This post isn’t finished, but this draft is ready for comments.

So ERG has an issue with converting A Broken Sky from Pathfinder 2e to Dungeons and Dragons 5e and that is the expectations and capabilities of each system are different. Owen has an ambitious project that releases every new supplement in 4 D20 rule systems, Pathfinder 1e, Pathfinder2e, Starfinder, and D&D 5e. There is a problem finding developers that are competent in all four systems, even folks who can convert from any of the Paizo systems to 5e are in high demand, but all four it’s a small group. So I’m working on a little more developer-facing content, those posts are usually marked game design.

At PaizoCon in 2019, the Pathfinder developers told us each new ancestry, not races, has a bunch of feats that it can take, like a lot of feats. Now that great variety is never intended to be taken by a single character the variety is there to allow for a lot of different characters to be built on the same chassis. We’ll come back to feats, but let’s break down what each ruleset gives each gives a starting character based on what they were born with or born into.

Attributes

In PF2e you get to point buy your character, all attributes start at 10 and then add an ability boost for your ancestry, 2 from your background, and one from your class to your class’s key ability score. You get ability boosts to four ability scores every 5 levels.

Eyes

5e only has Darkvision, low light vision no longer exists.

Funny Haircut

Dwarves have beards and braids, Elves have Beatles haircuts and pointy ears, Halflings have hairy feet etc.

Feats

The Pf2e Assimar gets to choose from 3 feats at 1st, 3 feats at 5th, 4 feats at 9th, 4 feats at 13th, and 1 feat at 17th. That’s 15 feats to choose from and that makes for a lot of different Assimar walking around your game world.

In D&D 5e the Dwarf gets a couple of traits that are common to all dwarves and two sub-races that give you a fixed ability bonus and a specific trait that’s equal to Toughness or Light and Medium Armor Proficiency. If I’m making a Dwarven Fighter or any other class that gets armor proficiencies my sub-race only gives me the Strength bonus, you don’t get to pick different feats or proficiencies if you get the same one from multiple sources in 5e. The Player’s Handbook Dwarves’ abilities are front-loaded at 1st level and you never get more. There will only ever be two kinds of dwarves from the PHB that’s a low cognitive load on the player learning the game the first time but it hurts replay value. With later expansions, you might get more dwarven sub-races, but it’s still a menu, not a toolbox.

The Mark of Warding dwarf from Ebberon seems much more involved than the two subraces out of the PHB. I will update this for Tashas and other books that change character building as I work through this. The MoW gets +1 INT, an alternate skill use, 3 spells it can cast based on the trait, and an expanded spell list if the character is a caster class.

Feats in Pathfinder 2e are everywhere, you get ancestry feats, skill feats, and general feats that come at you every level and increase the complexity and competency of your character.

Feats in D&D 5e are a very limited resource, you only get them at character creation and every five levels you can choose a feat instead of ability score increases, there are very few feats people choose over ability score increases.

So how do we take multiple fully fleshed out Pathfinder 2e ancestries and meaningfully convert them into D&D 5e races and subraces?

Player’s Handbook – 2014

Race	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Racial & Subrace Benefits
Dwarf	+2 Con	Medium	25ft *armor	Dark	Common, Dwarvish	Artisan Tools, Poison Resiliance, Stoncunning, Axes & Hammers
Hill	+1 Wis	Medium	–		–	Toughness
Mountain	+2 Str	Medium	–		–	Light & Medium Armor
Elf	+2 Dex	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Elvish	Keen Senses, Fey Ancestry, Trance
High	+1 Int	Medium	–	–	+1 Extra	Swords & Bows, Cantrip
Wood	+1 Wis	Medium	35ft	–	–	Swords & Bows, Mask of the Wild
Dark	+1 Cha	Medium		120ft	–	Drow Weapons, Sunlight Sensitivity, Drow Magic
Halfling	+2 Dex	Small	25ft	–	Common, Halfling	Lucky, Brave, Nimbleness
Lightfoot	+1 Cha	Small	–	–	–	Naturally Stealthy
Stout	+1 Con	Small	–	–	–	Poison Resilience
Human	+1 All	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra
Dragonborn	+2 Str, +1 Cha	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Draconic	Breath Weapon, Damage Resistance
Gnome	+2 Int	Small	25ft	Dark	Common, Gnomish	Gnome Cunning,
Forest?	+1 Dex	Small	–	–	–	Nautral Illusionist, Speak with Small Beasts
Rock	+1 Con	Small	–	–	–	Artificer Lore, Tinker
Half-Elf	+2 Cha, +1, +1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Elvish	Fey Ancestry, Skill Versatility
Hal-Orc	+2 Str, +1 Con	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Orc	Menacing, Relentless Endurance, Savage Attacks
Tiefling	+2 Cha, +1 Int	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Infernal	Fire Resistance, Infernal Legacy

Using just the PHB there are 14 Races and Subraces to choose from in the vein of it’s a menu, not a toolbox you’ll only ever make these 14 characters and the biggest complaint I ever heard from 5e player that had run 20 level campaigns was that every character felt the same after a while. 4e had similar complaints.

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse – May 2022 – changed things up a bit;

• Ability Score Increases are either +2 and +1 to any two stats OR +1 to three different stats making the optional rule from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything official.
• You start off speaking Common and one other language you and your GM can agree on. Tasha’s had a list of alternate starting languages, but it’s basically free with DM approval now.
• Races take up one page each, nothing about height, weight, what kind of names they have and fluff that kept most PHB races to 2+ pages.
• Lots of Small creatures have 30ft movement, suck it Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes.
• This is a book full of reprints so I don’t know if this is from two different style guides, but they can’t decide if Darkvision is the first ability after speed or goes with the other abilities alphabetically.

Race	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Racial & Subrace Benefits
Aarakocr	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Flight, Talons, Wind Caller
Aasimar	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Healing Hands, Light Bearer, Celestial Revelation
Bugbear	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Fey Ancestry, Long Limbed, Powerful Build, Sneaky, Suprise Attack
Centaur	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	40ft	–	Common, Extra	Charge, Equine Build, Hooves, Natural Affinifty
Changeling	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Changeling Instincts, Shapechanger
Deep Gnome	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Gift of the Svirfneblin, Gnomish Magic Resistance, Svirfneblin Camouflage
Duergar	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Duergar Magic, Dwarven Resilience, Psionic Fortitude
Eladrin	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Fey Ancestry, Fey Step, Keen Senses, Trance
Fairy	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Fairy Magic, Flight
Firbolg	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Firbolg Magic, Hidden Step, Powerful Build, Speech of Beast and Leaf
Genasi, Air	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	35ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Unending Breath, Lightning Resistance, Mingle with the Wind (cantrip, 3, 5)
Genasi, Earth	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Earth Walk, Merge with Stone (cantrip, 5th)
Genasi, Fire	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Fire Resistance, Reach of the Blaze (cantrip, 3rd, 5th)
Genasi, Water	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Swim Speed, Acid Resistance, Call the Wave (cantrip, 3rd, 5th)
Githyanki	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Astral Knowledge, Githyanki Psionics (cantrip, 3rd, 5th)
Githzerai	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Githzerai Psionics (cantrip, 3rd, 5th), Mental Discipline, Psionic Resilience
Goblin	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Fey Ancestry, Fury of the Small, Nimble Escape
Goliath	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Little Giant, Mountain Born, Stone’s Endurance
Harengon	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Hare Trigger, Leporine Senses, Lucky Footwork, Rabbit Hop
Hobgoblin	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Fey Ancestry, Fey Gift, (Help, 3rd), Fortune of the Many
Kenku	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Expert Duplication, Kenku Recall, Mimicry
Kobold	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Draconic Cry, Kobold Legacy
Lizardfolk	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Bite, Hold Breath, Hungry Jaws, Natural Armor, Nature’s Intuition
Minotaur	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Horns, Goring Rush, Hammering Horns, Labyrinthine Recall
Orc	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Adrenaline rush, Powerful Build, Relentless Endurance
Satyr	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	35ft	–	Common, Extra	Ram, Magic Resistance, Mirthful Leaps, Reveler
Sea Elf	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Swim Speed, Fey Ancestry, Friend of the Sea, Keen Senses, Trance
Shadar-kai	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Blessing of the Raven Queen (teleport 30ft, 3rd DR), Fey Ancestry, Keen Senses, Necrotic Resistance, Trance
Shifter	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Bestial Instincts, Shifting
Tabaxi	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Climbing Speed, Cat’s Claws, Cat’s Talent, Feline Agility
Tortle	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Claws, Hold Breath, Natural Armor, Nature’s Intuition, Shell Defense
Triton	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Swim Speed, Amphibious, Control Air and Water (Fog Cloud, 3rd, 5th), Emissary of the Sea, Guardian of the Depths
Yuan-ti	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Magic Resistance, Poison Resilience, Serpentine Spellcasting (cantrip, animal friendship, 3rd)

Any of these that says * Magic is typically one or more spells limited by a long rest, or a cantrip or 1st level spell at 1st level and another spell at 3rd level another at 5th level, they vary but its a couple of spells sometimes growing with the character. The various spell set traits are not all created equally

Ebberon Rising From the Last War – November 2019 – I won’t break down all of the dragonmarks initially there’s a lot going on in this table already there are 17 races and yet 9 are from the PHB, 6 are covered in Mordenkainen’s with five of those getting better in the MK version. So that leads me to believe the math changed slightly and that if we had an MK Kalashtar and Warforged they might be better, but like the Changeling they could be completely untouched.

Race	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Racial & Subrace Benefits
Changeling	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Same as Mordenkainen’s version
Dragonborn	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1					Same As PHB version
Dwarves	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1					Same As PHB version
Elves	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1					Same As PHB version
Gnomes	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1					Same As PHB version
Bugbear	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Same as Mordenkainen’s version without Fey Ancestry
Goblin						Same as Mordenkainen’s version without Fey Ancestry
Hobgoblin	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Martial Training (2 weapons, light armor), Saving Face
Half-Elves						Same As PHB version
Halflings						Same As PHB version
Humans						Same As PHB version
Kalashtar	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Dual Mind, Mental Discipline, Mind Link, Severed from Dreams
Half-Orc						Same As PHB version
Orc	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Agressive, Powerful Build, Primal Intuition
Shifter						Same as Mordenkainen’s version without Bestial Instincts
Tieflings						Same As PHB version
Warforged	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Constructed Resilience, Sentry’s Rest, Integrated Protection, Specialized Design

Mythic Odysseys of Theros – July 2020 – added some more races.I am going to use the same notation as Mordenkainen’s because we won’t be going backwards to the PHB ability increases and languages.

Race	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Racial & Subrace Benefits
Centaur						Same as Mordenkainen’s version, has Survivor vs Natural Affinity
Leonin	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	35ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Claws, Hunter’s Instincts, Daunting Roar
Minotaur	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Medium	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Horns, Goring Rush, Hammering Horns, Imposing Presence
Satyr						Same as Mordenkainen’s version
Triton						Same as Mordenkainen’s version, has Wall of Water vs Water Walk

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything – November 2020 – changes things up but makes them optional and yet a lot of the things we got from Tasha end up sticking around as normal in later books. I wonder if Tasha boils frogs in her cauldron?

• Customizeable Character Origins change the default ability increases for your race, the +2, +1 increases, not the +1, +1, +1 increases. Also you get common and another language off a short list. Changing the extra language to a free space came later and really should have been a GM approval or GM list from the start since the campaign might change the list from Tasha’s in ways they could not otherwise accommodate.
• 14 new subclasses, 15 new feats, new magic items, new spells, magic tattoos
• Updated Artificer class with a new subclass
• Group Patrons some of my GMs have run campaigns where all the players worked for the same entity so this has been happening at the homebrew level for a while now.

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft – May 2021 – adds three new races all of which get the Medium or Small choice of size, but lookout Dhampir’s Deathless Nature and the one from Reborn are totally different abilities. None of these were reworked for Mordenkainen’s.

Race	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Racial & Subrace Benefits
Dhampir	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	35ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Ancestral Legacy, Deathless Nature, Spider Climb, Vampiric Bite
Hexblood	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	Dark	Common, Extra	Ancestral Legacy, Eerie Token, Hex Magic
Reborn	+2,+1 or +1,+1,+1	Med or Small	30ft	–	Common, Extra	Ancestral Legacy, Deathless Nature, Knowledge from a Past Life

Ancestries from A Broken Sky

Ancestry	Ability Increase	Size	Speed	Vision	Languages	Ancestral Abilities
Avalar	Int , Dex, Free	Medium	30ft	Dark	Common	1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th
Elder
Youthful
Chardram	Dex, Cha, Free	Small	25ft	Low	Common	1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th
Ashen						Rerolls
Coal						Advantage on saves
Wildfire						Acrobatics Initiative
Knomoi	Str, Int Free	Medium	25ft	Low	Common	1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th
Bright						Bonus to Earn Income and Recall Knowledge checks
Calm						Resists Emotion effects better?
Dark				Dark		Cold Resistance
Undyn		Medium		Dark	Common	1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th
Cresting Tide	Wis, Cha, Free		30ft			Swim Speed 20ft, 2x Hold Breath
Placid	Int, Wis, Free		25ft			Swim Speed 30ft, 3x Hold Breath
Thresher	Str, Con, Free		20ft			Swim Speed 40ft, 5x Hold Breath

So if I take arought cut at the Avalar and a lot of different similar racial abilities from Mordenkainen’s this is what I get. We’re going to assume +2, +1 or +1, +1, +1 for abilities and Common plus one extra language to fit the newest thinking coming out of WotC.

Avalar
Air Spirit as Keen Senses
Ancestral Spirit as Avalar Magic (Firbolg get Detect Magic) and progressing to get another spell at 3rd and another at 5th.
Avalar Lore could be proficiency with Artisan tools? Artificer’s Lore from PHB Gnomes?
Lightstepper is neither the Firbolg’s Hidden Step or the Wood Elf’s Mask of the Wild
Obstinate Grace would end up some kind of Insight advantage used proficiency times per long rest.
Unburgened Breath could easily be the Air Genasi’s Unending Breath
Unseen Wings the Air Genasi also gets 5ft extra movement
Catapult Leap could be the Satyr’s or Harengon’s extra jumping ability
Shadowstepper could not only be advantage a proficiency number of times per long rest it could be the progress of Lightstepper under some Stealth Avalar “sub race” build.
Timeless Inventor could be PHB Gnome’s Tinker in progressions with the Avalar Lore ability
Avalar Reserves is going to be Magic Resistance like Gnomes, Satyr and Yuan-Ti
Balm of the Winds is going to be like the Air Genasi Mingle with the Wind progression
Cloud Memory is going to be similar to a Luck ability of the Harengon or Halflings?
Skin of the Clouds is similar to a Githyanki aboity that takes skills or proficiencies from the Astral plane
Wings of Light is like the Celestial Revelation Radiant Soul from the Aasimar

Now I’d need to cut those into a Stealth progression, Magical Inventor Sage progression and the Wings of Light dude progression and there are still things going to get lost when I do that.

Chardram in 5e should get 30ft movement, abilities and languages per the new standard. So lets get to the feats

Clamber maybe a proficiency in climbing or advantage when climbing using athletics
Clever Forager not quite sure how 5e exploration and survival interact with the intent of this
Fire Spirit is basically Fire Resistance
Inner Flame is Chardram Magic or fire Magi (Faerie Fire, 3rd, 5th progression)
Ignored and Unseen some race has a Stealth bonus similar to this, they can hide behind just a single medium creature and stuff
Out of the Way I’m not certain Smalls in 5e penalize their enemies enough to make this an ability, maybe look at the other Small abilities though
Bite back anything like the Lizxard Folk bite?
Burning Spirit gets produce flame, maybe add to the Inner flame progression, but produce flame is first, them faerie fire.
Ember Heart a resist cold so many times per long rest, maybe just one?
Grace of the flame acrobatics and movement?
Bounder as the Tabaxi climb speed equal to walking speed, maybe Clamber gets them the climbing speed and this one boosts it
Fireproof is fire resistance same as Fire Spirit so we’ll maybe balance those in a progression
Spark of Lightning is similar to the Halfling or Harengon ability, but just very specialized
Viper Mouth progresses from Bite Back
Healing Flames this is going to be a weird mix of medicine, healer’s kit, short rests and stuff, maybe double the levels of exhaustion removed by a long rest (normally 1). Since its core is survival it might fit in a progression with Clever Forage for keeping the party alive, but that seems weird since its a fire mojo flex.

So we can make Fire magic progressions

Knomoi in 5e should get 30ft movement, abilities and languages per the new standard. So lets get to the feats

Bolstered Defense is Dwarven no movement hindrance
Complex Thoughts can be Halfling or Harengon reroll abilities
Craft Adept grants proficiency in two skills possibly with crafting tools in 5e
Device Adept skilled with thieve’s tools you can reroll failures or have advantage proficiency bonus times per long rest
Earth Spirit advantage vs forced movement attacks and effects and saves
Three Legged Stance ignores some difficult terrain as long as you have a free hand
Push Back maneuvers fall under fighter combat superiority, but some races have weird maneuvers so I’ll research this more
Unknown Knowledge grants proficiency in one of two skills
Wrestler gains advantage in athletics wrestling proficiency times per long rest?
Flint Heart advantage on saves vs earth effects or maybe just bonuses like the various reiliences?
Skin of the Earth acid resistance
Soul of the Mountain is Toughness by another name that stacks, we can get away with regular Toughness just like Hill Dwarves have
Gear Keeper advantage to thieves tools so many times per long rest part of a device focussed progression?
Path Carver ignore difficult terrain and ignore acrobatics penalties when crossing stone or earth – research

Undyn sdaudjudvsjufv

Mind Flow like the Githyanki pulling trained skills from the Astral plane
Still Waters advantage proficiency times per long rest on Deception checks, I’ll look into static bonuses, but they’re thin on the ground in 5e.
Water Spirit bonus on Will saves again static bonuses rare will look at alternatives
Deep Secrets more powerful proficiency of the day
Shifting Tides as the Wood Elf’s Mask of the wild
Voice of the Sea similar to the Leonin’s Daunting Roar but Roar and Draconic Cry don’t have as much range
Water Born grants water breathing the Amphibious races already have this
Crashing Wave gets static damage bonus to unarmed and bludgeoning, possibly slashing and piercing -research
Deep Diver cold resistance
Rite Keeper is very particular and I don’t think 5e has one – research
Wave Master the Conjure Elemental 4th level in Tasha’s is as close as I find right now, and since the racial abilities top out at 2nd level spells we have to make a custom spell that summons a CR 2 lesser water elemental.

Summon Lesser Water Elemental

2nd-level conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (water inside a gold-inlaid vial worth at least 400 gp)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You call forth an elemental spirit. It manifests in an unoccupied space that you can see within range. This corporeal form uses the Lesser Water Elemental stat block. The creature resembles a bipedal form wreathed in the water. The creature disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The creature is an ally to you and your companions. In combat, the creature shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any, it takes the Dodge action and uses its move to avoid danger.

Notes on Tables, Repetiion and Mastery

So at this point I almost want to make a chart that maps the PF2e feats because of who raised you, you’re good at two skills, to the 5e you have proficiency at 2 skills and other racial abilities that let you reroll failed skill checks and the PF2e abilities that improve a critical fail to just a failure and allow a number of failures to be rerolled or turned into normal successes per day. So that we can swap them one for one. That may not be the way everyone would translate it and the designer is free to change as they see fit for the concept, but guidelines are supposed to help.

In practice as a draftsman we repeated known shapes and angles over and over until we know what they should look like and could construct angles, circles and elipses from the raw math if we didn’t have a template of the exact size needed. If it came really close, you were supposed to pencil whip it, or eyeball it. Musicians play it by ear, designers tweak it until it looks or feels right, professionals make judgement calls. But unless you’re Motzart, it takes a lot of practice doing the right thing the right way until your muscle memory and judgement can just do that on automatic.

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Paul

Evilrobotgames at Gmail.com