D&D (2024) 5e Aasimar are in the Players Handbook − what should the flavor be?

[Henadic Theologian]

Not a fan of halo's personally, as they inherently imply a 'high magic' setting. Horns can easily appear 'down to earth' and low magic in appearance. But a glowing magical circle just permanently hovering around is something which just doesn't fit in a low magic campaign.

I'm fine with them being an option for aasimar, but I wouldn't want it forced onto all of them.

(though for the default PHB art, I think one with a halo would be a good idea, as it clearly displays what they are and sets them apart).

That is why I think glowing eyes is a more subtle way of doing something akin to Halos, indicting this is a being of light.

 

[CreamCloud0]

That is why I think glowing eyes is a more subtle way of doing something akin to Halos, indicting this is a being of light.

glowing eyes is very much a generic feature though, there are dozens of reasons a character might have glowing eyes but typically only one implication from having a halo.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I feel like you could write up a collection of potential unique Aasimar physical traits for players to choose from

• Halos of gentle white, silver, or yellow light, brilliant flames, or dark energy.
• Golden, bronze, or silvery skin that gives off a healthy glow, or pale white skin for Fallen Aasimar.
• Eyes the glow with gold, silver, or white light for Protector, fiery red, orange, and yellow for Scorched Aasimar, or pale gray, sickly green, or pitch black eyes for Fallen Aasimar.
• White or golden yellow hair, fiery red hair, or pitch black hair that seems to gently flow and sway on its own.

Just to list a few that I’d consider.

 

[jayoungr]

I would rather aasimar and tiefling were subclasses of some kind of marital sorcerer type class, where whatever your grandpa or grandma got it on with makes you better at hitting things instead of casting spells.

Oh my ....

 

[Kurotowa]

glowing eyes is very much a generic feature though, there are dozens of reasons a character might have glowing eyes but typically only one implication from having a halo.

There are problems with halos. For one, they're pretty specifically tied to exactly one real world religion, and don't actually appear anywhere in D&D. None of the Angels in the MM have a halo, and it'd be even more out of place on other celestial types. For another, how do you even narrate one. Does it provide light that impacts visibility or stealth? When you put on a large helm, does it slide up a few inches to give clearance?

No, a halo is out of the question. Maybe something more feather themed? That would touch on angels and lillends and a few others. It's not something with an obvious solution, especially if you want to de-angelfy your "celestial bloodline" race a bit. That's why ardlings went the animal heads route, though that proved unpopular.

 

[jayoungr]

There are problems with halos. For one, they're pretty specifically tied to exactly one real world religion

Halos are actually pretty widespread:

Halo (religious iconography) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kurotowa]

Halos are actually pretty widespread

A luminous aura of some sort is pretty widespread. The distinctive floating golden ring, as was under discussion here, is not.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Give them tails to make up for the lack of dragonborn tails.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Not a fan of halo's personally, as they inherently imply a 'high magic' setting. Horns can easily appear 'down to earth' and low magic in appearance. But a glowing magical circle just permanently hovering around is something which just doesn't fit in a low magic campaign.

I'm fine with them being an option for aasimar, but I wouldn't want it forced onto all of them.

(though for the default PHB art, I think one with a halo would be a good idea, as it clearly displays what they are and sets them apart).

Well keep in mind that people who aren't new (as in have played more than 20 sessions) tend to realize that all the pictures in the book are merely suggestions. I've only once encountered a dm who enforced "all tieflings have horns" and she had a really good, highly-campaign-specific reason. The vast majority of dms will let your tiefling (or aasimar or shifter) look like whatever you want.

But the art direction isn't telling you what you're allowed to do, it's showing you what you can do, which means it needs to display the diversity of lineage options - if aasimar don't look angelic, then they don't appear in the art. The more consistent they appear in the core art, the more internal diversity they can demonstrate. If halo = aasimar, then elven and dwarfy and even orcish aasimar can show up in the core books. If aasimar are just paladins... then they don't appearat all. Wings are good but wings alone aren't enough I think; halos are easy to draw and easy to ignore if you don't like them.

If I'm showing a new player what a tiefling is via art, it can't just be a human.

 

[jayoungr]

A luminous aura of some sort is pretty widespread. The distinctive floating golden ring, as was under discussion here, is not.

Then why not just change it a nimbus of light around the head? You can still call that a halo, and as you can see from the Wikipedia article, that's not specific to just one religion. Anyway, the "floating golden ring" is just an alternate way of representing that idea.