Aasimar

Volo’s Guide to Monsters, p.104

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.

Hidden wanderers

While aasimar are strident foes of evil, they typically prefer to keep a low profile. An aasimar inevitably draws the attention of evil cultists, fiends, and other enemies of good, all of whom would be eager to strike down a celestial champion if they had the chance.

When traveling, aasimar prefer hoods, closed helms, and other gear that allows them to conceal their identities. They nevertheless have no compunction about striking openly at evil. The secrecy they desire is never worth endangering the innocent.

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.

d6 Name 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 parental

Note to the GM

Playing an Angelic Guide

As DM, you take on the role of an aasimar’s angelic 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.

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 frorri 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.

Base Aasimar traits

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age

Aasimar mature at the same rate as their parent race, but can live up to 60 years longer.

Alignment

Imbued with celestial power, most aasimar are good. Outcast aasimar are most often neutral or even evil.

Size

Same as their parent race.

Speed, walking

Same as their parent race.

Darkvision

Blessed with a radiant soul, their vision can easily cut through darkness. They can see in dim light within 60′ of them as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Celestial Resistance

They have resistance to necrotic damage and radiant damage.

Healing Hands

As an action, they can touch a creature and cause it to regain a number of hit points equal to their level. Once they use this trait, they can’t use it again until they finish a long rest.

Light Bearer

they know the light cantrip. Charisma is their spellcasting ability for it.

Languages

They can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial.

Subrace

Three subraces of aasimar exist: protector aasimar, scourge aasimar, and fallen aasimar. Choose one of them for your character.

Aasimar subraces

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.

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 it 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.

Aasimar parent races

“Aasimar Half-races”

Aasimar are not only born to humans. Almost any race can bring forth a blessed child, and as such the statistics for aasimar are not always representative of a human-based mix of celestial and mortal. The rules presented here provide a number of variant options for aasimar born to several non-monstrous races.

When creating an aasimar, you can choose one of the following non-human parent races. The listed traits replace the Human-Aasimar Healing Hands and Light Bearer traits. The listed Ability score may be increased by 1 at character creation instead of the Ability score normally increased for your Aasimar subrace.

Parent race	Racial traits gained (replacing a Human-Aasimar’s Healing Hands & Light Bearer)	Ability
Aarakocra	Flight & Talons	Dex.
Bugbear	Long-Limbed & Powerful Build	Str.
Centaur	Charge, Hooves & Equine Build	Str.
Changeling	Shapechanger & Changeling Instincts	Dex.
Dragonborn	Draconic Ancestry & Breath Weapon	Str.
Dwarf	Dwarven Resilience & Stonecunning (also Speed 25′)	Con.
Elf	Fey Ancestry & Trance	Dex.
Elf, Lythari	Fey Ancestry & Lythari Wolf	Dex.
Firbolg	Powerful Build & Speech of Beast and Leaf	Wis.
Gnome, Deep	Gnome Cunning, Stone Camo., & Sup. Darkvision (also Small & Speed 25′)	Int.
Gnome, Forest	Gnome Cunning & Natural Illusionist (also Small & Speed 25′)	Int.
Gnome, Rock	Gnome Cunning & Tinker (also Small & Speed 25′)	Int.
Goblin	Fury of the Small & Nimble Escape (also Small)	Dex.
Goliath	Stone’s Endurance, Powerful Build, & Mountain Born	Str.
Half-Elf	Fey Ancestry & Skill Versatility	Dex.
Half-Orc	Menacing & Relentless Endurance	Str.
Halfling	Lucky & Halfling Nimbleness (also Small & Speed 25′)	Dex.
Hobgoblin	Martial Training & Saving Face	Con.
Kenku	Mimicry, Kenku Training & Expert Forgery	Dex.
Kobold	Grovel, Cower, and Beg & Pack Tactics (also Small)	Dex.
Lizardfolk, Aquatic	Swim Speed & Hold Breath	Con.
Lizardfolk, Warrior	Bite & Natural Armor	Con.
Lizardfolk, Hunter	Cunning Artisan & Hunter’s Lore	Con.
Loxodon	Natural Armor, Powerful Build & Trunk.	Con.
Minotaur	Horns Goring Rush & Labyrinthine Recall	Str.
Orc	Menacing & Powerful Build	Str.
Shifter, Beasthide	Shifting, Shifting Feature, & Tough	Con.
Shifter, Longtooth	Shifting, Shifting Feature, & Fierce	Str.
Shifter, Swiftstride	Shifting, Shifting Feature, & Swift Stride	Dex.
Shifter, Wildhunt	Shifting, Shifting Feature, & Mark the Scent	Wis.
Tabaxi	Feline Agility & Cat’s Claws	Dex.
Triton	Amphibious, Swim Speed, & Emissary of the Depths	Str.
Vedalken	Tireless Precision & PartiaJJy Amphibious	Int.
Yuan-ti	Innate Spellcasting & Magic Resistance & Poison Immunity	Int.