As we near session zero day my group is asking questions about ancestries. My question to you is regarding rare Ancestries. Not info about the ancestries themselves, but rather the (rare) tag.
I found this info (PC2) about uncommon ancestries and heritages, and rare backgrounds.
But does something like this exist for a rare ancestry? I was hoping the Ancestry Guide would have something.
Generally uncommon and rare things just need a good story justification worked out between the player and GM. Some rare feats and items and things are really only useful in the specific adventure they were made for, but i think of uncommon/rare as just guidelines for GMs to determine how appropriate things are for the setting.
I hope I understood your question correctly.
As a Trait, the description of Rare applies to everything it is attached to, ancestory, spell, item, or other. You can find the full description at https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=683 but generally in non-PFS play it just means you should ask the GM before selecting it. In PFS play you will need to purchase a Boon.
Thank you, i looked at that table of terms but missed rarity because I was looking for rare specifically, and in the context of the box with the uncommon i posted.
It's worth noting that rarity is specifically a function of setting and story type. Some things, like the spell Talking Corpse, are marked as Uncommon because they can be narrative win-buttons for certain scenarios. But many things -- like ancestries -- are Uncommon or Rare just because, in Golarion, they are less common than others. Populations are lower, or their home base is farther away.
Thank you this really helps a lot. I have a player wanting to play a sprite. I am thinking of limiting his flight to small bursts, because I can see already how it will be game breaking at times.
Sprites have to burn an ancestry feat to gain a 15 foot fly speed. It's a significant boost to their flexibility, and gives them the ability to both reach enemies who might be in places where the party wouldn't otherwise be able to touch, but they have to end their turn on the ground, so it's not like they can really avoid the worst of combat.
I wouldn't stress about it too much. There's utility there, but if it becomes a problem, it can be planned around.