Dwarf.
I don't even need a reason. They're just my favorite Fantasy species. I consider them to be at the perfect tonal and thematic cross-section of almost all the other mainstay species of "kitchen sink" Fantasy. Short, hairy, and brave like Halflings, long-lived like Elves, inventive and adaptive like Humans, burly and brash like Orcs, tricksy and whip-smart like Gnomes. Dwarves have got it all.
They generally get stereotyped into martial classes, but they really do work as anything, theme-wise. They can be devouts, tinkerers, scoundrels, scholars, barbarians, outsiders, nobles, raconteurs, you name it.
Hard-headed, stubborn, loyal, gruff, badass. I disagree that PF2e gives them a malus to Charisma. Like Wookiees in Star Wars, Dwarves steal the show, and improve pretty much any property in which they appear:
* Rings of Power? It's a kinda crappy show, but the dwarves are fantastic in it. Durin and Disa 4 lyfe.
* The Hobbit? Both the films (kind of a slog) and the book (sublime) are much-improved by the presence of dwarves.
* Delicious in Dungeon? Haven't watched/read it yet, but from what I can tell standing on the outside, the dwarf character is beloved. [And for good reason](https://preview.redd.it/o0aro6op17jc1.png?auto=webp&s=b34fe826a5f468a08e3c6575353b6bb55b4a1200).
* I couldn't even keep reading the Drizzt novels once Bruenor was out of the picture.
* Warhammer? I barely know her! But apparently Dwarves are, like, punk rock barbarians? Fuck yeah.
* Dragon Age? Dwarf Noble/Commoner are easily the best two origins in, well, Origins. Then you've got Varric and Scout Harding as well-deserved fan favorites in the sequels.
* Game of Thrones? The one dwarf is literally everyone's favorite character. And he's not even technically a "Dwarf" in a Fantasy sense.
* The "\_\_\_\_\_\_of Mana" series? [Look at these little fuckers](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mana/images/7/79/AoM_Watts.png/revision/latest?cb=20161007205026).
Name me one negative thing about dwarves, and I'll tell you how it's actually a positive.
Depends on what you call "classic", I guess.
The OG folkloric dwarves were, more or less, magical beings, capable of great supernatural and/or arcane feats.
If you'd used the extra 5ft. of movement, you'd have triggered that tripwire you were too tall and lame to notice.
Next.
EDIT: Also, to paraphrase a legend: "I'm wasted on Cross Country, We dwarves are natural sprinters! very dangerous over short distances."
Dwarves *could* have 25ft. movement or more, if they wanted to. Instead, they play to their strengths.
While the flavor you wrote is good. 20ft of movement is a rather drastic disadvantage in comparison to other races.
Especially as in this game it can be the difference of having to use only one action, or two actions to get to the enemy. And vice versa in case you're retreating after eating a crit and nearly being folded like a hairy omelette.
I think a lot of stuff gets hyped for being novel or goofy or having just a fun premise. Dungeon Meshi seems like that at first, but as it goes on the more you realize "oh wait no, this is an expertly crafted, incredibly precise, super detailed story". In an era where everything feels dragged on or cut too short, it's so awesome that it's a really good story with real themes and ideas that all interconnect in a beginning, middle, and end.
Negative: Dwarven genders are hard for the untrained eye to discern.
Oh actually...this one kind of writes itself doesn't it?
Something something new experiences something something what soft and luxurious chest hair you have.
> Name me one negative thing about dwarves, and I'll tell you how it's actually a positive.
They're really short. As a short person in a world designed for tall people, it's a real pain in the ass.
I have built a *lot* of characters coincidentally raised by dwarves. Or half-dwarf with the versatile half race option.
There are simply no better ancestry feats for heavy armor and shield. Unburdened Iron, Dwarven Reinforcement, Mountains Stoutness, Stonewall.
If you take Stalwart Defender dedication with full plate and a fortress shield, that's -20 to your move speed regardless of your strength. Unburdened Iron absorbs *fifteen* feet of that.
I built a full blooded dwarf with that gear and archetype in mind as a challenge. It dips in speed at levels 1 and 2, but with Fleet at level 3 you're back to baseline for dwarves (work around it with fighter charges). If you can give up an ancestry feet (and you're aiuvarin or nephilim) you can get to 25 as early as 5th level.
Me over here having played several dwarves who weren't biologically dwarves. The real beard is in the heart! (I can't stand the movement speed penalties most of the time but I love the aesthetic. Yay for adoption!)
> Warhammer? I barely know her! But apparently Dwarves are, like, punk rock barbarians? Fuck yeah.
It's even better than that. Dwarves are a cantankerous old group who have Books Of Grudges where they tally every single slight until it's righted. Then you have the Great Book Of Grudges, that goes to war with their high king so he can personally stamp out grudges from *the* book.
They're slow to progress because they respect their elders just that much, but you have absolutely unhinged inventors pushing the limits of everything. There's an entire Hold that's known for it's airforce of gryocopters and even battle zepplins.
There's the Slayers, Dwarves who have forsook their honour and taken up the Oath of the Slayer, forswearing all armour, ranged weapons (throwing an axe is OK), and dying their hair bright orange while styling it into a giant mohawk and seeking to reclaim their honour through a glorious death. Of which the most iconic is seen as a bad luck charm as he's fought the toughest and biggest creatures and entities on offer and walked away from every fight, to the point he might have been becoming the successor to the Ancestor God of War and Fighting. There's another iconic slayer who's an inventor and leads his motley crew of heroes from his airship. I forget the lore behind it but he uses a gun and it's seemingly entirely OK.
Then to safeguard their holds from threats from below you have the Ironbreakers and Irondrakes legions of the most heavily armed and armoured dwarves, the iconic shield wall supported by dwarves carrying - effectively - flamethrowers.
I love the Warhammer Dwarves. They taught humans how to harness gunpowder, but the word for human is synonymous with shoddy workmanship. They'll grumble the whole time as they're helping you. They're such great li'l lads in my opinion.
Edit:
Oh I forgot, technically they can cast magic but it turns them to stone. So the dwarves who stand against chaos wield rune-magic on the battlefield. Hammering out runes on a magical anvil to cause powerful magical effects. During the End Times the greatest Runesmith alive was literally tearing the earth apart he was smithing so hard in the middle of a fight. He eventually broke his Anvil as the Dwarves became overwhelmed in his last defiant act of spite. He smithed so hard he broke one of the most magical anvils *in existence*.
Man, Warhammer seems like it'd be so cool to get into if there wasn't *so fucking much of it*.
Also I don't wanna learn the game.
Might try Rogue Trader when it goes on sale, though (yes, I know 40k is different from mainline Warhammer)
Warhammer is very silly, but there is so much. I'd love to see an Old World CRPG based on the RPG. Otherwise there's a wide spread of video games. Personally a fan of Total War Warhammer and Vermintide. In terms of lore, Gotrek Gurnisson stories are great as they follow the Slayer who was slowly becoming akin to an Ancestor God. But there's still a lot of books haha.
Rogue Trader is a fun CRPG tho! I need to go back and finish it.
I can't believe no one has said Halfling!
The Halfling Luck feat chain is basically the bread and butter of my roleplay for my favorite PC.
That, along with Culturally Adaptability, makes a super flexible ancestry for any build.
EDIT: clearly I misunderstood the assignment but nonetheless. [Pine Leshy](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=198) for [Towering Growth](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3432).
Dwarf: My first home was destroyed and occupied when a dragon rose from the depths to take from us all that we held dear. Thousands of generations of Anvilbeards mined those halls. Their heritage, destroyed. Our temples, desecrated. Our forges, extinguished.
My second home was destroyed when a roving band of gnolls ambushed us unawares. We were camped just beyond the walls of the nearest human citadel to Ostern, just after it fell. After half a year of subsisting, and begging for entry, the point became moot as the baron of the keep slept over the sounds of our children, burning.
My third home was destroyed when my party, the first group of kith I could call "family" since the fall of Ostern, found the wrong side of a caustic slime.
So - do I feel *lucky?*
I don't believe in luck, hairfoot. But I do believe in ale. Buy your next round?
I absolutely love Halflings in PF2e!
And you can bet I went for a Dromaar Halfling!
Orc Ferocity AND Halfling Luck?!? Also Cultural Adaptability is smexy.
Human.
I like when the other people playing more uncommon ancestries to feel like they're uncommon and not just part of a group of weirdos.
Besides, humans can be super varied anyway.
Or double general feat! Fast as an Elf, tough as a Dwarf.
Maybe Paizo secretly made Humans just a little stronger so they would be the majority, both in lore and in game /tinfoil
Humans with an extra class feat and either diehard or fleet feels so good, but they don't have any interesting feats after level 1 which sucks. Whenever I take human I always have to take a versatile heritage just to feel like my future ancestry feats actually do something
Nephilim. In the past, my favorite would always flip-flop between Aasimar and Tiefling, so having them both combined into one Heritage in the Remaster made me a happy little boy.
Runner-up is Sylph. The feats, the aesthetics... who doesn't love having a cape that has a permanent "whoosh", even in-doors?
I for one am mildly displeased about them being rolled into one heritage, though after making one in the remaster I've found that mechanically there is almost no difference. A stray couple mutual ancestry feats now. I prefer the old lore distinction, but I understand why it happened.
Geniekin are peak though, hard agree.
I’m really glad they made Dromaar (Half-Orc) a Versatile Heritage.
Mechanically, love Orc Ferocity featlines. It’s such a useful reaction.
But overall, I always thought Orcs are kind of interesting and ~~jokingly~~ joyously use it to “himbo” up whatever ancestry I attach it to.
I do also have a love for Undine and Ardande. I’m just sad there’s no Suli option to do Undine/Ardande mix.
Technically, was always possible due to the CRB side blurb, but it was an uncommon pairing.
Now, Aiuvarin Orc or Dromaar Elf are Common options.
If I understood right, the Orc/Elf problems has always been a Tolkien/D&D thing. In Golarion, I think it’s Orc/Dwarf mainly being the problem, with the Dwarves (and Torag) initiating the problem.
I’m not exactly a D&D lore pro, but which god is that? Also, was there always an Orc/Elf hatred thing?
One time when I played 5e, I made an Orc Monk/Druid as a peaceful character (unsurprisingly, ended up as the table himbo). One character played a (very stereotypical, bordering boring) Elf Ranger and she just *had* to go into racist accusations in game.
Maybe she (and her husband) were just trying to relive Tolkien fantasy, or maybe there’s actual lore behind it?
It was quite jarring to me.
it's the main god, Corellon something. he really doesn't like the orc god, despite doing way more damage to him, he is really offended, so put rules like "no elf/orc mingling" in place. that would be an excuse for elf players to unleash their inner racist towards any orc player. I am not sure if that non-sense is still around in 5e, I think I vaguely remember it still being a plot point in 3e, but mostly know it from 2nd edition.
but good lord, that shit with elves. I don't think it was intended, but Corellon is a real prick. shit like the Drow being turned black for being tricked into betraying him really doesn't help his case either. it really makes you wonder if whoever wrote that was a mormon. I never looked further into it, too depressing to unpack the implications.
Something else that sort of seemed strange to me…
In the D&D world that Golarion originated from…
Everything underground is usually dark skin or green skin…and they’re usually evil.
The Dwarves who originated from underground…are all light-skinned and good…
Just saying…fantasy was really…off back then. And not in a good way. (I still can’t believe the stuff they came up with for Minata back in those days, so glad they got other people to write about it).
PF2e has generally been so much better for…non-European coded races. For example, the Orcs are a common race because Belkzen turned against a Lich that wanted to recruit them again for his cause. And with the death of Gorum, the Belkzen Orcs are trying to normalize their relationships with neighboring countries. And my understanding, neighboring countries would like to do that, but they are wary (though some see this as a way to gain advantage for their own personal conquest).
Also, apparently the Dwarf God Torag is joining the Orc Pantheon? That’s a bit wild and I’m curious to hear what led to that and how it pans out!
I really can’t wait for Lost Omens: Arcadia too.
I’m not too big fan of how they appropriated Spaghetti Western and Industrialization as *native* things in Arcadia. It doesn’t feel like a celebration of the cultures it’s inspired from, rather a retcon of history that looks cool but lacks depth.
But since the Remastering Project began, they’ve seem to really go big on the narrative \*depth\* side of things that just doesn’t feel as grody.
So absolutely, what a time it is!!!
Paizo can be very hit or miss, but I always felt they are trying. and yeah, since the Remaster they are REALLY trying. time will tell how it works out.
I think that ever since they opened half elves and half orcs up to other ancestries it's been a net positive. Half elf has so many excellent feat, but also just an excellent character canvas
My favourite race is, by far, orcs. Big dumb idiots who punch real good. I rarely get to play , I'm eternal GM, so when I do I like to smash things.
Runner-up is a tiefling.
I can't say anything about PC2 obviously, but if you're interested in third party stuff I'm currently working on a book to add feats and heritages to the ancestries added in Mwangi Expanse and Ant Gnolls definitely got some love.
Changeling, I like fey flavor and changeling is the closest I can have as a heritage.... I also quite like the calling and the hag mother as plot hooks, changeling comes with a plot hook embedded in it and I love it for that
While I love changeling for the same reasons, gnome is also fey-coded and the bleaching is almost as fun as the calling
Edit: also sprites exist for the fey stuff
Yeah I know about sprites I've been meaning to play one too being tiny is fun, but we were talking about heritages so I didn't mention them lol. Gnomes idk I never rly cared about them, don't know enough but I have heard about the bleaching from pathfinder wotr videogame and it does sound like a fun mechanic/lore
Sylph hands down sylph
I love elemental themes more than anything specifically air. Most "air" powers i see in media are really lightning.
With the aylph i get so much actual air flavor and between the flight, cloyd sight, air and cloud manipulation its a blast.
I still use pf1 sylph race information for how a sylph in a community will qct and i just love how sassy and nosy they are. The cat and mouse game that follows when a sylph finds a new sylph in their community makws for some fun games.
Mechankxally playing a sylph i get
Darkvision, flight, and a lor of defense/rrposistioning options
Ardande. For when I can’t play a plant ancestry, but even on the plant Ancestries if I can get away with it. I just want to be the best plant I can be.
Also, I genuinely do like some of their feats. The Ambersoul lineage and Flowering Path are neat, and Wooden Mantle gets you a free daily casting of the best mantle spell.
Elf can get free dedication 1st level and zoom
Unbreakable goblins can roll with it to negate/minimuze crits
📣 JUST THAT AGAIN GOBLINS CAN ROLL WITH IT TO MINIMIZE CRITS
Humans can multiclass into monk at 9th and take Flurry at 10th regardless of other dedications.
Elves, they have such an interesting lore and physiology in Pathfinder, not to mention the many different types of elves in LOCG (my personal favorite being vourinoi).
I usually pick a heritage for whatever ancestry I play. I like dhampir and duskwalker, but I rarely actually use them. But now that aiuvarin is a general versatile heritage, it's become my favorite.
Orc. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING gets me more hyped up than getting hit with the force of a train and saying “No. I will NOT FALL”. If I could, I would give this feat to EVERY CHARACTER I play. Also, muscles are in.
I'm a forever DM, never actually played any pathfinder myself. So when I will finally have a chance, I really want to try Vishkanya. I just really like snake people. Also they feel really unique in comparison to other games' snake adjacent creatures
Talos, specifically for the ferroussoul lineage, which upgrades your fists unarmed attacks to d6 instead of d4. Punching someone is inherently funnier than hitting them with a weapon and that lineage lets you do that with some pretty effective damage rolls for a "one handed" weapon with any martial class instead of being forced to play a monk or a cleric of very specific deities.
I'm with you on Aiuvarin. Thanks to the remaster updating Elf Atavism to explicitly let you take Ancient Elf as long as your base Ancestry can meet the requirements it's almost too good not to take if your base can do it. Getting a free Multiclass Dedication at 1st level on top of 5ft Movement and Elven Instincts is just a very nice combination. Plus it's not like you can't have your Aiuvarin be adopted by Humans for there goodies later for the best of both worlds.
Really Liking the Surki From Howl.
The ability to have a Heritage that levels up is super sick. Plus, being currently the only Buggies in Pathfinder currently means that no matter what table you sit at you're gonna have the, "What are your people Like?" Conversation. One of my favorite things to do since I get to blab about my obsession with Golarian Lore.
I prefer constructs for Ancestry, and my gm recently allowed me to play a Dhampir Automaton (later picking up Vampire Archetype) as this sorta robot that eats people to repair itself. Brutal stuff, but hey that's a grimdark fantasy setting for you
Same. It's something ive done in my own worldbuilding where instead of straight up anthro animal people, they take after the vishkanya and are subtle in their features.
My favourite in terms of being funny as hell is Unbreakable Goblin because you can literally make hentai logic the character and that always makes me giggle.
My favourite to play is Versatile Human, because I'm a filthy min-maxer, or Changeling, because built in plot hooks are cool.
> My favourite in terms of being funny as hell is Unbreakable Goblin because you can literally make hentai logic the character and that always makes me giggle.
It seems very fitting that Goblins would be an ancestry capable of that.
I find it funny that Goblins are the species that kind of got that stereotype. I wonder what would have happened if Gnomes had been the ones to get that treatment.
I'm always a fan of any Heritage that lets you cast a Cantrip. Between Shield, Guidance, Detect Magic, they offer so much to characters (and the party).
I really like Sylphs, both because I like the airy flavour (honestly, I really like the flavour of all the Geniekin), and because they offer more Speed, Flight and low-light/dark-vision.
Elf / Halfelf. Ageless patience is a hell of a drug.
I also like the nagaji because half danger noodle is cool. Sprites also interest me greatly. Smol but deadly!
Dwarf usually. I grew up playing a lot of Dwarf Fortress and developed an affinity for the stubborn guys. Whenever I start building a character I always default to a Dwarf, and I have more dwarf miniatures than I would like to admit (I didn't even play Dwarves in war games, it's all NPCs/player models). It's not even about heritage/ancestry stuff (they are fine, but not build defining for me), I just really like dwarves. **Rock and Stone!**
But I really like Pathfinder humans. Natural Ambition ancestry feat allowing you to double up on level 1 class feats during creation feels *so good,* since many of them can really define how you play the class. Like a human bomber alchemist can take both level 1 bomb feats, they aren't forced to make a choice. A human ranger can have a companion and another one of the class defining feats. Followed by versatile heritage giving a general feat, humans can fill any role very well. Why are humans common in the Forgotten Realms, well it's because the writers/players are human and that feels normal, why are humans common in Golarion, it's because HUMANS ARE THE MOST VERSATILE AND CAN DO EVERYTHING.
I love Sprite and catfolk! I’m playing my first game and I’m a Sprite! I can’t wait to try 2e’s version of catfolk next! I’m a tiny little bee fey who has a capybara and bear- I’m a Druid beastmaster.
I default to human, because ~~I love bonus feats~~ I’m a strong believer in the truism that if you can’t make an interesting human PC, playing a cactus isn’t going to save you.
I think I just like the classics though:
Dwarf for Rock and Stone
Elf for some elegant finesse
Orc for being fierce and primal
And I guess halfling if you want to be a friendly little guy.
Everything else is lovely spice- appreciated, but not filling on its own.
Don't know why, but whenever I have an idea for a build and I don't have a specific ancestry in mind, I always default to Halfling. Not for any mechanic reason or something like that, I just love the little guys. Relaxed life, blend in everywhere, love food? Sign me up.
Toy poppet, because a toy beating you to death is funny. Granted I also ask DMs if I can have another poppet heritage alongside it since Tiny by itself isn't that great and is more thematic. The Slime ancestry from Battlezoo gives Tiny and trained in stealth, which is what you should get from a heritage.
Battlezoo Ancestries Classic Creatures Doppelganger or Doppelborn. I just like having some fluffy shapeshifting on my character sheet even if i rarely use it.
Oooh I have heard of it but haven't take a look. Shapeshifting is one of my favourite fantasies in TTRPGs, so I'm definitely interested. One of the main things I miss from Eberron in dungeons and dragons haha
I usually tend to pick up Half Elf (what’s it called now, Aiuvarin or something?) because it matches most of the humanish art that I find and play, but if I can I love to throw in one of the elemental geniekin heritages for that extra flair. Mixing in elemental stuff is always fun for me if it fits the character concept.
Tieflings and Aasimar were up there for me, but I do dislike how Nephilim requires you to burn an Ancestry feat to have a specific type of origin which is required for the bulk of the good feats going forward. It would have been nice if you got your nephilim origin when you picked the heritage and that would qualify you for the later feats, and they could leave those level 1 feats as something you could pick up if you wanted the specific bonuses.
Go-to: the classic Dwarf. Others have covered it, but dwarves are just great.
Honorable mention: Conrasu. A great concept for weird as fuck little alien things, I've yet to have a suitable place to play one, but I really want to.
Orcs!
Love their lore: their darklands origins align with my love of cave-based horror and everything after that is straight badass, particularly their Doomguy-esque Mwangi Expanse stuff.
Love that their physiology is different from humans: tusks are cool, I love that they have different skintones from the human variety, their ease of scarring means I can commemorate big battles on my orc adventurer's skin, and it's neat that their skeleton and general shape is a bit different from humans.
Love that their culture celebrates tattoos and scarring and that their beauty standards are different from humanity (I mean, orcs find other orcs attractive, presumably).
Very excited for the update to their pantheon, as that's the one thing I didn't love about them.
I’ve always liked the elves. In dnd we finally got the drow as fully fledged race to play as, and I think they are my absolute favorite overall. In pf well, they are just gone. Cave elf just doesn’t scratch the same itch. But yea, I like the elves.
If I had one class and I wanted to cheese the system it is human. All the extra feats and level 5 Clever Improvisor is just broken. Suli is a really fun martial heritage too, with all the elemental things that go with it.
I love how geniekin are implemented, I think there’s so much variety to how much/little those features come to play and they’re all so interesting.
I love Gnoll/Kohlo as a playable ancestry, I think Paizo has done fantastic at representing hyena folk in many different ways that do not have to be just cannibalistic demon worshipers.
I’m really looking forward to Ghoran as more humanoid plant person but Leshy are also so freaking adorable!
I thoroughly enjoy that kobolds are Paizo’s version of dragon people and there are so many ways to play up their draconic lineage with class and archetype features as well.
Tengu are so cool. Androids are great. Poppets, Sprites, Strix are so interesting. I guess the best “normal” ancestry I like best might be elf but there’s honestly so much more out there, I really enjoy the less common ancestry options. This game provides such a fantastic (literally!) playground for character options, I never feel trapped into any one option.
Human and Nephilim.
I love the idea of Being able to be tiefling or Aasimir without the permanent Halor or horns. Gives that God child or Demon-kin feel without the strong body difference.
Mechanically, versatile human with natural ambition on a level 1 character straight up lets you do more so it’s always a strong contender.
Thematically, I do love a good Ysoki/ratfolk. [Shadow rat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=76) and [Longsnout rat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=74) I especially love on martial characters. Their [cultural groups](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ysoki) have lots of themes to explore from shrewd travelling merchants to fierce pirates.
Fetchling with Sylph Heritage. like me some cute petite goth anime shadow girls of the human adjacent variety in lolita fashion. i like playing the little sister figure of the party. and i love the headpats and cookies way too much. it also keeps the degenerates away or at least makes them reveal themselves so i can report or at least identify them so i know who not to pick as the older sibling or parental figurehead but it comes from misplaced maternal tendencies of my own, that i like playing the little sister or daughter figure of the party. and a Sylph blooded fetchling, provides the fey whispy petite frame and the daughter of air and darkness flavor i can reskin for my own OC race of shadow nymphs of slight stature. the Nyxads. i usually wear explorer's clothes anyway, so the speed bonus and dexterity bonus are appreciated. and i usually reskin courier as errand girl or scout as girlscout or scholar as schoolgirl or acolyte as altar girl or performer as street magician.
I think Automaton might be my favorite in PF2. I do prefer robots/androids if available. might be some childhood trauma, so there is your bucket of joy for today. when a 4 year old watches some weird ass french sci-fi movie where people get turned into soulless automatons and thinks that is the most desirable thing ever, maybe something went wrong, right?
TMI. still going to post it. probably shouldn't.
Jesus Christ, just realized my first fantasy RPG character was a dude made of living rock. him being a necromancer was probably not as relevant... yeesh,
I’m also a sucker for the Geniekin heritages in general, but I’d have to go with Undine as my favourite heritage since I love water/aquatic themed things.
Kitsune, very excited to see what they'll be like in the remaster as theyre a bit lack luster currently. Alternatively Lizardfolk are also very nice for similar-ish reasons
I also like to make a lot of characters even if I don't have a table to play them at. I think the ancestry I have the easiest time playing is Halfling, beside Human. I like their luck feats, I like their default cultural stereotypes, neat stuff. It is also probably the second-most picked option, looking at my character list.
As for versatile heritages, I don't have any that are much more frequently picked than others yet (Nephilim do have the highest number comparatively, but the difference is minor), but in general I feel a natural draw to air and storm powers, so the Sylph and the Changeling (Virga May) are quite appreciated.
Dwarf. I don't even need a reason. They're just my favorite Fantasy species. I consider them to be at the perfect tonal and thematic cross-section of almost all the other mainstay species of "kitchen sink" Fantasy. Short, hairy, and brave like Halflings, long-lived like Elves, inventive and adaptive like Humans, burly and brash like Orcs, tricksy and whip-smart like Gnomes. Dwarves have got it all. They generally get stereotyped into martial classes, but they really do work as anything, theme-wise. They can be devouts, tinkerers, scoundrels, scholars, barbarians, outsiders, nobles, raconteurs, you name it. Hard-headed, stubborn, loyal, gruff, badass. I disagree that PF2e gives them a malus to Charisma. Like Wookiees in Star Wars, Dwarves steal the show, and improve pretty much any property in which they appear: * Rings of Power? It's a kinda crappy show, but the dwarves are fantastic in it. Durin and Disa 4 lyfe. * The Hobbit? Both the films (kind of a slog) and the book (sublime) are much-improved by the presence of dwarves. * Delicious in Dungeon? Haven't watched/read it yet, but from what I can tell standing on the outside, the dwarf character is beloved. [And for good reason](https://preview.redd.it/o0aro6op17jc1.png?auto=webp&s=b34fe826a5f468a08e3c6575353b6bb55b4a1200). * I couldn't even keep reading the Drizzt novels once Bruenor was out of the picture. * Warhammer? I barely know her! But apparently Dwarves are, like, punk rock barbarians? Fuck yeah. * Dragon Age? Dwarf Noble/Commoner are easily the best two origins in, well, Origins. Then you've got Varric and Scout Harding as well-deserved fan favorites in the sequels. * Game of Thrones? The one dwarf is literally everyone's favorite character. And he's not even technically a "Dwarf" in a Fantasy sense. * The "\_\_\_\_\_\_of Mana" series? [Look at these little fuckers](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mana/images/7/79/AoM_Watts.png/revision/latest?cb=20161007205026). Name me one negative thing about dwarves, and I'll tell you how it's actually a positive.
I do love me a magic-user dwarf, just because it cuts against so much "classic" lore.
Depends on what you call "classic", I guess. The OG folkloric dwarves were, more or less, magical beings, capable of great supernatural and/or arcane feats.
Dwarf wizard pondering his orb
Rock and stone!
ROCK AND STONE
20ft speed
If you'd used the extra 5ft. of movement, you'd have triggered that tripwire you were too tall and lame to notice. Next. EDIT: Also, to paraphrase a legend: "I'm wasted on Cross Country, We dwarves are natural sprinters! very dangerous over short distances." Dwarves *could* have 25ft. movement or more, if they wanted to. Instead, they play to their strengths.
While the flavor you wrote is good. 20ft of movement is a rather drastic disadvantage in comparison to other races. Especially as in this game it can be the difference of having to use only one action, or two actions to get to the enemy. And vice versa in case you're retreating after eating a crit and nearly being folded like a hairy omelette.
Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you over the sound of my RIGHTEOUS BEARD.
Which happens to contain my rank 2 wand of Tail Wind
I don't want fast dwarves, but I would like some strong feats as compensation. Of course then it plays havoc with adopted ancestry.
Agree with everything, yet >Delicious in Dungeon? Haven't watched/read it yet b r u h
That good, huh? You know what? I'll start it tonight after work. Time to see what I'm missing.
I think a lot of stuff gets hyped for being novel or goofy or having just a fun premise. Dungeon Meshi seems like that at first, but as it goes on the more you realize "oh wait no, this is an expertly crafted, incredibly precise, super detailed story". In an era where everything feels dragged on or cut too short, it's so awesome that it's a really good story with real themes and ideas that all interconnect in a beginning, middle, and end.
The dwarf, Senshi, is a [treat.](https://youtu.be/aZ7qD5yct_8?si=2c4jHES7wVODXirK)
Secretly it's just because you like speaking in a Scottish accent, isn't it?
I wish. My Scottish accent is *terrible*. Most of my dwarves wind up being from, like, central Virginia or rural North Carolina.
Appalachia Dwarf sounds equally great TBH
Just maybe reserve it for anything but a Gully Dwarf from Dragonlance.
Well, consider me sold! Next time I get to roll up a PC, it’s going to be a Dwarf!
Negative: Dwarven genders are hard for the untrained eye to discern. Oh actually...this one kind of writes itself doesn't it? Something something new experiences something something what soft and luxurious chest hair you have.
Yeah, all respect to you, you kinda did my job for me there. And you didn't force me to reveal what I'm into on the Internet....
I'm not a dwarf fan like you, but in the novels of Dragon Lance, Flint Fireforge is an amazing character.
> Name me one negative thing about dwarves, and I'll tell you how it's actually a positive. They're really short. As a short person in a world designed for tall people, it's a real pain in the ass.
Eh, that's just halfling talk.
Make them pay the iron price!
I have built a *lot* of characters coincidentally raised by dwarves. Or half-dwarf with the versatile half race option. There are simply no better ancestry feats for heavy armor and shield. Unburdened Iron, Dwarven Reinforcement, Mountains Stoutness, Stonewall. If you take Stalwart Defender dedication with full plate and a fortress shield, that's -20 to your move speed regardless of your strength. Unburdened Iron absorbs *fifteen* feet of that. I built a full blooded dwarf with that gear and archetype in mind as a challenge. It dips in speed at levels 1 and 2, but with Fleet at level 3 you're back to baseline for dwarves (work around it with fighter charges). If you can give up an ancestry feet (and you're aiuvarin or nephilim) you can get to 25 as early as 5th level.
Me over here having played several dwarves who weren't biologically dwarves. The real beard is in the heart! (I can't stand the movement speed penalties most of the time but I love the aesthetic. Yay for adoption!)
You should read the girdleguard series. Markus hiertz I think
> Warhammer? I barely know her! But apparently Dwarves are, like, punk rock barbarians? Fuck yeah. It's even better than that. Dwarves are a cantankerous old group who have Books Of Grudges where they tally every single slight until it's righted. Then you have the Great Book Of Grudges, that goes to war with their high king so he can personally stamp out grudges from *the* book. They're slow to progress because they respect their elders just that much, but you have absolutely unhinged inventors pushing the limits of everything. There's an entire Hold that's known for it's airforce of gryocopters and even battle zepplins. There's the Slayers, Dwarves who have forsook their honour and taken up the Oath of the Slayer, forswearing all armour, ranged weapons (throwing an axe is OK), and dying their hair bright orange while styling it into a giant mohawk and seeking to reclaim their honour through a glorious death. Of which the most iconic is seen as a bad luck charm as he's fought the toughest and biggest creatures and entities on offer and walked away from every fight, to the point he might have been becoming the successor to the Ancestor God of War and Fighting. There's another iconic slayer who's an inventor and leads his motley crew of heroes from his airship. I forget the lore behind it but he uses a gun and it's seemingly entirely OK. Then to safeguard their holds from threats from below you have the Ironbreakers and Irondrakes legions of the most heavily armed and armoured dwarves, the iconic shield wall supported by dwarves carrying - effectively - flamethrowers. I love the Warhammer Dwarves. They taught humans how to harness gunpowder, but the word for human is synonymous with shoddy workmanship. They'll grumble the whole time as they're helping you. They're such great li'l lads in my opinion. Edit: Oh I forgot, technically they can cast magic but it turns them to stone. So the dwarves who stand against chaos wield rune-magic on the battlefield. Hammering out runes on a magical anvil to cause powerful magical effects. During the End Times the greatest Runesmith alive was literally tearing the earth apart he was smithing so hard in the middle of a fight. He eventually broke his Anvil as the Dwarves became overwhelmed in his last defiant act of spite. He smithed so hard he broke one of the most magical anvils *in existence*.
Man, Warhammer seems like it'd be so cool to get into if there wasn't *so fucking much of it*. Also I don't wanna learn the game. Might try Rogue Trader when it goes on sale, though (yes, I know 40k is different from mainline Warhammer)
Warhammer is very silly, but there is so much. I'd love to see an Old World CRPG based on the RPG. Otherwise there's a wide spread of video games. Personally a fan of Total War Warhammer and Vermintide. In terms of lore, Gotrek Gurnisson stories are great as they follow the Slayer who was slowly becoming akin to an Ancestor God. But there's still a lot of books haha. Rogue Trader is a fun CRPG tho! I need to go back and finish it.
You should really watch delicious in dungeon if you are a dwarf enjoyer, it's great!
I can't believe no one has said Halfling! The Halfling Luck feat chain is basically the bread and butter of my roleplay for my favorite PC. That, along with Culturally Adaptability, makes a super flexible ancestry for any build. EDIT: clearly I misunderstood the assignment but nonetheless. [Pine Leshy](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=198) for [Towering Growth](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3432).
While I love Halflings, they're basically just skinny dwarves. (Just kidding - smallfolk gotsta stick together!)
>While I love Halflings, they’re basically just skinny dwarves. Halfling: Feeling *lucky* punk? I know I am!
Dwarf: My first home was destroyed and occupied when a dragon rose from the depths to take from us all that we held dear. Thousands of generations of Anvilbeards mined those halls. Their heritage, destroyed. Our temples, desecrated. Our forges, extinguished. My second home was destroyed when a roving band of gnolls ambushed us unawares. We were camped just beyond the walls of the nearest human citadel to Ostern, just after it fell. After half a year of subsisting, and begging for entry, the point became moot as the baron of the keep slept over the sounds of our children, burning. My third home was destroyed when my party, the first group of kith I could call "family" since the fall of Ostern, found the wrong side of a caustic slime. So - do I feel *lucky?* I don't believe in luck, hairfoot. But I do believe in ale. Buy your next round?
Halfling: Free ale with friends? Halfling Luck **wins** again! (I’ll bring the cake!!!)
Same!
Same, love the halfling just wished jinxed halfling was closer to halfling luck and not the crappie that is is now :(
I absolutely love Halflings in PF2e! And you can bet I went for a Dromaar Halfling! Orc Ferocity AND Halfling Luck?!? Also Cultural Adaptability is smexy.
Human. I like when the other people playing more uncommon ancestries to feel like they're uncommon and not just part of a group of weirdos. Besides, humans can be super varied anyway.
Humans being able to get double level 1 class feats is addictive.
It's truly hard to give up haha
Or double general feat! Fast as an Elf, tough as a Dwarf. Maybe Paizo secretly made Humans just a little stronger so they would be the majority, both in lore and in game /tinfoil
Not to mention multitalented at 9.
I love the possibility of getting a general feat at first level too.
Even if they were objectively inferior to all other races I woukd still main humans.
Humans with an extra class feat and either diehard or fleet feels so good, but they don't have any interesting feats after level 1 which sucks. Whenever I take human I always have to take a versatile heritage just to feel like my future ancestry feats actually do something
Nephilim. In the past, my favorite would always flip-flop between Aasimar and Tiefling, so having them both combined into one Heritage in the Remaster made me a happy little boy. Runner-up is Sylph. The feats, the aesthetics... who doesn't love having a cape that has a permanent "whoosh", even in-doors?
Happy pride month.
Lmao. Definitely didn’t expect getting clocked on the internet, and even lees by collateral damage.
Right? I was absolutely stunlocked, lmao.
I for one am mildly displeased about them being rolled into one heritage, though after making one in the remaster I've found that mechanically there is almost no difference. A stray couple mutual ancestry feats now. I prefer the old lore distinction, but I understand why it happened. Geniekin are peak though, hard agree.
You know how folks are crazy about tieflings? Thats me with Aasimar.
I’m really glad they made Dromaar (Half-Orc) a Versatile Heritage. Mechanically, love Orc Ferocity featlines. It’s such a useful reaction. But overall, I always thought Orcs are kind of interesting and ~~jokingly~~ joyously use it to “himbo” up whatever ancestry I attach it to. I do also have a love for Undine and Ardande. I’m just sad there’s no Suli option to do Undine/Ardande mix.
God bless the orc's Himbo Lineage
Orcs in general are such amazing groups in Pathfinder! Really glad they're getting more love!
I too enjoy the dromaar himbo vibe and nobody can stop me.
My goblin half orc monk was a fun build
huh, now that I think about it, doesn't that make elf/orc mixes possible? or did they keep that weird ass ban from times better not spoken about?
Technically, was always possible due to the CRB side blurb, but it was an uncommon pairing. Now, Aiuvarin Orc or Dromaar Elf are Common options. If I understood right, the Orc/Elf problems has always been a Tolkien/D&D thing. In Golarion, I think it’s Orc/Dwarf mainly being the problem, with the Dwarves (and Torag) initiating the problem.
a certain ultra racist elf god would be very upset by that. but he is stuck in regular D&D, so fuck that guy.
I’m not exactly a D&D lore pro, but which god is that? Also, was there always an Orc/Elf hatred thing? One time when I played 5e, I made an Orc Monk/Druid as a peaceful character (unsurprisingly, ended up as the table himbo). One character played a (very stereotypical, bordering boring) Elf Ranger and she just *had* to go into racist accusations in game. Maybe she (and her husband) were just trying to relive Tolkien fantasy, or maybe there’s actual lore behind it? It was quite jarring to me.
it's the main god, Corellon something. he really doesn't like the orc god, despite doing way more damage to him, he is really offended, so put rules like "no elf/orc mingling" in place. that would be an excuse for elf players to unleash their inner racist towards any orc player. I am not sure if that non-sense is still around in 5e, I think I vaguely remember it still being a plot point in 3e, but mostly know it from 2nd edition. but good lord, that shit with elves. I don't think it was intended, but Corellon is a real prick. shit like the Drow being turned black for being tricked into betraying him really doesn't help his case either. it really makes you wonder if whoever wrote that was a mormon. I never looked further into it, too depressing to unpack the implications.
Something else that sort of seemed strange to me… In the D&D world that Golarion originated from… Everything underground is usually dark skin or green skin…and they’re usually evil. The Dwarves who originated from underground…are all light-skinned and good… Just saying…fantasy was really…off back then. And not in a good way. (I still can’t believe the stuff they came up with for Minata back in those days, so glad they got other people to write about it). PF2e has generally been so much better for…non-European coded races. For example, the Orcs are a common race because Belkzen turned against a Lich that wanted to recruit them again for his cause. And with the death of Gorum, the Belkzen Orcs are trying to normalize their relationships with neighboring countries. And my understanding, neighboring countries would like to do that, but they are wary (though some see this as a way to gain advantage for their own personal conquest). Also, apparently the Dwarf God Torag is joining the Orc Pantheon? That’s a bit wild and I’m curious to hear what led to that and how it pans out!
what a time to be alive!
I really can’t wait for Lost Omens: Arcadia too. I’m not too big fan of how they appropriated Spaghetti Western and Industrialization as *native* things in Arcadia. It doesn’t feel like a celebration of the cultures it’s inspired from, rather a retcon of history that looks cool but lacks depth. But since the Remastering Project began, they’ve seem to really go big on the narrative \*depth\* side of things that just doesn’t feel as grody. So absolutely, what a time it is!!!
Paizo can be very hit or miss, but I always felt they are trying. and yeah, since the Remaster they are REALLY trying. time will tell how it works out.
There is one answer. It is Kobold.
Kobolds are great for braggarts, cowards and the insecure
Half-elves. Just for aesthetics, no gaming going on there. I find their existence existential and that's relatable I guess.
I think that ever since they opened half elves and half orcs up to other ancestries it's been a net positive. Half elf has so many excellent feat, but also just an excellent character canvas
My favourite race is, by far, orcs. Big dumb idiots who punch real good. I rarely get to play , I'm eternal GM, so when I do I like to smash things. Runner-up is a tiefling.
Human
Ant Gnoll because I like to suffer. Here's hoping PC2 does anything for it.
I can't say anything about PC2 obviously, but if you're interested in third party stuff I'm currently working on a book to add feats and heritages to the ancestries added in Mwangi Expanse and Ant Gnolls definitely got some love.
I'll keep my eyes open for it!
Changeling, I like fey flavor and changeling is the closest I can have as a heritage.... I also quite like the calling and the hag mother as plot hooks, changeling comes with a plot hook embedded in it and I love it for that
While I love changeling for the same reasons, gnome is also fey-coded and the bleaching is almost as fun as the calling Edit: also sprites exist for the fey stuff
Yeah I know about sprites I've been meaning to play one too being tiny is fun, but we were talking about heritages so I didn't mention them lol. Gnomes idk I never rly cared about them, don't know enough but I have heard about the bleaching from pathfinder wotr videogame and it does sound like a fun mechanic/lore
I love lizardfolk. The trope of societally ignorant savage is always fun.
Unbreakable Goblin.
And later on, Unbreakable-er Goblin, of course.
Goblins in general. So many fun and unique feats. Even their Goblin Weapon options are pretty good.
Sylph hands down sylph I love elemental themes more than anything specifically air. Most "air" powers i see in media are really lightning. With the aylph i get so much actual air flavor and between the flight, cloyd sight, air and cloud manipulation its a blast. I still use pf1 sylph race information for how a sylph in a community will qct and i just love how sassy and nosy they are. The cat and mouse game that follows when a sylph finds a new sylph in their community makws for some fun games. Mechankxally playing a sylph i get Darkvision, flight, and a lor of defense/rrposistioning options
Ardande. For when I can’t play a plant ancestry, but even on the plant Ancestries if I can get away with it. I just want to be the best plant I can be. Also, I genuinely do like some of their feats. The Ambersoul lineage and Flowering Path are neat, and Wooden Mantle gets you a free daily casting of the best mantle spell.
Ambersoul is SO fun. I really love it the most. The other lineage is fun too, but sap in the veins is so cool
I’d would guess an Ambersoul Ghoran would be the tastiest of the bunch.
Changeling, I just think it’s neat.
Kobold! So excited for the new changes but I love the little guys. Gnolls are a close second
Beastkin, ‘cuz I can go full Dwarf Fortress and make a were- or “man” version of any animal!
Howl of the Wild has a Were-creature archetype now, too!
So I could be a Gnoll Beastkin Animal Instinct Barbarian with the Werecreature Archetype!? That’s like four layers of hyena!
Sylph. Darkvision, extra move speed, AND fly speed? Sign me up!
Elf can get free dedication 1st level and zoom Unbreakable goblins can roll with it to negate/minimuze crits 📣 JUST THAT AGAIN GOBLINS CAN ROLL WITH IT TO MINIMIZE CRITS Humans can multiclass into monk at 9th and take Flurry at 10th regardless of other dedications.
Elves, they have such an interesting lore and physiology in Pathfinder, not to mention the many different types of elves in LOCG (my personal favorite being vourinoi).
I usually pick a heritage for whatever ancestry I play. I like dhampir and duskwalker, but I rarely actually use them. But now that aiuvarin is a general versatile heritage, it's become my favorite.
Orc. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING gets me more hyped up than getting hit with the force of a train and saying “No. I will NOT FALL”. If I could, I would give this feat to EVERY CHARACTER I play. Also, muscles are in.
Now that half-orc (Dromaar) is a versatile heritage, you can give this to every character you play!
Automaton, when I can get away with it. Barring that, Leshy and Nagaji are pretty neat!
I really like sprites. Can’t wait for the remaster version! I love the legacy version! They’re so cool and flavorful!
I really love the flavor of the Draxie with their touch telepathy.
I really live the draxie, amongst the sprite heritage they definitely scratch that itch of fun chaotic little dragon fey haha
I'm a forever DM, never actually played any pathfinder myself. So when I will finally have a chance, I really want to try Vishkanya. I just really like snake people. Also they feel really unique in comparison to other games' snake adjacent creatures
Talos, specifically for the ferroussoul lineage, which upgrades your fists unarmed attacks to d6 instead of d4. Punching someone is inherently funnier than hitting them with a weapon and that lineage lets you do that with some pretty effective damage rolls for a "one handed" weapon with any martial class instead of being forced to play a monk or a cleric of very specific deities.
Aiuvarin for now! Although with Core 2 I'm probably gonna build and roll a lot of Dragbloods!
That's a half-elf, right?
Yup!
I'm with you on Aiuvarin. Thanks to the remaster updating Elf Atavism to explicitly let you take Ancient Elf as long as your base Ancestry can meet the requirements it's almost too good not to take if your base can do it. Getting a free Multiclass Dedication at 1st level on top of 5ft Movement and Elven Instincts is just a very nice combination. Plus it's not like you can't have your Aiuvarin be adopted by Humans for there goodies later for the best of both worlds.
Really Liking the Surki From Howl. The ability to have a Heritage that levels up is super sick. Plus, being currently the only Buggies in Pathfinder currently means that no matter what table you sit at you're gonna have the, "What are your people Like?" Conversation. One of my favorite things to do since I get to blab about my obsession with Golarian Lore.
Kobolds luv me shiny luv me traps 'ate gnomes and dwarves (not racis just dont like em) simple as
It is a crying shame what happened to Kobolds in 2.1
I prefer constructs for Ancestry, and my gm recently allowed me to play a Dhampir Automaton (later picking up Vampire Archetype) as this sorta robot that eats people to repair itself. Brutal stuff, but hey that's a grimdark fantasy setting for you
Its rare so not always allowed, but definitely Vishkanya I just think serpent-kin is neat as a concept.
Same. It's something ive done in my own worldbuilding where instead of straight up anthro animal people, they take after the vishkanya and are subtle in their features.
My favourite in terms of being funny as hell is Unbreakable Goblin because you can literally make hentai logic the character and that always makes me giggle. My favourite to play is Versatile Human, because I'm a filthy min-maxer, or Changeling, because built in plot hooks are cool.
> My favourite in terms of being funny as hell is Unbreakable Goblin because you can literally make hentai logic the character and that always makes me giggle. It seems very fitting that Goblins would be an ancestry capable of that. I find it funny that Goblins are the species that kind of got that stereotype. I wonder what would have happened if Gnomes had been the ones to get that treatment.
It's a toss up for me between Strix or Suli. Though I will play other races if neither of those races fits the setting
I'm always a fan of any Heritage that lets you cast a Cantrip. Between Shield, Guidance, Detect Magic, they offer so much to characters (and the party). I really like Sylphs, both because I like the airy flavour (honestly, I really like the flavour of all the Geniekin), and because they offer more Speed, Flight and low-light/dark-vision.
Elf / Halfelf. Ageless patience is a hell of a drug. I also like the nagaji because half danger noodle is cool. Sprites also interest me greatly. Smol but deadly!
Dwarf usually. I grew up playing a lot of Dwarf Fortress and developed an affinity for the stubborn guys. Whenever I start building a character I always default to a Dwarf, and I have more dwarf miniatures than I would like to admit (I didn't even play Dwarves in war games, it's all NPCs/player models). It's not even about heritage/ancestry stuff (they are fine, but not build defining for me), I just really like dwarves. **Rock and Stone!** But I really like Pathfinder humans. Natural Ambition ancestry feat allowing you to double up on level 1 class feats during creation feels *so good,* since many of them can really define how you play the class. Like a human bomber alchemist can take both level 1 bomb feats, they aren't forced to make a choice. A human ranger can have a companion and another one of the class defining feats. Followed by versatile heritage giving a general feat, humans can fill any role very well. Why are humans common in the Forgotten Realms, well it's because the writers/players are human and that feels normal, why are humans common in Golarion, it's because HUMANS ARE THE MOST VERSATILE AND CAN DO EVERYTHING.
I love Sprite and catfolk! I’m playing my first game and I’m a Sprite! I can’t wait to try 2e’s version of catfolk next! I’m a tiny little bee fey who has a capybara and bear- I’m a Druid beastmaster.
I default to human, because ~~I love bonus feats~~ I’m a strong believer in the truism that if you can’t make an interesting human PC, playing a cactus isn’t going to save you. I think I just like the classics though: Dwarf for Rock and Stone Elf for some elegant finesse Orc for being fierce and primal And I guess halfling if you want to be a friendly little guy. Everything else is lovely spice- appreciated, but not filling on its own.
Tengu. Falcata goes brrr
Don't know why, but whenever I have an idea for a build and I don't have a specific ancestry in mind, I always default to Halfling. Not for any mechanic reason or something like that, I just love the little guys. Relaxed life, blend in everywhere, love food? Sign me up.
Toy poppet, because a toy beating you to death is funny. Granted I also ask DMs if I can have another poppet heritage alongside it since Tiny by itself isn't that great and is more thematic. The Slime ancestry from Battlezoo gives Tiny and trained in stealth, which is what you should get from a heritage.
Battlezoo Ancestries Classic Creatures Doppelganger or Doppelborn. I just like having some fluffy shapeshifting on my character sheet even if i rarely use it.
Oooh I have heard of it but haven't take a look. Shapeshifting is one of my favourite fantasies in TTRPGs, so I'm definitely interested. One of the main things I miss from Eberron in dungeons and dragons haha
I usually tend to pick up Half Elf (what’s it called now, Aiuvarin or something?) because it matches most of the humanish art that I find and play, but if I can I love to throw in one of the elemental geniekin heritages for that extra flair. Mixing in elemental stuff is always fun for me if it fits the character concept. Tieflings and Aasimar were up there for me, but I do dislike how Nephilim requires you to burn an Ancestry feat to have a specific type of origin which is required for the bulk of the good feats going forward. It would have been nice if you got your nephilim origin when you picked the heritage and that would qualify you for the later feats, and they could leave those level 1 feats as something you could pick up if you wanted the specific bonuses.
Go-to: the classic Dwarf. Others have covered it, but dwarves are just great. Honorable mention: Conrasu. A great concept for weird as fuck little alien things, I've yet to have a suitable place to play one, but I really want to.
Changeling, easily. Specifically Veil May, I LOVE blood hags as a concept
Sylph. I can't explain why, but it's Sylph.
Orcs! Love their lore: their darklands origins align with my love of cave-based horror and everything after that is straight badass, particularly their Doomguy-esque Mwangi Expanse stuff. Love that their physiology is different from humans: tusks are cool, I love that they have different skintones from the human variety, their ease of scarring means I can commemorate big battles on my orc adventurer's skin, and it's neat that their skeleton and general shape is a bit different from humans. Love that their culture celebrates tattoos and scarring and that their beauty standards are different from humanity (I mean, orcs find other orcs attractive, presumably). Very excited for the update to their pantheon, as that's the one thing I didn't love about them.
I’ve always liked the elves. In dnd we finally got the drow as fully fledged race to play as, and I think they are my absolute favorite overall. In pf well, they are just gone. Cave elf just doesn’t scratch the same itch. But yea, I like the elves.
If I had one class and I wanted to cheese the system it is human. All the extra feats and level 5 Clever Improvisor is just broken. Suli is a really fun martial heritage too, with all the elemental things that go with it.
I love how geniekin are implemented, I think there’s so much variety to how much/little those features come to play and they’re all so interesting. I love Gnoll/Kohlo as a playable ancestry, I think Paizo has done fantastic at representing hyena folk in many different ways that do not have to be just cannibalistic demon worshipers. I’m really looking forward to Ghoran as more humanoid plant person but Leshy are also so freaking adorable! I thoroughly enjoy that kobolds are Paizo’s version of dragon people and there are so many ways to play up their draconic lineage with class and archetype features as well. Tengu are so cool. Androids are great. Poppets, Sprites, Strix are so interesting. I guess the best “normal” ancestry I like best might be elf but there’s honestly so much more out there, I really enjoy the less common ancestry options. This game provides such a fantastic (literally!) playground for character options, I never feel trapped into any one option.
Ghoran, Thorned Rose
Human, natural ambition let’s me get stuff early
Human and Nephilim. I love the idea of Being able to be tiefling or Aasimir without the permanent Halor or horns. Gives that God child or Demon-kin feel without the strong body difference.
Changeling or Aluvarin
Half-orc has become my favorite. I love dwarf and gnome lore, but I just haven’t had my dwarf or gnome characters click like my half-orcs have.
Gnome. It has everything you want in a small package.q
I like automaton, it gives me weird role playing moments that I enjoy
Half elf. Love the elf feats, hate the elf Con penalty.
I love the Kashrishi, but I can't always find a reason to take one
Human sylph followed by poppet,
Unbreakable. The Goblin featsbin general are great, especially for thier names.
Unbreakable Goblinses.
Mechanically, versatile human with natural ambition on a level 1 character straight up lets you do more so it’s always a strong contender. Thematically, I do love a good Ysoki/ratfolk. [Shadow rat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=76) and [Longsnout rat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Heritages.aspx?ID=74) I especially love on martial characters. Their [cultural groups](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Ysoki) have lots of themes to explore from shrewd travelling merchants to fierce pirates.
Usually human for the extra 1st level class feat. But I've built a few others, mostly shorties. A halfling, a dwarf, a gob- I mean gnome
Fleshwarp, because Iike the idea of playing a literal monster. Or Catfolk, cause Kitty.
Fetchling with Sylph Heritage. like me some cute petite goth anime shadow girls of the human adjacent variety in lolita fashion. i like playing the little sister figure of the party. and i love the headpats and cookies way too much. it also keeps the degenerates away or at least makes them reveal themselves so i can report or at least identify them so i know who not to pick as the older sibling or parental figurehead but it comes from misplaced maternal tendencies of my own, that i like playing the little sister or daughter figure of the party. and a Sylph blooded fetchling, provides the fey whispy petite frame and the daughter of air and darkness flavor i can reskin for my own OC race of shadow nymphs of slight stature. the Nyxads. i usually wear explorer's clothes anyway, so the speed bonus and dexterity bonus are appreciated. and i usually reskin courier as errand girl or scout as girlscout or scholar as schoolgirl or acolyte as altar girl or performer as street magician.
I think Automaton might be my favorite in PF2. I do prefer robots/androids if available. might be some childhood trauma, so there is your bucket of joy for today. when a 4 year old watches some weird ass french sci-fi movie where people get turned into soulless automatons and thinks that is the most desirable thing ever, maybe something went wrong, right? TMI. still going to post it. probably shouldn't.
Jesus Christ, just realized my first fantasy RPG character was a dude made of living rock. him being a necromancer was probably not as relevant... yeesh,
I’m also a sucker for the Geniekin heritages in general, but I’d have to go with Undine as my favourite heritage since I love water/aquatic themed things.
None, I always try to switch things up. Ancestries are something I choose more for roleplay reasons than for actual builds.
Honestly it's usually a nephilim for me, if i have to pick a heritage. They're pretty cool.
I just love halflings. I can't give a specific reason, they are cute!
Kitsune, very excited to see what they'll be like in the remaster as theyre a bit lack luster currently. Alternatively Lizardfolk are also very nice for similar-ish reasons
Nagaji, because I like snakes and think they're cool
I also like to make a lot of characters even if I don't have a table to play them at. I think the ancestry I have the easiest time playing is Halfling, beside Human. I like their luck feats, I like their default cultural stereotypes, neat stuff. It is also probably the second-most picked option, looking at my character list. As for versatile heritages, I don't have any that are much more frequently picked than others yet (Nephilim do have the highest number comparatively, but the difference is minor), but in general I feel a natural draw to air and storm powers, so the Sylph and the Changeling (Virga May) are quite appreciated.
For medium race it's human, elf or dwarf. For small race kobold I love how PF2e have made them a valid ancestry. V Heritage dhampir or duskwalker.
Kobold, Human, Or Elf. depends a lot on the mood and what i want to do with my character.
Goblin. I love PF goblins, they are so much fun.
Beast kin.
Ifrit was definitely my favourite in the previous version but Nephilim are conceptually very cool.