"Small" Aasimar clarification


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


On the sidebar for Aasimar it states that a "small" aasimar, such as a Halfling, can be Small but purely for cosmetic purposes. This sounds like a contradiction. If it's purely for cosmetic purposes then why even mention it. If instead it gets Small properties, bonus size AC, chance to hit, 20ft speed, etc. then it's not "purely for cosmetic purposes". Can someone clarify please what the intent is?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

If you're a small Aasimar, you should indeed get the size adjustments. Depending on your class, this could be an advantage or a disadvantage. It's best to get your GM's approval before doing something like this, and for something like a massive organized play program like PFS, it's best not to do it at all, in the interest of keeping things as even a starting point as possible.


The way I read that bit in the sidebar is that the physical appearance is cosmetic, not the size.

To use lizardfolk as an example, the Aasimar would have scales, a tail, etc, but wouldn't have the natural armor, natural Attacks, or any ability a standard lizardfolk has.


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Enurp wrote:
On the sidebar for Aasimar it states that a "small" aasimar, such as a Halfling, can be Small but purely for cosmetic purposes. This sounds like a contradiction. If it's purely for cosmetic purposes then why even mention it. If instead it gets Small properties, bonus size AC, chance to hit, 20ft speed, etc. then it's not "purely for cosmetic purposes". Can someone clarify please what the intent is?

Speed is not based on size.

See Kobold and Goblin.

Halflings and Gnomes get a racial ability of slow which lowers their movement speed.

To the best of my knowledge, playing a small race Assimar would give you the bonuses and penalties for being small.

+1 AC
+1 to hit
-1 CMB
Lower carrying capacity.

It would not effect your speed, and if you were a race which had either Natural armor or Natural attack you would not get those.


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+4 to stealth, too.

Grand Lodge

And -1 CMD.

Shadow Lodge

Ughbash wrote:
See Kobold and Goblin.
Goblins wrote:
Fast: Goblins are fast for their size, and have a base speed of 30 feet

This wording suggests that the default speed for a small creature is 20ft and that goblins are a special exception to this.

However, the ARG does pretty distinctly state that 20ft speed and strength penalties are just typical qualities of small creatures and not actually a direct result of the size:

Race Builder wrote:
Small (0 RP): Small races gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks. Small races have a space of 5 feet by 5 feet and a reach of 5 feet.

Plus smaller weapons, carrying capacity, +2 to Fly checks, and a -4 relative penalty to intimidate small or medium creatures. Maybe one or two other things scattered through the rules.

Personally without the speed change I think being small is advantageous for most characters. Most characters will benefit from +1 to attack and AC more than the -1 CMB/CMD and approx. -1 weapon damage will hurt, you can avoid making intimidate checks more easily than stealth checks, and carrying capacity doesn't actually change much because items like armour are lighter for small characters.

The Exchange

Legal for PFS?

Grand Lodge

Grahl wrote:
Legal for PFS?

No.


Thanks all for the input and clarification!

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