Aasimar
Aasimar bear within their souls the light of the heavens. They are descended from humans with a touch of the power of Mount Celestia, the divine realm of many lawful good deities. Aasimar are born to serve as champions of the gods, their births hailed as blessed events. They are a people of otherworldly visages, with luminous features that reveal their celestial heritage.
Celestial Champions
Aasimar are placed in the world to serve as guardians of law and good. Their patrons expect them to strike at evil, lead by example, and further the cause of justice.
From an early age, an aasimar receives visions and guidance from celestial entities via dreams. These dreams help shape an aasimar, granting a sense of destiny and a desire for righteousness.
Each aasimar can count a specific celestial agent of the gods as a guide. This entity is typically a deva, an angel who acts as a messenger to the mortal world.
Aasimar Guides
An aasimar, except for one who has turned to evil, has a link to an angelic being. That being-usually a devaprovides guidance to the aasimar, though this connection functions only in dreams. As such, the guidance is not a direct command or a simple spoken word. Instead, the aasimar receives visions, prophecies, and feelings.
The angelic being is far from omniscient. Its guidance is based on its understanding of the tenets of law and good, and it might have insight into combating especially powerful evils that it knows about.
As part of fleshing out an aasimar character, consider the nature of that character's angelic guide. The Angelic Guide tables offer names and natures that you can use to flesh out your character's guide.
Note to the DM: Playing an Angelic Guide
As DM, you take on the role of an aasimar's angetic guide and decide what kind of advice or omens to send In dreams.
The deva, or other celestial being, is your chance to add special roleplaying opportunities to the game. Remember, a deva lives in a realm of absolute law and good. The deva might not understand the compromises and hard choices that mortals must grapple with in the world. To the deva, an aasimar is a prized student who must live up to high, sometimes inflexible standards.
Angelic Guide
| d6 | Angelic Guide |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tadriel |
| 2 | Myllandra |
| 3 | Seraphina |
| 4 | Galladia |
| 5 | Mykiel |
| 6 | Valandras |
| d6 | Nature |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bookish and lecturing |
| 2 | Compassionate and hopeful |
| 3 | Practical and lighthearted |
| 4 | Fierce and vengeful |
| 5 | Stern and judgmental |
| 6 | Kind and paternal |
Conflicted Souls
Despite its celestial origin, an aasimar is mortal and possesses free will. Most aasimar follow their ordained path, but some grow to see their abilities as a curse. These disaffected aasimar are typically content to turn away from the world, but a few become agents of evil. In their minds, their exposure to celestial powers amounted to little more than brainwashing.
Evil aasimar make deadly foes. The radiant power they once commanded becomes corrupted into a horrid, draining magic. And their angelic guides abandon them.
Even aasimar wholly dedicated to good sometimes feel torn between two worlds. The angels that guide them see the world from a distant perch. An aasimar who wishes to stop and help a town recover from a drought might be told by an angelic guide to push forward on a greater quest. To a distant angel, saving a few commoners might pale in comparison to defeating a cult of Orcus. An aasimar's guide is wise but not infallible.
Aasimar Names
Most aasimar are born from human parents, and they use the same naming conventions as their native culture.
Aasimar Traits
Your aasimar character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Age. Aasimar mature at the same rate as humans, but they can live up to 160 years.
Alignment. Imbued with celestial power, most aasimar are good. Outcast aasimar are most often neutral or even evil.
Size. Aasimar have the same range of height and weight as humans.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Blessed with a radiant soul, your vision can easily cut through darkness. You can see in dim light withint 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic and radiant damage.
Healing Hands. As an action, you can touch a creature and roll a number of d4s equal to your proficiency bonus. The creature regains a number of hit points equal to the total rolled. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Light Bearer. You know the Light cantrip, Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial.
Subrace. Four subraces of aasimar exist: protector aasimar, scourge aasimar, fallen aasimar, and titan aasimar. Choose one of them for your character.
Protector Aasimar
Protector aasimar are charged by the powers of good to guard the weak, to strike at evil wher,ever it arises, and to stand vigilant against the darkness. From a young age, a protector aasimar receives advice and directives that urge to stand against evil.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Radiant Soul. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to glimmer and two luminous, incorporeal wings to sprout from your back.
Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you have a flying speed of 30 feet, and once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level.
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Falling from Grace or Rising to It
With your DM's consent, you can change your character's subrace to fallen aasimar if your protector/scourge aasimar turns to evil. To do so, replace your subrace benefits, including the ability score increase, with those of a fallen aasimar.
Similarly, if your fallen aasimar turns to good, your DM might allow you to become a protector or scourge aasimar.
Scourge Aasimar
Scourge aasimar are imbued with a divine energy that blazes intensely within them. It feeds a powerful desire to destroy evil -a desire that is, at its best, unflinching and, at its worst, all- consuming. Many scourge aasimar wear masks to block out the world and focus on containing this power, unmasking themselves only in battle.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Radiant Consumption. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing a searing light to radiate from you, pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you.
Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end ii as a bonus action. During it, you shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, and at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up). In addition, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level.
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Fallen Aasimar
An aasimar who was touched by dark powers as a youth or who turns to evil in early adulthood can become one of the fallen-a group of aasimar whose inner light has been replaced by shadow.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. The instant you transform, other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra necrotic damage equals your level.
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Titan Aasimar
Titan aasimar are empowered by the colossal strength of a celestial titan - most typically an empyrean. They stand resolute against those who would do evil, though some, touched by a corrupted or cursed titan, may turn their ire towards forces of good, seeking only to darken the light in the world.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Divine Dynamo. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, setting your eyes ablaze with fury as your towering form swells. The instant you transform, your size is doubled in all dimensions, and your weight is multiplied by eight. This growth increases your size by one category - from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn't enough room for you to double in size, you attain the maximum possible size in the space available. Your weapons also grow to match your new size. While your weapons are enlarged, your attacks with them deal 1d4 extra damage.
Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you have advantage on Strength checks as well as Strength and Constitution saving throws. In addition, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant or necrotic damage (your choice) to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra damage equals one half of your level (rounded up).
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Homebrew Changes
- Added the Titan Aasimar.