Bal-aasi

Bal-aasi

Not quite tieflings, and not quite aasimar, bal-aasi are mortals with the blood of fallen celestials or - far more rarely - redeemed fiends. Distrusted by upper planars and lower planars alike - but empathizing with and understanding both - bal-aasi tend most often towards neutrality. Introspective and philosophical by nature, these solitary wanderers walk the planes to the beat of a drum few others can begin to hear.

Personality

Bal-aasi, by their very nature, make other planars quite uncomfortable. Aasimar tend to be virtuous, and tieflings are often perfidious, but who can tell where a bal-aasi stands? Fiendish, celestial and mortal at the same time, these widely distrusted creatures are more conflicted than anyone else - as a result, they usually turn to philosophy and the quest for knowledge and understanding more whole-heartedly than near any other planar. They may be laconic and aloof with those they do not know, but practically all bal-aasi are capable of jawing a cutter's ear off with chant if they choose to open up. However, for each bal-aasi that comes to terms with what they term their "Rule-of-Threes heritage", there are others who cannot overcome their conflicted nature. These are by far the most dangerous, ranging from knights of the post who use their aasimar appearance to fleece the gullible to over-zealous protectors of the celestial way, who will spread the message of the Upper planes by the darkest of means if need be.

Physical Traits

Depending on their parentage, bal-aasi can either look like tieflings or aasimar, but there's always something wrong. Bal-aasi born of fallen celestials might look like statuesque, bright-haired aasimar with a sardonic smirk and blood-red eyes; those born of redeemed fiends may have cloven hooves and brightly-feathered wings. Unlike aasimar and tieflings, bal-aasi cannot reproduce - most graybeards theorize that, like mules, bal-aasi have a heritage too unnatural to be passed on by the usual means. As a result, all bal-aasi are first-generation and are highly unlikely to pass as humans.

Relations

Bal-aasi are usually tolerant and open-minded, almost to a fault. They understand practically any creature of the planes, and will chat as readily with a fiend as a celestial. Unfortunately for bal-aasi, this open-mindedness usually flows only in one direction - they may get along with practically everyone, but few can overcome their natural distrust and get along with them. As a result, most bal-aasi are solitary by nature. More sociable bal-aasi almost invariably toss their lot in with mortals - especially humans - and often concentrate on keeping these mortals safe from the schemes of celestial and fiend alike. Bal-aasi do not easily make friends, as they find most creatures too single-minded and dull (and most of these creatures are uncomfortable around them anyhow). As a result of this, bal-aasi treasure their friendships far more than most - a bal-aasi friend is a friend for life, and one who will go to almost any extreme to keep his companions safe from harm.

Alignment

Bal-aasi tend towards flexibility with regard to good and evil, although their stance on law vs. chaos tends to be coloured by their heritage - a mortal with the blood of a fallen asura is likely to be chaotic, while one who was sired by a redeemed baatezu will be lawful and organized to a fault. Of course, considering their natural open-mindedness, bal-aasi commonly range across the entire spectrum, even if alignments with a component of neutrality (be it in good vs. evil or law vs. chaos) are by far the most common.

Bal-aasi lands

Bal-aasi do not have their own communities, and they do not tend to interact well with others. As a result, most bal-aasi are wanderers and planewalkers, driven by a desire to broaden their horizons and learn about their place in the multiverse. Enjoying as they do the opportunity to swap chant with people from all walks of life, these plane-touched tend to congregate in Sigil when they are not traveling about.

Belief

Most bal-aasi are interested primarily in themselves and their own intellectual development, but this is far from a hard-and-fast rule. Bal-aasi who lean closer to their celestial heritage tend to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and more fiendish bal-aasi like to use their knowledge and power to get what they want at any cost. However, their outlook is almost always tempered by its opposite. A bal-aasi protector may gladly use methods that most celestials find abhorrent, including torture, assassination and poison. Conversely, a bal-aasi thug may may well be loath to kill any of his marks. Few bal-aasi join factions or priesthoods, considering their single-minded pursuit of a particular ideal to be limited. However, those that do tend towards the Free League and sometimes the Society of Sensation.

Language

Most bal-aasi speak planar trade, and almost all learn to speak both Celestial and Fiendish.

Names

Depending on where they are raised, Bal-Aasi may have names that are typically fiendish, celestial or mortal.

Adventurers

Most bal-aasi are adventurers, and the vast majority are explorers and plane-walkers. Most are interested in finding their place in the multiverse and exploring it from every perspective, and so they tend to be exceptionally well-lanned. Some are interested in championing goodly folk by whatever means necessary, some enjoy spreading fear and chaos, but most are interested primarily in themselves and their (usually few) companions. Because they empathize with both celestial and fiend, bal-aasi tend to stay clear of their eternal conflict - indeed, many of these mysterious wanderers devote themselves to keeping mortals free from the corrupting influence of angel and devil alike. Those Bal-aasi who do take sides in the war between the Upper and Lower Planes are most often used as irregulars and adventurers, and rarely trusted by their superiors. Most bal-aasi become wizards, rogues or planar druids (characters devoted not so much to traditional nature, but rather to maintaining the natural order of a particular plane… i.e. Druids of Acheron may devote themselves to sabotaging alliances between Acheronian races, while Druids of Limbo seek to destroy the pockets of stability formed by such races as the Githzerai).

Role-playing a Bal-aasi

You're part mortal, part celestial and part fiend. That makes you a right mess, but you are what you are: might as well enjoy some of the benefits of having an open mind and a finger in every pie. The planes are a place of wonder - all of them - and right-minded berks will see the beauty and majesty of Gehenna and Arborea alike (even if the former is somewhat less hospitable). Revel in your heritage and learn your place in the multiverse. Few are as well-equipped as you to understand the true dark of it all. Others may distrust you or persecute you, but that's your lot - ultimately, most berks' opinions are limited and meaningless. Choose your friends with care, and keep them safe. You aren't likely to have many.

Bal-aasi Racial Traits

+2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: Bal-aasi are open-minded, well-lanned, and naturally inquisitive but their heritage is difficult for others to understand and accept.

Base speed: 30 feet

Cold, fire, electricity, acid resistance 5

Darkvision: 60 feet

+2 to saving throws vs. mind-altering effects. Being as open-minded as they are, bal-aasi are damnably difficult to convince.

+2 racial bonus to Knowledge (outer planes) and Survival (outer planes) - Bal-aasi have an intuitive feel for the belief system behind all the planes, and can use this to piece together the "rules" wherever they go. Because of the source of this power, it applies to all the Outer Planes (and optionally the Astral), but not the far more tangible Inner or Prime (within reason – an adventurer who has spent great amounts of time in the Beastlands should be at least familiar with your average prime forest).

Tongues (sp): All bal-aasi can cast Tongues as a wizard of their character level once per day.

Curse of Three Mothers: All bal-aasi have a dark side to their nature, and this tends to manifest during specific circumstances as an uncontrollable urge to go against the nature they've chosen. The nature of this curse depends on alignment and personality, and can be “physical” or entirely role-play related. For example, a good bal-aasi might fly into a berserk rage when angry, which lasts until the creature that caused it is dead + 1d4 rounds. During this time, the bal-aasi is incapable of distinguishing friend from foe, and will attack anything that comes close. The evil child of an archon who defected to Baator might be otherwise tyrannical and combative, but utterly incapable of killing a creature that begs for mercy. PCs should agree with the DM on a Curse and a trigger; if such a trigger comes up, PCs might TRY to resist their urges, but to do so they must make a Will saving throw against a DC that varies based on the situation. A suggested base DC is 20 - resisting the Curse SHOULD be a very difficult thing to do. Neutral-aligned bal-aasi are also subject to the Curse, but in their case the curse can be one of evil or good nature; moreover, neutral bal-aasi are more at peace with their dual nature, and get a +4 bonus to resist their Curse. If the Curse is one that confers a game-affecting advantage (the berserker example above could grant pluses to damage or attack rolls), it should be more difficult to resist.

Automatic Languages: Planar Trade, home region (bonus languages: all (except secret) - very likely to learn Fiendish, Celestial and many others. Bal-aasi are born linguists).

Plane of Origin: Any

Favored class: Bal-aasi are highly adaptable - they may ignore their highest class for the purpose of multi-classing.

Level adjustment: +1 - Bal-aasi are probably somewhat more powerful than tieflings or aasimar, and a +2 might be warranted. That said, the Curse of Three Mothers can be a powerful disadvantage, and should balance out their benefits.