The Squashed

The Curse of the Gourd started with good intentions. When the sun had been stolen from the Ostoyan sky, our mages worked tirelessly to help our crops grow. Then our Mageocracy declared civil war against the vampiric Crimson Court. Their necromancers fought with enthralled dead, and only grew their numbers with our dead. An unlikely scholar of agriculture made something... Unnatural. A living Gourd. Using it's stems like spider legs it would replace the head of an undead, sap the necromantic energy, and fight the undead hoards. It alone turned the tides. The first Gourd headed monstrosities pushed necromantic terrors out of our territory, and when these Gourd-headed creatures were finished, they went dormant in our fields. Scarecrows.

Few know this, but the Gourd won't distinguish between undead and living. A few have already been taken by the Gourd. They act as any Scarecrow does. But rarely, or perhaps inevitably... They've begun to wake up. Speaking. Screaming! "WHERE IS MY HEAD? WHERE AM I? WHATS HAPPENED?" A dawning realization hit the mage. The living soul never left the body. Like the animate force of the undead, the Gourd laps at the soul of the living body, unable to move on as is natural in death. These people awake with confusion; missing time, a cold body, and the head of a gourd. A horrifying fate to befall anyone. "The one I've met has resolved to travel back to his town; to reclaim his head. But with so much time passed, he has no idea how he will be received. What did the Gourd do? What has he unwittingly taken part in?"

The Squashed is a Versatile Heritage.

You gain the Squashed trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You still possess the height of your former humanoid self, but your head has been replaced with a carved jack'o'lantern. Your size is the same it was in life. You also become Trained in Intimidation, as a moving scarecrow/pumpkin monster is pretty spooky. While the Squashed remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal scarecrow. You gain the Basic Undead Benefits. You can choose from The Squashed feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Heritage Feats:

1st Level Heritage Feats:

Bad to the Bone: Underneath that scarecrow getup is nothing but bone. Choose a Level 1 Skeleton Feat.

Pumpkin Spice: The pumpkin monster that animated this body is perhaps not fully dead. Some of its skills are leaking into your mind. Choose a Level 1 Leshy Feat that isn't Harmlessly Cute.

Briiiiiaaaaaan: You do not require food or drink. Meat, however, heals you like a Trained Treat Wounds check.

Lit Visage: Your carved face glows as if the flickering flame of a candle were inside. Your face sheds light with the effects of a divine light cantrip. A cantrip is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up. You can suppress or reestablish your facelight with a single action, which has the concentrate trait.

5th Level Heritage Feats:

Bad to the Bone 2-Electric Boogaloo: Choose a Level 5 Skeleton Feat.

Getting In Touch With Your Roots: Choose a Level 5 Leshy Feat.

Sleepy Hold This L: You cast fireball by throwing your head, now aflame, at a creature. Your head magically appears back on your body after being thrown. Requires Lit Visage

9th Level Heritage Feats:

Still Bad To The Bone: Choose a Level 9 Skeleton Feat.

Gravemoss Mojo: Choose a Level 9 Leshy Feat.

Kill It With Fire: The Spider Pumpkin Creature wakes from its unholy slumber to fight alongside you in combat. You may still speak through it, but you see from the perspective of your body (don't ask how). It may not go further than 30 feet from you.

13th Level Heritage Feats:

Bad to the Bone Forever: Choose a Level 13 Skeleton Feat.

Violent Plant: Choose a Level 13 Leshy Feat.

It's Spreading: The Pumpkin Spider can attach itself to any spare corpses lying around and create an undead thrall for you.

17th Level Heritage Feats:

Bad to the Bone and Robin: Choose a Level 17 Skeleton Feat.

Hangman's Tree: Choose a Level 17 Leshy Feat.