D&D (2024) 5e Aasimar are in the Players Handbook − what should the flavor be?

[Yaarel]

Fiend: LE Devil, TE Aberration, CE Demon.

 

[Yaarel]

This is why I like both as an option. Some aasimar could pass as a human, with their story being based around uncovering and accepting this hidden link in their ancestry.

While some aasimar could look more like eldritch horrors (be not afraid), being some sentient construct created from the energies of the upper planes to do good in the world.

I use the same logic for genasi. They range from 'regular human with powers' all the way to 'sapient elementals'.

I like the idea of Humanoid having individuals that "pass" as Human. Including Elves.

For Aasimar, if their tell is a distinctive luminous aura, the character can learn to suppress it, perhaps making a skill check.

Which is the skill for the soul and psionic? Maybe use Religion for all things Astral (including alignments etcetera), Arcane for all things Ethereal (including Fey and Shadow), and Nature for all things Material (plus the Elemental Chaos). Probably use the Religion check via any Mental Ability, to suppress the luminous aura, thus pass as if a normal Human in appearance?

Of course, many Aasimar dont look human at all, whether aura or not.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I know.

Even in the Lovecraft novels, the aberrations are defacto demons. The twist is the scientific wordview observing it, and the dissolution of that rational science. Relatedly there is a Lovecraftian movie where a scientist observes a demonic possession, and scientifically traps the demon by getting it to possess an inanimate object, a chair.

Meanwhile, the assault against reality itself has a True Evil vibe.

The "Far Realms" can be deeper levels of the "Gray Waste". The whole alignment plane, the "Wastes".

Meanwhile, the creatures of the Yugoloth creature type look interchangeable with the creatures of the Aberration creature type.

Yugoloths are eminently boring, yet Aberrations are popular. Making the Aberrations the True Neutral Fiend seems useful for marketing.

given the list of things people are willing to demonize includes their own offspring things being sort of demonic is pointless and I prefer not all foes be to interrelated makes the rogue gallery feel universe.

the problem with NE is what is evil refined down to its most basic definition, I would portray them as fundamental evil, le is the evil of a dystopian society, Ce is our lowest impulses tuned to their worst possible variation and left to cook for a million years (monsters from the ID)
this is the evil that must mathematically exist for good to be possible for (not that they have to be equal but more for the description of states to exist their alternative must also exist )
they are motivational banal their actions when they move in force are anything but, they are malicious in the way fire is hot

aberration are for genera shifts and outside-of-context problems the strongest aberrations as equally if not more incomprehensible to the outer planer exemplars as they are to mortal life I of course do not think all aberrations should be automatic foes of the party most are either deeply strange some might even be willing to work with the party for some goals but some what the party dead for simple or deeply strange reasons

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Creamsickle. Oh, or chocolate cherry amaretto!

 

[Yaarel]

I've seen the 5e cosmology map. It's a diagram representing a conceptual framework, not a literal physical map you can use to navigate walking from one plane to another.

These supposed "crossings" from the Upper Planes to the Feywild and the Lower Planes to the Shadowfell pass through the Elemental Chaos, which completely surrounds the Inner Planes and separates them from the Outer Planes (according to this diagram), so should we just replace tieflings and aasimar with genasi now too? By your argument, they should all be descended from elementals too...

More to the point, those "crossings" are the "borders" between the various elemental planes, which the chart of the Inner Planes in the DMG shows to be very much filled in with what I would describe as the para-elemental planes, where two of the big four elemental planes overlap with one another. That "crossing" linking the Upper Planes to the Feywild is the Frostfell (Para-Elemental Plane of Ice).

Also, if the Feywild and Shadowfell are connected to anything, it's the Positive and Negative Planes, respectively, which are shown on another diagram as domes encasing the Great Wheel from above and below. Not the Outer Planes.

Just because two things are drawn next to one another on a "map" doesn't mean it's actually possible to travel from one to the other - the map is not the territory. This chart was designed to show new players the major planes that exist and their overall groupings (i.e. Outer Planes, Inner Planes, and Material/Echo trio). I would hardly call its arrangement definitive.

Historically, the Inner Planes have been contained within the Ethereal and the Outer Planes within the Astral, with the Material Plane being where the two meet - a giant, cosmological Venn diagram. I do not consider that to have changed.

The 5e cosmology map is layers of overlapping concentric circles. So the Astral Plane overlays both the Ethereal and the Material.

The location of the Elemental Chaos is unclear. It is between the Astral and the Ethereal. Is it part of the Astral concept? Or is it part of the Ethereal force? If part of the Astral Plane, it is the concept of a "form" of matter, the blue print for creating matter. According to the location of the Elemental Chaos in the 5e cosmology map, the Elemental Chaos and the True Neutral Outlands might be the same thing. Perhaps beyond the circumference of the Gate Towns is the endless expanse of the Elemental Chaos with the various Elemental regions within it. Where the Elemental Chaos relates to the Outlands, the Genasi are Astral creatures.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'm curious if Aasimar end up in the MM as well?

 

[jmartkdr2]

what does a halo that is part of them look like then?

It's round, shiny, and near the head.

No need to be more specific than a tiefling having horns - there's no rules about what the horns look like and in actual play they're optional anyways.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

It's round, shiny, and near the head.

No need to be more specific than a tiefling having horns - there's no rules about what the horns look like and in actual play they're optional anyways.

I doubt all of them will have Halos.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I doubt all of them will have Halos.

They need something, I think, for the same reason tieflings need horns: so they read as angel-people and not just human. That's always been one of the issues with Aasimar.

Remember that people's first impression of the game tends to come from the art, not the text. People flip through before they read. Showing off the races is more important that having maximum variety of each in the Player's Handbook. That's why elves have pointy ears and orcs have tusks: so the fisrt-time looker can see that you don't have to just be a human. If tiefling were just humans with evil grins, they wouldn't inspire stories about devil-blooded folk.

Halos are just the best answer I can think of.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Not a fan of halo's personally, as they inherently imply a 'high magic' setting. Horns can easily appear 'down to earth' and low magic in appearance. But a glowing magical circle just permanently hovering around is something which just doesn't fit in a low magic campaign.

I'm fine with them being an option for aasimar, but I wouldn't want it forced onto all of them.

(though for the default PHB art, I think one with a halo would be a good idea, as it clearly displays what they are and sets them apart).