Genasi Traits
Your genasi character has certain characteristics in common with all other genasi.
Ability Score Increase. Either your Charisma or Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Genasi mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat longer than humans do, up to 120 years. Your heritage may impact this, as someone who is a genasi with an elf parent may live past 500 years.
Alignment. Independent and self-reliant, genasi tend toward a neutral alignment.
Size. Genasi are as varied as their mortal parents but are generally built like humans, standing anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial. Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.
Subrace. Four major subraces of genasi are found among the worlds of D&D: air genasi, earth genasi, fire genasi, and water genasi. Choose one of these subraces.
Air Genasi
As an air genasi, you are descended from the djinn. As changeable as the weather, your moods shift from calm to wild and violent with little warning, but these storms rarely last long.
Air genasi typically have light blue skin, hair, and eyes. A faint but constant breeze accompanies them, tousling the hair and stirring the clothing. Some air genasi speak with breathy voices, marked by a faint echo. A few display odd patterns in their flesh or grow crystals from their scalps.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Unending Breath. You can hold your breath indefinitely while you’re not incapacitated.
Cold Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage.
Mingle with the Wind. You have a flying speed of 5 feet.
Djinn Legacy. You know the gust cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the levitate spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Earth Genasi
As an earth genasi, you are descended from the cruel and greedy dao, though you aren’t necessarily evil. You have inherited some measure of control over earth, reveling in superior strength and solid power. You tend to avoid rash decisions, pausing long enough to consider your options before taking action.
Elemental earth manifests differently from one individual to the next. Some earth genasi always have bits of dust falling from their bodies and mud clinging to their clothes, never getting clean no matter how often they bathe. Others are as shiny and polished as gemstones, with skin tones of deep brown or black, eyes sparkling like agates. Earth genasi can also have smooth metallic flesh, dull iron skin spotted with rust, a pebbled and rough hide, or even a coating of tiny embedded crystals. The most arresting have fissures in their flesh, from which faint light shines.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2.
Earth Walk. You can move across difficult terrain made of earth or stone without expending extra movement.
Poison Resistance. You have resistance to poison damage.
One with Stone. You have a climbing speed of 20 feet.
Dao Legacy. You know the mold earth cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the pass without trace spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Fire Genasi
As a fire genasi, you have inherited the volatile mood and keen mind of the efreet. You tend toward impatience and making snap judgments. Rather than hide your distinctive appearance, you exult in it.
Nearly all fire genasi are feverishly hot as if burning inside, an impression reinforced by flaming red, coal- black, or ash-gray skin tones. The more human-looking have fiery red hair that writhes under extreme emotion, while more exotic specimens sport actual flames dancing on their heads. Fire genasi voices might sound like crackling flames, and their eyes flare when angered. Some are accompanied by the faint scent of brimstone.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.
Inner Flame. As a bonus action, you cause bright light to radiate from your body in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. You can also dim this light as a bonus action, reducing the bright light to a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, or just dim light out to a 5-foot radius. This light lasts for 1 hour, or until you extinguish it as a bonus action. You give off heat, similarly to sitting around a campfire, to creatures within your bright light.
Fire Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
Reach to the Blaze. As an action, you can magically ignite a flammable object you touch with your hand—an object such as a torch, a piece of tinder, or the hem of drapes.
Efreet Legacy. You know the control flames cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Aganazzar's scorcher spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution, Intelligence or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Water Genasi
The lapping of waves, the spray of sea foam on the wind, the ocean depths—all of these things call to your heart. You wander freely and take pride in your independence, though others might consider you selfish.
Most water genasi look as if they just finished bathing, with beads of moisture collecting on their skin and hair. They smell of fresh rain and clean water. Blue or green skin is common, and most have somewhat overlarge eyes, blue-black in color. A water genasi’s hair might float freely, swaying and waving as if underwater. Some have voices with undertones reminiscent of whale song or trickling streams.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Acid Resistance. You have resistance to acid damage.
Call to the Wave. You have a swimming speed of 35 feet.
Marid Legacy. You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the create or destroy water as a 3rd level spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a short or long rest. Either Constitution, Wisdom or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Optional Feats
If your DM allows the use of feats from chapter 6 of the Player's Handbook, your genasi character has access to the following special feat.
Inner Genie
Prerequisite: Genasi
You have honed your elemental abilities. You gain the following benefits:
- You learn the detect magic spell, and you can cast it at will. Your spellcasting ability is the same one you chose for your Legacy feature.
- You can cast one spell based on your subrace at its lowest level, as shown in the chart below. You regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Your spellcasting ability is the same one you chose for your Legacy feature.
- You learn a cantrip-like ability you use to attack distant enemies. As an action, make a ranged spell attack against a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. The damage type is determined by your subrace and listed in the chart below (if multiple are listed, you can use either). This ability's damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8). Your spellcasting ability for this ability is the same one you chose for your Legacy feature.
| Subrace | Spell | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Air | thunder step | slashing or thunder |
| Earth | erupting earth | bludgeoning |
| Fire | fireball | fire |
| Water | tidal wave | cold |
Hybrid Genasi
Hybrid genasi are based on the places between the elemental planes, and as such they have traits of both of their elemental connections. Most are descendants of two genasi, but rarely they can have a hybrid genie as an ancestor.
Ice Genasi
As an ice genasi, you have inherited the free spirit of a water genasi and the the shifting mood of an air genasi. You are unpredictable and hard to pin down, always on the move.
Ice genasi have skin tones including snow white, icy light blue, and light gray shades around the other two. Their hair comes in similar shades to their skin, but the skin and hair of an ice genasi rarely match up. Some have snow permanently in their hair or frost covering their skin. They are always cold to the touch, and a rare few even exhale mist all the time, similarly to how other races would in the winter.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
Mask of the Arctic. You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by fog, falling snow, mist, and other natural arctic phenomena.
Cold Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage.
Icewalker. You ignore difficult terrain made of ice and snow, and you ignore effects of slippery surfaces that would knock you prone, such as the grease spell.
Frigid Legacy. You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Snilloc's snowball swarm spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution, Wisdom or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Magma Genasi
As a magma genasi, you are powerful, cunning, and proud of these traits (whether you actually possess them). While not many genasi are evil, most evil genasi are magma, as the cruel nature of their dao blood combined with the volatile mood of the efteet cause them to resort to violence more often than communication.
Magma genasi have skin the color of stone, usually shades of dark gray. Their skin cracks like stone, either as they grow or from injury, revealing light from within. Their skin can contain various gemstones and other rare earth materials. Their hair is usually black or dark red with embers forming at the tips.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Intelligence scores each increase by 1.
Lava Walk. You can walk across lava and magma as if it were solid ground. To do so, you must concentrate as if you were concentrating on a spell. You take no damage from walking on lava or magma, but you still take damage if you are submerged in it.
Fire Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 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.
Molten Legacy. You know the mending cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the heat metal spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution, Intelligence or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Ash Genasi
As an ash genasi, you combine the changing moods of air genasi with the changing moods of fire genasi. You are impossible to predict, more so than any other race. Getting on your bad side does not end well for most people.
Most ash genasi either have smog forming around their hair as small clouds or soot falling from their hair when they walk or shake their head. Like magma genasi, their skin is usually gray, but unlike them, ash genasi have skin from a light steely gray to pitch black. Their hair is often black or dark brown and always dusty. Their eyes are light colors like light gray and blue, but they can change to red and appear ignited when angered.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Intelligence scores each increase by 1.
Snuff. As a bonus action, you can extinguish nonmagical fire that you can see in a 5 foot cube within 60 feet of you.
Poison Resistance. You have resistance to poison damage.
Body of Cinders. Smoke, fog, and ash have no effect on your vision or breathing. Also, if a spell or effect forces you to move, such as a thunderwave spell, you can choose to be pushed twice the normal distance. If the spell doesn't push you on a successful save and you succeed, you can choose to be pushed while still taking the reduced damage.
Ember's Legacy. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the pyrotechnics spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution, Intelligence or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Mud Genasi
As a mud genasi, you are slow and patient, prefering to stand your ground as opposed to fleeing. You are often territorial, valuing your home and possessions more than anything.
Mud Genasi appear to be normal humans that are covered in mud. Their hair, skin, and clothing are all colored a similar shade of brown. While their clothing can be washed, it rarely stays clean. Their skin has a texture that feels similar to mud, not similar to being covered in mud.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
Muddy Maneuvers. You ignore difficult terrain caused by bogs, marshes, swamps, and otherwise muddy terrain. You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to grapple creatures while you are both in muddy terrain.
Ooze's Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage and immunity to disease.
Heavy Body. Your base walking speed decreases to 25 feet. In addition, you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
Swamp's Legacy. You know the mold earth cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the enlarge/reduce spell once with this trait targeting only yourself, and you regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Either Constitution, Wisdom or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Inner Genie for Hybrid Genasi
| Subrace | Spell | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Ice | sleet storm | cold |
| Magma | Melf's minute meteors | fire |
| Ash | stinking cloud | poison |
| Mud | bestow curse | acid |