Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Angels (PFRPG)

Interesting.

Any interesting traits, or do I have to wait till wednesday for that?

Just got it. Haven't had time to read through it yet, but:

Really love that the aasimar did get a wide range of appearance in their art. This is the most varied they've looked since Planescape!

Planetar-lookin' Sarenraen aasimar on page 2 is probably my new favorite aasimar art. Her cousin, the monk in the back of the book, is pretty cool too. Qaida's no longer the only plaasimar in art now!

edit-"metallic lips" led to a lot of (probably unintended) weird mental imagery, some funny, some mildly upsetting. I imagine what's really meant is "they look like they have chrome lipstick on"

Wait, so Damodar was an Aasimar?

So, having looked through the book some, I am highly disappointed so far. The Feats, traits, well, pratically anything mechanic in nature is very circumstantial and honestly not really worth spending a resource on, in my opnion. It mentions that other Humanoid races do have Assimars as well, but fails to actually give any rules on them at all (did I miss this somewhere or maybe it was cut???). Almost all of it is purely there to add a little flavor to an NPC, but will never come up in a game for a player to actually use.

As for the flavor, and maybe it is just me, but it seems to be thing like "Like any other race, there are good Aasimar, but but some are neutral and fewer are evil."

"Like any other race, some like strawberries and some like apples, while some don't like fruit at all. But Aasimars are really beautiful."

"Aasimars are beautiful, but not like elves. Aasimars have a sort of graceful, slighlty otherworldly, "something specialness" to them and are naturally better than other lesser races. And Aasimar also have an more intuitive awareness of things and people (unlike elves who do not have any bonuses to perception. . .)" It's all very bland and not at all coloring of the race in the sense of what a Players Guide is suppossed to detail. I honestly don't care about Aasimar alchemists, gunslingers, samurai, rogues, monks or all the other (again absolutly generic) info there just to fill pages. Notice the repetitive "like any other race"? Well that not in the book (much), but practically every paragraph says that between the lines.

The one, and I do mean the one good thing about this book is the charts offering alternate racial abilities. 1/5 Stars in my book. Very sad, as this is one of the books I was really, really looking foreward to. I hate Tieflings, and loved Blood of Fiends. I love Aasimar, and detest this book.

So, having looked through the book some, I am highly disappointed so far. The Feats, traits, well, pratically anything mechanic in nature is very circumstantial and honestly not really worth spending a resource on, in my opnion.

Sometimes the most character-defining feats are those circumstantial ones. For example, most Sorcerers have some combination of Empower Spell, Quicken Spell, Bouncing Spell, etc., but a party I GMed for remembers my one friend's halfling Sorcerer because the player took the Childlike feat and he made use of that relatively circumstantial feat at every opportunity, usually to amusing effects.

It mentions that other Humanoid races do have Assimars as well, but fails to actually give any rules on them at all (did I miss this somewhere or maybe it was cut???).

Blood of Fiends did the same thing. It basically said that while the character retains small aspects of the parent race in appearance, the celestial / fiendish heritage is so overpowering that all traits that matter mechanically are those of the standard aasimar/tiefling. To improvise a little on Game of Thrones, "Mortal flesh yields always to the divine."

Almost all of it is purely there to add a little flavor to an NPC, but will never come up in a game for a player to actually use.

That's a good thing, last time I checked. Making those aasimar interesting choices instead of "Hai, I've got a holy ancestor!"

That "extra bit of flavoring" also seems to contradict your next point, in that the aasimar writing is bland. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that holy-heritage characters are harder to write than fiendish ones. With the fiend, you are either succumbing to dark influences because they're a part of you (tragic), you succumb to them because of prejudice (also tragic), or you rise above them (inspiring). For good, you're either a good person simply because you're inclined to be or you go bad at the pressure.

It kind of goes back to Order of the Stick, where characters that don't have to work at being a good person aren't interesting because we don't find realism in such people. Our suspension of belief is broken, if even for a moment. In my opinion, aasimar are better written when they're good because they're trying to live up to their heritage, and the REAL tragedy are the aasimar that work so hard at being good that they actually hit the ceiling and do a 180, acting evil without realizing it.

Sunlight Strike says in it's prereqs the ability to cast Sunlight. Is this a typo/error and should be Daylight instead?

This is going to be interesting. Any ideas as to what the next "Race of Golarion/Blood of X/People of the Something-Or-Another" be? Here are my theories:

Blood of Dragons
The obligatory dragon-humanoid hybrid book. Hopefully the successor to Races of the Dragon from 3.5. Good stuff, good stuff.

Blood of the Elements
Focuses on the ifrit, oread, undine, and slyph, the PF genasi. I'd definitely like to see para-elemental races at the very least.

Giants of Golarion
And of course, it wouldn't be complete if they didn't bring in the giantkin. I'm talking goliaths, half-giants, the works.

That's my thoughts, what about you guys?

Revered Guidance made me smile. A lot. :)

Supernal Feast made me do a double take. I'm wondering if I'm looking at it from the right angles or not. On the one hand it seems like it's made for a particular breand of aasimar villain, but there's no evil requirement or even mention of evil in the rather clinical description. Now I'm wondering just how primitive or feral some of the more primitive or feral celestials can be. Less Hannibal Lector and more "tribal warrior taking the strength of a fallen ancestor/totem". Still, the latter doesn't seem like anything that should be regularly done enough to make for a feat. I guess I'm just wondering what the intent for this feat is, out of the box.

But again, Revered Guidance made me smile a lot. :) I'm totally going to imply its use in my game's version of Nirmathas and Belkzen.

On the random appearance features(dude, that plaasimar monk on the other page is still awesome):

5. This one is really weird and fun. It leaves me really wondering at the sort of celestial from whom one would inherit that trait. Cephalopod or other-invertebrate-based agathions? Or even more alien celestials of other types, born from mortals from other worlds? If I get to play that aberrant sorcerer/heavens oracle character, I'm actually tempted to go aasimar now...

18. Really nice low-key reference to certain real-world cultures that needed more love in books like this. :)

26. OH GOD. Can't envision as not creepy as hell.

28. Awesome uncanny valley option, the weirdness of which is easily overlooked at a glance.

39. Bruce Lee hands!

45. This one is a lot of fun. Got a ton of weirdcool imagery popping up because of it. So many possibilities. (filing away for that sorc/oracle as well)

53. Man, this one is particularly bizarre to envision. Wonder if a slight metallic "tink" would be given off if you thumped a non-metallic object this thing touches.

76-98. <3 The bells, choral sounds, wave-like breath, these are really cool bits of flavor to mine for characters, from the obvious to the very subtle.

races of dragon... great another book with pc kobolds......

rather have a elves of golarion revisted

with a little more info on Kyonin, a mapp of iadara, a more up to date map of kyonin and alot more info on that elven kingdom in Tian.

thats me though

I think the book is worth on the alternative Aasimar trait alone. A +2 Dex/+2 Cha with Glitterdust as spell-like? Ninja Aasimar! Gief!

BTW., I can see the "Blackened" Oracle curse becoming very popular, as its drawbacks are miniscule to non-melee Oracles.

I plan on making some kind of Aasimar summoner (using the Rite Celestial Commander AT) to replace my gunslinger in the Jade Regent campaign my group is running.

Even without any super-awesome synergy (besides the Cha boost) the very name of "Celestial Commander" just rings with an Aasimar.

Hm, do racial bonuses stack? There are possibilities to get an "additional" +2 racial bonus to one attribute on the variant Aasimar ability table, even to Wisdom and Charisma. It would seem strange if those bonuses would go to waste, if they ever happen.

So, having looked through the book some, I am highly disappointed so far. The Feats, traits, well, pratically anything mechanic in nature is very circumstantial and honestly not really worth spending a resource on, in my opnion. It mentions that other Humanoid races do have Assimars as well, but fails to actually give any rules on them at all (did I miss this somewhere or maybe it was cut???). Almost all of it is purely there to add a little flavor to an NPC, but will never come up in a game for a player to actually use.

As for the flavor, and maybe it is just me, but it seems to be thing like "Like any other race, there are good Aasimar, but but some are neutral and fewer are evil."

"Like any other race, some like strawberries and some like apples, while some don't like fruit at all. But Aasimars are really beautiful."

"Aasimars are beautiful, but not like elves. Aasimars have a sort of graceful, slighlty otherworldly, "something specialness" to them and are naturally better than other lesser races. And Aasimar also have an more intuitive awareness of things and people (unlike elves who do not have any bonuses to perception. . .)" It's all very bland and not at all coloring of the race in the sense of what a Players Guide is suppossed to detail. I honestly don't care about Aasimar alchemists, gunslingers, samurai, rogues, monks or all the other (again absolutly generic) info there just to fill pages. Notice the repetitive "like any other race"? Well that not in the book (much), but practically every paragraph says that between the lines.

The one, and I do mean the one good thing about this book is the charts offering alternate racial abilities. 1/5 Stars in my book. Very sad, as this is one of the books I was really, really looking foreward to. I hate Tieflings, and loved Blood of Fiends. I love Aasimar, and detest this book.

The blandness got to me as well but I think I understand it.

Aasimars have no culture, no society, they're a slight alteration to another species/culture/society member. So, we just have a repetition of: "They're like the culture they grow up in, but with slightyl higher burden of expectation."

I thin this proves the problem of the rigid Companion format and helps to explain why Paizo are moving away from that.

This would have been better with a short section entitled: "How being an Aasiamr makes you different" and beginning: "Aasimar are like their parents' people except for..."

Then more room for mechanics: this book actually needed more mechanics because nothing else has anything for aasimar (except for ARG) while there is human/elf/dwarf/gnome/halfling stuff everywhere, and probably more support for dhampir and tiefling across Paizo publications than there is for aasimar.

I still like the mechanics we do get in the book, and I don't mind the 'they have no unique culture' vibe. I just wish it hadn't been repeated over-and-over.

This should have been the start of the format change, not the Varisia book.

The old problem with Aasimar is that there's little inherent conflict in them - players usually gravitate towards Good or at worst Chaotic Moneygrabbing PCs, and there's not much in Aasimar background that screams "roleplaying challenges". Not the case with Tieflings, where you get the good old "dark is not evil" and "what the hell, hero?" stuff right off the bat, not to mention other crazy RP stuff you can pull out by rp'ing a Tieffie.

Of course there are Nualias out there, but that's more DM side of the equation. Sure, a grimdark evuuuul Aasimar is interesting, but it rarely meshes with an Average PC Party.

So what you are left with is "like any other race", becasue that's how it turns out 9 times out of ten. Sure, you can be a jaded CN Aasimar but that's not that much different from any other jaded CN PC, while on the other a LG Paladin Tiefling is something that can be a life role if done well.

Of course, the above does not apply when you're Mikaze... But sadly/luckily, there's only one of those :)

However, I do +1 GE in regard to Faith/Combat/Social/Whatever format being a hamstring. I'm so glad they're finally going the way of dodo, because some books could have been <----that---> much better if not shackled to the format. Adventurer's Armory, I am oh so looking at you.

I think the book is worth on the alternative Aasimar trait alone. A +2 Dex/+2 Cha with Glitterdust as spell-like? Ninja Aasimar! Gief!

Nah, the question is: archery paladin (+2dex/+2cha) or melee paladin (+2str/+2cha). Aasimar also make great bards (+2int/+2cha) or party-face clerics (+2wis/+2cha)... or battle clerics (+2con/+2wis)

On the random appearance features(dude, that plaasimar monk on the other page is still awesome):

I would definitely be tempted, as a GM, to give a mechnical quality to some of these, maybe a minor boon/curse.

Nah, mechanical benefits makes players want to game the system.

And @Gorbacz: The whole grimdark Tiefling thing also is totally played out. I'm tempted to put an emo haircut ( Tobey-Maguire-in-Spiderman-3-style ) mentally on every one of them which appears in my games or in other fiction I see.

"Maaan, I am so totally deep and dark, maaaan!"

Nah, mechanical benefits makes players want to game the system.

And @Gorbacz: The whole grimdark Tiefling thing also is totally played out. I'm tempted to put an emo haircut ( Tobey-Maguire-in-Spiderman-3-style ) mentally on every one of them which appears in my games or in other fiction I see.

"Maaan, I am so totally deep and dark, maaaan!"

I was thinking more choice (when I said about more crunch in the book) like feats and spells.

Oh, come on. You know that there will be some players who will come to their GM and ask if they can take the additional +2 to an attribute ( still hoping for an answer to my "do racials stack" question... ), because it is "thematically appropiate" for their character. ;)

Oh, come on. You know that there will be some players who will come to their GM and ask if they can take the additional +2 to an attribute ( still hoping for an answer to my "do racials stack" question... ), because it is "thematically appropiate" for their character. ;)

Ah, we're speaking at cross-purposes: I was looking at the table on page 31, not p.18...

I see what you mean about the p.18 table, love the singing option and many others but some are very game-able. I would probably make the stat-bonuses a re-roll and warn my players before hand: cleric starting with Wis22, angelkin-aasimar barbarian with strength 22 at level 1!

Well, I actually also meant the other bonuses. If you make the purely cosmetic stuff mechanically useful, there will be a player who wants to power-tweak his character and will want to use one of those bonuses.

Nah, mechanical benefits makes players want to game the system.

And @Gorbacz: The whole grimdark Tiefling thing also is totally played out. I'm tempted to put an emo haircut ( Tobey-Maguire-in-Spiderman-3-style ) mentally on every one of them which appears in my games or in other fiction I see.

"Maaan, I am so totally deep and dark, maaaan!"

I mean, you can totally play a red-skinned devil-horned hoofed priestess of Sarenrae who has to deal with people running away from her in fear. You can do that, because all in all you're a Cleric of a benelovent deity (a classic adventurer), totally PC material.

You can't really play an angelic saintly beautiful priestess of Lamashtu, because all in all you're a "now I will tie you up and have those two rabid dogs mate with you and place a bun in your oven, oh and then I'll get to c-section you sans anasthesiac, tee hee this is gonna be fun!" psycho. And that's not exactly PC material most of times.

A 'goes against the grain' style character can be quite interesting, but if a player only considers that type to the exclusion of all else I'd start thinking they have limitations as a role-player.

You can do that, because all in all you're a Cleric of a benelovent deity (a classic adventurer), totally PC material.

...
And that's not exactly PC material most of times.

PC as in Player Character, or Politically Correct? *ducks*

All I'm saying that the "dark, emotionally troubled" character has long passed from archetype into stereotype, due to overuse in fiction in general.

Well, I actually also meant the other bonuses. If you make the purely cosmetic stuff mechanically useful, there will be a player who wants to power-tweak his character and will want to use one of those bonuses.

I guess, those will just be houserules and I don't play with those sort of people so I should be okay. In all likelihood I would probably wait until after they has rolled their cosmetic weirdness and then say: "Hmm, we could probably make that give you... but leave you with..." I don't feel the urge to stat out 100 obscure aasimar options.

I suppose I'm not so quick to pick up on 'gaming the system' stuff because of my players and the culture at my table.

Well, I'm happy for you. I got some players who I would have to beat off with a stick when they begin whining that they can't have this or that goodie for free.

Hm, do racial bonuses stack? There are possibilities to get an "additional" +2 racial bonus to one attribute on the variant Aasimar ability table, even to Wisdom and Charisma. It would seem strange if those bonuses would go to waste, if they ever happen.

The attribute bonuses in the racial traits are untyped, so they stack with anything. Counter-intuitive, but handy.

Ah, you are completely right! I had only looked at the bonuses further in the book. Many thanks!

How does it rate with Advanced Races?

Well, I'm happy for you. I got some players who I would have to beat off with a stick when they begin whining that they can't have this or that goodie for free.

I played with people like that during my 3.5 days.

I made my table player's handbook only... only way I had to deal with it.

What is a "plaasimar"?

You can't really play an angelic saintly beautiful priestess of Lamashtu, because all in all you're a "now I will tie you up and have those two rabid dogs mate with you and place a bun in your oven, oh and then I'll get to c-section you sans anasthesiac, tee hee this is gonna be fun!" psycho. And that's not exactly PC material most of times.

But that would be great NPC! You just gave me the idea for my next game. :)

How does it rate with Advanced Races?

Lots more fluff in this one. The ARG entry had better crunch -- especially the great feats. But you'll need Blood of Angels if you want a specific celestial heritage.

What is a "plaasimar"?

An aasimar who resembles (and presumably is descended from) a planetar, the second choir of angels. See the angel entry in Bestiary 1 for more details.

Oh I know what a Planetar is, I just couldn't figure out wth plaasimar meant or why it was used. I guess it'd be shorthand if everyone reached the same conclusion I just would have phrased it as an aasimar of probably planetar heritage.

I was honestly only able to figure it out from context, by looking at the illustrations that Mikaze was talking about. ;) I don't even know who Qaida is.

I was honestly only able to figure it out from context, by looking at the illustrations that Mikaze was talking about. ;) I don't even know who Qaida is.

She's from Planescape: Faces of Sigil. The only other planetar-lookin' aasimar I can remember ever showing up before now. She was also one of the weirder looking aasimar before 3.x* rolled around and suddenly slapped the race with a dull and boring stereotype that persisted in official products up until this book, which has restored their variety and weirdness.

Regarding adding subtle perks to the Random Appearance table, personally I'd let them just pick their appearance traits and then present the perks when they were done. Rolling randomly for what your character will look like can be fun for some, but it can be a serious buzzkill for those who read over those choices, or the 1000 aasimar traits thread, or are familiar with celestials in the game, or have a particularly imaginitive idea out of their own heads and had something specific in mind. It can be a terminal buzzkill for that character if certain combinations come up, same as with the tiefling random appearance table. This is especially the case if the player has a personallity and particular aesthetic already in mind.

Though again, leaving one's appearance up to the dice could still be fun for some, but not for everyone. I'd prefer to present the chart as a list of possibilities players could pull inspiration from. They might surprise you and come up with something new and very neat.(though one would want to make sure it doesn't go beyond aesthetics on the player's part!)

*I am seriously trying to think of any aasimar from 3.x material that didn't just look like a pretty human or elf and I'm coming up blank.

Does anybody know if there's any particular reason why Witches got left out of the 'Class Roles' section?

Does anybody know if there's any particular reason why Witches got left out of the 'Class Roles' section?

Nope. Added to the FAQ candidates thread.

magnuskn wrote:

Well, I'm happy for you. I got some players who I would have to beat off with a stick when they begin whining that they can't have this or that goodie for free.

I played with people like that during my 3.5 days.

I made my table player's handbook only... only way I had to deal with it.

I can relate. I just don't play with people who play in that style anymore. Unfortunate but less stressful ultimately. Story over power gamers at this point in my gaming.

We now have agreed on a game of more archetypical genre characters for a while. Halfling rogues. Dwarf fighters. Elven fighter/mages. Yum!

MythicFox wrote:

Does anybody know if there's any particular reason why Witches got left out of the 'Class Roles' section?

Nope. Added to the FAQ candidates thread.

Whoops, I didn't realize there was a separate thread for that. Thanks.

I just have to ask.....any idea "what" the chap on pg 13 is ???
Doesn't look very "celestial" to me.....looks more like a tiefling 0_o

I just have to ask.....any idea "what" the chap on pg 13 is ???

Doesn't look very "celestial" to me.....looks more like a tiefling 0_o

He's an aasimar, angelkin by the looks of him. Nice touch on the mutilated vestigal wings, he's certainly a Kuthonite. The sickly looking halo probably wasn't always that way, likely changing to reflect the twisted nature of his soul.

He's pretty much the opposite number of the tiefling priestess of Sarenrae in Blood of Fiends, who showed up in the same part of the bok IIRC. They're there to show that aasimar can go very, very bad and tieflings can go very, very good.

Enlight_Bystand wrote:

Barong wrote:

Just what are these celestial totems?

Totems are a type of rage power introduced in the APG, which had a fiendish option, but no celestial one. Mikase has been on a solo quest since to get the celestial version published

It's a solo quest no longer! It's not fair to have fiendish and not celestial totems! Are we trying to encourage our players to pick evil options?

Why should every class be balanced for good and evil?

Barong wrote:

Enlight_Bystand wrote:

Barong wrote:

Just what are these celestial totems?

Totems are a type of rage power introduced in the APG, which had a fiendish option, but no celestial one. Mikase has been on a solo quest since to get the celestial version published

It's a solo quest no longer! It's not fair to have fiendish and not celestial totems! Are we trying to encourage our players to pick evil options?

Why should every class be balanced for good and evil?

Why should only evil get toys for certain classes?

Why should certain classes be forbidden good features?

Why shouldn't heroic barbarians have options for holy flavor when there are chaotic and indeed barbarian-ish celestials?

Hm, do racial bonuses stack? There are possibilities to get an "additional" +2 racial bonus to one attribute on the variant Aasimar ability table, even to Wisdom and Charisma. It would seem strange if those bonuses would go to waste, if they ever happen.

In any event, racial bonuses do stack with each other, just as dodge bonuses do. Since the Pathfinder rules tend to be inconsistent about stating whether bonuses in racial attributes are racial or not, this rule is very convenient.

okay, seriously, I want this for Herolab now.

You can't just respond to an argument with more questions! At least say "It allows for more interesting options" or some other thing like that. And then come up with a reason for why they shouldn't get a lycanthropic cthulhthite totem, because that's where the next argument is going: where do you draw the line.

okay, seriously, I want this for Herolab now.

When asked on the HeroLab forums, the response was that they hope to have it for the weekend.