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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6530195" data-attributes="member: 7635">So in about a month, we get our first official new race* for fifth edition: the Genasi. Genasi first saw print in the Planeswalker Handbook as a collection of four elemental-themed planetouched. They weren't exactly a Planescape mainstay (compared to tieflings and bariaurs) but they were popular. However, starting with Monsters of Faerun, genasi became tied to the Forgotten Realms. They made appearances in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (as a PC race, along with fellow PS alumni aasimar and tieflings) and again in Races of Faerun. (Although unlike aasimar and tieflings, never made the jump to the core setting. Oddly, also they never made it to the Planar Handbook). Fourth Edition seemed to carry on the tradition by making genasi a Realms-exclusive** race in the Player's Guide. In 2e and 3e, they were half-humanoid, half elemental (commonly genie) born from a single classical element (air, earth, fire, water). Each was a separate race, with unique ability score mods, abilities (typically a spell-like ability and some form of resistance), and restrictions. (In 2e, they also had different class restrictions; earth genasi could be paladins, fire genasi wizards, and air genasi bards for example). Typically, they were viewed a haughty and arrogant by others, but otherwise had no universal set of traits (again, each element varied: earth genasi were slow and ponderous, fire were quick and hot-tempered, etc). Like many "hybrid" races, genasi got a revamped origin and powerset come 4e. Genasi was one race, but came with different powers (called souls) that colored their appearance and racial powers. They had a universal set of ability bumps (Str and Int) and had a general "look" that was shared (dealing with crystaline hair and markings on their skin). Unlike before, there were now five default souls (wind, water, fire, earth, and storm) and genasi could potentially manifest more than one (though never at the same time). (As a side note: Pathfinder had their own "genasi" of sorts. Four races, sylphs, ifrits, oreads, and undines, were all functionally like 2e/3e genasi. The details differed, but the concept was the same). So with all that history, where do you see 5e genasi heading? Genie-born or elemental manifesting? Separate races or subraces? Four, five, or more types? What's your idea of how the genasi is going to work?* Well, ignoring the sample races in the DMG and the obviously not-yet-finished Eberron conversions** As much as anything in 4e was.</blockquote>

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