Embersoul

Your elemental nature is death and destruction. You are the aftermath of a volcanic eruption, the wreckage left by flame. Benefit: You have a +1 racial bonus to Dexterity and a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against ongoing fire damage. In addition, you have the ashfall evasion power. 

Magmasoul

You are the world’s fiery core, the molten iron that forever burns. Your footsteps ignite the ground, and heat radiates in waves from your body. Benefit: You have a +1 racial bonus to Constitution. Whenever you take fire damage, your melee attacks deal 1d6 extra fire damage until the end of your next turn. In addition, you have the flowing magma power. 

Sandsoul

You are one with the desert wastes. You are the mighty dune and the terrible sandstorm, the silt swirling in the estuaries and basins in the east. Benefit: You have a +4 racial bonus to Acrobatics checks and Athletics checks made when taking the escape action. You also have a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against effects that immobilize, restrain, or slow you. In addition, you have the sandslide power. 

Sunsoul

You are the incarnation of the crimson sun. You are the unforgiving hammer in the day’s sky, the burning sphere tracking across the dome of the world. Benefit: You have a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage that includes fire or radiant damage. You and your equipment suffer no ill effect from ambient temperatures between –50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and you are immune to sun sickness. In addition, you have the sun flare power 

ashfall

You fly apart to become a cloud of swirling ashes. The cloud obscures the vision of your enemies and burns their flesh. 

As a reaction, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

Trigger: You take damage from an attack. 

Effect: The burst creates a five foot zone around you that lasts until the start of your next turn, and you are removed from play until the zone ends. The zone is lightly obscured, and any enemy that ends its turn in the zone takes fire damage equal to your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (your choice). When you return to play, you do so in an unoccupied square of your choice that was in the zone. 

Flowing Magma

You become a creature of fire and stone, a destructive mass of magma that burns anything in your path. 

As a bonus action, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

Effect: You assume a molten form until the end of your next turn. While in this form, you are slowed, you are immune to fire, and you cannot be pulled, pushed, or slid unless you choose to be. In addition, you create a five foot aura  that lasts as long as the form does. Any creature that ends its turn in the aura takes fire damage equal to your Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity modifier (your choice). 

Sandslide

You transform your body from flesh and sinew into flowing sand. In this form, you can spill through the smallest gaps. 

As a bonus action, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

Effect: You assume the form of living sand until the start of your next turn. While in this form, you are insubstantial, can enter enemies’ squares without provoking opportunity attacks, and can squeeze through any opening large enough to permit a single grain of sand. 

Sun Flare

Your agony breaks your tenuous hold on the sun’s power and blazes forth as painful light. 

As a reaction, a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

Trigger: You are hit by an attack while bloodied. 

Target: Each creature within melee range: You gain a +2 bonus to the attack roll.

 Hit: Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity modifier fire or radiant damage, and the target takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of its next turn.

The genasi are often called half-elementals because of their humanlike forms. They are the same size and shape as humans, though they are slightly bulkier, and thus they are mistaken for having human ancestry. Their elemental nature, however, is unmistakable, and the power of the Elemental Chaos bleeds from them through their tempestuous personalities and the manifestations in their flesh. The genasi in Athas today are descended from ancestors considered “purer” in their manifestations. Stories abound in genasi communities of those predecessors manifesting the elements of air, fire, earth, and water. Mingled bloodlines combined with the ever-changing world have resulted in new elemental manifestations. Although one can still find earth genasi and fire genasi, the most common manifestations among Athasian genasi are ember, magma, sun, and sand. Elemental manifestations are what give genasi their distinctive appearance. Instead of hair, all genasi possess a corona corresponding to their elemental heritage. Examples include wreaths of smoke, flames, or crystalline growths. Genasi also display glowing patterns in their skin, appearing similar to lines and whorls. Soft light in a color associated with a genasi’s elemental manifestation shines from his or her patterns. Genasi from the same tribe have the same color and shape of pattern, which is a useful identifier of origin. Facial patterns are unique to each individual. Short of dying by accident or in combat, a genasi can expect to live as long as a human; 100 years is considered extreme old age. Here are broad descriptions of common manifestations of genasi on Athas: 

Ember: You have gray-black skin adorned with black fissures and patterns. Your eyes are jet. Smoke and ash swirl about your head, building in intensity when you call upon elemental power. 

Magma: Bright red patterns shine out from your coal-black skin. Your eyes shine with scarlet light, and darkness floats across their surface, as in a lava flow. Heat radiates from you. 

Sand: You bear the strongest resemblance to humans among the genasi. You have tan skin traced with a faint white pattern. Your eyes are pure white. 

Sun: A crimson corona surrounds your head. The same light is found in your eyes and in the patterns adorning your golden skin 

The genasi have remained apart from other peoples because they lost so much in the years leading up to the Red Age. They trust few who are not genasi, and they suspect everyone they meet of harboring the worst intentions. Genasi might be wary of other races, but they have a special hatred for sorcerer-kings and defilers, whom they hold responsible for the devastation of the world and the damage dealt to the elemental spirits to which the genasi are pledged. The genasi recall well the genocidal struggles of the Red Age and their own reluctance to intervene against the sorcerer-kings. Their hatred is tempered by pragmatism. The genasi know they lack the numbers and strength to mount a successful crusade against their ancient foes. But Kalak’s recent death has prompted the genasi to leave their hidden redoubts, because his end suggests that the sorcerer-kings and their reigns might not be as eternal as they once seemed. Aside from their concerns about the world, the genasi also must come to terms with their inner conflict. Their elemental heritage battles with their natural form and struggles to break free. This conflict can manifest in wild, impulsive, and sometimes destructive behavior. Most genasi are able to suppress their emotions and thus come off as detached or disinterested in what goes on around them. Those genasi who successfully navigate the narrow road between total self-denial and wild abandon can live constructive lives, but frustration, disappointment, and grief constantly chip away at their self-control. Genasi are always at risk of losing their grip and becoming as destructive as the elemental forces they embody. 

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 1, and you choose to increase your Intelligence or Charisma by 1.

Age: Short of dying by accident or in combat, a genasi can expect to live as long as a human; 100 years is considered extreme old age. 

Size: A typical Genasi stands about 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 155 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed: Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Languages: You can speak Common and Primordial.

When creating a genasi character, here are a few points to consider: Your nature is conflicted. 

You are a contradiction. You are chaos bound by order, raw energy in humanoid form. A part of you wants to surrender to this chaos, to go and do as you please, consequences be damned. Some genasi struggle to control what they see as a dark side. They are overly reserved and controlled, visibly struggling to contain their anger when insulted or abused. Others have little restraint and fly off the handle with the slightest provocation. 

Your manifestation defines you. Your elemental nature, whether or not you have found peace with it, informs your personality. Ember genasi are subdued and pessimistic; sun genasi can be intense, outspoken, and aggressive; and sand genasi are mercurial and free-spirited. How does your elemental nature manifest? 

You hate defilers. The genasi believe the world was given to them to rule as they saw fit. They see their role being usurped by unworthy rulers who have spent the ages exploiting Athas’s resources and turning the world into a dead husk. The ones most responsible are the reckless defilers who have wrought untold devastation from which the world might never recover. Genasi have little tolerance for defiling magic and might extend their scorn to anyone who uses arcane energy. 

You are an outsider. Genasi are unknown to the people of the Tyr Region. Although the wastes spawn all manner of strange creatures and peoples, to say nothing of the alterations found in the common folk inhabiting the city-states, your curious appearance might evoke strange looks and even hostility. Do you hide your nature, masking it beneath a hooded cloak or other disguise? Or do you display your appearance proudly? 

A life spent on civilization’s fringes brings with it unique challenges to which the genasi are eminently suited. A genasi in the Seven Cities is a loner, a rare traveler who has left behind clan and homeland. Finding a home in a new and hostile world is a struggle a genasi faces until the end of his or her days. 

Balance-Seeker: You have communed with the spirits, walked the lands for miles around, and witnessed the ravages done to your world. You can draw only one conclusion from your exploration: The world is getting worse. If Athas can be saved, someone must stand against the defilers and the sorcerer-kings to restore the balance and heal this injured world. That person is you. 

Associated Skills: Arcana, Nature

 Half-Elemental Refugee: Your Silt Sea enclave stood hidden for generations, safe from storm and raid. It was impervious to ancient enemies and monsters beyond counting, but your people grew complacent. When a true threat to their survival appeared, they were unprepared. You managed to escape the enclave and have fled the Silt Sea for safer lands. What wiped out your people? Were there other survivors? Do you seek a new home? Or was one tragic end enough, and now it’s time for you to claim your destiny? Associated Skills: Perception, Stealth. 

Reclaimed Birthright: You are fascinated by the lorekeepers’ stories, and the more you learned, the more you felt your destiny beckon. You believe that the world belongs to you and your people, not the lesser races that wrested its control from you. The abuses done to the land are proof enough that those races have been inept rulers and poor stewards. So you have set out to reclaim your birthright and to forge a new land where your people can take their rightful place as masters of the world. 

Associated Skills: History, Intimidation. 

Lingering Ashes

 When you call on your elemental manifestation, the swirling ashes linger in the air to mask you from view.

Prerequisite: Genasi, embersould elemental 

manifestation Benefit: When you return to play after using ashfall evasion, you gain partial concealment until the end of your next turn. 

Magma Eruptions 

The heat generated by your elemental manifestation leaches strength from your enemies. 

Prerequisite: Genasi, magmasoul elemental 

manifestation Benefit: Any creature damaged by the aura created by your flowing magma power is also stunned until the end of your next turn. 

Stare at the Sun 

When you call upon your elemental manifestation, you shine with blinding light. Prerequisite: Genasi, sunsoul elemental 

manifestation Benefit: When you use sun flare, you gain a +2 bonus to all defenses against melee and ranged attacks until the end of your next turn. 

Flow Like Sand 

When you call upon your elemental manifestation, your sandy form moves quickly out of reach of enemies or into a more advantageous location. 

Prerequisite: Genasi, sandsoul elemental 

manifestation Benefit: Immediately after you use sandslide, you can shift up to 10 feet as a free action and do not provoke attacks of opportunity.