent justification for ranking) such as what about them distinguishes them positively or negatively, what their ancestry feat options impact is on the game in your opinion etc. What I feel we got is basically 30 minutes of how excited you personally are about a given ancestry.
Fetchlings aren't bad. though i feel they should have been a versatile heritage instead of an ancestry. but that might be because i like the idea of just having a shadow aspected race that isn't connected to the Life/Death Cycle in some way and just have cute anime shadow goth girl for the sake of cute anime shadow goth girl. because fetchlings are pretty much shadow element humanoids in the purest form without tying some undead or psychopomp stuff to the race.
Elves do have something going for them besides just being a pretty face with good movement speed. That is the ancient elf heritage, besides being strong mechanically, it also has good RP potential. Because someone who's lived longer than anyone they know, and will live longer than anyone they're around, will have a hard time connecting with other people emotionally, and will probably have a different perspective on time than others as well. There are even feats to go along with being an ancient elf, like Forlorn. There's a really good manga that explores this idea called "Sousou No Frieren". The MC is over a thousand years old and elves are a dying race so at the time of the story she hasn't met another elf in hundreds of years. It's mostly an episodic story where the MC is trying to learn more about her past companions and connect with her current companions while traveling with them. I heartily recommend it. In general, I really like stories about long lived or immortal characters that portray the idea that long life isn't all it's cracked up to be, and elves are a good race to explore that idea with because of their long life. I really like that Pathfinder 2e made it so your character can mechanically reflect backgrounds and heritages like this.
I am not a regular to this channel so i found it really amusing when the guy that loves dwarf to bits hates on elfs like it is nobodies business. Fucking love it. Something about these races really lends itself to rivalry between the two factions.
Fun fact, Denmark used to have an S grade. We used numerical values from 5-11 where 11 was 100% correct. But you could score a 13 if you answered everything correct and had gone beyound what was expected from the curriculum. In the end we had to scrap it because it didn't translate when compared with foreign grades, someone who had scored all 11s which would be a straight A student, would often be listed as a B grade student if he studied abroad. Shame cause it allowed the students that really excelled to actually show it.
Sigh. I'm glad you did this video. It was fun. But I'm a little disappointed in the lack of research and fact checking. I expect more out of you Nonat1
This video is honestly so much more than a tier list, as a new player it gives enough description of each race to draw me into looking at them all instead of just taking like an elf or something basic.
what I like about the Coven thing for Changeling Males is that you could easily write in some sort of "Witch Knight" type thing out of that, like, if they answer the call, when they go to the coven, they basically are turned into "Guardians" of the coven akin to how Oath of Ancient Paladins in 5e protect sacred groves and the like
If you didn't know, that changeling art is from the first bestiary book for 2E (I looked at it like an hour ago and it's exactly the same, see Changeling Exile stat block)
... Nonat, thank you so much, I never knew I needed this until I received it, you have introduced me to the Ganzi and I am now in love with the concept
Elves > every other ancestry (maybe apart from sprites). I will die on this hill, even if you took away the extra movement speed! (Yes, I'm obsessed with them) Though i do agree the 0 ft reach with the 20 ft movement speed is rough on martial sprites. So mount or a +5 ft speed bonus through feat is kinda a must.
I like this list. It's pretty funny to see a lot of the ancestries you place lower on the list are ones I make the most characters out of. Fetchling/Aasimar: Shadow Sorc/Liberator Champion (aspiring deity) Orc: Bard (exhibitionist, flexes to demoralize, dances and sings to cast spells, he's an...... "entertainer") Lizardfolk/Undine flavored as a Sharkfolk: Witch/Cleric (afraid of the water, poor guy) Lizardfolk/Draconic Scion: Drac Sorceror/Liberator Champion (slow, tanky and so cool, you need mittens to shake his hand) ......and one boring Human: Summoner. (I need to make more Orc characters)
At 13:42 Nonat says that you can make half of any race, but are there actually any specific rules for that? I'm new to Pf2e and I've been looking, but I can't seem to find rules for making a half race that's not half elf, half orc, or one of the versatile heritages. Can anyone clarify?
I want to make an NG Anadi chirurgeon that doesn't know human anatomy and therefore doesn't have a second form, and everyone back home thinks he's weird and smelly and so he's got nothing left but to be an adventurer. Basically, Dr Zoidburg but land arthropod.
Ganzi in S-Tier while Aphorite is F-Tier? this is some Maelstrom propaganda. I will say, unfortunately Aphorite did get a little bit shafted in feat design and I hope they get revamped soon. But being put in F-Tier just crushes my lawful soul.
I'm sure someone has already said this, but the gillmen were released in the Absalom source book, AFTER supplemental material for them was released in the ancestry guide.
2:47 High school hand A, B, C, D, and F grades, but in elementary school we hand E, G, S, and N/U - Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Non-/Un-satisfactory grades. So "S" was not super. LOL
In this video Nonat continues to definitely not secretly be a furry.
You have no solid evidence. I like Kitsune for their LORE 😳
@@Nonat1s As do I >.>
@@Nonat1s I love this character which is just a kitsune child who is just adorable.
Does liking beastkin and shifter make me a furry? I just like lycans
@@wiggledixbubsy98 The only thing that makes someone a furry is if they consider themselves a furry. So that's up to you.
Anadis are actually spiders who can transform into humanoid. and not "half-spiders". There was a lot of confusion about them due to early statblocks, but with Mwangi Expanse we finally have official info that they are spiders :)
And the art of their spider forms is adorable. An iridescent jumping spider holding a scarf.
@@massimocole9689 Reminds me of Zabuton (Word for Pillow) who is a giant spider in the anime My Isekai Life as a Farmer. The spider also knits and eat potatos.
You forgot the best kind of beast kin, the animal folk that turns into more of the same animal, like a catfolk that just becomes more of a cat.
I used a beastkin to create a half-human and half-gnoll hybrid... I mean, what would you expect from a worshiper of Lamashtu, right?
"Androids feel like a starfinder character made their way into pathfinder"
Well there's a reason they feel like that...
(For context: Androids on Golarion originated from spaceships that crash landed in Numeria, which is the setting of the Iron Gods adventure path which has the express option of converting pathfinder canon into eventual starfinder canon. They literally _are_ starfinder characters that made their way into pathfinder.)
Hilarious
The only one I disagree with is Gnolls.
Gnolls in Pathfinder 2e is S Adorable for me.
Their big deal is that they carry around the bones of the dead as lucky trinkets and as a show of respect.
A named Gnoll in a campaign is primarily known for being an awkward introvert.
I take great pleasure in the duality of Ganzi and Aphorite being at exact opposite ends of the tier list
Certainly shows the bias of law vs chaos
You should do archetype tier list. Thanks your vids helped me immensely and help me stay distracted while I’m at work :)
If he does an archetype tier list he’ll need multiple videos lol
Hoo boy. There's soooo many archetypes, haha. Maybe I could do it as a long multi-hour stream someday!
Lol true maybe just class archetypes lol
@@Nonat1s one of the drunknats
Could be a snap "This one is ranked (letter), and here's two sentences why. Next up," kind of thing.
Joke time:
1) You can choose to be a fruit Leshy. The rules don't define what type of fruit, so you can go with fun flavor (pun intended).
2) undead character options are coming, so you can, technically, make Leshy undead of various sorts.
So, you can, if you so choose, make a fruit Leshy who is a lich, and whose fruit is from the soapberry family.
Or, as I like to call them, a Lichee.
I'm stealing this. I'm sorry, but I have to.
As someone who almost exclusively plays elves and has never taken the Nimble Elf feat, no, I don't play them just for the 5 foot speed bonus.
Honestly, after a long contemplation I decided that human is my favourite ancestry. It's just sooo versatile, and an extra class feat can also make a huge difference when you can't decide between two options. It's also more flavorful than other "generic" abilities, because it's the "My peers are stronger, more magical and live for 10 times as long as me, I need to work twice as hard to keep up" option, and it's just very cool to roleplay a sort of underdog that refuses to be weaker than more talented people.
If I liked martials more, Dwarves might've been preferred by me (Rock and stone!) but I played so many martials in D&D that in Pathfinder I never feel like playing anything else than a spellcaster.
Maybe I'll play a dwarven cleric one day.
‘Assimar have been around too long,” while kitsune made their first appearance back in ad&d in oriental adventures, and all the basic races have been around since the beginning of ttrpgs. I personally liked the automatons better than androids; more interesting feats, they don’t feel like someone was afraid to introduce constructs and they fit the world lore better.
I would have separated ancestries and versatile heritages. You can't compare them on mechanics, and The way that they combine offers such different experiences.
Wanderer's Guide say Azarketi is from the Lost Omens: Ancestry Guide.
23:17 My favorite part about Pathfinder Tieflings and Aasimar is that they aren't an actual ancestry/race but one that can be added to ANYTHING else so I can play a twin of another player and we can be an Aasimar and a Tiefling!
And Aasimar are not just beautiful. The Ancestry Guide says they garner positive responses with their looks...but there are canon Aasimar that look like "Bible-accurate" Angels... or have horns, or are aflame...
Dwarf Tiefling with Greater Darkvision... who is the 17th child of a Dwarf Aasimar and a Succubus. Grandchild of the high priestess of Cayden Cailean (in Absolam)....
Class: Sorcerer (Angelic)... *Envisions the Angelic Halo Glowing above the Tiefling's Head* "Not all tieflings are evil. Btw, meet my mother!"
“I can be your angle or your devil”
Mildly disappointed that NoNat didn't rank the ancestries by how unexpectedly hot Paizo made their character art, but cool video all the same. Appreciate all the work, and take care.
That's another video entirely, don't you worry.
Anadi spiders S+ huh. Learned something new about you today.
So the lore for Automatons is that they are the souls of an ancient civilization shoved into constructs, the empire fell, and the Automatons have been left to fend for themselves for Millenia. Way more interesting than just generic soulless constructs. One of my favorite concepts is an Automaton Summoner with a Devotion Phantom of their spouse who have spent all that time together. That said, awesome video, and glad you're feeling better :D
His first character is was a dwarf. Of course he is going to put elves in D-tier!
For me, it's the culture of the Strix that make them so interesting. An adventurer from a rather isolationist culture needs a good reason to leave the roost. Also they can be great in certain campaigns that tie into their histories.
One of my favorite lore details about the Anadi is that the Magaambya has been conducting a centuries-long propaganda campaign in an effort to make spiders seems less scary so that the Anadi don't have to pretend to be humans when they go out in public.
As someone who's planning to play an Anadi cleric for Strength of Thousands after finishing my group's current campaign, that's cool to know.
Azarketi released in Lost Omens: Absalom, but because it was delayed we didn't see the physical copy of it for awhile. Paizo released a PDF of just that ancestry when the Ancestry Guide came out since it was featured in the book and it would have been useless if we didn't have the ancestry to go with it.
I have no reason to believe anyone will care to read this, but just fyi regarding the souls of beings like androids. The way it works in pathfinder lore is that if a mechanical or otherwise synthetic creature, even constructs, are capable of sufficiently "advanced" thinking and learning, or some other metric it's not specific what exactly qualifies, then they ATTRACT a newborn soul from out there in the multiverse. Basically, if a thing is capable of properly housing a soul, then it will.
In fact in Starfinder there is a somewhat commonly recognized possibility that any robot that is complicated enough in it's programming could potentially gain a soul.
I love changelings. The call is such an awesome start for character motivations and backstory. Also their origin makes how you interact with your family that your mother replaced their baby with you interesting; especially when you learn you are a changeling and you have to handle being the reason your family lost their original child. The feats you get are some fun, "corrupted nature" energy.
1:52 What's killing me is that I can't place where the background song comes from. I for sure KNOW what it's from but dear lord I just can't place it.
The anadi deserve S (cute) for their lore, cuz they arent spider beastkin, they are GIANT SPIDERS that *learned to shapeshift INTO humans* to not scare people
You need to look closer at Duskwalkers! Created through a compact between two psychopomps. Get the option to breathe a cone of frozen hornets that does persistent slashing damage. That alone should be worth a tier bump!
Starting my first pathfinder campaign and was interested in your video. Great bits and presentation, truly. We laughed a lot. What I really wanted to say was that I your naturally pointy top and bottom teeth make you look like a werewolf and it made me incredibly jealous
Nonat: "Stop trying to make Fetchlings happen"
Me on my horse: "Get on loser we're going adventuring"
I don't think i've ever hit the like button so fast
The fetchlings gag slayed me
I ... I squirmed. I want to know why he doesn't love Goblins. Because to me, they're the definitive Paizo ancestry.
On a more serious note, it's an interesting and quirky line up. I just feel like it needs a couple more Big Bois. Something to hang with the Firbolgs, Goliaths and Dragonborn of DnD. It's got a colossal advantage on Adorable Small Folk and it's around par for Medium Regular Peoples.
I personally think that Goblins might be more fun if they were retconned into being a branch of the Halfling family. Basically Halflings with green skin, giant pointy ears and a bucket of aggressive ambition.
I love Leshies too much! They are one of the most aesthetically flexible ancestries, allowing players to be super creative. They’re mechanically great too; really fun and useful feats.
Agreed! From the big pool of characters I've made, the Leshy giant totem barbarian demon slayer is the one I liked the most. There's something really fun about small plant person turning into towering ent-like entity, and it's mechanically strong too!
My favorite is Beastkin Kitsune. Kitsune have more magic based feats but if you go Beastkin you can be a Kitsune that can tap more into their beastial side than their magic side. Or both! My Barbarian Kitsune is gonna get Hybrid Dire Form . . . a Barbarian with free Enlarge. Think about that. Then rampaging form. _Shudder_
And she's a Dragon Instinct so she gets Dragon Shape too
Poppets are amazing! My poppet is a Witch who's pact is another witch! Basically him and his sister (a poppet who is his familiar) were tortured and experimented in for the Witch's pleasure. Only by a pact are they allowed to roam free, so she can get more power and knowledge. The end goal is for him and his sister (Jace and Grace) to kill the Witch that made them. Even if it ends their lives, to stop the torment she inflicted in them from continuing.
Also, they finish eachother's sentences in rhyme and thats adorable.
Thank you Nonat! I learned archery because of elves and now I know what to use it for.
How dare you note put Gobbies in Cute. They are litterally the mascot of Pathfinder, and they are by far the best Goblins in Table Top.
Yours an Iron Gut Toxicologist Bartender named Phish Stix.
*Goblin in C*
YOU FOOL! YOU UNLEASHED THE IRE OF THE ENTIRE CHOQ CLAN!
My only Elf was actually an alchemist who played on the back lines as a buff/heal character whose gimmick was basically giving the party helpful mutations
GOOD JOB, NONAT! Kitsune are perfect in either S-Tier, but you made a good choice.
My first pf2e character that I just started with was a Elf. Not because of move speed, but because I wanted an excuse to play a super old cranky hermit. Which makes Elves awesome!
7:20 changeling is actually my favorite to play; as a trans woman I kinda relate to the concept of having had to pretend to be somebody else, so I like playing them cause I can relate more to the character
I hear bird slander, I feel insulted. There's a Monty Python quote that I'm thinking of but I can't remember the specific words.
Disappointed how low Elves, Fetchlings and Changelings are. Changeling is my favorite ancestry because of the lore and it makes for interesting role play abilities. Also think Strix are under rated, they have some pretty dark lore.
But at least I can agree that the Aphorite is the worst ancestry.
Dark Lore doesn't equal good or interesting.
@ If I want a flightless racist, I can just watch political groups. Seriously, the majority of feats are about how much they hate Humans and their Wings. I can't figure out anything I couldn't use Aasimar or other wing granting option for. I already hate Humans and can't fly.
@ Oh yes, an entire Ancestry whose homes are meant to be safe from people without wings, can't fly until their late 20s. If your species is depicted with wings larger than your height, a increase to jump length isn't good enough.
Their lore says they live in places no one but they can access. They only live for 40yrs, why would an adventurer not be able to fly? By all accounts the moron should be able to fly just to get around his home!
Strix are a terrible race, and it will take a lot for me to change my mind. A lore change and appearance change so these things can't fly without special means. PCs are all just flightless morons or have suffered significant injuries. Only explanation I can figure with all the shit we're given for them.
Strix have really deep and dark lore. Strix are not just personbirds.
They also have the most racist feats.
Based
Need to tell you that not all aasimars are just beautiful. The goblin aasimars are specifically noted in the Ancestry Guide for being weird: multiple eyes, voice of a choir, and other "BE NOT AFRAID" imagery. Be logical enough to expand that to any other odd ancestry, like Fleshwarps.
Where would you rank Battlezoo's Dragon, since Pnoll's on there? S Cool, right?
I haven't read it yet! I still need to!
Any other interesting tidbits like that for aasimar?
glad you agree that poppets are basically the best. Gotta be honest when I first read it my mind went first to Chucky (from Child's Play) rather than some cutesy teddy bear type of character (although that is definitely also a cool character to RP and kill dragons with). I mean the possibilities there are near endless, you could be like pinnochio, buzz lightyear or the brave little toaster - something wholesome, whimsical fun, or you could go in really heartfelt or dark and be like the soul of a child that died, reincarnated into their smaller brother's toy to keep them save from beyond the grave. That ancestry is a treasure trove of possibilities is what I'm saying.
After INITIALLY WANTING to play a dhampir bard, but getting to the first fight and not being able to figure out how to heal this bitch, I switched her to a Fetchling (bc a shadow puppet bard sounded awesome) and I don't really regret it. I will not stop trying to make Fetchlings happen
I had a tag-team idea for a character, a Poppet Alchemist who is carried around by a Halfling Rouge, they can play the innocent little girl with her stuffed toy act.
I made the Poppet an Alchemist for I believe they ignore poison as a feat if Im correct?
Argument for bumping Anadi up to S-cute: their personality. They are shy and polite.
Argument for bumping Anadi up to S-cool: since they're a humanoid, they can be a Beastkin. I plan on the first character I play (forever GM) is a spider-shark.
Finally, I had the idea to make a Toy Poppet that's a Giant Instinct Barbarian: the Barbie-barian! I love the mental image of someone mocking the Barbie doll, only for it to get ticked off and grow as big as a house. "Barbie Smash!"
Ah, a fellow Dwarf Enjoyer.
AND an Elf Disenjoyer.
We can be friends :)
Really great list overall! I will say that I love the Strix, and I feel like you can make them SUPER cool with versatile heritages (slap an Ifrit on a Strix and you get a phoenix person, how badass is that?). But hey, different experiences!
*stares Nonat dead in the eye, no words shared. Pulls out Goblin made effigy with Nonat's face painted on it and tosses on to the fiery altar of sacrifice for the almighty algorithm. As I walk away you clearly sense I am not mad, just disappointed*
*laughs*
Another great video!
Damn it, i wanted an explanation for goblins. they are the best!
Squirm.
Why NoNat!?! I believed in you!!!
I have a poppet that's a wooden dragon toy. Insists it's a full-blown dragon. Dragon instinct barbarian. Another person I know has a poppet that's a creepy doll carried by their eidolon (beast summoner). Poppets are amazing and versatile. Great placement!
Haven't played any pathfinder myself, but from what I've seen, I think a poppet thaumaturge who uses other toys as implements and claims they're alive, such as a plastic teapot as a cleric or an amulet made of felt and string as a champion, would be a fun character to roleplay.
Edit: realized alchemist makes more sense for teapot chalice than cleric.
I'm in the process of building a Strix Monk, so yes, some people do play Strix. I have no name for her yet, but I did manage to build a backstory and fill the character sheet. If you think it is difficult to find a reason for Ratfolk to leave their home, having a motive for a Strix is also pretty rough. I actually really do like their flavor after spending quite some time reading through their lore. I'm putting her in partway through the campaign after having some issues with my current character that I have been playing for several months. My DM and I have had to work thorough how we are getting her there and a few other issues, but I also weaved her backstory into events from our campaign.
There is a pretty nasty war taking place in the main city that we originally started off in, that may or may not be our fault. We might have accidentally flung the king off the top of the castle using a trebuchet... Well, the flinging wasn't an accident, but our summoner got distracted and forgot to use feather fall so that his landing wouldn't be so... umm... violent. It probably doesn't help that our druid chose a tapestry from the royal wizard's chambers to raise as a new flag on top of the castle causing people to think the wizard may have been planning a coup. Hey, the tapestry had a beautiful tree on it, and she thought it would make a nice flag. Oops... To be fair, there was already a monster army heading towards the city before we got there...
So, for my Strix monk, her monastery was in the mountains adjacent to that city. It was built hundreds of years ago as a tribe that broke away from the main settlement in Devil's Perch because of a dispute involving her tribe's acceptance/trust in Dwarves. This friendship has sown distrust between her tribe and the tribes in Devil's Perch basically cutting them off from the main society. Their tribe was fully integrated with an adjacent Dwarven mining community and has accepted Torag as their main god.
During the war in the adjacent city, her monastery and the dwarven community were both completely destroyed by wanton artillery rounds, masses of troops plowing through the area, and general pillagers. She is the sole survivor of the Strix tribe (she only survived because she wasn't in the immediate area when the destruction occurred). A small number of dwarves which were deep inside of the mines also managed to survive but have since fled to other dwarven communities. She's pissed and wanted to seek vengeance on the humans responsible for this, but Torag appeared to her personally (hello otherworldly background), said "This is bigger than you, be patient, come with me, and you'll get the vengeance you seek." He's transporting her to our summoner, telling her to trust in him, follow his guidance, and not kill/harm any humans that the summoner says not to harm.
Looking at Fetchling purely from their feats (I still want to play test my character), they are in fact quite OP. They have several innate spells and abilities that just make them extremely suitable as Rogues. Like, imagine a heist situation, you steal the thing, you get discovered, you use Extinguish Light, then use Skirt the Light (Shadow Walk spell) to escape.
Or you could use Shadowy Disguise to enter unnoticed, or Clever Shadow + Hefting Shadow to unlock doors and put the stuff in your shadow.
Fetchlings just have an nice appeal if you want some occult spells and cantrips without being a full caster.
I made a Poppet Summoner based off Calcabrina from Final Fantasy XIV. A creepy dancing doll that is two different dolls Calca and Brina. Plus summoning even more dolls to dance with itself.
Man I am so excited for the Kickstarter launch it's going to be so amazing and I am not biased what so ever. Also how dare you put Automaton in B tier, they have eyelasers and have a beast mode.
I gotta admit, especially since 5e have veered HARD around Elves and Fey/Fairies (especially given their relation), I've grown a personal antipathy towards fey and elf shenanigans, including dark elf/drow; the whole matter feel like the Mary Sues of 5e, complete with being creator's pets, often shilled, and warping the narrative around them, at least in that edition (being set in FR mainly doesn't help). (We don't need 11+ different variety of elf with practically 0 additional variety to everything else, nor having "chaotic fairyland" be the cop-out for bad writing).
Remember you can play WET human. Just remember that for the elementals. Also here's a question, if you were to make thee strongest midmax character, what would you do and how would you make them. And I mean just throwing EVERYTHING that would make a character unbalanced and able to kill the dm irl dew to its raw power it has.
And why is it involved fighter?
I'm very attached to the Shadow plane people, it could be that in my Homebrew world I might play the shadows before I made the prime material plane but that might just be me.
Oh, that changeling art is from their entry in the Bestiary instead of 1e, same with the Oread
15:41 Even worse, if you go with a versatile human with general training, you can get TWO general feats.
I still remember when Asimar where introduced as one of two Planetouched races in AD&D 2nd Edition.
I remember Aasimars at the end of 3.5/start of PF1e. The big problem with them was that they were broken; you got lots of extra little powers you could pick and choose from. There was really no reason to choose a non-Aasimar over an Aasimar when designing a character. It got so bad that they were eventually closed from being a choice in Pathfinder Society, and there was SUCH a rush of people trying to play as many adventures as possible with as many new Aasimar characters as possible before the grandfather period ended, it was clear why it had to be done.
I quite like the fetchlings, liked them back in PF1e too :3
Nothing like combining fetchling and a versatile heritage to make for some interesting story.
Also just thought of if you and someone else wanted to be funny, if they played a human (whatever class), you could play a fetchling reflection so you have a sora/heartless sora or link/shadow link situation going on and play a similar class (or same if dm and you two are okay with that) but something their 'darker' self would do/feel appropriate. :3
Nonat, what does it say about me that my Fighter is a Kobold and Ganzi? Does triple S tier cancel, add, or multiply?!?
I played a Psychic Poppet that was soul fragmented from their dead owner. It didn't talk, but Psychically screamed and tk items. It sat on another shoulder and had a mind meld mechanic. Super cool
Trox because the DM finally allowed me to play one
I personally really like elves in pathfinder because of how alien they are. But even with that they are still only B for me because of how many cool ancestry that are in PF2E.
Elves have another cool thing: the Ancient elf Heritage: You gain the multiclass dedication feat for a class other than your own, even though you don’t meet its level prerequisite.
Good option is playing a universalist wizard, then taking fighter dedication feat (you need to meet str 14 and dex 14 prerequisites), and you will be trained in all basic and martial weapons then take hand of apprentice feat... choose a 1d12 martial weapon and you know the rest.
I love how gnomes can die due to lack of interest.
Only recently found your content and I like most of it quite a bit. With this one I was hoping for more than your gut reaction (as far as apparent justification for ranking) such as what about them distinguishes them positively or negatively, what their ancestry feat options impact is on the game in your opinion etc. What I feel we got is basically 30 minutes of how excited you personally are about a given ancestry.
Correct
Orc bottom of C tier is blasphemous smh. They have some of the coolest feats
Fetchlings aren't bad. though i feel they should have been a versatile heritage instead of an ancestry. but that might be because i like the idea of just having a shadow aspected race that isn't connected to the Life/Death Cycle in some way and just have cute anime shadow goth girl for the sake of cute anime shadow goth girl. because fetchlings are pretty much shadow element humanoids in the purest form without tying some undead or psychopomp stuff to the race.
Elves do have something going for them besides just being a pretty face with good movement speed. That is the ancient elf heritage, besides being strong mechanically, it also has good RP potential. Because someone who's lived longer than anyone they know, and will live longer than anyone they're around, will have a hard time connecting with other people emotionally, and will probably have a different perspective on time than others as well. There are even feats to go along with being an ancient elf, like Forlorn.
There's a really good manga that explores this idea called "Sousou No Frieren". The MC is over a thousand years old and elves are a dying race so at the time of the story she hasn't met another elf in hundreds of years. It's mostly an episodic story where the MC is trying to learn more about her past companions and connect with her current companions while traveling with them. I heartily recommend it.
In general, I really like stories about long lived or immortal characters that portray the idea that long life isn't all it's cracked up to be, and elves are a good race to explore that idea with because of their long life. I really like that Pathfinder 2e made it so your character can mechanically reflect backgrounds and heritages like this.
I am not a regular to this channel so i found it really amusing when the guy that loves dwarf to bits hates on elfs like it is nobodies business. Fucking love it. Something about these races really lends itself to rivalry between the two factions.
i love half elves cause you can give them double charisma bonus= super start for any charisma caster.
Fun fact, Denmark used to have an S grade. We used numerical values from 5-11 where 11 was 100% correct. But you could score a 13 if you answered everything correct and had gone beyound what was expected from the curriculum. In the end we had to scrap it because it didn't translate when compared with foreign grades, someone who had scored all 11s which would be a straight A student, would often be listed as a B grade student if he studied abroad. Shame cause it allowed the students that really excelled to actually show it.
Sigh. I'm glad you did this video. It was fun. But I'm a little disappointed in the lack of research and fact checking. I expect more out of you Nonat1
We both aggree that giant flaming fox is adorable tier.
Sweetbreath gnoll will never not be weird for me
This video is honestly so much more than a tier list, as a new player it gives enough description of each race to draw me into looking at them all instead of just taking like an elf or something basic.
Shark heads ............... I always felt PF kobolds resemble slamander
what I like about the Coven thing for Changeling Males is that you could easily write in some sort of "Witch Knight" type thing out of that, like, if they answer the call, when they go to the coven, they basically are turned into "Guardians" of the coven akin to how Oath of Ancient Paladins in 5e protect sacred groves and the like
2:53 In elementary school, the grades we got were O, S, and N (for Outstanding, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement).
My sprite character uses a bladed scarf to overcome the 0 feet melee range
Automaton Beastkin. Maximals, maximize!
Also, how dare you insinuate I'd ever play an Elf willingly.
If you didn't know, that changeling art is from the first bestiary book for 2E (I looked at it like an hour ago and it's exactly the same, see Changeling Exile stat block)
... Nonat, thank you so much, I never knew I needed this until I received it, you have introduced me to the Ganzi and I am now in love with the concept
i play elves like 90% of my characters on any kind of rpg not just ttrpgs just so i feel beautiful
Azarketi is in Absalom book (and was a web supplement before Ancestry guide)
4:57 Lost Omens: Absalom City of Lost Omens was the book the Azarketi are in
I know this is exactly what you wanted
BUT
How dare you treat goblins like this
Squirm
Elves > every other ancestry (maybe apart from sprites). I will die on this hill, even if you took away the extra movement speed!
(Yes, I'm obsessed with them)
Though i do agree the 0 ft reach with the 20 ft movement speed is rough on martial sprites. So mount or a +5 ft speed bonus through feat is kinda a must.
That's why you take the corgi mount as your level 1 ancestry feat.
I like this list. It's pretty funny to see a lot of the ancestries you place lower on the list are ones I make the most characters out of.
Fetchling/Aasimar: Shadow Sorc/Liberator Champion (aspiring deity)
Orc: Bard (exhibitionist, flexes to demoralize, dances and sings to cast spells, he's an...... "entertainer")
Lizardfolk/Undine flavored as a Sharkfolk: Witch/Cleric (afraid of the water, poor guy)
Lizardfolk/Draconic Scion: Drac Sorceror/Liberator Champion (slow, tanky and so cool, you need mittens to shake his hand)
......and one boring Human: Summoner. (I need to make more Orc characters)
Great video! Side note/ FYI: Says Sinclair Library Site is suspended when you click the URL.
At 13:42 Nonat says that you can make half of any race, but are there actually any specific rules for that? I'm new to Pf2e and I've been looking, but I can't seem to find rules for making a half race that's not half elf, half orc, or one of the versatile heritages. Can anyone clarify?
I want to make an NG Anadi chirurgeon that doesn't know human anatomy and therefore doesn't have a second form, and everyone back home thinks he's weird and smelly and so he's got nothing left but to be an adventurer.
Basically, Dr Zoidburg but land arthropod.
Pringles can hijinks!
You do kind of have that Bo Burnham look, Nonat.
Ganzi in S-Tier while Aphorite
is F-Tier? this is some Maelstrom propaganda. I will say, unfortunately Aphorite did get a little bit shafted in feat design and I hope they get revamped soon. But being put in F-Tier just crushes my lawful soul.
I'm sure someone has already said this, but the gillmen were released in the Absalom source book, AFTER supplemental material for them was released in the ancestry guide.
2:47 High school hand A, B, C, D, and F grades, but in elementary school we hand E, G, S, and N/U - Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Non-/Un-satisfactory grades. So "S" was not super. LOL
I'm making an Aphorite Elven Fighter now out of spite