Learn all about the Earth Genasi
The genasi are descendants of genies that have reproduced with a mortal. Not all genasi have a genie as a parent, some will have been born from 2 genasi parents, others will have dormant genie genes (which is quite a mouthful) from some ancestor that has only materialised with their birth. Whatever the circumstances though, the genasi are art mortal and part genie creatures.
But just as there are different types of genies, there are also different types of genasi depending on their lineage. In the case of the Earth Genasi, they are descended from the evil dao (though are not necessarily evil themselves). With this comes a resilience and an affinity with the element of earth; powers they can harness to their own benefit.
What are the Earth Genasi?
The Earth Genasi are individuals with the blood of the dao flowing through their veins as well as that of mortals. In some rare circumstances, an Earth Genasi can be created through a phenomenon of earth elemental power that might affect a mortal offspring, transforming them into a genasi.
With their mixed lineage, the Earth Genasi are born with aspects relating to both their lineages. From their dao aspects, they gain attributes of the elements of the earth such as skin like a gemstone or a constantly dusty or muddy appearance. Earth genasi tend to be proportionally heavier than most other mortals too. An Earth Genasi also gains powers related to their dao lineage such as the ability to merge with the stone and a resilience to the powers of the elemental plane of earth.
From their mortal parents, an Earth Genasi may acquire all sorts of features depending on what kind of mortal the dao mated with. The genasi child of a an elf might have pointed ears while the genasi child of a halfling might appear shorter. While not common creatures, the genasi that do exist tend to be hugely varied in appearance for this reason.
Like many half-breeds, the Earth Genasi often live their lives as outcasts having no true home and with the dao generally uninterested in raising their own children. Often, the Earth Genasi find themselves living on the edges of society, particularly those with more unusual appearances. There are, however, throughout the planes, those that revere creatures of elemental powers and some genasi can find themselves in high regard in such societies. Others do go to their dao parents to live in the elemental plane of earth to serve within a dao household, though this tends to be rare.
Despite the usual habitations of the earth genasi, some do find there way into communities of genasi while others live within the large cities where many with an unusual nature are largely not eschewed due to the more cosmopolitan nature of such cities.
Playing D&D as an Earth Genasi
As with any race, the Earth Genasi have a wide variety of personalities and attributes meaning you can play an Earth Genasi however you like. At least one of your parents may have been a cruel, evil dao, but you do not need to be. You may however, want to consider aspects of your past and your lineage that shape who you are such as:
- Who are your family? – Are you the offspring of 2 genasi or the child of a dao. If you’re the child of a dao, how do you feel about your powerful, but likely uncaring dao parent?
- How do you feel about your differences? – Chances are, you know few creatures that are similar to you, and even if you came from a community of genasi, you may find yourself among many other creatures that are not like you. How do you view your differences to others? Are you proud of your heritage? Ashamed perhaps?
- How has society treated you? – Where you’ve grown up may affect how you’ve been treated and may impact your personality. Did you grow up among other genasi or were you the only one for miles? How did other people treat you? Did they shun you or admire your differences, or were they indifferent? How did these things impact your outlook on life and your personality? Do you hide who you are or have you overcompensated with a brashness to your personality?
Earth Genasi Features in 5e
| Ability Scores | +2 to one ability score and +1 to another or +1 to 3 different ability scores |
| Creature Type | Humanoid |
| Size | Medium or Small |
| Speed | 30ft |
| Traits | Darkvision, Earth Walk, Merge with Stone |
| Book found in | Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse |
If you want to play as an earth genasi, your character will have the following traits and abilities:
Earth Genasi Traits
Darkvision – You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can only see colours in darkness as shades of grey though.
Earth Walk – You can move across difficult terrain without expending extra movement if you are using your walking speed on the ground or a floor.
Merge with Stone – You know the blade ward cantrip. You can cast it as normal and you can cast it as a bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Starting at 5th level, you can cast the pass without trace spell without requiring material components. You can only do this once until you’ve completed a long rest. You can also cast this spell using any spell slots you have of 2nd level or higher. You can use intelligence, wisdom or charisma as your spellcasting modifier (you choose when you create your character).
Which classes are good for Earth Genasi?
With Monsters of the Multiverse allowing playable races to choose any ability score to improve, the benefits of playing an Earth Genasi come down to its traits. While Earth Walk and Darkvision are decent allowing you to see in the dark and not feel the effects of difficult terrain, it’s an Earth Genasi’s innate spellcasting that help it out most.
Blade Ward is OK as a cantrip but there’s almost always a better use of your action than resistance against bludgeoning, piercing and slashing attacks for a round. The Earth Genasi fix this issue though by allowing it as a bonus action. This is handy for classes that aren’t always going to want to be using their bonus action for other things.
Pass without trace is an excellent out of combat spell that makes yourself and your allies very adept at sneaking making it a great option for rogues (or anyone else that wants to get involved in stealth).
Best classes for Earth Genasi
Artificer
Any artificer will get use out of Pass Without Trace but the armourer with its stealth armour will make them unstoppable in sneaking. Blade Ward is good too, especially for artificers like the armourer who might wade into combat though some balance of what you’ll be using your bonus action for needs to be considered. If you’re a Battle Smith, chances are you’ll be using your bonus action for your steel defender for instance.
Cleric
Clerics often like to wade into combat and a bit of extra protection from Blade Ward is useful. There can be conflicts here with spells like Spiritual Weapon, but this is less of an issue for clerics than most other classes. Pass Without Trace is great for a class that’s typically heavily armoured meaning you can sneak around with everyone else.
Fighter
Fighters use their bonus actions less than a lot of other classes so Blade Ward works well for them, especially as a bit of extra protection is always useful. Pass Without Trace is also useful, especially if you’re wearing heavy armour, or, if you’ve gone the dexterity route, makes you even more effective at sneaking around.
Worst classes for Earth Genasi
Because the Earth Genasi are at their best when they can often utilise their innate spellcasting, classes with little use for this can tend to suffer. Barbarians have little use for Blade Ward as they can’t cast spells while raging which provides the same damage resistances anyway. Pass Without Trace still has it’s uses but isn’t really enough to make barbarians a good option.
Bards have a lot of options for their bonus action, especially with their bardic inspiration and while Pass Without Trace is useful, bards can easily be well-equipped to sneak without it.
Sorcerors also do poorly with an Earth Genasi’s traits as are unlikely to use Blade Ward (or have better alternatives like Shield) and are less likely to be stealthing than other classes due to their greater squishiness.
