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	yes	Ancestry fraction requirements.

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.

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.
Legacy or malformed root without ancestry/lineage	Empty heritage map.

Children average their parents’ heritage maps.