[PF2] Gnome and Halfling ancestry up on Paizo blog
Celebrim
Legend
They certainly haven't presented them in a way that suggests parity of ability with traditional PC races before. If anything, the Pathfinder "funny but scary" little monsters presented them as less on par with PC races in terms of mental capacity.
I think that the 'everything is symmetrical' design pattern that Paizo has enforced on themselves is limiting their imagination. It reminds me of the self-imposed constraints of 4e D&D, where balance was lifted up on a pedestal and mathematical symmetry held up as a worthy design goal in and of itself.
Full disclosure, goblins have been a PC race in my games for about 25 years. But my goblins aren't Paizo's "scary comic relief" goblins and I'm OK with making up for low stats with other less tangible advantages, even at the risk of not being perfectly balanced. And if you want to play a goblin that has basically physical and mental parity with traditional PC races, you play a hobgoblin.
That halfling drawing looks like Mad Max just wondered out of a wild magic radiation zone. I don't see the need for such body differentiation features unless they plan on doing a 3e in your underwear type lineup for all the iconics. If you can't guess that the short critter in leather is likely a halfling thief and the tall heavy critter in crude hides is probably a half orc barbarian and the short rotund critter in full plate is a dwarf fighter, your perception skills need improving.
doctorhook
Legend
Solid point! Although now that I think of it, I can't even recall what gnomes are depicted like in 5E. I'd say that generally gnomes aren't where the problem lies. Remind me what the problem with big-footed hobbit-style halflings was?
mach1.9pants
Hero
They use ancestral, that's a copyists error
Paizo Blog said:
Edit: although it seems the writer made an error for elves, and apologised in the comments.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Yeah, i think it’s goung to take Paizo a while to adjust to the terminology change, and I kind of doubt the players will ever fully adjust to it.
D1Tremere
Adventurer
The Cha bonus to goblins does make sense if you think about it. They follow charismatic leaders. They like to sing and tell stories. They use trickery and fast talk to overcome many issues. If you were the rare goblin in a party of more acceptable races, which ability would you rely on to fit in and avoid being murdered at every inn you come to?
As for all small races getting cha, i guess it is to help with class synergy?
As for all small races getting cha, i guess it is to help with class synergy?
D1Tremere
Adventurer
By that I mean that small races are usually used for rogues and Wiz/Sorc. Gnomes are usually synergized with illusion/Charm archetypes. In all of these cases Cha is good to have, while the floating bonus encourages people to play outside the box builds. Simple choices for new players, advanced set ups for vets.
RobertBrus
Explorer
This idea of a visual reference leading to an out of scale head or whatever is silly. Don't make them look cartoonish. Find some other visually creative way to make the distinction, assuming that is even necessary. For halflings: feet, hair, etc. For gnomes: ears, facial features. Or include some standardized item in the picture that allows for a reference. But oversized heads, etc. makes them look like cartoon characters in a fantasy world (unless you want to run a cartoon type game, which, the more I think about it, might be quite fun).
