Not sure if this is the right place ... but I suggest someone tell WoTC to replace the new playtest Ardling race with a Beastfolk race.
The Ardling is far too similar to Aasimar, but with the weird nonsense about animal heads. Instead, why not create a Beastfolk race that can have different lineages (mammal, bird, amphibian). This would allow for people to play Grung, Lizardfolk, Aarakocra, Owling, etc. and even create their own (Mousekin, Badgerfolk, Penguin, etc.). Give the birdfolk a flying speed and the amphibians a swim speed and water breathing. Then give some flexible suggestions for specific feats based on type of animal, and DM/players can hash out the rest.
I like most of the rest of the playtest (the nat 20 always succeeds rule is stupid) but don't understand why we have tieflings but not aasimars. And I shouldn't have to play a beast folk celestial in order to be an aasimar.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the reason why they probably haven't included Aasimar is because Aasimar are pretty boring as far as races go. They're essentially pretty humans raised as humans by humans, but are technically related to human looking celestials who also aren't all that interesting themselves. At least Ardlings are visually distinct, so they've already got more going for them than Aasimar imo.
Ardlings are beastfolk. The only difference is that, instead of just being random cat-person, you're related to Bastet / Sharess. Or some other celestial cat-being.
This gives the rational for making any kind of anthropomorphic character you want without needing a hundred different backgrounds for each animal type.
I'd say the Ardlings are based on something like Egyptian mythology, like Ra, Horis, Anubis & Set as some examples. This makes them some what more interesting than Beastfolk which are kinda generic fantasy creatures, which I know there are some races in D&D but for PHB, I don't think they pass well enough. Aasimar have never been popular enough and these Ardlings seem like a more appropriate opposite to the Tiefling changes.
There is, I'd say, more of an argument for Genasi to be added over any beastfolk races, Genasi actually are popular enough to be challenging halflings and gnomes for their spot. Given that two spots were added from the reworking of bi/multi-racial characters, orcs replaced half-orc, while humans and elves already are PHB, so I'd say they (WotC) wanted something new in the PHB and looked towards trying to create something actually interesting that parallels/mirrors another popular race, that being Tiefling. To me this makes sense and is some what of a good idea.
If you follow the logic of the schools of magic, the Ardlings could have a primal heritage. Link it to the nature they embody. If you prefer the arcane, make them like draconic sorcerers where the animal traits expand as they progress. The Tiefling /Aasimar dichotomy is firmly established and making Ardlings celestials just muddy's things. Worst part of the UA so far.
If you follow the logic of the schools of magic, the Ardlings could have a primal heritage. Link it to the nature they embody. If you prefer the arcane, make them like draconic sorcerers where the animal traits expand as they progress. The Tiefling /Aasimar dichotomy is firmly established and making Ardlings celestials just muddy's things. Worst part of the UA so far.
Ardlings are Divine heritage, the feature is also called Celestial Legacy, so that'd infer Divine, not primal. However the reason I can say they are Divine is that of the spells we have in spell list (cantrips and 1st level), all 6 are found in the Divine list, only 3 of those 6 are found in the primal list, Guidence, Cure Wounds and Healing word are, Light, Thaumaturgy and Divine Favor aren't. The only bit that confuses it is Idyllic getting animal messenger that is likely primal only but the spell lists don't go to the 2nd level yet, Zone of truth is likely divine only and lesser restoration is likely both.
Additionally Ardlings are resistant to Radiant Damage, which feels like it's more down the Divine route.
Aasimar aren't any more boring than elves or dwarves. I'm playing an aasimar eldritch knight currently. The ability (as a fighter) to heal and fly is great. The open invitation to play someone plagued by dreams from the gods is also good. My character was raised by drow and thought he was, but began manifesting weird powers.
Hard disagree. Elves and Dwarves are visually distinct and have their own unique culture, conflicts, and civilizations. 99% of the time Aasimar are just pretty humans with weird dreams. I wish they were more celestial-like in appearance in the same way that tiefling always look fiendish. Or that their connection to their celestial patron was more influential to them as a people, like the Quori are with the Kalashtar. Anything that fundamentally makes them different and interesting. They're just so watered-down.
Aasimar aren't any more boring than elves or dwarves. I'm playing an aasimar eldritch knight currently. The ability (as a fighter) to heal and fly is great. The open invitation to play someone plagued by dreams from the gods is also good. My character was raised by drow and thought he was, but began manifesting weird powers.
your ability to make an interesting character that is an Aasimar is not the same thing as Aasimar being interesting. As a race, Aasimar don't really have anything interesting about them and fall way more into mary sueism with their backgrounds, everybody loves them and they can do no wrong, etc. I know there are Fallen Aasimar, but basically there isn't really much interesting that comes from the Aasimar race, it is possible to make interesting characters of literally the most bland races around and it is also possible to make boring edgy stereotypical characters out of the most interesting races.
Tiefling are interesting because of their interactions with others, WotC have in my opinion slightly ruined Tiefling, being a some what social outcast race and then having the powers of the hells or the abyss trying to interact with, you can over come it, give into it or even embrace it... meanwhile Aasimar, just be faithful to your God and all will love you, positive racism to Mary Sue degrees. Of course there can be Mary Sues of any race too, it's just Aasimar sort of have the racial structure to more Mary Sue than anybody.
Aasimar aren't any more boring than elves or dwarves. I'm playing an aasimar eldritch knight currently. The ability (as a fighter) to heal and fly is great. The open invitation to play someone plagued by dreams from the gods is also good. My character was raised by drow and thought he was, but began manifesting weird powers.
your ability to make an interesting character that is an Aasimar is not the same thing as Aasimar being interesting. As a race, Aasimar don't really have anything interesting about them and fall way more into mary sueism with their backgrounds, everybody loves them and they can do no wrong, etc. I know there are Fallen Aasimar, but basically there isn't really much interesting that comes from the Aasimar race, it is possible to make interesting characters of literally the most bland races around and it is also possible to make boring edgy stereotypical characters out of the most interesting races.
Tiefling are interesting because of their interactions with others, WotC have in my opinion slightly ruined Tiefling, being a some what social outcast race and then having the powers of the hells or the abyss trying to interact with, you can over come it, give into it or even embrace it... meanwhile Aasimar, just be faithful to your God and all will love you, positive racism to Mary Sue degrees. Of course there can be Mary Sues of any race too, it's just Aasimar sort of have the racial structure to more Mary Sue than anybody.
I get what you're saying, but I still don't see how that's any more true of aasimar than, say, elves. Elves can be very boring (IMO), and only slightly more than human (the most boring). Yes, tieflings are awesome (as are genasi and other races that don't look vaguely human). And not all celestials are good (many deities are evil, except for non-drow elf deities, apparently). An aasimar descended of Bane or Cyric?
I agree about the current Mary Sueism, and that's a problem with the way racial abilities were used in the past. I'm really, really glad WoTC did away with that. I think a +2 to Charisma is lame as a racial ability. I built my aasimar character with Charisma as the dump stat. Even with the +2, he still has a -1 to Charisma. I don't think an aasimar of Helm should be particularly charismatic anyhow.
I also don't mind aasimar not being a core race. But the ardling is just horrible. It's a mix between aasimar and beastfolk, trying to have cake and eat it, too.
I'd rather they just have a beastfolk race and gives some basic guidelines/ideas for how to make one specific to whatever animal a person wanted. I also run an on-going table for my daughter and her friends, and at least one person always wants to play an animal of some kind. A beastfolk RAW race would make that so much easier than trying to homebrew something and hoping it's not OP.
Who said aasimar are human-celestials? Why can't aasimar be born among other races? I currently play an aasimar born to a drow above-ground society. An aasimar could be born into a halfling or tabaxi or dwarf body. Why not?
Aasimar aren't any more boring than elves or dwarves. I'm playing an aasimar eldritch knight currently. The ability (as a fighter) to heal and fly is great. The open invitation to play someone plagued by dreams from the gods is also good. My character was raised by drow and thought he was, but began manifesting weird powers.
your ability to make an interesting character that is an Aasimar is not the same thing as Aasimar being interesting. As a race, Aasimar don't really have anything interesting about them and fall way more into mary sueism with their backgrounds, everybody loves them and they can do no wrong, etc. I know there are Fallen Aasimar, but basically there isn't really much interesting that comes from the Aasimar race, it is possible to make interesting characters of literally the most bland races around and it is also possible to make boring edgy stereotypical characters out of the most interesting races.
Tiefling are interesting because of their interactions with others, WotC have in my opinion slightly ruined Tiefling, being a some what social outcast race and then having the powers of the hells or the abyss trying to interact with, you can over come it, give into it or even embrace it... meanwhile Aasimar, just be faithful to your God and all will love you, positive racism to Mary Sue degrees. Of course there can be Mary Sues of any race too, it's just Aasimar sort of have the racial structure to more Mary Sue than anybody.
I get what you're saying, but I still don't see how that's any more true of aasimar than, say, elves. Elves can be very boring (IMO), and only slightly more than human (the most boring). Yes, tieflings are awesome (as are genasi and other races that don't look vaguely human). And not all celestials are good (many deities are evil, except for non-drow elf deities, apparently). An aasimar descended of Bane or Cyric?
I agree about the current Mary Sueism, and that's a problem with the way racial abilities were used in the past. I'm really, really glad WoTC did away with that. I think a +2 to Charisma is lame as a racial ability. I built my aasimar character with Charisma as the dump stat. Even with the +2, he still has a -1 to Charisma. I don't think an aasimar of Helm should be particularly charismatic anyhow.
I also don't mind aasimar not being a core race. But the ardling is just horrible. It's a mix between aasimar and beastfolk, trying to have cake and eat it, too.
I'd rather they just have a beastfolk race and gives some basic guidelines/ideas for how to make one specific to whatever animal a person wanted. I also run an on-going table for my daughter and her friends, and at least one person always wants to play an animal of some kind. A beastfolk RAW race would make that so much easier than trying to homebrew something and hoping it's not OP.
It's true because Elves have a lot of lore and culture behind them, what lore and culture do Aasimar actually have? It's basically "I was born with celestial powers and everybody likes me".
I can't go into all the elf lore because there is way too much of it, but it ties into the fey wilds, Toril and has wars in it. There were great elf empires, there is elvish high magic. Using Elvish high magic, the elves created Evermeet, the green isle and last kingdom of the (non-drow) elves, those who aren't an elf are normally never permitted to even go there, elves have their own pantheon of gods called the Seldarine. Basically elves are connect to ALOT of the events that have occurred across the Forgotten Realms, and have had multiple kingdoms and empires with their own cultures. Heck you have the Matriarchal Lolth Drows too, where Drizzt Do'urden came from...
Then you get into things like the Nether Scrolls, which sun elves tried to hide from the world but was discovered by humans and led to the Netheril basing their magic off of them and the Netheril basically becoming the rulers of magic in Faerun until they went too far and you get Karsus's Folly.
You have the Illefarns, a mainly elvish state which forged strong alliances with some nearby Dwarf clans and a few humans too, (tho their main rivals being Orcs and the Netheril, with Netheril being mainly human).
Even Tieflings have more going on that Aasimar, heck the game Baldur's Gate 3 is set after the events of Descent into Avernus, during those events...
The city of Elturel temporarily got sent to Avernus
Tieflings have been suffering discrimination since as many blame them for it. So now in BG3, most Tieflings are now migrating to other areas more friendly. In Baldur's gate 3 you come across a group of Tieflings heading to Baldur's Gate hoping they can escape the prejudice there.
Aasimar have what? they don't have any real significant events in the lore, they have no culture at all, it's just basically just turning Divine Soul Sorcerer into a race for all the depth they have. Beastfolk are mostly the same too, personally I don't mind Ardling, WotC will need to do more to build them up in material but having a new race isn't really a bad thing.
Also as I mentioned above, Genasi are a WAY more popular race, if we were to look at pre-existing races and they also have a lot more going on, usually delving into the elemental planes.
Who said aasimar are human-celestials? Why can't aasimar be born among other races? I currently play an aasimar born to a drow above-ground society. An aasimar could be born into a halfling or tabaxi or dwarf body. Why not?
The book, unfortunately.
They are descended from humans with a touch of the power of Mount Celestia, the divine realm of many lawful good deities.
Now we can talk about ways to make them more interesting all day long. Making them into something more interesting wouldn't even be hard but the issue with that is that we'd essentially be talking about a homebrew race we just happened to call Aasimar.
Hard disagree. Elves and Dwarves are visually distinct and have their own unique culture, conflicts, and civilizations. 99% of the time Aasimar are just pretty humans with weird dreams. I wish they were more celestial-like in appearance in the same way that tiefling always look fiendish. Or that their connection to their celestial patron was more influential to them as a people, like the Quori are with the Kalashtar. Anything that fundamentally makes them different and interesting. They're just so watered-down.
Aasimar is my second favorite race, right after Tiefling, so as you see, opinions vary. While yes I do like Tiefling for their appearance, the primary draw is their infernal nature and how that impacts how they view the world. Aasimar have that exact same RP quality, but from the celestial end of the spectrum. They don't have horns and tails, but glowing halos, rainbows gleaming on their skin or metallic luminous eyes certainly make them look other worldly compared to the average human.
Hard disagree. Elves and Dwarves are visually distinct and have their own unique culture, conflicts, and civilizations. 99% of the time Aasimar are just pretty humans with weird dreams. I wish they were more celestial-like in appearance in the same way that tiefling always look fiendish. Or that their connection to their celestial patron was more influential to them as a people, like the Quori are with the Kalashtar. Anything that fundamentally makes them different and interesting. They're just so watered-down.
Aasimar is my second favorite race, right after Tiefling, so as you see, opinions vary. While yes I do like Tiefling for their appearance, the primary draw is their infernal nature and how that impacts how they view the world. Aasimar have that exact same RP quality, but from the celestial end of the spectrum. They don't have horns and tails, but glowing halos, rainbows gleaming on their skin or metallic luminous eyes certainly make them look other worldly compared to the average human.
Pretty much every piece of artwork I've seen of them have had them as just pretty humans (not counting the art of them using their 1 minute a day finally looks kinda celestial ability). I've yet to see any Aasimar with a halo, or rainbow skin. I mean if they were all walking around with halos and rainbow skin that would a good step in the right direction, but so far all depictions/descriptions of them I've seen have been that they're just human, but pretty.
Hard disagree. Elves and Dwarves are visually distinct and have their own unique culture, conflicts, and civilizations. 99% of the time Aasimar are just pretty humans with weird dreams. I wish they were more celestial-like in appearance in the same way that tiefling always look fiendish. Or that their connection to their celestial patron was more influential to them as a people, like the Quori are with the Kalashtar. Anything that fundamentally makes them different and interesting. They're just so watered-down.
Aasimar is my second favorite race, right after Tiefling, so as you see, opinions vary. While yes I do like Tiefling for their appearance, the primary draw is their infernal nature and how that impacts how they view the world. Aasimar have that exact same RP quality, but from the celestial end of the spectrum. They don't have horns and tails, but glowing halos, rainbows gleaming on their skin or metallic luminous eyes certainly make them look other worldly compared to the average human.
Pretty much every piece of artwork I've seen of them have had them as just pretty humans (not counting the art of them using their 1 minute a day finally looks kinda celestial ability). I've yet to see any Aasimar with a halo, or rainbow skin. I mean if they were all walking around with halos and rainbow skin that would a good step in the right direction, but so far all depictions/descriptions of them I've seen have been that they're just human, but pretty.
That is not the fault of the lore or race, but the players.
They resemble their parents, but they live for up to 160 years and often have features that hint at their celestial heritage. These often begin subtle and become more obvious when the aasimar gains the ability to reveal their full celestial nature. The Aasimar Celestial Features table has examples you can choose or use as inspiration to create your own.
Aasimar Celestial Features
d6
Celestial Feature
1
A dusting of metallic, white, or charcoal freckles
If you follow the logic of the schools of magic, the Ardlings could have a primal heritage. Link it to the nature they embody. If you prefer the arcane, make them like draconic sorcerers where the animal traits expand as they progress. The Tiefling /Aasimar dichotomy is firmly established and making Ardlings celestials just muddy's things. Worst part of the UA so far.
Ardlings are Divine heritage, the feature is also called Celestial Legacy, so that'd infer Divine, not primal. However the reason I can say they are Divine is that of the spells we have in spell list (cantrips and 1st level), all 6 are found in the Divine list, only 3 of those 6 are found in the primal list, Guidence, Cure Wounds and Healing word are, Light, Thaumaturgy and Divine Favor aren't. The only bit that confuses it is Idyllic getting animal messenger that is likely primal only but the spell lists don't go to the 2nd level yet, Zone of truth is likely divine only and lesser restoration is likely both.
Additionally Ardlings are resistant to Radiant Damage, which feels like it's more down the Divine route.
I *think* I get where HolyAvenger14 was going here, though I might be off on my own tangent. Maybe rejiggering Ardlings to be more Primal and less Divine would reduce the apparent overlap they have with Aasimar.
Though to be honest, I'm still not quite convinced about the Primal vs Divine vs Arcane magic split myself. I'm still working out how that fits into the cannon of my homebrew campaign setting, as I've been running with a different 'third source of magical effects' for decades and Primal isn't fitting into that mould without extreme hammering.
HolyAvenger does make a good case, though there are a few issues.
Mainly, if we have aasimars as the celestial race... That's still just LG archons/angels. Tiefling cover infernal, cthonic(new yugoloths?) and abyssal. NG Guardinals and CG eladrin (heavenly Fae) still need to be represented too in the celestial race.
Also, "Primal" in defined as drawing power from the elemental planes, and the genasi (elemental) exist. They're the primal outsider touched peeps.
Personally, I would probably go with Aasimar as the race name, classical angel-people as LG, animal people as NG, and nymphs/dryads/neriads/etc as the CG. There's got to be spells and movement abilities we can use to represent all three
Aasimar art from Volo's. Gray skin, glowing eyes and a sigil upon their brow.
That's art of them using their 1 minute a day feature. I know they have that and noted it. I meant how they look 99% of the time, the way that they are going to look to everyone they meet and the way that the rest of the setting is generally going to react to them looking. That said, I assume that chart is from something they were reprinted in (Edit: yep, Mordenkainens)? I know it isn't from Volos (where their lore and stuff was originally printed in 5e). It's still mostly just normal person but pretty, but 5-6 starts to move in the right direction. Though it does still seem to lack any consistently unifying visual indicator that isn't pretty person for the race as a whole. It also seems like they've changed their minds about it being human only which is alright.
So it seems like at the very end of the edition they're taking steps to make them not bland as hell, which is good to see. We'll see if they keep the changes or throw them out the next time they're printed for the new edition. Also, their visual identity is absolutely the fault of the lore and artistic direction of the writers, not the players. I've not ever seen official art of them that isn't just pretty human. Even with the new allowance of them to be from other races is there any art in wherever they're reprinted of that?
Not sure if this is the right place ... but I suggest someone tell WoTC to replace the new playtest Ardling race with a Beastfolk race.
The Ardling is far too similar to Aasimar, but with the weird nonsense about animal heads. Instead, why not create a Beastfolk race that can have different lineages (mammal, bird, amphibian). This would allow for people to play Grung, Lizardfolk, Aarakocra, Owling, etc. and even create their own (Mousekin, Badgerfolk, Penguin, etc.). Give the birdfolk a flying speed and the amphibians a swim speed and water breathing. Then give some flexible suggestions for specific feats based on type of animal, and DM/players can hash out the rest.
I like most of the rest of the playtest (the nat 20 always succeeds rule is stupid) but don't understand why we have tieflings but not aasimars. And I shouldn't have to play a beast folk celestial in order to be an aasimar.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the reason why they probably haven't included Aasimar is because Aasimar are pretty boring as far as races go. They're essentially pretty humans raised as humans by humans, but are technically related to human looking celestials who also aren't all that interesting themselves. At least Ardlings are visually distinct, so they've already got more going for them than Aasimar imo.
Ardlings are beastfolk. The only difference is that, instead of just being random cat-person, you're related to Bastet / Sharess. Or some other celestial cat-being.
This gives the rational for making any kind of anthropomorphic character you want without needing a hundred different backgrounds for each animal type.
I'd say the Ardlings are based on something like Egyptian mythology, like Ra, Horis, Anubis & Set as some examples. This makes them some what more interesting than Beastfolk which are kinda generic fantasy creatures, which I know there are some races in D&D but for PHB, I don't think they pass well enough. Aasimar have never been popular enough and these Ardlings seem like a more appropriate opposite to the Tiefling changes.
There is, I'd say, more of an argument for Genasi to be added over any beastfolk races, Genasi actually are popular enough to be challenging halflings and gnomes for their spot. Given that two spots were added from the reworking of bi/multi-racial characters, orcs replaced half-orc, while humans and elves already are PHB, so I'd say they (WotC) wanted something new in the PHB and looked towards trying to create something actually interesting that parallels/mirrors another popular race, that being Tiefling. To me this makes sense and is some what of a good idea.
If you follow the logic of the schools of magic, the Ardlings could have a primal heritage. Link it to the nature they embody. If you prefer the arcane, make them like draconic sorcerers where the animal traits expand as they progress. The Tiefling /Aasimar dichotomy is firmly established and making Ardlings celestials just muddy's things. Worst part of the UA so far.
Ardlings are Divine heritage, the feature is also called Celestial Legacy, so that'd infer Divine, not primal. However the reason I can say they are Divine is that of the spells we have in spell list (cantrips and 1st level), all 6 are found in the Divine list, only 3 of those 6 are found in the primal list, Guidence, Cure Wounds and Healing word are, Light, Thaumaturgy and Divine Favor aren't. The only bit that confuses it is Idyllic getting animal messenger that is likely primal only but the spell lists don't go to the 2nd level yet, Zone of truth is likely divine only and lesser restoration is likely both.
Additionally Ardlings are resistant to Radiant Damage, which feels like it's more down the Divine route.
Aasimar aren't any more boring than elves or dwarves. I'm playing an aasimar eldritch knight currently. The ability (as a fighter) to heal and fly is great. The open invitation to play someone plagued by dreams from the gods is also good. My character was raised by drow and thought he was, but began manifesting weird powers.
Hard disagree. Elves and Dwarves are visually distinct and have their own unique culture, conflicts, and civilizations. 99% of the time Aasimar are just pretty humans with weird dreams. I wish they were more celestial-like in appearance in the same way that tiefling always look fiendish. Or that their connection to their celestial patron was more influential to them as a people, like the Quori are with the Kalashtar. Anything that fundamentally makes them different and interesting. They're just so watered-down.
your ability to make an interesting character that is an Aasimar is not the same thing as Aasimar being interesting. As a race, Aasimar don't really have anything interesting about them and fall way more into mary sueism with their backgrounds, everybody loves them and they can do no wrong, etc. I know there are Fallen Aasimar, but basically there isn't really much interesting that comes from the Aasimar race, it is possible to make interesting characters of literally the most bland races around and it is also possible to make boring edgy stereotypical characters out of the most interesting races.
Tiefling are interesting because of their interactions with others, WotC have in my opinion slightly ruined Tiefling, being a some what social outcast race and then having the powers of the hells or the abyss trying to interact with, you can over come it, give into it or even embrace it... meanwhile Aasimar, just be faithful to your God and all will love you, positive racism to Mary Sue degrees. Of course there can be Mary Sues of any race too, it's just Aasimar sort of have the racial structure to more Mary Sue than anybody.
I get what you're saying, but I still don't see how that's any more true of aasimar than, say, elves. Elves can be very boring (IMO), and only slightly more than human (the most boring). Yes, tieflings are awesome (as are genasi and other races that don't look vaguely human). And not all celestials are good (many deities are evil, except for non-drow elf deities, apparently). An aasimar descended of Bane or Cyric?
I agree about the current Mary Sueism, and that's a problem with the way racial abilities were used in the past. I'm really, really glad WoTC did away with that. I think a +2 to Charisma is lame as a racial ability. I built my aasimar character with Charisma as the dump stat. Even with the +2, he still has a -1 to Charisma. I don't think an aasimar of Helm should be particularly charismatic anyhow.
I also don't mind aasimar not being a core race. But the ardling is just horrible. It's a mix between aasimar and beastfolk, trying to have cake and eat it, too.
I'd rather they just have a beastfolk race and gives some basic guidelines/ideas for how to make one specific to whatever animal a person wanted. I also run an on-going table for my daughter and her friends, and at least one person always wants to play an animal of some kind. A beastfolk RAW race would make that so much easier than trying to homebrew something and hoping it's not OP.
Who said aasimar are human-celestials? Why can't aasimar be born among other races? I currently play an aasimar born to a drow above-ground society. An aasimar could be born into a halfling or tabaxi or dwarf body. Why not?
It's true because Elves have a lot of lore and culture behind them, what lore and culture do Aasimar actually have? It's basically "I was born with celestial powers and everybody likes me".
I can't go into all the elf lore because there is way too much of it, but it ties into the fey wilds, Toril and has wars in it. There were great elf empires, there is elvish high magic. Using Elvish high magic, the elves created Evermeet, the green isle and last kingdom of the (non-drow) elves, those who aren't an elf are normally never permitted to even go there, elves have their own pantheon of gods called the Seldarine. Basically elves are connect to ALOT of the events that have occurred across the Forgotten Realms, and have had multiple kingdoms and empires with their own cultures. Heck you have the Matriarchal Lolth Drows too, where Drizzt Do'urden came from...
Then you get into things like the Nether Scrolls, which sun elves tried to hide from the world but was discovered by humans and led to the Netheril basing their magic off of them and the Netheril basically becoming the rulers of magic in Faerun until they went too far and you get Karsus's Folly.
You have the Illefarns, a mainly elvish state which forged strong alliances with some nearby Dwarf clans and a few humans too, (tho their main rivals being Orcs and the Netheril, with Netheril being mainly human).
Even Tieflings have more going on that Aasimar, heck the game Baldur's Gate 3 is set after the events of Descent into Avernus, during those events...
The city of Elturel temporarily got sent to Avernus
Tieflings have been suffering discrimination since as many blame them for it. So now in BG3, most Tieflings are now migrating to other areas more friendly. In Baldur's gate 3 you come across a group of Tieflings heading to Baldur's Gate hoping they can escape the prejudice there.
Aasimar have what? they don't have any real significant events in the lore, they have no culture at all, it's just basically just turning Divine Soul Sorcerer into a race for all the depth they have. Beastfolk are mostly the same too, personally I don't mind Ardling, WotC will need to do more to build them up in material but having a new race isn't really a bad thing.
Also as I mentioned above, Genasi are a WAY more popular race, if we were to look at pre-existing races and they also have a lot more going on, usually delving into the elemental planes.
The book, unfortunately.
Now we can talk about ways to make them more interesting all day long. Making them into something more interesting wouldn't even be hard but the issue with that is that we'd essentially be talking about a homebrew race we just happened to call Aasimar.
Aasimar is my second favorite race, right after Tiefling, so as you see, opinions vary. While yes I do like Tiefling for their appearance, the primary draw is their infernal nature and how that impacts how they view the world. Aasimar have that exact same RP quality, but from the celestial end of the spectrum. They don't have horns and tails, but glowing halos, rainbows gleaming on their skin or metallic luminous eyes certainly make them look other worldly compared to the average human.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Pretty much every piece of artwork I've seen of them have had them as just pretty humans (not counting the art of them using their 1 minute a day finally looks kinda celestial ability). I've yet to see any Aasimar with a halo, or rainbow skin. I mean if they were all walking around with halos and rainbow skin that would a good step in the right direction, but so far all depictions/descriptions of them I've seen have been that they're just human, but pretty.
That is not the fault of the lore or race, but the players.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
Aasimar art from Volo's. Gray skin, glowing eyes and a sigil upon their brow.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I *think* I get where HolyAvenger14 was going here, though I might be off on my own tangent. Maybe rejiggering Ardlings to be more Primal and less Divine would reduce the apparent overlap they have with Aasimar.
Though to be honest, I'm still not quite convinced about the Primal vs Divine vs Arcane magic split myself. I'm still working out how that fits into the cannon of my homebrew campaign setting, as I've been running with a different 'third source of magical effects' for decades and Primal isn't fitting into that mould without extreme hammering.
HolyAvenger does make a good case, though there are a few issues.
Mainly, if we have aasimars as the celestial race... That's still just LG archons/angels. Tiefling cover infernal, cthonic(new yugoloths?) and abyssal. NG Guardinals and CG eladrin (heavenly Fae) still need to be represented too in the celestial race.
Also, "Primal" in defined as drawing power from the elemental planes, and the genasi (elemental) exist. They're the primal outsider touched peeps.
Personally, I would probably go with Aasimar as the race name, classical angel-people as LG, animal people as NG, and nymphs/dryads/neriads/etc as the CG. There's got to be spells and movement abilities we can use to represent all three
That's art of them using their 1 minute a day feature. I know they have that and noted it. I meant how they look 99% of the time, the way that they are going to look to everyone they meet and the way that the rest of the setting is generally going to react to them looking. That said, I assume that chart is from something they were reprinted in (Edit: yep, Mordenkainens)? I know it isn't from Volos (where their lore and stuff was originally printed in 5e). It's still mostly just normal person but pretty, but 5-6 starts to move in the right direction. Though it does still seem to lack any consistently unifying visual indicator that isn't pretty person for the race as a whole. It also seems like they've changed their minds about it being human only which is alright.
So it seems like at the very end of the edition they're taking steps to make them not bland as hell, which is good to see. We'll see if they keep the changes or throw them out the next time they're printed for the new edition. Also, their visual identity is absolutely the fault of the lore and artistic direction of the writers, not the players. I've not ever seen official art of them that isn't just pretty human. Even with the new allowance of them to be from other races is there any art in wherever they're reprinted of that?