Heritage

Heritage answers: what ancestry fractions does this individual carry?

Heritage profiles name ancestry fraction patterns. They do not create ancestry by themselves; they label a carried heritage map.

Path: data/<namespace>/heritage/<path>.json

Schema: townstead:heritage/v1

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Notes
schema	string	yes	townstead:heritage/v1.
display_name	component	no	Shown when the match wins.
demonym	object	no	Demonym for this mixed heritage.
backstory	component	no	Optional descriptive text.
priority	number	no	Higher priority wins when more than one profile matches. Defaults to 0.
match	object	one of match or lineages	Ancestry fraction requirements.
lineages	object	one of match or lineages	Lineage share requirements, in the same form as match.
open_lineages	boolean	no	true lets lineages the profile doesn’t list make up the rest. Defaults to false.
genes	id array	no	Genes the heritage grants in its own right, expressed on top of what was inherited. They are not carried, so a child only expresses them by matching the profile too. A granted gene replaces the inherited gene at its locus, so a profile can change how a mix looks. For example, a Half-Cat profile can grant a human face and cat ears in the colour of the hair. A granted gene with variants picks one per individual, stable for that villager.
hair	boolean or object	no	Turns MCA hair on or off and limits its colours for characters that match this profile. See Hair Policy.

Example

{
  "schema": "townstead:heritage/v1",
  "display_name": "Half-Moon-Elf",
  "priority": 10,
  "match": {
    "my_pack:human": { "min": 0.45, "max": 0.55 },
    "my_pack:elf": { "min": 0.45, "max": 0.55 }
  }
}

Each match entry can be a bare number for an exact fraction, or an object with min and max.

Matching

A heritage profile matches when every listed ancestry is inside its range. The person can carry a small amount of ancestry not listed in the profile, but the unlisted total must be 0.05 or less.

For example, the Half-Moon-Elf profile above matches:

Heritage Fractions	Result
50% human, 50% elf	Matches.
65% human, 35% elf	Does not match because it is outside the half-ancestry range.
50% human, 45% elf, 5% dwarf	Matches because the unlisted ancestry is within the 0.05 allowance.
50% human, 40% elf, 10% dwarf	Does not match because too much ancestry is outside the profile.

If more than one profile matches, the profile with the highest priority wins. Use priority when a broad profile and a more specific profile can both apply.

{
  "schema": "townstead:heritage/v1",
  "display_name": "Moon-Blooded",
  "priority": 20,
  "match": {
    "my_pack:elf": { "min": 0.45, "max": 0.75 },
    "my_pack:human": { "min": 0.2, "max": 0.55 }
  }
}

This profile could overlap with Half-Moon-Elf, so its higher priority lets it win for the narrower identity.

If no heritage profile matches, near-pure heritage keeps its dominant ancestry/root name, and mixed heritage falls back to a generated two-largest label. An ancestry carried mostly (70% or more) through one lineage is named by that lineage, For example, the child of a Moon Elf and a Feline parent shows “Moon Elf-Feline”, not “Elf-Bestial”.

Lineage Bands

lineages matches lineage shares the way match matches ancestry shares. Use it to name a cross inside one ancestry:

{
  "schema": "townstead:heritage/v1",
  "display_name": "Steam Drake",
  "priority": 20,
  "lineages": {
    "my_pack:fire_drake": { "min": 0.3, "max": 0.7 },
    "my_pack:ice_drake": { "min": 0.3, "max": 0.7 }
  },
  "genes": ["my_pack:steam_drake/scalding_breath"]
}

By default, unlisted lineages count against the profile in the same way as unlisted ancestries. That breaks a profile that names one side’s lineage but should accept any partner, because a human parent may be plain (no lineage) or come from a human lineage. Set open_lineages and let match bound who the partner can be:

{
  "schema": "townstead:heritage/v1",
  "display_name": "Half-Cat",
  "priority": 15,
  "match": {
    "townstead_roots:human": { "min": 0.3, "max": 0.7 },
    "my_pack:bestial": { "min": 0.3, "max": 0.7 }
  },
  "lineages": { "my_pack:feline": { "min": 0.3, "max": 0.7 } },
  "open_lineages": true
}

A common set of tiers for mixes with humans:

Share	Name	Bands
About half	Half-Cat	human 0.3-0.7, the other 0.3-0.7
About a quarter	Catblooded	human 0.7-0.9, the other 0.1-0.3
About three quarters	The lineage’s own name	human 0.1-0.3, the other 0.7-0.9

For example:

Layer	Example
Species	Humanoid
Ancestry	Elf
Lineage	Moon Elf
Heritage	Human father plus Moon Elf mother can match Half-Moon-Elf.

Seed Heritage

Root Shape	Seed Heritage
Root with ancestry and lineage	100% that ancestry, and 100% that lineage.
Root with only an ancestry	100% that ancestry, with no lineage shares.
Legacy or malformed root without ancestry/lineage	Empty heritage map.

Children average their parents’ heritage maps, by ancestry and by lineage.