Homebrew Genaasimar Species Details

Heirs to Elemental Power

Genaasimar inherit something from both sides of their dual nature. They resemble humans but have unusual skin color (red, green, blue, or gray), and there is something odd about them. The elemental blood flowing through their veins manifests differently in each genaasimar, often as magical power.

Seen in silhouette, a genaasimar can usually pass for human. Those of earth or water descent tend to be heavier, while those of air or fire tend to be lighter. A given genaasimar might have some features reminiscent of the mortal parent (pointed ears from an elf, a stockier frame and thick hair from a dwarf, small hands and feet from a halfling, exceedingly large eyes from a gnome, and so on).

Genaasimar almost never have contact with their elemental parents. Genies seldom have interest in their mortal offspring, seeing them as accidents. Many feel nothing for their genaasimar children at all.

Some genaasimar live as outcasts, driven into exile for their unsettling appearance and strange magic, or assuming leadership of savage humanoids and weird cults in untamed lands. Others gain positions of great influence, especially where elemental beings are revered. A few genaasimar leave the Material Plane to find refuge in the households of their genie parents.

Wild and Confident

Genaasimar rarely lack confidence, seeing themselves as equal to almost any challenge in their path. This certainty might manifest as graceful self-assurance in one genaasimar and as arrogance in another. Such self- confidence can sometimes blind genaasimar to risk, and their great plans often get them and others into trouble.

Too much failure can chip away at even a genaasimar’s sense of self, so they constantly push themselves to improve, honing their talents and perfecting their craft.

Genaasimar Lands

As rare beings, genaasimar might go their entire lives without encountering another one of their kind. There are no great genaasimar cities or empires. Genassimar seldom have communities of their own and typically adopt the cultures and societies into which they are born. The more strange their appearance, the harder time they have. Many genaasimar lose themselves in teeming cities, where their distinctiveness hardly raises an eyebrow in places accustomed to a variety of different people.

GENAASIMAR ON ATHAS

Although any world that includes one or more elemental planes can feature genaasimar, on Athas, the world of the Dark Sun campaign setting, elemental forces hold greater sway than they do on other worlds. As a people touched by elemental power, genaasimar are viewed as seers, prophets, and chosen ones. The birth of a genaasimar, whether a slave, a noble, or a member of a desert tribe, is an auspicious event. Most Athasians believe a given genaasimar is destined for greatness—or infamy.

Those living on the frontier, though, have a much harder time. People there tend to be less accepting of differences. Sometimes a cold shoulder and a suspicious glare are the best genaasimar can hope for; in more backward places, they face ostracism and even violence from people who mistake them for fiends.

Facing a hard life, these genaasimar seek isolation in the wilds, making their homes in mountains or forests, near lakes, or underground.

Most air and fire genaasimar in the Realms are descendants of the djinn and efreet who once ruled Calimshan. When those rulers were overthrown, their planetouched children were scattered. Over thousands of years, the bloodlines of those genaasimar have spread into other lands. Though far from common, air and fire genaasimar are more likely to be found in the western regions of Faerûn, along the coast from Calimshan north up to the Sword Coast, and into the Western Heartlands to the east. Some remain in their ancient homeland.

In contrast, water and earth genaasimar have no common history. Individuals have difficulty tracing their own lineage, and bloodlines occasionally skip a generation or two. Many earth genaasimar originated in the North and spread out from there. Water genaasimar come from coastal areas, the largest concentration of them hailing from the regions surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars.

The distant land of Zakhara is known only in legends to most inhabitants of Faerûn. There, genies and spellcasters enter into bargains, and genaasimar can result from such pacts. Those genaasimar have been sources of great weal and woe in the history of that land.

I saw her, wreathed in wings of pure light, her eyes blazing with the fury of the gods. The bone devils stopped in their tracks, shielding their faces. Her blade, now a brand of light, swept once, twice, three times. The devils’ heads hit the ground, one after another. And thus we learned that an aasimar traveled in our ragtag band.

— Geldon Parl, Of the Tyranny of Dragons

Genaasimar 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. Genaasimar 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.

 

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth, carry the power of the planes in their blood. The genaasimar are one such people, the offspring of genies and mortals.

The Elemental Planes are often inhospitable to natives of the Material Plane: crushing earth, searing flames, boundless skies, and endless seas make visiting these places dangerous for even a short time. The powerful genies, however, don’t face such troubles when venturing into the mortal world. They adapt well to the mingled elements of the Material Plane, and they sometimes visit—whether of their own volition or compelled by magic. Some genies can adopt mortal guise and travel incognito.

During these visits, a mortal might catch a genie’s eye. Friendship forms, romance blooms, and sometimes children result. These children are genaasimar: individuals with ties to two worlds, yet belonging to neither. Some genaasimar are born of mortal–genie unions, others have two genaasimar as parents, and a rare few have a genie further up their family tree, manifesting an elemental heritage that’s lain dormant for generations.

Occasionally, genaasimar result from exposure to a surge of elemental power, through phenomena such as an eruption from the Inner Planes or a planar convergence. Elemental energy saturates any creatures in the area and might alter their nature enough that their offspring with other mortals are born as genaasimar.

Celestial Champions

Genaasimar 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 Genaasimar receives visions and guidance from celestial entities via dreams. These dreams help shape an Genaasimar, granting a sense of destiny and a desire for righteousness.

Each Genaasimar 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 Genaasimar are strident foes of evil, they typically prefer to keep a low profile. An Genaasimar 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, Genaasimar 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.

Genaasimar Guides

An Genaasimar, except for one who has turned to evil, has a link to an angelic being. That being—usually a deva—provides guidance to the Genaasimar, though this connection functions only in dreams. As such, the guidance is not a direct command or a simple spoken word. Instead, the Genaasimar 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 Genaasimar 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.

Angelic 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

Conflicted Souls

Despite its celestial origin, a Genaasimar is mortal and possesses free will. Most Genaasimar follow their ordained path, but some grow to see their abilities as a curse. These disaffected Genaasimar are typically content to turn away from the world, but a few become agents of evil. In their minds, their exposure to celestial powers amounted to little more than brainwashing.

Evil Genaasimar make deadly foes. The radiant power they once commanded becomes corrupted into a horrid, draining magic. And their angelic guides abandon them.

Even Genaasimar, wholly dedicated to good, sometimes feel torn between two worlds. The angels that guide them see the world from a distant perch. A Genaasimar 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. A Genaasimar’s guide is wise but not infallible.

GENAASIMAR BACKGROUNDS

Each Genaasimar subrace has its own temperament, which might make some backgrounds more suitable than others.

Air Genaasimar are proud of their heritage, sometimes to the point of haughtiness. They can be flamboyant, and are keen to have an audience. They rarely stay in one place for long, always looking for a new sky to see and breathe. Air genaasimar who don’t live in cities favor open lands such as plains, deserts, and high mountains. Fitting backgrounds include charlatan, entertainer, and noble.

Earth Genaasimar are more withdrawn, and their connection to the earth keeps them from being comfortable in most cities. Their uncommon size and strength makes them natural soldiers, though, and with their stoic demeanor, they can encourage others and become great leaders. Many earth genaasimar live underground, where they can be in their favored element. When they emerge from their caves, they might roam the hills and mountains or lay claim to old ruins.

Appropriate backgrounds for earth genaasimar include hermit, outlander, and soldier.

Fire genaasimar often get themselves into difficulty with their fiery tempers. Like their air genaasimar cousins, they sometimes flaunt their perceived superiority over common folk. But they also want others to share their high opinion of themselves, so they constantly seek to enhance their reputations.

Likely backgrounds for a fire genaasimar include criminal, folk hero, and noble.

Water Genaasimar almost all have some experience aboard or around sea vessels. They make excellent mariners and fishers. Like earth genaasimar, though, water genaasimar prefer quiet and solitude; the wide shores are their natural homes. They go where they want, do what they want, and rarely feel bound to anything. Good backgrounds for water genaasimar include hermit and sailor.

Genaasimar Names

Most Genaasimar are born from Genaasimar parents, and they use the naming conventions of the people amongst whom they were raised. They might later assume distinctive names to capture their heritage, such as Flamewing, Emberblaze, Wavesplash, or Onyx.

 

Subrace

There are twelve subraces of Genaasimar that exist: Protector of Fire Genaasimar, Protector of Air Genaasimar, Protector of Water Genaasimar, Protector of Earth Genaasimar, Scourge Fire Genaasimar,  Wind Scourge Genaasimar, Scourge Flood Genaasimar, Scourge Quake Genaasimar, Sky Fallen Genaasimar, Floodwing Fallen Genaasimar, Earth Fallen Genaasimar, and Fallen Flame Genaasimar. Choose one of them for your character.

Genaasimar Traits

Your Genaasimar character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age

Genaasimar mature at a similar rate to humans and reach adulthood in their late teens, but living somewhat longer than humans sometimes living up to 140 years.

Size

Genaasimar are as varied as their mortal parents but are generally built like humans, standing anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall with similar heights and builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

Blessed with a radiant soul, your vision can easily cut through darkness. 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 can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Celestial Resistance

You have resistance to necrotic damage and radiant damage.

Healing Hands

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

Light Bearer

You know the light cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common ,Celestial, Primordial. Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.