Aasimars
System: Pathfinder | SRD | Source: Advanced Race Guide
Aasimars are humans with a significant amount of celestial or other good outsider blood in their ancestry. While not always benevolent, aasimars are more inclined toward acts of kindness rather than evil, and they gravitate toward faiths or organizations associated with celestials. Aasimar heritage can lie dormant for generations, only to appear suddenly in the child of two apparently human parents. Most societies interpret aasimar births as good omens, though it must be acknowledged that some aasimars take advantage of the reputation of their kind, brutally subverting the expectations of others with acts of terrifying cruelty or abject venality. “It's always the one you least suspect” is the axiom these evil aasimars live by, and they often lead double lives as upstanding citizens or false heroes, keeping their corruption well hidden. Thankfully, these few are the exception and not the rule.
Description
Physical Description
Aasimars look mostly human except for some minor physical trait that reveals their unusual heritage. Typical aasimar features include hair that shines like metal, jewel-toned eyes, lustrous skin color, or even glowing, golden halos.
Society
Aasimars cannot truly be said to have an independent society of their own. As an offshoot of humanity, they adopt the societal norms around them, though most find themselves drawn to those elements of society that work for the redress of injustice and the assuagement of suffering. This sometimes puts them on the wrong side of the law in more tyrannical societies, but aasimars can be careful and cunning when necessary, able to put on a dissembling guise to divert the attention of oppressors elsewhere. While corrupt aasimars may be loners or may establish secret societies to conceal their involvement in crime, righteous aasimars are often found congregating in numbers as part of good-aligned organizations, especially (though not always) churches and religious orders.
Relations
Aasimars are most common and most comfortable in human communities. This is especially true of those whose lineage is more distant and who bear only faint marks of their heavenly ancestry. It is unclear why the touch of the celestial is felt so much more strongly in humanity than other races, though it may be that humanity's inherent adaptability and affinity for change is responsible for the evolution of aasimars as a distinct race. Perhaps the endemic racial traits of other races are too deeply bred, too strongly present, and too resistant to change. Whatever dalliances other races may have had with the denizens of the upper planes, the progeny of such couplings are vanishingly rare and have never bred true.
However, even if they generally tend toward human societies, aasimars
Alignment and Religion
Aasimars are most often of good alignment, though this isn't necessarily universal, and aasimars that have turned their back on righteousness may fall into an unfathomable abyss of depravity. For the most part, however, aasimars favor deities of honor, valor, protection, healing, and refuge, or simple and prosaic faiths of home, community, and family. Some also follow the paths of art, music, and lore, finding truth and wisdom in beauty and learning.
Adventurers
Aasimars frequently become adventurers, as they often do not quite feel at home in human society and feel the pull of some greater destiny. Clerics, oracles, and paladins are most plentiful in their ranks, though bards, sorcerers, and summoners are not uncommon among those with a fondness for arcane magic. Aasimar barbarians are rare, but when born into such tribes they often rise to leadership and encourage their clans to embrace celestial totems.
Male Names
Aritian, Beltin, Cernan, Cronwier, Eran, Ilamin, Maudril, Okrin, Parant, Tural, Wyran, Zaigan.
Female Names
Arken, Arsinoe, Davina, Drinma, Imesah, Masozi, Nijena, Niramour, Ondrea, Rhialla, Valtyra.
Racial Traits
+2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma
Native Outsider
Medium
Normal Speed
Darkvision
Skilled
Spell-Like Ability
Celestial Resistance
Languages
Alternate Racial Traits
Celestial Crusader (replaces celestial resistance and skilled)
Deathless Spirit (replaces celestial resistance)
Exalted Resistance (replaces celestial resistance)
Halo (replaces the darkvision racial trait)
Heavenborn (replaces the skilled and spell-like ability racial traits)
Immortal Spark (replaces the skilled and spell-like ability racial traits)
Incorruptible (replaces the spell-like ability racial trait)
Scion of Humanity (replaces the Celestial language and alters the native subtype)
Truespeaker (replaces skilled)
Favored Class Options
Bard
Choose one bardic performance; treat the bard as +1/2 level higher when determining the effects of that performance.
Cavalier
Add +1/4 to the cavalier's bonus on damage against targets of his challenge.
Cleric
Add +1/2 to damage when using positive energy against undead or using Alignment Channel to damage evil outsiders.
Inquisitor
Add +1/2 on Intimidate, Knowledge, and Sense Motive checks made against outsiders.
Oracle
Add +1/2 to the oracle's level for the purpose of determining the effects of one revelation.
Paladin
Add +1/6 to the morale bonus on saving throws provided by the paladin's auras.
Sorcerer
Add +1/4 to the sorcerer's caster level when casting spells with the good descriptor.
Summoner
Add DR 1/evil to the summoner's eidolon. Each additional time the summoner selects this benefit, the DR/evil increases by +1/2 (maximum DR 10/evil).
Source: Advanced Race Guide
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