Can Aasimar Pass for Human?

[aadder]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about playing an Aasimar (side question: do most DM's allow Aasimars? I really like my character concept and build but I dont' want to get attached to it if people think they're over-powered or too out-there for most campaigns) and I can't seem to figure out if they do or do not pass for human. I know they're of human descent and of roughly the same size and weight with human features, but different sources give me different answers on exactly how close they look. Some sources say they might look like humans with luminous eyes, some sources say they're completely alien in skin-color and features. How close to passing can I get and still be an Aasimar, is my question I guess.

[Luccan]

Volo's Guide probably has the description of Aasimar your DM will go with (I assume that's what you're using anyway, unless you just pulled the example out of the DMG), but I think Aasimar have been more consistent than tieflings in appearance. At least some can pass for human

[ProsecutorGodot]

This seems like the week of recycled discussions - I definitely remember a discussion about this from years back. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?571870-What-do-5e-Aasimar-look-like)

I'm going to change my opinion, slightly, and say "for a little while" is reasonable. You don't have to necessarily be obviously celestial in a way that reads like a bright neon sign, but you will be obviously celestial to those knowledgeable or perceptive to those traits.

[aadder]

This seems like the week of recycled discussions - I definitely remember a discussion about this from years back. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?571870-What-do-5e-Aasimar-look-like)

I'm going to change my opinion, slightly, and say "for a little while" is reasonable. You don't have to necessarily be obviously celestial in a way that reads like a bright neon sign, but you will be obviously celestial to those knowledgeable or perceptive to those traits.

Oh dang sorry on that then lol

I don't know why i wasn't able to find that thread, probably added too many extra words when looking.

[kazaryu]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about playing an Aasimar (side question: do most DM's allow Aasimars? I really like my character concept and build but I dont' want to get attached to it if people think they're over-powered or too out-there for most campaigns) and I can't seem to figure out if they do or do not pass for human. I know they're of human descent and of roughly the same size and weight with human features, but different sources give me different answers on exactly how close they look. Some sources say they might look like humans with luminous eyes, some sources say they're completely alien in skin-color and features. How close to passing can I get and still be an Aasimar, is my question I guess.

tbh thats a question that falls squarely in 'ask your DM' territory. However, i will point out that VGtM has this 'They are a people of otherworldly visages, with luminous features that reveal their celestial heritage.' so...the intent is, i think, no.

[Chronos]

There's two different questions, here, I think: First, if an aasimar is just out and about and being themselves, would they be mistaken for human? And second, if an aasimar is making an active attempt to pass as human, would they be able to? And of course, that second question leads into "if it is possible, how much effort does it take?": Surely they could, for instance, if they're wearing clothing that covers all of their skin, including a veil over their face. Is an exposed face with make-up enough? Sunglasses? Maybe they don't even need that, and can just consciously suppress their celestial-ness? Perhaps the Thaumaturgy cantrip would work-- If it can make a human's eyes glow, can it make an aasimar's eyes not glow?

[Anonymouswizard]

Personally I'd run it like the part-demons in Devil May Cry. They look close enough to human that most people will assume that they are (unless they're in Devil Trigger), but there's some obvious signs that those who know of their existence can use to identify them. In DMC it's white hair, for an Aasimar glowing eyes (normally hidden behind sunglasses), feathered shoulders, or some kind of unusual coloration could fit.

Although if a GM wanted to go all obvious with them I'd completely understand it.

[Millstone85]

Some sources say they might look like humans with luminous eyes, some sources say they're completely alien in skin-color and features.
Perhaps the Thaumaturgy cantrip would work-- If it can make a human's eyes glow, can it make an aasimar's eyes not glow?
In DMC it's white hair, for an Aasimar glowing eyes (normally hidden behind sunglasses), feathered shoulders, or some kind of unusual coloration could fit.I think we can rule out 5e aasimar having glowing eyes all the time.


Radiant Soul. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to glimmer and two luminous, incorporeal wings to sprout from your back.This description wouldn't make sense if the aasimar's eyes were already glimmering before the transformation.

[Anonymouswizard]

I think we can rule out 5e aasimar having glowing eyes all the time.

This description wouldn't make sense if the aasimar's eyes were already glimmering before the transformation.

I'll be completely honest: I don't own any 5e books which feature Aasimar, and as such don't know their current appearance. I just thought it for the category of traits I was trying to list.

[Millstone85]

I'll be completely honest: I don't own any 5e books which feature Aasimar, and as such don't know their current appearance. I just thought it for the category of traits I was trying to list.I only know of one 5e illustration of the race, which is used in both Volo's Guide to Monsters and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/9/9d/Aasimar-5e.pngI think this is a protector aasimar in their powered-up form.

[False God]

The original DMG description was little more than "These folks appear as glorious humans with lustrous hair, flawless skin and piercing eyes."

Volos added some variety depending on your angelic ancestry, but still maintained that most assimar were very human in appearance.

The answer then really is up to you. If you say "My aasimar is a pretty human with bright blonde hair and intense piercing eyes." you might not blend with the average dirt-farmer, but you'd be pretty darn human looking.

EDIT: IMO, only the DM needs to know(and approve) what your race is. The rest of the party only needs to know what you look like. If you're attempting to avoid people's assumptions about your appearance, remember to introduce your character on the basis of their looks, not their race.

[Anonymouswizard]

I only know of one 5e illustration of the race, which is used in both Volo's Guide to Monsters and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/9/9d/Aasimar-5e.pngI think this is a protector aasimar in their powered-up form.

So basically they look obviously inhuman when devil triggered, but might look utterly normal at allother times?

Darn, guess I've got to get Volo's now so that I actually have the race.

[Millstone85]

So basically they look obviously inhuman when devil triggered, but might look utterly normal at allother times?That would be my guess, yeah.

While I am at it, here is how the two other subraces transform.
Radiant Consumption. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing a searing light to radiate from you, pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you.
Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back.I like all three descriptions, so it is too bad these transformations only last for 1 minute per long rest.


Darn, guess I've got to get Volo's now so that I actually have the race.It is a great book, but be warned that only two pages are about aasimar. Same goes for the CR book, though it does add three short paragraphs about how aasimar are perceived in different regions of that world (as a blessing, with variations based on local beliefs and interests).

Edit: Oh, but the CR book removes two sidebars for DMs: one on how to roleplay the celestial who watches over the aasimar, and another about falling or rising to a different subrace.

[Witty Username]

Oh dang sorry on that then lol

I don't know why i wasn't able to find that thread, probably added too many extra words when looking.

No shame, you are encouraged to start new threads here instead of animate old ones.



The answer then really is up to you. If you say "My aasimar is a pretty human with bright blonde hair and intense piercing eyes." you might not blend with the average dirt-farmer, but you'd be pretty darn human looking.

I read that and my only thought is, if you use your powered up state, you must shout "For the Honor of Greyskull" when you do.

[aadder]

Thanks to everyone that replied; I kind of like the middle ground of "yes you look like a human but you still STRANGE for a human", but then look blatantly NOT human when powered-up.

Ie. my character might be something like "an almost supernaturally attractive person with long hair that never seems to fully rest on their shoulders that everyone who has ever seen them remembers how they look".

[strangebloke]

Nothing about their features as described makes it impossible, but I'd argue that they'd generally not be mistaken for human by people who knew what an Aasimar was.

As with Genasi and Tieflings and even Elves and Dwarves, it mostly comes down to how the character themselves is described rather than a specific racial thing.

[aadder]

Okay hold the phone, Aasimar DEFINITELY pass as human, or at least can, and here's why:

See the top of page 104 in Volo's:

"I saw her, wreathed in wings of pure light, her eyes blazing with the fury of the gods. The bone devils stopped in their tracks, shielding their faces. Her blade, now a brand of light, swept once, twice, three times. The devils' heads hit the ground, one after the other. And thus we learned that an aasimar traveled in our ragtag band.
-Geldon Parl, Of the Tyranny of Dragons"

So this is a canon account of some guy discovering that someone he travels with is an aasimar because he sees them use Radiant Soul. The implication can only be that despite travelling with this person, he was unaware that she was an aasimar right up until she went full Smitin' Time in front of him. Also, the face that he can see her eyes would indicate that her face is not obscured, and that he remarks on it means they don't always look like that.

I feel like this conclusively proves that some, if not all, aasimar can pass as humans if they want to.

[Millstone85]

So this is a canon account of some guy discovering that someone he travels with is an aasimar because he sees them use Radiant Soul.Good catch! Yeah, I missed that.

[RustyArcana]

It really depends on the setting and how you and the Dm interpret your character's celestial heritage. Personally, if you have a big cloak on, which obscures your face, I would totally let the Aasimar pass for human, even without a deception roll.

[Psyren]

On the one hand, the Volo's description clearly shows an Aasimar that went unnoticed by their "ragtag band" until activating their transformation power.

On the other hand, they wouldn't need to typically go around swaddled in closed helmets and hoods to avoid cultists and fiends if they truly passed for human perfectly all the time.

Personally I'd square the difference and say that there is something passively there to notice that sets them apart, but that doing so requires some degree of knowledge about what to look for - which cultists and fiends have.

[Millstone85]

On the other hand, they wouldn't need to typically go around swaddled in closed helmets and hoods to avoid cultists and fiends if they truly passed for human perfectly all the time.Or it could be that an aasimar's face becomes known once they start foiling evil schemes at their angelic guide's demand.

[aadder]

On the one hand, the Volo's description clearly shows an Aasimar that went unnoticed by their "ragtag band" until activating their transformation power.

On the other hand, they wouldn't need to typically go around swaddled in closed helmets and hoods to avoid cultists and fiends if they truly passed for human perfectly all the time.

Personally I'd square the difference and say that there is something passively there to notice that sets them apart, but that doing so requires some degree of knowledge about what to look for - which cultists and fiends have.

As I said though, the fact that he remarks on her eyes means that he has seen them prior and they weren't glowing, so I would argue no, they're not constantly hiding their faces.

My reading is that they're not hiding to pass as human, they're hiding to pass as... nobody. They're Clark Kent-ing. They don't want people to recognize them, not that they want to look human.

[Psyren]

Or it could be that an aasimar's face becomes known once they start foiling evil schemes at their angelic guide's demand.

I dunno, wouldn't that apply to literally any do-gooder who foils a cult's schemes regardless of race? I think hiding their features so thoroughly is a bit stronger than mere fame.


As I said though, the fact that he remarks on her eyes means that he has seen them prior and they weren't glowing, so I would argue no, they're not constantly hiding their faces.

The eye glow is clearly from her Transformation, yes. That doesn't mean however that she looked perfectly human prior to that, such that nobody anywhere ever could possibly tell until she used it.

[Unoriginal]

D&D humans can look pretty wild, from a variety of reason.

How does someone in-universe know the stranger at the tavern with glowing white hair has them because of their ancestry, because they walked in a fey crossing as a child, because they're a shapeshifted silver dragon, or because they like the look and are using magic to achieve it?

So even if the Aasimar isn't hiding what could identify them as descended from a Celestial, it isn't a given they'd be identified as one.

[strangebloke]

Also, its worth pointing out that tieflings and genasi and aasimar are humans. Like, they're planetouched, sure, they carry the blessing/curse/whatever in their blood. Aasimar have a connection to an angel. They look a bit different. But they are humans in a way that an elf, dwarf, or gnome is not.

[Toadkiller]

This is very much a talk to your DM. If I had a player that wanted their Aasimar to seem human.
I’d say sure they can - except when they don’t. That is (as above) there are beings in the world that will be able to tell- for both good and ill. But most of the time it wouldn’t be an issue and if someone did notice the player would get a chance to notice that.

[Millstone85]

I dunno, wouldn't that apply to literally any do-gooder who foils a cult's schemes regardless of race? I think hiding their features so thoroughly is a bit stronger than mere fame.Ah, but this do-gooder becomes known to fight with the light of an aasimar! And any evil cultist worth their salt would know that the birth of an aasimar is an event of divine significance!

Of course, what happens at the table is that the aasimar player says "I hide my face because, you see, I am kind of a big deal" while the tiefling player says "I hide my face so as not to frighten the locals", and then the DM does their best impression of the nobody-cares scene from Jurassic Park.

[Asmotherion]

My guess is they can pass as human as long as they don't use their racial features, manifesting wings etc.

[aadder]

I dunno, wouldn't that apply to literally any do-gooder who foils a cult's schemes regardless of race? I think hiding their features so thoroughly is a bit stronger than mere fame.


Yeah I'm with Millstone on this one, any evil-aligned cultists or what-have-you are gonna care a lot more about the whereabouts of a person who bleeds radiant damage and has a literal angel whispering in their ear telling them where the bad guys are than any other kind of adventurer.

Aasimar, like the Blues Brothers, are on a Mission From God, not just bumbling around looking for loot.

[Psyren]

This is very much a talk to your DM. If I had a player that wanted their Aasimar to seem human.
I’d say sure they can - except when they don’t. That is (as above) there are beings in the world that will be able to tell- for both good and ill. But most of the time it wouldn’t be an issue and if someone did notice the player would get a chance to notice that.

This is pretty much where I'm coming from.


Also, its worth pointing out that tieflings and genasi and aasimar are humans. Like, they're planetouched, sure, they carry the blessing/curse/whatever in their blood. Aasimar have a connection to an angel. They look a bit different. But they are humans in a way that an elf, dwarf, or gnome is not.

This is the other part of it. All 4 Genasi as well as Tieflings have passive "tells" for those who know what to look for, if those tells aren't intentionally covered up. Aasimar being much more subtle than the others, I can buy, but being the only planetouched who don't have any at all is a different matter entirely.

[MrCharlie]

Officially, Aasimar passing for human is explicitly plausible. I think it's been stated in multiple sources now that they routinely hide themselves in human communities.

More holistically, there are two parts to this question. What do you mean "pass for", and to what standard are we using to determine if they succeed?

For starters, a dragon sorcerer might not "pass for" human, despite being human. They literally have scales and may or may not grow wings randomly. In general there is so much appearance altering magical stuff in the realms that someone with feathers for hair or brilliant green skin might be written off as some exotic human subspecies. Even an expert may only be able to narrow down the lineage to a half dozen options. People underestimate how much weird content there has been, and Aasamir traits are broad, non-specific, and often unique to the individual.

By that standard, an Aasimar can almost always simply say that some other strange magical nonsense is going on in their lineage, or that they've been cursed, or touched by an artefact, or any of a dozen other options. I assume diagnostic spells or involved studies of their anatomy might prove otherwise, but it will pass casual scrutiny. This is assuming they have a particularly strange skin tone, or eye color, or something of that nature that's actually noticable.

However, the entire question begs a bigger one-could a Neanderthal pass as human? From reconstructions they are pretty much instantly distinguishable from human beings by their facial structure, which falls just slightly outside of the human range of facial structures. The best reconstructions we have are still reconstructions and thus the comparison is never perfect, but it's generally agreed that human beings are very good at identifying slightly non-human beings from human ones. If a real-life species that shares 99.7% of our genes and which was cross-fertile with modern humans would have been distinguishable on sight, then something as exotic as an Aasimar would certainly be.

So, in general, my answer is that you'd instantly notice something different from "normal" humans (if such a thing even exists in most settings), but likely be unable to determine what depending on their exact appearance, and almost certainly be unable to prove their ancestry without magic, forensics, or careful study of their ancestry.

[Millstone85]

For inspiration, here are pictures of the aasimar Caelar Argent, who looks like a badass. Maybe in part because her eyes never seem to stop glowing.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/6/69/Caelar_Portrait_SoD.png

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/e/e0/Caelar_Promotional.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/500

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/5/59/Shining_Crusade.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/9/97/Caelar_Avernus.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000
Unfortunately, in the story, she is... Well, she is as Lawful Stupid as it gets. A real Miko Miyazaki, that one.

[aadder]

So, in general, my answer is that you'd instantly notice something different from "normal" humans (if such a thing even exists in most settings), but likely be unable to determine what depending on their exact appearance, and almost certainly be unable to prove their ancestry without magic, forensics, or careful study of their ancestry.

How would one be able to determine if another PC would know if a character is an aasimar is my follow-up question, if that's the case?

[ProsecutorGodot]

How would one be able to determine if another PC would know if a character is an aasimar is my follow-up question, if that's the case?

DM should talk with the Aasimar player first, to determine if either they or the DM are interested in the secrecy aspect of the race. If they want to use it, drop hints, allow checks for players that latch onto those hints. Make it a dramatic reveal if they don't successfully sus it out before.

[strangebloke]

How would one be able to determine if another PC would know if a character is an aasimar is my follow-up question, if that's the case?

same way you determine any interplayer conflict like this. Talk to them and figure it out.

IMO everyone should know (OOC) about a secret like that ahead of time though.

[Psyren]

This is one thing I think 3.PF handled better, because there are actual rules for Disguise. An aasimar trying to appear human would use those rules. You'd start with a flat 15 (take 10 + 5 for "minor details only") + Cha, or if you spend a bunch of time in the morning getting your hood and gloves just so, that would essentially be taking 20 for a 25+Cha. Both assume zero ranks.

Per Disguise, if a character doesn't draw attention to themselves, the vast majority of people don't even get a check. This includes passive observers, people passing them by in the street, and even casual interactions like shopkeepers, barmaids, beggars, etc.

The next degree up are people being intentionally watchful, like guards at a chokepoint looking under people's hoods and such. They do get a check but would only be taking 10, because they're not focusing on the character in any way unless they draw attention. Even if you threw on a hood in a hurry you have a good chance of them not noticing, and if you took the time to really put your look together they have no real chance of beating it.

The final degree are people intentionally trying to see through your disguise, like the aforementioned cultists who may have learned there's an aasimar in the area and are specifically trying to locate that individual and pierce their disguise. They get to actually roll, but if you know those folks are in the area that's a good reason to make sure your disguise is as put-together in the morning as you can make it.

Finally, a Lesser Aasimar (or Scion of Humanity in PF terms) does not have to disguise at all, they do look perfectly human without any rolls.