Aasimar Variant
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.
An aasimar -except for one who has turned to evil- has a link to an angelic being. That being provides 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.
Aasimar Traits
Your aasimar character has the following racial traits.
Ability Score Improvement. Your Charisma score is increased 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. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Divine Intuition. Your celestial heritage gives you an acute sense for detecting falsehoods. You have advantage on skill checks and saving throws to discern illusions.
Celestial Magic. You know the light cantrip, and can cast it at will. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the spell cure wounds once with this trait at it's base level. When you cast cure wounds in this way, you regain use of it on a long rest.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial.
Subrace. Three subraces of Aasimar exist: archon aasimar, emberkith aasimar, and fallen aasimar. Choose one of them for your character.
Archon Aasimar
Archon aasimar are charged by the powers of good to guard the weak, to strike at evil wherever it arises, and to stand vigilant against the darkness.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score is increased by 1.
Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to radiant damage.
Radiant Brilliance. If a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see takes damage, you use your reaction to magically project a divine force shield around them before the damage is rolled. The creature gains temporary hit points equal to 2d6 + your character level for 1 minute. Additionally, two luminous incorporeal wings sprout from your back and you have a flying speed of 30 feet for as long as the temporary hit points last.
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Emberkith Aasimar
Born with a searing urge to burn, emberkith aasimar can be described as a destructive hellish blaze, or a purifying divine flame. Many emberkith wear masks to conceal their charred features, revealing themselves only to those that they trust, or during battle to strike fear into their foes.
Ability Score Improvement. Your Constitution score is increase by 1.
Bronzed Flesh. You have resistance to fire damage.
Searing Wrath. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your bonus action to unleash a blazing wrath from within yourself, causing a searing halo of fire to radiate from you. Flames pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During this transformation, you gain the following benefits:
- You can use a bonus action to erupt with flames, you and each creature within 5 feet of you takes fire damage equal to half your level (rounded up).
- Once on each of your turns, you can deal extra fire damage equal to half your character level to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack.
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 risks falling and becoming one of the lost, a type of aasimar whose inner light has been despoiled by shadow.
Ability Score Improvement. Your Strength score is increased by 1.
Tainted Resilience. You have resistance to necrotic damage.
Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your bonus action to unleash the tainted divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During this transformation, you gain the following benefits:
- When you deal radiant or fire damage, you can change the damage type to necrotic.
- You pulse out dark energy, and small plants such as grass and flowers begin to wither and die within a 10 foot radius of you. At the end of each of your turns each creature within 5 feet of you takes necrotic damage equal to your proficiency bonus.
Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Racial Feat: Divine Wings
Prerequisite: Aasimar
You have either pleased your celestial guide enough for them to grant you a gift or harnessed the power of your divine ancestry using pure willpower, through whichever method you now have wings and the ability to fly.
Your wings grant you a flying speed equal to your movement speed. To use this speed, you can’t be overencumbered.
Additionally, you can’t wear armor unless the armor is made to accommodate your wings. The cost of having armor or clothing customized to accomodate your wings equals half of the base price of the armor or clothing.
A archon aasimar might have pure white wings, an emberkith might have scorched wings that burn intensely when they unleash their wrath, and a fallen aasimar might have wings of fiendish leather, or crow-like feathers.
Falling From Grace or Rising To It
With you DM's consent, you can change your character's subrace to fallen aasimar if your archon aasimar turns to evil or succumbs to dark magic.
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 or becomes purified of their tainted light, your DM might allow you to become an archon or emberkith aasimar.
Art Credits
- "Aasimar" - Pathfinder: Advanced Races
- "Yasha" - Ariana Orner
Alternate Spells
At your DM's discretion, you can replace the spells from your Celestial Magic feature if you are an Emberkith or Fallen Aasimar. The spell replacements are listed below:
Emberkith
Replace light with produce flame.
Replace cure wounds with burning hands
Fallen
Replace light with vicious mockery.
Replace cure wounds with cause fear
Detect Balance Score
This is a scoring system to compare the balance of a race and compare it to other races.
Base Aasimar
ASI = 8
Speed = 0
Divine Intuition = 4
Proficiency
Celstial Magic = 4
Cantrip +2
L1 spell at 3rd +2
Total = 16
Archon
ASI = 4
Celestial Resistance = 2
Rare resistance
Radiant Shield = 4
A frequently useful, or powerful feature
Total = 10 + 16 = 26
Emberkith
ASI = 4
Bronzed Flesh = 4
Common resistance
Searing Wrath = 5
In between aasimar transformation, and a frequently useful or powerful feature. Due to changes to the original ability
Total = 13 + 16 = 29
Fallen
ASI = 4
Tainted Resistance = 2
Rare resistance
Necrotic Shroud = 5
In between aasimar transformation, and a frequently useful or powerful feature. Due to changes to the original ability
Total = 11 + 16 = 27