#and the psychic rhino people but they're less applicable here

[honourablejester]

Some thoughts for an Osh Derrinalina PF2e Conversion

I’m considering how much would need to be tweaked to use PF2e for my Osh Derrinalina setting. And … in a couple of places, it’s actually easier than D&D 5e, in that it has two specific player ancestries that make my life much easier: the Anadi and the Leshi.

The Anadi are not quite what I’ve been picturing for the Ineian Weavers, but you know what? They’ll do the job quite nicely. Their lore, as very communal and diplomatic spider people, fits very nicely, and the bits that don’t I’d be tweaking for a homebrew setting anyway (such as the lifespan, because the Weavers are longer lived than elves). For the Weavers I would have been picturing the hybrid form as the only form initially, but I can roll with the were-spider angle. I’d probably want to do an Anadi heritage that grants darkvision and bioluminescence, call it Deep Weaver, and the rest is pretty much already there. Anadi already get weaving feats, I might add that Deep Weaver silk is also luminous to those.

The other small issue is that human absolutely would not be the standard alternate form for a Deep Anadi, given that humans are fairly vanishingly rare in Osh Derrinalina, but you need a whole other heritage to get a non-human Anadi form. I will probably just politely ignore that and say that the typical non-spider form for Weavers is Starfolk elf. Though … given their roles as diplomats and go-betweens for most of the Lightless Sea, it might actually be a thing to let Weavers outside of Ysea have a form that’s the common one for the area. So Weavers living/stationed in Tchorit would have gnome forms, and ones in Durgenrath would have dwarf forms. This is not a deception, Weavers are up front about who and what they are, and most of them probably stay in spider or hybrid form most of the time anyway. But. If weavers need to do politics and spycraft, their other forms could be handy, and also as a … comforting gesture, when they’re publicly known.

The Leshy, of course, specifically the Fungal Leshy, would be Patient Ones of Lochantu. For the Patient Ones, I might say that they’re Medium, rather than Small, I’m not sure if that would have any knock-on effects through the Leshy feats, but I think it should be fine.

Unfortunately, there’s still no player version of a flumph in PF2e, no more than in D&D 5e, so playing a Joy Singer is still out. Eh, maybe we can work on that.

For both Palerin Goblins and Durgen Dwarves, I’d probably want to do homebrew heritages as well. Call the Durgen the Grower Heritage, and give them some primal innate spellcasting, and maybe do something similar to the Death Warden dwarf heritage for the Palerin goblins? Palerin would also get wonky lifespans, as Rachinilea messes with their mortality. Homebrew ancestry feats for the girrish tattoos are definitely also a must.

For the Starbuilders, the Umbral Gnome heritage might work? I might still want to do a more custom heritage to pull some elements of the crystal/earth partnership in. I could do that with some ancestry feats either, though.

For the Hadali merfolk, the Ancient Scale Azarketi work perfectly. Exactly what I want, darkvision and bioluminescence. Obviously I’d be changing pretty much all of the Azarketi lore, just keeping the mechanics, since Osh Derrinalina is a very different setting and does not include fallen continents, Atlantean empires, and algholthu corruption. Again, might do up a few ancestry feats relating to Derrinalina herself and the protection of the Mother Sea.

(Sidenote: I probably also want to do a deity write-up for Derrinalina. Possibly also Rachinilea as well)

For the Starfolk, Cavern Elf again works pretty perfectly. In Osh Derrinalina, at least if you’re a native, darkvision is pretty much all you need from your heritage (with the possibly exception of Durgen dwarves, because of the suns, but dwarves get darkvision by default anyway). Again, a couple of feats relating to endurance and constitution, as a result of the legacy of the Great Flight, or a couple relating to trade and diplomacy bonuses, could be worth considering. Might give them access to a couple of the PF2e human ancestry feats in that cause.

For the Siinelan Crystalfolk, like the Joy Singers, there still isn’t really a good player option. I’m not sure what stat block I’d use for them as NPCs, either. However … crystal, empathy, luminescence … I am wondering if some reskinned Kashrishi might work? Trogloshi, obviously. I don’t know, I would have to think about that one. The Oread versatile heritage would also be something to consider. That being said, they’re a bit more alien than a lot of player ancestries, again like the Joy Singers, so it might be better to leave them as NPCs.

So the set up here is that, in Osh Derrinalina, the common ancestries are deep anadi, cavern elf, grower dwarf, umbral gnome, ghostly goblin, fungal leshy, and ancient scale azarketi, and everything else is rare and usually only seen on strangers via the Southern Passage or the Durgenroad.

I am wondering if I need to tweak Silrithantus. PF2e Umbral dragons have somewhat different vibes to 5e shadow dragons. But, honestly, I can just use the stat block and change the lore, and Silrithantus was always his own deal anyway.

For Zarathea, I definitely want to tweak a Dragon Turtle statblock for blindness, albinism, faint bioluminescence, and possible deathly influences, but then I’d also have to do all that in 5e too. Heh.

Lochantu’s sacred bats can be either Giant Bats or Albino Giant Bats, possibly a mix of both.

Overall, though? Definitely a doable conversion. And the Anadi … oh, the Anadi make my life so much easier, just by existing. I really love the happy little spider people? Long may they reign!