Copyright 2009 Wizards of the Coast

The concept of “people touched by the elements” is a 3e thing, but genasi as presented in Fourth Edition are slightly different than what came before them. They debuted in the Forgotten Realm Player’s Guide as a playable option, and would later appear in the MM2 in “monster” format.

The Lore

In previous editions genasi were humans with “genie blood”, but in Fourth they’re simply humanoid sapients from the Elemental Chaos. They’re given no cosmically significant origin story like tieflings or daeva, so I must assume they simply evolved naturally in that plane.

Genasi look more or less human and have human proportions, but each of them also has an elemental manifestation. The five known manifestations are “firesoul”, “watersoul”, “windsoul”, “stormsoul”, and “earthsoul”. Each genasi is born with one of these and an individual’s manifestation has more to do with their environment than with genetics. A genasi community built inside a volcano is going to have a lot of firesouls, and so on.

A genasi’s manifestation accents their physical appearance and defines some of their inborn powers and resistances. It’s an always active part of their being, not something they can turn off. Some of them train to acquire additional manifestations. PCs can have two at most, but some NPCs can have more.

Genasi live primarily in the Elemental Chaos. They have an easier time of it than most other mortals but still must step lightly around efreeti and the like. They can also be found in the world or in the Feywild, since they don’t have any more difficulty living there than a human would.

The Numbers

Genasi are Medium Elemental Humanoids, with a ground speed of 6. They tend to have keywords corresponding to their elemental manifestations: a fire genasi will have the Fire keyword, and so on. Their manifestation also determines what elements they are resistant to, if any, and the themes of their powers. What those powers are is mostly a function of training, so varies per stat block.

Genasi Elemental Dervish

“I’m the Avatar, and you’re gonna have to deal with it!” This is a genasi warrior who has learned to manifest multiple elements, and trained extensively with the double sword. They can move equally well on the ground, in the water, or in the air. Their sword attacks can cause several different types of elemental damage, as can their magic.

Elemental dervishes are Level 18 Elite Controllers with 344 HP and keywords for the four “classic” elements (air, earth, fire, water). They have ground, swim, and fly speeds of 6, and 10 resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage.

At the start of its turn, the Dervish chooses an between fire, lightning and thunder. Their double sword attacks will deal both immediate and ongoing damage of that type. They can make two of those per action, being elites.

When a dervish is hit by an adjacent enemy, it can use its reaction to respond with a Fiery Riposte, which targets Reflex and inflicts 10 ongoing fire damage (save ends). If the enemy was already on fire, their existing ongoing fire damage increases by 10 instead.

Their special attack is Primordial Storm (recharge 5+), which allows them to shift 6 squares and perform three attacks in order against different targets at any point along the movement. The first is Promise of Storm, which deals thunder damage and makes the target Vulnerable 5 to thunder (save ends). The second is Earth Shock, which deals physical damage and stuns for a turn. The third and last one is Lightning Cut, which deals lightning damage and inflicts 10 ongoing lightning damage.

The elemental dervish is flashy and awesome, and given enough time or well-selected comrades they can set up some interesting elemental damage combos.

Genasi Fireblade

A very straightfoward hot-headed warrior who charges into combat with a flaming falchion. It’s a Level 11 Brute with 139 HP.

The falchion it wields is a High-Crit weapon and inflicts ongoing fire damage. It has the same Fiery Riposte as the dervish, dealing 5 ongoing damage instead of 10. Its other power is Fan The Flames (Close Burst 1 vs. Reflex; recharge 5+), which sets people on fire and gives them a -2 penalty to saves against ongoing fire damage.

Fireblades are going to charge into combat, Fan the Flames, and then get to work on cutting people up and setting them on fire at the same time.

Genasy Hydromancer

AKA, a waterbender that’s also partially made of water. This Level 8 Controller has 91 HP, a swim speed of 8, and fights with a high-crit Scimitar and lots of water powers.

The basic Wave Bolt (ranged 5) deals physical damage and slides targets 3 squares; Whirling Vortex (recharge 5+) does the same in a burst around the hydromancer that affects only enemies; Drowning Touch inflicts ongoing damage on a single target (save ends), but only recharges once the target saves or drops to 0 HP.

The “partially made of water” bit is expressed by two other abilities: Liquid Body is a reaction that allows them to take half damage from the triggering attack, and Swift Current (encounter) allows them to shift their speed with the ability to move through enemy spaces and basically ignore all terrain effects while doing so.

Genasi Skyspy

A windsoul genasi that fights with paired shortswords and uses their mobility powers to enhance their hit and run tactics. They’re a Level 7 Skirmisher with 78 HP and 5 cold resistance.

Their basic short sword attack allows them to shift 1 square on a hit, and they can make two of those against an opponent granting them combat advantage. Feather-Footed gives them an AC bonus against opportunity attacks, and Sky Jaunt (recharge 4+) allows them to fly until the end of their current turn.

Should the PCs manage to surround the skyspy, the genasi can use Manifest Whirlwind (close burst 2; encounter) to do some damage, push them 1 square, and knock them prone. This should help clear some space.

Genasi Stoneshield

A heavily armored earthsoul warrior wielding a heavy pick in battle. It’s a Level 10 Soldier with 106 HP. Stoneshields are difficult to push around - any forced movement applied to them is reduced by 1 square.

The war pick is a High Crit weapon, and it also marks on a hit. This mark is remarkable for being (save ends) instead of only lasting a turn. Marked targets take a -5 penalty to damage against the stoneshield’s allies. They can also attack with a Mighty Bull Rush that does the same damage as the pick and pushes the target 1 square. It also allows the stoneshield to move into the target’s previous position.

Finally, they can stomp really hard and cause a non-damaging Earth Shock (minor action; encounter) that covers a Close Burst 2 and knocks enemies prone on a hit.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

Genasi can be found alongside a large variety of other creatures, particularly elementals. They’re as morally varied as humans, so a villain could certainly employ genasi henchpeople. We have three example encounters here:

  • Level 8: 3 genasi skyspies riding hipogriff dreadmounts, accompanied by their pet shardstorm vortex elemental.

  • Level 10: 2 fireblades, 2 stoneshields, and a trained magma strider.

  • Level 19: Two storm archons (a squallshield and a tempest weaver) and two elemental dervish mercs.

Reading about genasi doesn’t give me the sort of instant adventure inspiration that some of the other monsters do, but I like that they exist. Their presence in the Elemental Chaos gives you an excuse to place “normal everyday communities” in that plane for your PCs to interact with. Not every EC settlement is a githzerai monastery or the City of Brass.