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Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen
Occult Rules / Auras

Emotion Aura

Source Occult Adventures pg. 198
A creature’s emotion aura reveals its current disposition and attitudes. These factors color the emanations of the aura with a coruscation of hues known as the emotional spectrum. Any combination of colors from the list in the sidebar can define a creature’s emotional state. Typically, methods of perceiving the emotion aura reveal the emotions themselves, as well as the associated colors. The secrets of the emotional spectrum are laid bare to the initiate, and should not remain mysterious to the player.

Since emotion auras are a function of the health aura, they are not often associated with objects or undead creatures, which are not technically alive. Intelligent magic items sometimes have an emotion aura, while undead— particularly those on the Ethereal Plane barred from the afterlife because of emotional distress or unfinished business—may bear a tattered remnant of their auratic energy clinging to their haunted forms, even though the life energy that created them ceased long ago.

The Emotional Spectrum

A character trained in auratic techniques sees an interplay of colors within a creature’s aura. Understanding the colors of this emotional spectrum can reveal a great deal about the observed creature. The colors constantly blend and shift as the creature’s thoughts, emotions, and surroundings change. An observation of a creature’s aura is a snapshot of its feelings and general character in a given moment, and might not be accurate days or even minutes later.

Anger (Bright Red): Bright red flashes, usually on a field of black, denote anger. The more selfish the anger, the more the red is tinged with brown. Righteous indignation, or anger for what the creature considers a just cause, manifests as lightning-shaped flashes of brilliant vermillion.

Deceit (Oily Green): An oily green aura denotes deceit and cunning, making spells like analyze aura very useful during interrogations.

Faith (Blue): A blue aura signifies religious thought, emotion, and feeling. The hue varies based on the nature of the sentiment, its basis in tolerance or prejudice, and its degree of self-interest. The lighter the tone, the more altruistic and beneficent the feeling. Deep, dark violet denotes religious belief twisted toward selfish or malevolent ends.

Fear (Livid Gray): The colors of the aura of a creature experiencing fright and terror fade away, leaving a livid gray cloud in their place. Some overwhelmingly evil creatures— particularly undead—exude a fear aura whose tendrils extend out several feet, reaching toward nearby creatures and bringing an oppressive malaise to their surroundings.

Flexibility (Emerald Green): A creature possessed of versatility, adaptability, and a willingness to please gives off an emerald green aura. Though green is usually associated with deception, it here represents compromise and low deceit—going along for the greater good despite personal misgivings or other preferences.

Greed (Brown-Red): A dull, brown-red aura—nearly the color of rust—suggests avarice and greed, and usually manifests in parallel bars across a creature’s body. Greenish-brown tinged with red flashes represents jealousy.

Hatred (Black): Thick black clouds within the aura denote hatred and malice. When a person is overcome with passionate anger, dark images twist and turn within the cloudy aura like ghostly snakes swimming through smoke.

Intellect (Golden): Gold denotes a person’s intellect. When aimed at lower, personal ambitions, the hue tends toward deep, dull shades. The hue assumes a glowing brilliance as the creature mixes spiritual illumination with intelligence.

Love (Scarlet): Among the loveliest auratic hues are the crimsons of a creature in love. The associated shades range from the gorgeous rose shade of selfless love for another to the dull, heavy scarlet tinged with the brown of greed for selfish love concerned with how much it receives in kind. A brilliant rose tinged with lilac denotes spiritual love for all creatures.

Melancholy (Gray Lines): A gloomy series of dark gray, parallel vertical lines conveys depression or deep melancholy. Like the brown lines of greed, the gray bars of melancholy suggest an emotional prison.

Passion (Blood Red): Sanguinary red suggests animal passions and unconscious instinct. As a creature sleeps, its aura tends to be overtaken by this hue as its visceral nature takes over while the mind wanders the Dimension of Dreams in the sheath of its lucid body.

Pride (Orange): Orange indicates pride and ambition, and ranges in hue as these emotions are flavored by jealous competition (green), fear of falling behind (pale gray), or even self-love (dull crimson).