
Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Ancestries | Versatile Heritages

Ancestries

Source Player Core pg. 41 2.0
Your character's ancestry determines which people they call their own, whether it's diverse and ambitious humans, insular but vivacious elves, traditionalist and family-focused dwarves, or any of the other folk who call Golarion home. A character's ancestry and their experiences prior to their life as an adventurer—represented by a background—might be key parts of their identity, shape how they see the world, and help them find their place in it.

 Click here to view ancestries in a table.

Core (Common) Ancestries

PFS StandardDwarf

Dwarves are a short, stocky people who are often stubborn, fierce, and devoted.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardElf

Elves are a tall, long-lived people with a strong tradition of art and magic.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardGnome

Gnomes are short and hardy folk, with an unquenchable curiosity and eccentric habits.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardGoblin

Goblins are a short, scrappy, energetic people who have spent millennia maligned and feared.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardHalfling

Halflings are a short, resilient people who exhibit remarkable curiosity and humor.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardHuman

Humans are diverse and adaptable people with wide potential and deep ambitions.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardLeshy

Leshies are immortal nature spirits placed in small plant bodies, seeking to experience the world.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardOrc

Orcs are proud, strong people with hardened physiques who value physical might and glory in combat.

Click here for more details.

Uncommon Ancestries

PFS StandardAthamaru

Athamarus are fish-like humanoids who form tight-knit communities underseas, with villages of siblings led by a common matriarch. Athamarus engage in subsistence farming of seaweed, train eels to serve as mounts, and create elaborate works of coral art.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardAzarketi

Azarketis, inheritors of a shattered empire's legacy, hold their proud traditions close but still surface to interact with the rest of the world.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardCatfolk

Catfolk are highly social, feline humanoids prone to curiosity and wandering.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardCentaur

Centaurs are half-human, half-horse nomads who range wild and free across their ancestral lands. They're survivalists with a long history of teaching and instruction who stand firm in the face of danger using their skill at archery, herbalism, and magic.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardFetchling

Once human and now something apart, fetchlings display the Shadow Plane's ancient influence through monochrome complexions, glowing eyes, and the casting of supernatural shadows.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardHobgoblin

Hobgoblins are taller and stronger than their goblin kin, often arranging themselves into military structures.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardKholo

Kholos are hyena-headed humanoids who embrace practicality and pragmatism.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardKitsune

Kitsune are a charismatic and witty people with a connection to the spiritual that grants them many magical abilities, chiefly the power to shapechange into other forms. Whether they pass unseen among other peoples or hold their tails high, kitsune are clever observers of the societies around them.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardKobold

Kobolds are small and reptilian, with features marked by the power they choose to follow.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardLizardfolk

Lizardfolk are scaled humanoids with a history that stretches into the distant past.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardMerfolk

Merfolk are a half-human, half-fish aquatic people who live in every ocean and sea of Golarion. Merfolk use magic as other peoples might use common tools, especially to control water, create omens, and in their beguiling songs.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardMinotaur

Minotaurs are horned, bovine humanoids who originate from an ancient divine curse. Minotaurs are large, strong, and masters of crafts and puzzles, inclinations that lead many minotaurs to explore architecture and stonework. Minotaurs are most at home in labyrinths, whether natural, artificial, or psychological.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardNagaji

With humanoid figures and serpentine heads, nagaji are heralds, companions, and servitors of powerful nagas. They hold a deep reverence for holy areas and spiritual truths, an aspect many others find as intimidating as a nagaji's appearance.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardRatfolk

Ratfolk are small, clever, and adaptable humanoids with ratlike features and a love of community.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardSamsaran

Blue-skinned people native to Zi Ha, who reincarnate upon death and recall pieces of their past lives. They are common in Zi Ha, Po Li, and Goka.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardTanuki

A name for both a raccoon-like animal native to Minkai and sapient tanuki who possess shapeshifting powers. They are common in Minkai, the Forest of Spirits, and Goka.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardTengu

Tengus are gregarious and resourceful avian humanoids who collect knowledge and treasures alike.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardTripkee

Tripkees are froglike humanoids whose spirit often exceeds their stature.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardVanara

Vanaras are inquisitive and mischievous monkey-like humanoids with short, soft fur, expressive eyes, and long, prehensile tails. Their handlike feet and agile builds serve them well in the jungle realms where most vanaras live.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardWayang

Small people native to the Netherworld. Immigrated to Golarion after Earthfall.

Click here for more details.

Rare Ancestries

PFS StandardAnadi

Anadi people are reclusive, sapient spiders who hail from the jungles of southern Garund. Though they act in many ways like natural-born shapeshifters, their twin forms actually stem from carefully developed magic.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardAndroid

Technological wonders from another world, androids have synthetic bodies and living souls. Their dual nature makes them quick-thinking and calm under pressure, but comfortable in stillness and solitude.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardAutomaton

These intelligent constructs house actual souls and represent what remains of a dying empire's last attempt at greatness. Automatons combine technological ingenuity with magical power, creating a blended being wholly unique to Golarion.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardAwakened Animal

Awakened animals were once normal creatures before they obtained sapience that gave them one paw in nature and the other in the world of cities and society. Almost any animal can be awakened, allowing for a wide variety of characters.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardConrasu

Conrasus are shards of cosmic force given consciousness who construct intricate exoskeletons to interface with the mortal world. Both an integral part of the underlying processes of the universe and strangely set apart, conrasus look to aeons to understand their existence.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardFleshwarp

Fleshwarps are people whose forms were created or radically transformed by magic, alchemy, or unnatural energies. Their unorthodox appearance can make it difficult for them to find a place for themselves in the world.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardGhoran

These intelligent plant people, created by a long-dead druid, possess a sort of immortality through their seeds—unless these are destroyed by external events other than merely the ravages of time.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardGoloma

Golomas fear most other people and deliberately use their unusual biology to frighten off those they consider to be dangerous predators. Rarely seen and poorly understood, golomas' many-eyed and wooden faced visages instill terror in most they meet.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardKashrishi

Kashrishi make their homes in remote areas of the world. These quiet beings have stout, durable frames and distinctive crystalline horns. Their inherent psychic abilities make them natural empaths but also occasionally burden them with the unceasing thoughts of their neighbors.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardPoppet

PFS Note As of June 1, 2024, all Pathfinder Society agents have access to the poppet ancestry

Poppets are small, basic constructs that typically help their owners with simple tasks. Occasionally, poppets gain sapience, independence, and a spark of life. Elevated beyond mere helpers or playthings, these poppets are free to chart their own destinies.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardSarangay

Powerful carabao-headed warriors who live on the isles of Minata. Known for the magical gems in their foreheads that are said to contain their souls.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardShisk

Shisks are secretive mountain-dwellers, bone-feathered humanoids who lurk underground in dark tunnels and caverns. Their fascination with collecting and protecting esoteric knowledge is one of the few things that can persuade them to explore the outside world.

Click here for more details.

PFS LimitedShoony

Diminutive humanoids who resemble squat, bipedal dogs, shoonies are sometimes mistaken for weak and insular pacifists. However, their sheer perseverance, incredible work ethic, and resourceful use of diplomacy make shoonies far from helpless.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardSkeleton

Skeletons are considered among the lowest types of undead. They're typically mindless creatures, lacking many of the abilities that make other undead a serious threat. However, the animated bones of dragons, giants, and other great beasts make for dangerous foes. Powerful living creatures can retain some of their might and intellect upon returning as a skeleton. Some necromancers turn their strongest enemies into skeletal undead servants, assuming they can keep control of them.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardSprite

Sprites are diminutive, whimsical, and exuberant creatures from the fey realm known as the First World. They love playing pranks, exploring new things, and embracing everything to do with magic.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardStrix

PFS Note As of May 2025, all Pathfinder Society characters have access to the strix ancestry.

Known as itarii in their own language, strix are reclusive avian humanoids devoted to their homelands and their tribes. They defend their precious communities with broad wingspans and razor talons.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardSurki

Surkis are only now emerging from the subterranean Darklands in a generational dig to the surface. This insectile and highly metamorphic species subsists on the latent magic in the world around them. Once they have refined enough, surkis are capable of developing unique adaptations that allow them to project magic in diverse ways, from digging claws to energized wings.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardVishkanya

Vishkanyas are ophidian humanoids who carry potent venom within their blood and saliva. Largely misunderstood due to old tales of their toxicity and natural finesse, vishkanyas work to grow into more than just what stories paint them to be.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardYaksha

Divine spirits who emigrated to Golarion from the first world.

Click here for more details.

PFS StandardYaoguai

Beings who usually begin their existence as simple animals, objects, or plants, but have found a means to transcend their original forms through the power of cultivation.

Click here for more details.