Aasimar

Aasimar are mortals born with a connection to the Upper Planes. Their appearance is rare, and their births are sometimes accompanied by unusual signs such as vivid dreams, celestial visions, strange lights in the sky, or other events that families and communities later interpret as omens.

In Eldareth, many believe an Aasimar is born when the influence of Celestia, Elysium, or Arborea reaches into the mortal world. This does not necessarily indicate celestial ancestry or the direct intervention of a deity, and an Aasimar may be born into a family with no previous connection to the Upper Planes.

Their birth may nevertheless be treated as a sign of coming change, divine favor, or some purpose that has yet to reveal itself. Such interpretations vary considerably between cultures, and in places where celestial magic is poorly understood, an Aasimar may inspire as much uncertainty as reverence.

This attention can shape an Aasimar's upbringing long before they understand their own heritage. Some are raised by families or religious communities who expect their celestial gifts to guide the course of their lives. Others grow frustrated with being treated as though their future was decided at birth.

An Aasimar may embrace their heritage, reject the expectations attached to it, or spend much of their life deciding what significance it holds for them. Their celestial nature grants unusual abilities, but it does not determine the person they become.

Celestial Lineages

Every Aasimar possesses a connection to one of three major Upper Planar influences: Celestia, Elysium, or Arborea. This connection shapes the expression of their celestial magic and often influences the traditions, assumptions, and expectations surrounding them.

Lineage does not determine personality, morality, or belief. Aasimar connected to the same plane may lead very different lives and have little in common beyond the origin of their celestial gifts.

Exalted: The Celestia-Born

Exalted Aasimar draw their celestial power from Celestia, a plane associated with responsibility, justice, mercy, order, and the belief that authority should be used in the protection of others.

Their skin may have the smooth appearance of polished stone, sometimes marked by veins or patterns resembling gold, silver, or platinum. Their eyes are often bright and pupil-less. When their celestial wings manifest, they commonly take the form of angular structures of light, crystal, or radiant energy.

Communities familiar with Exalted Aasimar often associate them with positions of responsibility. Families, temples, and civic institutions may encourage them toward law, public service, religious duties, protection, or positions in which others depend upon their judgment.

Those raised within traditions influenced by Celestia are often taught the importance of honesty, restraint, responsibility, and clearly understood obligations. Mercy is generally considered as important as judgment, though mortal institutions do not always live up to the principles they claim to represent.

These expectations are cultural rather than inherent. An Exalted Aasimar possesses no natural obligation to become a magistrate, knight, priest, or protector, and many choose lives far removed from the roles others imagined for them.

Heavenly: The Elysium-Born

Heavenly Aasimar are connected to Elysium, a plane associated with compassion, generosity, refuge, restoration, and aid freely offered to those who need it.

Their skin often has a pearlescent or opalescent quality, while their eyes may appear in unusually bright shades of blue, violet, silver, or similar tones. Their manifested wings tend to resemble soft light, mist, or gently shifting bands of color.

In communities where their lineage is recognized, Heavenly Aasimar are frequently encouraged to use their gifts in service to others. Many become healers, mediators, caretakers, priests, or people involved in providing shelter and support to those in need.

That expectation can become difficult to carry. Some are taught from childhood that possessing the ability to help creates an obligation to do so whenever asked, leaving them with burdens few ordinary people would be expected to bear.

Others deliberately establish lives outside healing or religious service, while some embrace those roles on their own terms. Elysium's influence does not require self-sacrifice without limit, and an Aasimar's gifts do not make their needs less important than anyone else's.

Idyllic: The Arborea-Born

Idyllic Aasimar are connected to Arborea, a plane associated with freedom, vitality, passion, self-expression, creativity, and the pursuit of a life chosen for oneself.

Their skin commonly carries warm bronze, copper, rose-gold, or similarly vivid tones. Their eyes are often unusually bright or richly colored, and their celestial presence can lend an uncommon vitality to otherwise ordinary features. Their manifested wings are usually feathered and may display iridescent or varied coloration.

Idyllic Aasimar are often associated with artistic traditions, travel, wilderness communities, exploration, physical challenge, and religious practices that place greater importance on personal conviction than formal hierarchy. Musicians, artists, sailors, explorers, athletes, craftspeople, and wandering priests are all found among them.

In cultures influenced by Arborean ideals, personal freedom and honest self-expression are often treated as virtues. This does not mean an Idyllic Aasimar is naturally rebellious, impulsive, or unwilling to accept responsibility. Arborea values lives freely chosen, including lives built around family, community, craft, service, or other lasting commitments.

As with the other lineages, the reputation attached to an Idyllic Aasimar often says more about the people around them than it does about the Aasimar themselves.

Divine Resonance

An Aasimar's celestial abilities usually develop gradually. Some display signs of their heritage during childhood, while others reach adolescence or adulthood before anything clearly supernatural occurs.

Their abilities may first emerge during danger, intense stress, or another significant moment. Healing magic and radiant energy are among the most common manifestations, while celestial wings generally appear as the connection to their associated plane becomes stronger.

Some Aasimar also experience dreams, visions, recurring symbols, or moments of apparent contact with beings associated with the Upper Planes. The source is not always obvious. One Aasimar may receive relatively clear guidance, while another experiences only fragments whose meaning becomes apparent much later, if at all.

Such experiences do not necessarily come from a deity, nor is an Aasimar required to obey them. Some consider this guidance an important part of their lives, while others question its source, reject its conclusions, or simply choose a different course.

Aasimar Across Eldareth

Aasimar existed long before the Upheaval, but their births became noticeably more common in the decades that followed. As the boundaries between Eldareth and the surrounding planes grew less stable, celestial influence became more likely to leave a mark upon mortal lives, while planar traits that had remained dormant within some families began to surface more readily.

This increase was not unique to Aasimar. Tieflings, Genasi, and others with pronounced planar connections also appeared in greater numbers during the same period. By the early Reckoning Years, these peoples were increasingly referred to collectively as the Planetouched, their growing presence regarded as one of the clearest lasting consequences of the Upheaval.

Aasimar are encountered most often in Vel'Nathar, Ostheria, and among the monasteries of Shen-Su, although one can be born almost anywhere in Eldareth. Their families do not necessarily possess any known celestial ancestry, and the appearance of an Aasimar may still be entirely unexpected.

Religious communities sometimes investigate or record Aasimar births, particularly when unusual celestial phenomena accompany them. Scholars may also study the circumstances surrounding their appearance, while families can suddenly find themselves dealing with attention and expectations they never anticipated.

For the Aasimar themselves, their connection to the Upper Planes remains only one part of their identity. How much importance they give it remains their own decision.

Aasimar Traits

Ability Score Increase. When determining your character's ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. You can't raise any of your scores above 20.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Size. You are Medium.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to 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.

Celestial Legacy. You are the recipient of a celestial legacy that grants you magical abilities. Choose one of the following legacies: Exalted, associated with Celestia and Lawful Good; Heavenly, associated with Elysium and Neutral Good; or Idyllic, associated with Arborea and Chaotic Good.

You gain the initial benefit of the chosen legacy, a cantrip that you learn.

Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you gain the ability to cast a higher-level spell with this trait, as shown on the Celestial Legacies table. Once you cast one of these spells with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest. You can also cast the spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the spells you cast with this trait. Choose the ability when you select your legacy.

Radiant Soul. Starting at 5th level, you can use a Bonus Action to manifest two luminous, spectral wings from your back. This transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a Bonus Action.

Until the transformation ends, you have a Fly Speed equal to your Speed and can hover. In addition, once on each of your turns when you deal damage to a target with an attack or a spell, you can deal extra Radiant damage to that target equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a Long Rest.

Languages. Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.