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"Tieflings of Golarion" in Pathfinder #25 was probably my favorite article in a good long time, counting even stuff published in Dragon and Dungeon magazines. Not much surprise there, as I am fascinated by tieflings as much as the next person.
But I also really like aasimars. Which brings me to my question, if anyone in the know can answer: Is there a "Aasimars of Golarion" article in the works for the near future? Conventional wisdom holds that tieflings are much more popular than aasimars, and tieflings do fit conveniently into the current AP, but I'm sure I'm not alone in my desire to see aasimars get the same treatment. Using "Tieflings" as a base, I'm sure people have already attempted their own versions of the various heritages and variant ability tables, and I could probably do the same if I chose, but somehow I'd be happier to see the official take.
I mean, come on, the first villain of the first issue of Pathfinder was an aasimar!
So, any input?
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There are dozens of devils, demons, etc. to use as fodder for tieflings, and only a half-dozen or so angels, archons and azata. I'd want to see a few more good outsider options, to serve as fodder for that sort of article, before attempting to duplicate the tiefling article. Right now, it wouldn't be meaty enough, IMO.
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SOME day I'd love to do an "Aasimars of Golarion" article. I'm a big fan of Aasimars (as evidenced by that first volume of Pathfinder), but we don't have anything in the works for them yet.
Thank you James. One day, when the Restaurant's trans-time drives spin down, every customer will be satisfied.
Until then, please accept at least my thanks for TRYING.
Another +1.
Aasimars seem to have been getting left behind Tieflings for some time now, and I'd love to see them getting some more attention too.
Me too. There are just as interesting
I'm all for this idea. :D
Aasimars need to get some good love. If that had happened early on, how much happier the people of Sandpoint would have been...
Aasimars need to get some good love. If that had happened early on, how much happier the people of Sandpoint would have been...
All kidding aside, the people of Sandpoint contributed to that problem by inadvertantly alienating their aasimar. Of course she was ultimately responsible for her actions, but she might never have made some of those choices (or trusted a young man that she shouldn't have) if she hadn't felt so alone and like such an 'outsider', in the figurative sense of the word.
I know of course you were making a play on words; but I like to point out the subtle shades of gray to be found in Burnt Offerings.
+1 more. Personally, I don't see the appeal the Teiflings have gotten. In my opinion they are kind of overdone like the Drow.
Not quite there yet though
I'd honestly be more interested in aasimar getting some play if not for the fact that they already have huge advantages over both tieflings and the rest of the core rulebook races, and still have no drawbacks -- at least, not from what I can see in the Bestiary.
They're still +2 WIS/+2 CHA, with no negative ability modifier to compensate. The tiefling's "fiendish sorcery" special ability is a meager compensation which basically buttonholes them into choosing a sorcerer bloodline based on their heritage, which the aasimar seems to completely ignore.
The aasimar's spell-like ability still completely outclasses the tiefling's -- daylight (level 3) will always override darkness (level 2).
Everything I can see there says the aasimar is munchkin-bait, since it apparently has no drawbacks and the level-adjustment has now been removed.
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Daylight isn't "all that". It has limited useage over all, while Darkness can have a lot of potential. Particularly for someone that has bonuses on Stealth. Especially considering Light is at will. Tieflings also have better resistences than Aasimars, and have a built in fix for Sorcerers and Rogues.
Would you feel better if Aasimars had something like "-2 Con, but this does not apply to HP or Fort saves"?
Aasimars need more love. But unlike tieflings, they have to pay.
I'd honestly be more interested in aasimar getting some play if not for the fact that they already have huge advantages over both tieflings and the rest of the core rulebook races, and still have no drawbacks -- at least, not from what I can see in the Bestiary.
They're still +2 WIS/+2 CHA, with no negative ability modifier to compensate. The tiefling's "fiendish sorcery" special ability is a meager compensation which basically buttonholes them into choosing a sorcerer bloodline based on their heritage, which the aasimar seems to completely ignore.
The aasimar's spell-like ability still completely outclasses the tiefling's -- daylight (level 3) will always override darkness (level 2).
Everything I can see there says the aasimar is munchkin-bait, since it apparently has no drawbacks and the level-adjustment has now been removed.
I don't think infernal sorcerer pigeonholes the tiefling into being a sorcerer, it just negates their charisma penalty making them competitive. Personally, I love aasimars, but I would sooner play a tiefling if I were to munchkin it up.
Why, might you ask? Darkness. Or, more accurately, darkness plus ebon eyes (Spell Compendium). Not only do you get the benefit of surprising foes, but you constantly have concealment that you can use to hide. This is a boon, especially with high-level tiefling rogues and rogue-type prestige classes (assassin and shadow dancer) for their Hide in Plain Sight ability. I mean, a shadow dancer's shadow jump is already pretty fun, what could possibly make it more fun than summoning shadowy illumination once per day on command?Meanwhile, all an aasimar can do with his ability is, yes, counter darkness, and agitate light-sensitive creatures like orcs and shadows. Against more powerful enemies, however, this racial ability becomes pretty much just a very bright, long-burning torch (which I guess might help you in campaigns like Council of Thieves, or in unlit dungeon crawls, but little else).
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Why, might you ask? Darkness. Or, more accurately, darkness plus ebon eyes (Spell Compendium). Not only do you get the benefit of surprising foes, but you constantly have concealment that you can use to hide.
I don't think it works quite the way you are thinking. All darkness does is lower the light one step. So you can make it dim inside a poorly lit area. And people will still see you. Besides, tieflings don't need ebon eyes, they already have darkvision.
Eh? They must have changed the way darkness works on me. Used to grant concealment (20% miss chance) via shadowy illumination (so you could use hide if someone wasn't watching you, or hide in plain sight if someone was). Darkvision also can't penetrate magical darkness (or at least didn't used to).
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Darkness never caused the 20% miss chance, it only changed the light levels. The miss chance came from dim light granting the miss chance. If it was already dark, then it cause magical darkness which darkvision could not pierce.
So it was not useful all the time, only when you were traveling in already dim conditions. Which admittedly most PCs do, exploring dungeons and such. But it's not so much help during the day around town.
Edit: My mistake, the SRD does cause 20% miss chance. I'm not sure if it was always supposed to reference the rules for lighting conditions and Pathfinder just codified it in the spell, or if they nerfed it. But PF-version is pretty weak. "I make it overcast for my light sensitive friends!"
Edit: My mistake, the SRD does cause 20% miss chance. I'm not sure if it was always supposed to reference the rules for lighting conditions and Pathfinder just codified it in the spell, or if they nerfed it. But PF-version is pretty weak. "I make it overcast for my light sensitive friends!"
Paizo probably codified it and, in doing so, nerfed it, thinking that it was too powerful (they do that a lot, sometimes in error). The idea with darkness was, traditionally, to make things difficult by cutting visibility. The spell deeper darkness from 3.5 Ed D&D looks a lot like what the original darkness spell (from AD&D) did, with some exceptions.
Aasimars need more love. But unlike tieflings, they have to pay.
Not true.
Any aasimars who want more love - free! - please apply with picture or hologem.
Race books, Aasimars, or something else sounds appealling... yes please... please? Sometime in the not too distant few years future?
well there are books for Gnomes of Golarion and Elves of Golarion, with more being released, so maybe a Planetouched of Golarion book, so that the Aasimars, Tieflings and that genie touched race from Legacy of Fire book can get some more love.
just my 2 copper pieces.
Ekeebe :D
well there are books for Gnomes of Golarion and Elves of Golarion, with more being released, so maybe a Planetouched of Golarion book, so that the Aasimars, Tieflings and that genie touched race from Legacy of Fire book can get some more love.
just my 2 copper pieces.
Ekeebe :D
an excellent idea, although I would prefer one for each like Tieflings of Golarion etc etc etc
At worst, Aasomars and Tieflings and than the Genesai (spelling).
Genasi. And aasimar, while we're at it ;-P
But genasi are right out. They're not open content.
But the suli-jann can help out, and I hear there will be more elemental bastard races one day.
I would not want all Planetouched thrown together as it tends to boil down to very basic and generic info about the individuals
Especially when they're so different. I guess the others might get something akin to the tiefling article.
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Genasi. And aasimar, while we're at it ;-P
But genasi are right out. They're not open content.
Hey, I'm all for an Aasimar only book. What I meant was I would not want a book that included all planetouched, Aasimar and Tiefling at most, and one for the Genasi (or whatever other planetouched).
But the suli-jann can help out, and I hear there will be more elemental bastard races one day.
I would not want all Planetouched thrown together as it tends to boil down to very basic and generic info about the individuals
Especially when they're so different. I guess the others might get something akin to the tiefling article.
What I meant was I would not want a book that included all planetouched
I know, and I agreed. Would not make any sense. Their connection is on the most basic, conceptional sense. It would be like making a book about angels and devils because both are outsiders.
But the suli-jann can help out, and I hear there will be more elemental bastard races one day.
They have said, I believe, that there will be pathfinder genasi wannabes
Problem I see with giving each planetouched its own book is that it would at best be the 32-page size each and that would be stretching it quite a bit. As bastard races, they dont have a culture (art, religion, language, etc.) of their own.
Honestly, I think the three main planetouched races (Aasimar, Tiefling and "Genasi") can be solidly covered in one 64-page books (if that). The chapter of tieflings in bastards of Erebus did a great job fleshing the race out. triple that and you are fairly good.
-Weylin
I would go with 1 64 page book. I just think 1 32 pager is not enough especially if all the "elements" get separated out
I suppose you could do a 32 pages on aasamirs & tieflings and 32 pager on the various elemental races
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Problem I see with giving each planetouched its own book is that it would at best be the 32-page size each and that would be stretching it quite a bit. As bastard races, they dont have a culture (art, religion, language, etc.) of their own.
Honestly, I think the three main planetouched races (Aasimar, Tiefling and "Genasi") can be solidly covered in one 64-page books (if that). The chapter of tieflings in bastards of Erebus did a great job fleshing the race out. triple that and you are fairly good.
-Weylin
I would go with 1 64 page book. I just think 1 32 pager is not enough especially if all the "elements" get separated out
I suppose you could do a 32 pages on aasamirs & tieflings and 32 pager on the various elemental races
At worst (meaning if they can't get their own books individually), this is what I would want. If you throw them all together, they are just too generic for me to want it, as has so far been the case with every example I have seen done so far.
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Problem I see with giving each planetouched its own book is that it would at best be the 32-page size each and that would be stretching it quite a bit. As bastard races, they dont have a culture (art, religion, language, etc.) of their own.
Honestly, I think the three main planetouched races (Aasimar, Tiefling and "Genasi") can be solidly covered in one 64-page books (if that). The chapter of tieflings in bastards of Erebus did a great job fleshing the race out. triple that and you are fairly good.
-Weylin
I would go with 1 64 page book. I just think 1 32 pager is not enough especially if all the "elements" get separated out
I suppose you could do a 32 pages on aasamirs & tieflings and 32 pager on the various elemental races
Thats what I was thinking and what i meant by my post up thread. a series of 32 page books on them. Say 2-4 books depending on how many plane touched they want to have, with 2-4 types in each book. (depending how similar the types are)
But the suli-jann can help out, and I hear there will be more elemental bastard races one day.They have said, I believe, that there will be pathfinder genasi wannabes
I think that the genasi will rather be pathfinder elementouched wannabes. ;-)
NOOOooooo.....
No +1 Aasimar are much better without level adjustment
I think that the genasi will rather be pathfinder elementouched wannabes. ;-)But the suli-jann can help out, and I hear there will be more elemental bastard races one day.They have said, I believe, that there will be pathfinder genasi wannabes
either way, though I always very much liked the genasi in the FR until they were ruined by 4e that is
NOOOooooo.....
No +1 Aasimar are much better without level adjustment
So are balors.
The bottom line is, Teiflings are 'cool' because they look bad-ass and can act how they want. The Aasimar is just as good as the Tiefling, really, but they need some good press and a bit of a reworking for Pathfinder to make them work better. It's a bit like the 3.5 elf and dwarf ... the elf was thematically meant to be the wizard, but functionally the dwarf was better.
What needs to be stressed about the Aasimar is unworldliness, their 'strangeness' compared to other races and the fact that people just feel that aura about them. Good people are drawn to them, neutral people want them around, and evil people feel guilty when they are about. I'd replace the daylight SLA with a zone-of-truth effect myself, perhaps ...
Yay, Aasimars! I play an Aasimar Cleric (domains Air and Travel) in a game I'm currently in, and I'm having a lot of fun with him. He's good-natured and happy all the time (well, most of the time), and I always describe him as "practically glowing", as if the light reflects brighter off of him than from everyone else. For his "off" Aasimar feature, I gave him pure blue eyes without pupils - but he paradoxically also wears small, round glasses, raising all kinds of questions on the nature of how his vision works.
A running gag is that doves flock to him at inopportune times.
"Grind"?
"Grind"?Huh?
"Core"
Given the improvements to the Paladin I would think they would make awesome paladins too ...