How did Genasi end up in Faerun?

[Kobold Avenger]

The first actual appearance of the Genasi was in the Planewalkers Handbook. The Tieflings first appeared in the Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set, and the Aasimar first appeared in Planescape Monstrous Compendium II. And as far as I know it, none of the planetouched showed up in Forgotten Realms until 3e.

 

[Trellian]

My big complaint is; why are Aasimar, Tiefling and Genasi not templates as they should be? Even the article in Dragon mentioned planetouched gnomes, dwarves, elves and the like. And yet, you can only have plane-touched humans.

Monsters of Faerun describes the Fey'ri, planetouched elves. They also describe planteouched orcs, but I do not recall what they are called at the moment.

 

[rounser]

Tieflings/Half fiends etc. are predated by 1E Alu-fiends and Cambions. It's an old idea.

 

[Psion]

Tieflings/Half fiends etc. are predated by 1E Alu-fiends and Cambions. It's an old idea.

After a fashion, yes. But as far as it goes, Tieflings AREN'T cambions or alu-fiends.

Now back to the point that was being debated, what about Genasi... AFAIK, the PWHB was the first appearance.

Tiefling appeared in the basic set, and they never say that they are half fiend... they are sort of cryptic about their background. And honestly, I prefer it that way.

In my campaign, the planes shape its inhabitants just like the inhabitants shape the planes. Over centuries of inhabitation, people who made their homes on the lower planes gradually acquired some trace of the planes. People assumed that it was randy fiends that were responsible, but more often than not, that wasn't it at all. IMC, the idea that Tieflings are descended from fiends is almost an urban legend.

I think the Aasimar first appeared in the PSMC (II IIRC), and were stated out in player terms in the PWHB.

 

[A2Z]

I was pretty sure that they were Planescape creations. I sort of wish they had included Genasi in the Monstrous Manual or Maual of the Planes instead of lumping them in with the Forgotten Realms. Oh well. At least I've got them from Dragon now.

As for the Tiefling/Cambion/Alu-Fiend thing. I always thought of the planetouched as being very different from the half-whatevers. The various Half-templates have direct planar parentage while the planetouched have a distant connection to something planar in origin. I didn't really like the idea layed out in the Dragon article about the Genasi gene skipping generations. That seems very unlikely to me and I don't like the idea of a regular human family suddenly having a Genasi child, or Genasi parents having a normal human child.

 

[Desdichado]

Monsters of Faerun describes the Fey'ri, planetouched elves. They also describe planteouched orcs, but I do not recall what they are called at the moment.

Tanar-ruk, or something like that. Yeah, I know. Yet more evidence that planetouched should have been a template rather than 6 PC races, as they currently are.

And for what it's worth, I agree with Psion 100%. Planetouched shouldn't mean just "a distant planar ancestor", it should be some kind of more nebulous planar connection.

Then again, one could say that's what the fiendish, celestial and elemental templates are for nowadays, and the tieflings, aasimars and genasi are a seperate concept from that.