Aasimar, the “Light Bearers”

aasimar

Whether descended from a celestial being or infused with heavenly power, aasimar are mortals who carry within them a divine spark born of the Dome of Creation, the divine realm of the gods of Good. They can fan that spark to bring light, ease wounds, and unleash the fury of the heavens.

Unfortunately, aasimar often find themselves caught up in the divine game of chess that the gods play among themselves. Some are happy to join the cause of Good, while others reject their divine parentage outright, turning towards evil. Some want nothing to do with the battle of Good and Evil and seek to live out their lives as they see fit.

Alignment

Aasimar lean towards Good alignments due to their celestial heritage. Yet despite their origins, aasimar, as any race, are subject to the Law of Gilean and have the freedom to choose between Good, Evil, or the Balance between.

Aasimar Lands

Aasimar have no lands of their own, instead growing up in the lands of their mortal parents.

Religion

The gods of Good will actively try to recruit an aasimar to be one of their divine champions, a role that comes naturally to them. Paladine, Mishakal, Kiri-Jolith, and Habbakuk especially seek their service. Aasimar who manifest wings will sometimes have the platinum dragon wings of Paladine or blue phoenix wings of Habbakuk.

Aasimar often draw the attention of the gods of Evil. Hiddukel takes great pleasure in corrupting them, and Takhisis relishes turning aasimar into her champions. Chemosh simply enjoys extinguishing their light. Aasimar who follow the gods of Evil are known as the Fallen.

The gods of the Balance, particularly Gilean, seek to allow aasimar to live life as they choose and make their own choices. Aasimar who revere Chislev often seek to escape the struggle of Good and Evil and live their lives in peace away from conflict.

Further Reading

In the 4th edition of the world’s greatest roleplaying game, the role of the aasimar was covered by a new race – the deva. Check out The Devas of Godshome for more inspiration.

About Trampas "Dragonhelm" Whiteman

Trampas “Dragonhelm” Whiteman is best known for co-creating and administering the Dragonlance Nexus fan site. He is co-author of three Dragonlance books – Holy Orders of the Stars, Knightly Orders of Ansalon, and Races of Ansalon. When not evangelizing Dragonlance and other settings, Trampas is a husband, father, podcaster, and web designer. Trampas also enjoys reading comics, reading fantasy and scifi novels, and playing D&D.
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2 Comments

  1. I’m not sure the Aasimar (and their Tiefling counterpart) are very dragonlance-y. Too much a taste of angels and demons, IMHO.

    But if we look up for mythical and powerful creatures in Dragonlance, the best we can find are… Dragons: Powerful, primordial, magical creatures, the first children of the gods.

    So, let’s ask the rethorical question: “What if Huma and Heart had a baby?”

    Then, let’s imagine that, no matter how sterile the union is supposed to do, no matter how convoluted the idea seems, that this baby seemed like a normal humanoid (i.e. its humanoid parent’s race), but had within them the “magic” of dragons.

    From there, you can extrapolate the Draconic Bloodline of the Sorcerer class, of course. But you might also extrapolate an Aasimar/Thiefling-style race, too. But instead of angel/devil-like abilities and mystical aura, you might have Dragon-like abilities/aura.

    Let’s call them dragon-touched.

    The difference with the draconian is that the draconian is a corruption of the parent dragon. The difference with the dragonborn is that the dragon-touched would be, like the aasimar/thiefling, mostly humanoid, with perhaps some draconic traits, appearing seemingly randomly from normal humanoid parents.

    For example, the feathered-style wings we see in D&D5e aasimars might be instead draconic-style wings for the dragon-touched. Instead of the devil-like deformities, these might be draconic, too (not that this would change a lot).

    These dragon-touched might have appeared from unions of dragons and humanoids, which, at first seem sterile, but sometimes, might result in a literal miracle. These dragon-touched “genes” might be passed silently, from generation to generation, until some kind of conjunction/randomness/mutation would result in a dragon-touched being born. Perhaps some of the powers of the dragon-touched would depend on their dragon ancestry.

    Like the aasimar/thiefling, they might be considered as freaks by some, and signs of divine favors by others. They might have suffered from persecution from the Kingpriest of Istar, for example, as at the time, no dragon was active, and thus, might be considered as monsters from evil by default. Dragons themselves, no matter their alignment, might find such concept strange, alien, or even abhorrent, to be pitied/vilified.

    Anyways…

    Dragons of Krynns are much more than fire-breathing lizards of other fantasy worlds. They are the living embodiment of Krynn, and its primordial/elemental power. And we already have the history of Human/Heart and Gilthanas/Silvara making a precedent of love between dragons and humanoids.

    I would love the dragon-touched to be Krynn’s aasimar/thiefling. Their origin can only be a tragic story (impossible/forbidden love, or something much darker), and their existence so exceptional it would have a potential for grandeur and tragedy.

    What do you think?

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