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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9625849" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/44XpzCu.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 430px" />The euryale are a serpentine species who were cursed by their evil patron deity to gradually go insane from corruptive nightmares. An individual named Stheno sought to escape this terrible fate, and turned to another deity in hopes of protection. The euryale's patron deity sought to kill Stheno, but the rebel euryale used her own life force to grant each snake upon her head to become an individual being. They lithered away to safety, becoming the first of the species who would take on Stheno's namesake.Bearing similar traits to medusae, the sthenos are capable of reproducing with other creatures, slowly growing their numbers. Their physical appearance has made it difficult at times to form alliances with outsiders, but they still managed to find a place in the world with enough searching and dedication. While all sthenos look like humans with snakes for hair, they can range in a variety of skin and scale tones, although they all lack conventional body hair. Additionally, a stheno's hair is made up of actual non-venomous snakes who have minds of their own and can move of their own accord, although in sharing the same body they and the stheno often influence each other's emotions.Sthenos live in tight-knit communities, and are almost always a minority part of larger settlements. They are noted as being open and welcoming, so their tight-knit nature doesn't necessarily lend them to xenophobia.Given that their species is relatively young (the original Sthenos died about a century ago), sthenos haven't really developed any long-held traditions, and their communities are experimenting with a variety of different art forms and philosophies. They vary widely in alignment, although at the moment they're more likely to be good than evil due to the more benevolent groups detailed below having more general acceptance and greater number of adherents.The seven most prominent stheno groups are detailed, with three having backgrounds in D&D. They are aesthetes (seek to dedicate themselves to artistic innovation), ophidiacs (have an affinity for snakes and go out of their way to collect and domesticate them), and progenitor disciples (seek to follow in the ways of the first hundred members of their species, the progenitors, who are rumored to still be alive and in hiding). The backgroundless groups are flower bearers (dedicate themselves to the deity the original Sthenos worshipped, and emphasis the power of redemption for even the most vile people), gorgoneions (seek to emulate medusa and find ways to closely emulate their powers), nightmare dreamers (believe that the original Stheno made a mistake in turning her back on the power of the euryale and seek to become monstrous and wicked), and two skies (sthenos who have one stheno, one non-stheno parent and are searching for ways to blend both parent's cultures).Thoughts: Most other ancestries in the Battlezoo line outright state that the PC version of the monster is for all intents and purposes that monster, save when it comes to Monster Manual stat blocks. Due to this, I am a bit surprised that they didn't just make the stheno a medusa. If I had to guess, that monster's iconic petrifying gaze was perhaps deemed too powerful, but as we saw PC versions of the medusa in other third party products like Odyssey of the Dragonlords and Frontiers of Eberron, it is something that can be done. But as to the stheno ancestry in and of itself, I think that it works well in being a young species still finding their place in the world. I do feel that the sample groups are a bit simplistic, which I suppose makes sense given their newness, but I would've preferred some more fleshed-out details for the ones with D&D backgrounds.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/HdUiyXI.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 344px" />The stheno's base ancestry gets a bonus to Charisma and one other ability score of choice in Pathfinder, Charisma and two other ability scores of choice in D&D, netting a total +4 modifier due to ancestry for the latter system much like the 2014 Half-Elf. They are Medium size, have an average walking speed, can communicate with snakes, and their head full of snakes makes them more perceptive. In D&D this takes the form of a passive Perception score that never decreases below 10 + Proficiency Bonus, and in Pathfinder it takes the form of a separate Perception check made for the snakes with a modifier 5 less than the stheno's. In D&D, sthenos are also proficient in one bonus skill of their choice.Sthenos have six different subspecies/heritages. They include euryale atavism (have a snake tail instead of legs as the lower half of their body, are proficient in Acrobatics in D&D and are more resistant to forced movement and the prone effect in both systems), faithspark (learn a cleric/divine cantrip and are proficient in Religion in D&D), fanghair (head of snakes is an unarmed attack), moonsight (they and their hair snakes gain low-light vision or darkvision depending on system, gain proficiency in Perception in D&D), museborn (gain expertise in one set of artisan's tools in D&D, gain training in the Crafting skill and the Specialty Crafting skill feat twice in Pathfinder), and venomproof (more resistant to poison in bonuses/advantage on saves and resistance to poison damage).Thoughts: The base stheno ancestry doesn't feel very impressive. First off, being able to speak with snakes is rather situational. Their snake heads' minimal passive Perception in D&D would take effect if they're taking a penalty to it, such as via fast movement overland or in dim light. This can be very useful if the D&D is enforcing lighting conditions, but as they don't have darkvision by default, they still don't see very well in comparison to most other ancestries. The second roll at a penalty in Pathfinder is a bit more useful. As to the subspecies/heritages, moonsight feels the most broadly useful, venomproof can be good given that poison is a pretty common offensive ability among monsters, and euryale atavism can be good for melee fighter builds. Faithspark, fanghair, and museborns are more situational.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/p6ZOswJ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 343px" />Sthenos have 27 feats in D&D and 34 in Pathfinder. The 1st-level feats are actually have quite a few nifty abilities, and include Coiffure Familiar (a snake from their hair can detach and become a familiar, in D&D is more powerful than a standard snake familiar), Coil Switch (can disguise their snake hair as regular hair), Euryale's Sight (gain blindsight out to 10 feet in D&D, or upgrade from normal to low-light or low-light to darkvision in Pathfinder), Lethal Hair (snake hair becomes an unarmed attack, fanghairs increase the damage die by 1 and in Pathfinder can deal critical specialization effects), Scaleswap (polymorph into a tiny poisonous snake once per short rest/hour), Slither (euryale atavism only, can crawl half their speed, also gain +10 to speed in D&D), and Stheno Dynamism (can more resist effects that petrify, paralyze, or reduce speed, in D&D also grant Constitution or Wisdom save proficiency). This category has feats exclusive to Pathfinder, which are Martial Culture (can choose uncommon weapon of an ancestry in the prevailing region they grew up in, gaining a free piece of it at character creation as well as training in it, can choose an advanced weapon if trained in all martial weapons) and Serpents' Sight (spend an action to be immune to being flanked until start of next turn).The 4th/5th level feats provide supernatural abilities more in line with their euryale/medusa forebears, including Antivenom Blood (can use their blood to treat poison on themself or an ally), Gripping Coiffure (can grapple with their snake hair), Guardian Statue (summons a stone duplicate of themselves once per long rest/day and can interpose itself in front of an incoming attack), and Petrifying Finish (can choose to petrify a target they would kill or leave dying). The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Serpentine Shifts (have reduced penalties to AC/Reflex/Perception when unconscious and asleep due to conscious snake hairs), Serpent Scent (gain scent as an imprecise sense out to 30 feet), Share Slightering Senses (can share their senses with their Coiffure Familiar), and Two Skies, Two Suns (gain Adopted Ancestry feat and a 1st-level ancestry feat corresponding to their non-stheno parent).The 8th/9th level feats represent more powerful displays of their monstrous ancestors. They include Hair Trigger (hair snakes roll initiative individually with a worse modifier, stheno uses the better result between themselves and their hair), Ophidian Critical (deal persistent poison damage when critting with their snake hair unarmed attack, also imposes poisoned condition in D&D), Petrifying Critical (can restrain the target on a critical hit with a melee attack, representing partial petrification), and Snake Form (can polymorph into a more powerful snake). The Pathfinder-exclusive feat is Serpents' Vigilance (provides constant immunity to being flanked against creatures of equal or lower level).<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QoXE73F.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 453px" />The 12th/13th level feats are overtly supernatural abilities. They include Pit of Snakes (once per long rest/day throw a cluster of snake hair that fill an AoE, dealing damage and restricting movement) and Profane Vision (once per long rest/day can choose to roll twice and take the higher result for a die roll when they'd ordinarily roll twice and take the lower result).The 16th/17th level feats represent the stheno attaining the vaunted powers of a real medusa, or become more like the snakes in their hair as many creatures instead of one. The feats include Gaze of Mercy (once per short rest/hour can unpetrify a creature by looking at them), Gorgoneion's Gaze (once per short rest/hour can do a single-target gaze attack that restrains and eventually can petrify a target), and Serpentine Discorpation (once per short rest/10 minutes can transform into a swarm of regular snakes, can remain in that form for 5 minutes in Pathfinder, 10 minutes in D&D, can be voluntarily ended early in both systems and ends in D&D if reduced to 0 hit points).The variable level feats include Blessing of Redemption (1st in D&D, 5th in Pathfinder, lets them cast the Bless spell once per short rest in D&D and once per day in Pathfinder), Oracular Insight (4th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can cast Augury once per long rest in D&D, once per hour in Pathfinder), Sculptor's Glance (8th in D&D, 13th in Pathfinder, can cast Stone Shape/Shape Stone once per long rest in D&D and once per hour in Pathfinder), Shattering Shriek (4th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can let out a single-target scream attack once per long rest/day dealing thunder/sonic damage and deals double/maximum damage against petrified creatures), Stheno's Defiance (casts Blessing of Defiance once per day in Pathfinder, can grant themselves and allied targets nearby advantage against one specific spell or ability chosen when the feat is selected once per long rest), and Stone Elocutionist (13th in D&D, 17th in Pathfinder, can speak with petrified creatures and stone).Thoughts: The stheno's ancestry feats pleasantly surprised me, as quite a few of their low-level feats are worth taking in D&D. Blindsight, even short-range, is good to have when dealing with invisible and hidden opponents, and Stheno Dynamism grants proficiency in one of two commonly-used saving throws. Blessing of Redemption is a bit hard to justify in comparison to Magic Initiate, but being able to cast a very good spell once per short rest can see good use as a party buff. Guardian Statue can be a useful defensive feature, and Shattering Shriek deals one of the least-resisted damage types in the game. Its ability to deal extra damage vs petrified creatures is going to be rare unless the stheno takes appropriate racial feats, as Flesh to Stone and Prismatic Wall (the only 2 spells that can impose said condition) only come into play at higher tiers. Hair Trigger is a useful mid-level feat in that, even with a worse modifier/disadvantage, the swinginess of a d20 means that this can still result in higher initiative results for the snake hair. On the Pathfinder side of things, Serpents' Sight and Serpent's Vigilance are useful in avoiding flanking, and Oracular Insight's once per hour refresh rate is bound to get used often and can be broadly useful if the player knows when to use it. Sculptor's Glance grants use of a pretty potent battlefield control spell that can work in the typical dungeon terrain, or any terrestrial location with access to natural earth for that matter.Of course, there's quite a bit of feats that are weak and/or situational, but the sthenos has them more spread out rather than being all bunched up at the lower levels, so you have more worthwhile choices at every tier of play.Thoughts So Far: The sthenos is a fine ancestry to wrap up this book. Its lore is brief but has enough detail via their origin and philosophical groups for the DM to work with something. Their feats have a good diversity of techniques, from direct offense to divination to battlefield control.Final Thoughts: Battlezoo Ancestries: Classic Creatures is well worth your time, be you a D&D or a Pathfinder fan. It has the right balance of fluff and crunch for its monstrous species, and provides plenty of interesting factions, outlooks, and historical/cultural details to give them a place in the world beyond the stereotypical "mostly evil beings with some non-evil rebellious PCs." Even for monsters who normally hew heavily towards certain classes and roles, the book tries to give them enough options via subspecies and feats to let them play against type if desired.While I'm still a relative newbie to Pathfinder 2nd Edition, the ancestries and feats overall look balanced and they don't seem too out of whack. As for the D&D 5e version, that system's handling of feats makes it so that Pathfinder's tiered nature of leveled feats doesn't work as well, and you end up with more cases of feats being either not worth it or no-brainers to take. If it were up to me, I would've liked to see something akin to feats that progressively gain new abilities via leveling up to better emulate Pathfinder 2e's system. But such an innovative subsystem would be beyond the scope of this book. Even then, there's still enough worthwhile material in Classic Creature's 5e version to give something for everyone looking for monstrous PCs.</blockquote>

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