Sneak Peek: Ancestry & Culture playtest progress

Hello Secret Door Club members!

Last month we posted a short playtest of some new player race options we have been working on for the Stars of the Sea, converted to Arcanist Press' Ancestry & Culture model. The players in our Stars of the Sea ACT1 test game have used those options to create their characters, and it worked out very well!

Currently, Niels is working on converting the Boggard and Gatorfolk player races from The Forgotten God to Ancestries, as well as introducing a wealth of new Cultures from places that feature prominently in The Forgotten God and the Stars of the Sea.

We wanted to share a preview of what kind of lore and features we'll present with the next Ancestry & Culture playtest, as well as a list of the Ancestries and Cultures we're currently working on.

Ancestry example: Cawmac

Culture example: Seasong

The most notable difference from the previous iteration of the playtest is that we've replaced "Alignment" with a series of Cultural Values that you can use to inform your character's moral compass and behavior.

List of Ancestries & Cultures to be featured in the next playtest:

Hemelin Unique Ancestries:

• Cawmac
• Rattin
• Boggard
• Gatorfolk

Hemelin Ancestry Variants:

• Elf
• Gnome
• Kobold
• Dwarf
• Orc
• Human
• Tiefling
• Halfling
• Dragonborn

Hemelin Cultures:

• Seasong - Seasong Islands
• Spirian - Silver Spires
• Middener - The Middens
• Drylander - Dryfoot Hill
• Soddener - Soddenweald
• Pridelander - Lionsgate
• Tova'naren - Dragonspring

* There may be additional cultures featured in the playtest, and some of the names & features mentioned here may change before the playtest is published.

Remind me: what is the Ancestry & Culture model?

The Ancestry & Culture model replaces the player race option with Ancestry & Culture options, separating the biological traits a character inherits from their parents (Ancestry) and the social traits a character gains from growing up in their community (Culture).

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Re-writing all of our player race options to fit this model has proven to be a lot of work, but the work is very satisfying. We find that making this change enables us to tell you about the options for character creation in our world in a much more organic fashion, where multiculturalism and communities with mixed ancestries are commonplace.

Looking forward to showing you all the next phase of playtests!

Cheers, and thank you for supporting us at the Secret Door Club. We appreciate you!

- Niels & Rose