Are your Aasimar boring?

[@OracleAndi]

Druid Circle of Dreams Aasimar based on the Rainbow Serpent of the Australian Dreamtime

[@andrewbriggs2692]

The variation of appearance makes sense. tieflings are not limited to a singular lineage. also they thought process of pcs and npcs left with such a diverse lineage to ask "what are you?" those are the greatest moments pulling back the curtains and letting the players experience revelation to new concepts and expanding world.

[@ArcaneForge]

Absolutely! I love adding weirdness and variety to my campaigns and I adore when players bring that to the table themselves!

[@andrewbriggs2692]

@@ArcaneForge also kind of sidesteps the meta gaming concepts of knowing the race and sub races with some worth flavoring

[@HuyNguyen-rz7cd]

I had a friend who played a scourge assimar once who wore a veil and had small wings covering his face. when he used radiant consumption, the veil would burn away and the wings would unfurl to show not a face but a mass of burning eyes with his scars opening into more eyes and he flavored it as him having such a horrifying visage that any one near him would have their soul burned away TLDR:biblically accurate aasimar so horrifying that soul of nearby people would burn away.

[@PaganChilis]

I love the time lapse drawing over the conversation. And your makeup looks really nice!

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you so much Kathryn! On all accounts!!! That's very kind of you to say! x

[@thesteerfamily4236]

Love your channel. Love your content. Love your voice and how you convey your passion for the topic. And don't get me started on your artwork!

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you so much on so many accounts! I was really nervous about testing out my slightly more feminine voice! It takes a lot of work to get it to feel comfortable and I've got a long way to go but it means so much to me that you liked it. Also, I'm so glad that you enjoy everything else I do! I'm so glad to have you in the community! X

[@steveharrison76]

Awesome! I have my own Aasimar NPC who hides the more divergent aspects of themselves using subtle magics. They do it for a bit of peace and quiet, though the need to do so frustrates them greatly and can make them a little short tempered with people and uncomfortable around too many strangers. They’re the ‘Tollinor’ of the big city religious quarter called The Chimes (basically, they’re like a multidenominational Pope), and they appear as a handsome, middle aged woman of benign aspect, with silvery hair and golden skin, luminous eyes and all the unusual aasimar stuff. They are *actually* a skeletal, nine-foot tall humanoid creature with no eyes, feathers for hair and, as you described here, four wings with peacock-like markings on them, which are actually where their eyes are. They have a crystalline growth around their head which looks like a crown of slightly glowing, coppery-coloured ice (yes, it’s an actual physical halo…) It is this structure that both allows them to manipulate people’s perception of them, and also gives them deeper-seeming insight into the motives of people (one of the big reveals towards the end of the campaign is supposed to be that the “gods” and the rest of it were, in fact, the original inhabitants of the planet, who basically broke reality so hard with their various experiments - imagine some weird lovecraftian tomfoolery here - and gained what we, the mortals who were left behind, think of as “divinity”.) Unbeknownst to the populace at large, their (the NPC’s) main celestial power is, in fact, agelessness and they have to alter their illusory appearance every forty or so years as a “new” Tollinor is “elected”. Only their inner circle knows the truth, and they are sworn to secrecy. They are what we might think of as “genetically” far closer to their angelic heritage than their human one. Their original birth was just about six hundred years ago, and was considered by their long-dead family and community to be either a good or a bad omen, because they were born at the same time as a sudden apocalyptic event called the Night of Black Flame (a misnomer, because it lasted for more than two months or so, but time flies when you think the world’s ending, and storytellers have a flair to embellish a factual tale with a dramatic turn of phrase here and there!) And yes, there is a subtext here. Someone trapped in an inauthentic life due to an idiosyncrasy of their birth. I mentioned it during the premier, because, given everything, I thought it might resonate with you, Jess. I have no idea if my party’s adventures will bring them into some sort of relationship with this person, but the story was always there at the back of my mind, when I was thinking about my setting. Funnily enough, one of my players came out as nonbinary a few games in, and I suspect that the players might assume that this character is there as some sort of nod towards that, whereas they were always going to appear at some juncture and either be revealed or not. This is another essay, and I apologise for going on, but it is by way of saying: I agree 100% with you. The current portrayal of aasimar as “sexy humans” is… underwhelming. Where are the wheels covered with eyes? Where are the multiple wings, flaming hooves, lions heads for shoulders, the hair made of flames or molten metal, crystalline claws and teeth? So yes, I completely agree. Aasimar are *easily* as cool as those upstart Tieflings. Thanks for doing all this, Jess! Some great motivation for people to jazz their Aasimar up a bit!

[@ArcaneForge]

This was an absolute essay, but I love how excited you get and I love reading all of your awesome ideas and lore too! Your crystal, mega-skeleton bone angel sounds incredibly amazing and I want to see her!!!! Thank you as always for your amazing comments! x

[@cardboardcreationsart]

This ideas were GREAT! I never considered these before! Thanks for this video! (also all the artworks were amazing :DDD)

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you so much! I so hope that this was helpful for your future campaigns! Also, I love your username!!!

[@JohnDoe-dh5jg]

Neat. I have a Scourge Aasimar Sun Soul Monk I drafted up for a birthday one shot for my brother a couple years ago. As a half Couatl, she had olive skin interspersed with clusters of metallic scales and her hair was made of iridescent white feathers. Since I chose Sun Soul Monk as her attempt to control her Radiant Consumption from Scourge Aasimar, her facial orifices glowed with different intensities depending on her mood, only to blacken for the rest of the day after using Radiant Consumption, with the self damage leaving freckle-like scorch marks on her skin that would slowly fade.

[@MoonbornUwU]

A zealot Barbarian scourge Aasimar was a really cool concept I had for a character who had an unstable angelic spark. (Before they changed it from harming yourself) I just like the idea of my own angelic spark ravaging me as I unleash it. Wouldn’t mind using the new Aasimar stuff so long as my spark still damaged myself

[@ArcaneForge]

Amazing idea! yeah I liked the nuclear self-damaging rage as well!!! We can just pretend that it's still a feature I think!

[@MoonbornUwU]

@@ArcaneForge Well, it is d&d after all and a lot of d&d is up to the discretion of one’s dm and if they’d allow that. Deletes the worry of having to be hit to sustain rage by damaging yourself and it can be flavored really well. I never thought that needed to be changed.

[@novarialebedev4067]

This is a really cool take on Aasimars. I love the various mythological sources you're pulling from. Also, love your aesthetic, you look awesome Jess!

[@ArcaneForge]

Awh thank you so much on both accounts! I really loved this one!

[@taco_5795]

This video is great! Thank you for helping me make my dnd character :)

[@sharksuperiority9736]

I’ve always loved the idea of mixing mortal races within different non-mortal races, the sheer number of races that I’ve homebrewed as different crossbreed characters is nuts (none of them are good, but thats ok). I’ve also always wanted Tieflings and Aasimar made of not just humans x Angels. One of my favourite characters I played was an Aasimar: half Drow/half Quetzalcoatl, theres just so much potential to mixing races and creatures like that. My character had the ebony skin of drow, but glowing white eyes and ivory feathers along his body. The white from these feathers mixing into his dark skin like reverse ink in water. I specify Quetzalcoatl because Couatl is (as far as I’m aware) essentially just Nahuatl for snake, so there are plenty of mythical creatures that are called “Coatls”. Any of these could serve as good basis for an Aasimar. Look through the blog “A book of creatures”, it catalogues a bunch of them alongside hundreds of other mythical creatures from around the world. Also, love your hair, especially the lavender colour

[@ArcaneForge]

Yeeesss! I'm going to make another video about half-dwarves and half orcs and everything else in between!!! I can't wait!!!! I'm sure all of your creations are better than you're imagining! I'm excited about them anyway!!! The Drow..oatl??? Sounds amazing! What a combo!! Thank you so much about my hair! I love everything lavender! x

[@BrennaDraws]

Not going to lie I read this as ASMR. I have am Assamir on the back burner who also has infernal blood. she's very body horror, wanted to tap into that biblical angel look with 'horns' that mimic a halo and way too many eyes and wings.

[@ArcaneForge]

Haha! I think that too!!! Every time I see their name!!! OMG! I love the idea of an infernal Aasimar! Make sure to check out "Kroov" on Insta and twitter. He's a really talented D&D artist and a lovely friend who is currently playing a Tiefling/Aasimar cross character and I wonder if they'd give you cool ideas, or if you could give them some ideas!!! Thanks so much for watching! x

[@kitpalmer297]

Gimme them edgy angels

[@ArcaneForge]

Yiiiihhhh! These aren't your MUM'S angels! These are HARDCORE angels :P Tanks for watching!

[@espero_plays]

Love your style! Was especially keen on your first interpretation of ASMR; I don't know if you've ever played a Bayonetta game, but what you were describing reminded me of how they interpreted the angelic/celestial enemy creatures - a little grotesque, usually having multiple faces or appendages, and incorporating animalesque aspects. Very cool to see your artistic interpretation! :)

[@thejurassicshow5928]

This was very interesting. I will certainly take the ideas you laid out into consideration. PS: I did bring them up once but I would like to suggest the Bulgasari, an iron eating monster from Korean mythology that sometimes looks like blue draconian elephant and is also the inspiration for a movie called Pulgasari, a North Korean rip off of Godzilla with one of the most messed up behind the scenes stories ever.

[@ArcaneForge]

Aaaahhhhhh I forgot to put the Pulgasari in the vote this month!!!! Dammit!!! I'll make sure to put them in next time, I really want to draw them!!!!

[@thejurassicshow5928]

@@ArcaneForge Cool. Although the mythological monster is “Bulgasari” while the movie monster somewhat loosely inspired by it is “Pulgasari”……Confusing I know.

[@PetAllDogs]

I never gave aasimar a second thought because "human but better" is boring and kinda lazy in my eyes. But this really makes them sound much more interesting as literal angel descendants.

[@ArcaneForge]

I'm so glad this sort of refreshed the idea of them for you! Let me know if you roll a weird one up one day!

[@ElizaSthira]

Love this! Thank you!

[@LychtheCrowdKiller]

My First character was a Fallen Aasimar Paladin with the oath of vengeance named Naethaniël, the origin of (He/Him) is super long so I won't get into it, but his features were as fallows. Black flowing hair with white highlights, almost sludge like fluids flowing down his mouth / eyes, checks / eyes pitch black and sunken in as if he hadn't slept for weeks nor had enough food, Blackened scares thar ran vertically down his face from forehead to jawline that was symmetrically Balanced, a halo that emitted akin to smog that among dripped as if it was steaming. his back had two Large scares that has bone sticking out where wings were, skin pale almost to an albino point. when he used his necrotic shroud ability the whole room would dim down then down then more down tell you could bailey see your hands close to your face. . . then crimson Red skeletal wings illuminates the room both sides stretching to fifty feet. The halo fallows by turning red, then five red eye like constructs floating over his face with bright blood Drowning down eyes / mouth. and yes I was an edge lord at the time. Now I kinda am, just anothe metalhead. . .

[@JagoTFC]

I built my Aasimar Barbarian Zealot to look like 80's Billy Idol with the Ziggy Stardust lightning tattoo on his face. Outlander (Pilgrim) background. His name is Reuel Stardust (as Reuel is the angel of vengeance) and struggled choosing between wings or angelic radiation. While the latter is mathematically better nothing beats a flying barbarian dropping from above with his axe ready to bisect enemies glowing with Odin's iridescent energy. He is also an alcoholic, which maybe the reason he was kicked out of Valhalla, and I played it by lecturing briefly his enemies and then loosing interest or not remembering how to go on. I took quotes from 80's and 90's movies and songs for his phrases and twisted them for more laughs. Or maybe you can turn it really dark and edgy. You are not allowed into Valhalla, Valkyrie keep you alive and their touch mark your skin everytime you are raised. The unicorn Aasimar is cool, it all depends in the setting you are. I'm towards 80's realistic medieval art. Lots of glam rock and metal. Not to mention high pitched falsetto! There was a game in the 90's called The Ancestral Trail. The paintings were so beautiful, and there were lots of anthropomorphic characters. That can inspire a lot of fantasy settings and characters. Another cool inspiration for me can come from Pallegina. She's one of my favourite characters in Pillars of Eternity.

[@joshuazane3210]

I definitely like the idea of Aasimar having an alien, unnerving even, quality to them. Painting them as Clark Kent types is so boring. P.S: your hair's looking great 👍

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you so much Joshua (on all accounts!). I so hope this video helps with future Aasimar ideas!!! x

[@shyboievris834]

One of my first campaigns, I played as a blind Aasimar who got her eyes gouged out by someone she deserted her guardian for. She had... a few trust issues.

[@danwizzle91]

Man I really should have tuned into the twitch it would have been cool to be part of the discussion

[@TheRadRhyGuy]

Oooooo love me some Eldritch biblically accurate angel spawn!

[@ArcaneForge]

I'm so glad! I loved getting to do this one! Honestly, I've been trying to make this video for years but something always came up! Thanks for watching!

[@queliolionelo]

thanks for this video! I'm trying to create a grave cleric and this take will give it the edgyness I was looking for in Aasimars.

[@unkn_grave7397]

Like the background music

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you! It's cute right?

[@bocahcebol2815]

ngl, i'm kinda late into party, but here i am now and speaking about Aasimar, i was planning on character Scorge Assimar as Astral Self Monk (+ Phoenix Sorcerer). at his base form, he just our humble human like being. but releasing his full Astral Self + flame cloak, he show his Celestial body in the form of ethereal armor that took reference from hinduism/buddhism deity, Ashura. you get it? Ashura Assimar :y

[@styrax7280]

Aasimar definitely need more variety and should reflect the pantheon they stem from though some of your designs seem way less than half mortal to me. I'd go with eye shaped markings instead of literal eyes. I'm also a big fan of eyes made of light, given their symbolic connection to the soul. Light can also be swapped for other "elements" to reflect the deity / pantheon

[@sotpseamus]

As an Irish person, I'd love to see Aasimar of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

[@stormyblackheart7286]

i am going to make my aasimar a barbarian, his anger controls him. he is a fallen aasimar, though he wasnt always. he had his arms and legs severed by humans, they tore his wings from his back, cut off his tongue and gouged out one of his eyes before someone stepped in to help him. (that someone is my current character btw but should he die...) the person who stepped in was an artificer who built him back to health, but the aasimars rage couldnt be contained and took the form of horns on his head. he didnt have violent impulses, he had violent intentions. he had everything taken from him, and yet he still stands, on prosthetic arms and legs, with prosthetic wings. everytime he feels the cold metal touch his back instead of his natural feathered wings he is reminded of what was stolen, what was taken, what was lost. i cant wait to play him but that means my cuurent character has to die, and i quite like my quirky artificer. should my artificer die though i have the aasimars words planned out. "you have killed a dear friend of mine. for this you will pay with your life, for upon my name is Daryk Loriil'il, BASTARD SON OF BANE!!!!!"

[@dargo1183]

I miss the days of 3e and 3.5e with templates

[@Dahaka-rd6tw]

Hey. I just rewatched MrRhexx's "Asmodeus' Truth Revealed" and... Could you do Ahriman? I mean, your Asmodeus design already looks like that it could have second form or something.

[@ArcaneForge]

Ooohhhh I don't remember much about Ahriman, but I'll totally look them up now! Thanks for the awesome suggestion!

[@Dahaka-rd6tw]

@@ArcaneForge look MrRhexx's video about asmodeus and that should shine some light to this.

[@LoveReacts]

commenting for multiple interactions

[@JustGeorge770]

Someones been reading Kill 10 Billion Demons! Or should... 😄

[@ArcaneForge]

I've not actually read that! I'm not sure if it was you who recommended that to me the other day or not though!???

[@JustGeorge770]

@@ArcaneForge i dont think i was on, but its worthchecking out! Great art with absolutely insane cosmology

[@graemecollin]

Ghost Rider!

[@cellardoor9360]

🤮 Holy shit

[@ArcaneForge]

Weird arent they???

[@peytonwilliams7876]

Not only is this an inspiring idea (def going to throw a couple into my game), but your voice is very soothing, and the makeup is snatched and a half. 🤌🏼

[@ArcaneForge]

Thank you so much Peyton! I'm so glad you enjoyed the content and my makeup! I was really feeling it today! I was so nervous about my voice but I'm really glad and super relieved that you liked it!!! x