Aasimar - Publication History

Publication History

The aasimar race was introduced in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition in the Planescape Campaign Setting series of books, published April 1994. The aasimar first appeared in Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995), and as a player character race in Planewalker's Handbook (1996), and later Warriors of Heaven (1999).

In 2000, Wizards of the Coast released the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. The aasimar race appears in that edition's third core book, the Monster Manual, first published October 2000. The Monster Manual describes the aasimar race as a pleasant and attractive people. It also states that most aasimars are "decidedly good-aligned", and their favored class is paladin.

The aasimar race was expanded in the Forgotten Realms series of books. Two books reference the aasimar race, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and Races of Faerûn. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, published June 2001, contained a synopsis of the information provided in the Monster Manual and includes some additional information to allow players to select aasimar as a race. Races of Faerûn, published March 2003, explored the aasimar race in greater detail any of the previous books, describing the fictional history, society, education, and religion of the race.

Dungeons & Dragons version 3.5 describes the aasimar in the Monster Manual. They are again described in the Planar Handbook in 2004, and the Races of Destiny supplement, published December 2004. Races of Destiny expanded on the fictional lives of aasimars, but their game mechanics did not change from the Forgotten Realms series.

In June 2008, Wizards of the Coast released Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition. The aasimar race was not mentioned in any of the core books for the edition, nor in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, published August 2008. However, it was stated that "In the aasimar's place, you'll meet a race of celestials who have plunged through the same transforming fires as the tieflings.". In the "Forgotten Realms Player's Guide", published September 2008, a section on Faerun races mentions a race called devas, and states that they were previously known as aasmiar. However, despite identifying them as such, devas are described not as being descended from a celestial lineage, but rather as the mortal incarnations of celestial beings. When the people of Mulhorand (who came to Faerun through portals to another world) were finally able to establish contact with the pantheon of their homeland, the gods desired to send their angelic host to watch over their displaced worshippers, but could not transport them across the cosmic span physically. Instead, they delivered their celestial essences to Faerun where they transmigrated into forms of flesh and blood.

The 4th edition Player's Handbook 2 (released in March 2009) includes devas as a playable race. As in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, it is explained that devas are celestial beings transmigrated into a mortal frame, and thus not a race of creatures in the normal sense. Contrary to previous portrayals of aasimar, devas cannot procreate. Upon death, they reincarnate somewhere else in the world.