This is basically shifter from Eberron setting. A species of halfway-lycanthropes who can temporarily shift to enhance their bestial aspects depending on their breed.
This is basically shifter from Eberron setting. A species of halfway-lycanthropes who can temporarily shift to enhance their bestial aspects depending on their breed.
I always saw Shifters more like were-creatures though. Like, a Shifter is always going to be humanoid. Sometimes they are just slightly more bestial, like a Hollywood werewolf.
What I liked about this idea was it was turning into the animal completely. Just a person becoming a housecat. It's not strong or scary. It's useful in other ways. It's different from mechanics we already have. And it's not another anthro species.
It would allow for a nice way to represent concepts like the Selkie, or so many Trickster spirit myths, or folktales of humans falling in love with someone that turned out to be a swan or a rabbit etc. These are some of my favorite myths and the suggestion just got me thinking of how it could mechanically be done. Becoming an actual snake or deer is just something far more interesting to me personally than all the various ways DnD has represented part animal humanoids with some claws or dashing.
I think temporary features are secondary to what you are for the remaining 23 hours 59 minutes a day. That's one of the reasons I dislike goliaths' enlarge feature, it kinda takes away from what they are for the rest of the time. A species has to have a foundation of constantly working features to change the feel of the game, as well as lore that would help players build a character's identity, something that differs from default generic human. Like when you play a dwarf, you always have that toughness going for you, and always having artisan skills regardless of background and class influences how you act, you're naturally drawn to arguments about craftsmanship and events in industries, and dwarven lore reinforces that. That's an example of great synergy between lore and mechanics that express it. Whatever the hell ardlings end up being, in my opinion they have to have that kind of foundation first.
I think temporary features are secondary to what you are for the remaining 23 hours 59 minutes a day. That's one of the reasons I dislike goliaths' enlarge feature, it kinda takes away from what they are for the rest of the time. A species has to have a foundation of constantly working features to change the feel of the game, as well as lore that would help players build a character's identity, something that differs from default generic human. Like when you play a dwarf, you always have that toughness going for you, and always having artisan skills regardless of background and class influences how you act, you're naturally drawn to arguments about craftsmanship and events in industries, and dwarven lore reinforces that. That's an example of great synergy between lore and mechanics that express it. Whatever the hell ardlings end up being, in my opinion they have to have that kind of foundation first.
Yeah I get definitely get what you're saying. The above concept was just something that appeals to me for reasons outside of the Ardling. It might be something I work on for my own games. More of a tangential distraction.
What your saying is for sure an issue with Ardlings. They don't really have much of an identity yet. Their features flopped from one thing to another, leaving us with only 'animal head from heaven' as the common factor. Most of what interests people in them are things they brought themselves to the idea. It fills a hole that some people were looking for. A blank template to put their story on. But the text itself didn't tell us much. Guardinals don't even exist in 5e for people to look at for inspiration. They weren't ever super interesting on their own. But at least they used to have some fun personality traits and animal examples.
It's one of the more difficult things for any PC species based on something as intangible as outer planes. The designers don't want to force one single character concept on players, and rightfully so. For something like a Dwarf, we have decades of modern fantasy material to give us an idea of what the norm is. So much so that someone playing 'against type' is recognized immediately as doing it deliberately. If you see a new take on Dwarves, it's interesting and unique, because we're all so familiar with the usual version.
But what is someone with celestial blood? Or at least a blessing from above? We do have plenty of examples in myth. But they are all individuals. Their Heavenly aspect is something they deal with as individuals. It's a personal relationship. These stories don't usually include whole communities of people like this. DnD hasn't traditionally had whole cultures of people with a similar background like this. It's had individuals.
So you can't really rely as much on cultural influences to define the Ardling in the world. Unless they make nations of them all over the place. We don't have a real world common myth for what this kind of people would be like. Even without LotR, we would still have stories of the Aes Sidhe and the like around the world to inspire elves. But what is a half angel? They're as unique as the individual story.
So that really leaves the designers stuck with mostly the mechanics and appearance to tell the story. Ardlings have a unique appearance, but unfortunately it's one that turns off as many people as it excites. That means the mechanics have to pull a lot of weight. And so far they've not really told much of a story. The first version could have been any divine creature. The second version could have been a perfectly suitable generic beast person. Neither informs the player of who they are like a Halfling's Lucky or a Dwarf's craft skills even. I generally like the basic species more than later ones because they often do have more interesting mechanics that tell more of a story. Ardlings need something like that. Or at least a broader range of physical descriptions, drawn from more Celestial creatures, so we can look at those for inspiration.
I have a lot more thoughts on why Tieflings work better, and the changes to Goliaths, but I doubt it would add much to the conversation.
The thing with tieflings is that they kind of have their identity - it's not that rich and definitive, but it's there. 1DnD provided a good description of their appearance, biology, and origin, and there's a backstory that explains why they're fiendish-looking humanoids and how they're perceived by default - accepted in large and cosmopolitan communities, shunned in backwater and prejudiced ones.
Aasimar, however, lack even that. They're just random people who have unspecified celestial heritage because who knows why. Also, they mostly look like humans and there's no expectations or general predisposition towards them. There could be a dramatic story about an army of celestials who ventured into Material Plane to set it straight and lost their way, assimilated, forgot their mission, realized its futility, or perhaps were stripped of most of their powers for breaking the balance or something. Then, different lineages could be based on different Upper Planes of existence from Arcadia to Ysgard, mirroring tiefling design in general. Lastly, aasimar backstory might define them as preachy and unbending, but reliable people in general, prone to messianic complex but also altruistic, or at least this could be the stereotype that the outside world might have about aasimar "nation". This could provide the basis for immersion that they so sorely lack.
The problem is, where do ardlings even fit in that grand scheme of things? Best I can come up with, their original design would make them a lineage of aasimar that hails from Beastlands, Arborea, and Ysgard. Though instead of beast heads, I'd rather have them have features that keep them similar enough to the other aasimar lineages.
The thing with tieflings is that they kind of have their identity - it's not that rich and definitive, but it's there. 1DnD provided a good description of their appearance, biology, and origin, and there's a backstory that explains why they're fiendish-looking humanoids and how they're perceived by default - accepted in large and cosmopolitan communities, shunned in backwater and prejudiced ones.
Aasimar, however, lack even that. They're just random people who have unspecified celestial heritage because who knows why. Also, they mostly look like humans and there's no expectations or general predisposition towards them. There could be a dramatic story about an army of celestials who ventured into Material Plane to set it straight and lost their way, assimilated, forgot their mission, realized its futility, or perhaps were stripped of most of their powers for breaking the balance or something. Then, different lineages could be based on different Upper Planes of existence from Arcadia to Ysgard, mirroring tiefling design in general. Lastly, aasimar backstory might define them as preachy and unbending, but reliable people in general, prone to messianic complex but also altruistic, or at least this could be the stereotype that the outside world might have about aasimar "nation". This could provide the basis for immersion that they so sorely lack.
I for one seriously hope they don't do that, as I like being able to make up my own lore, particularly for Aasimar.
However, in FR, there is an Egyptian-themed nation (Mhulrandi ?), where the uncommon Aasimar are literally the semi-divine decendants of the Egyption-like pantheon. In Ravenloft, Aasimar are non-natives who are especially trapped in those realms, and it might actually twist their vefy celestial nature by simply existing there. In DL, they are partially divine beings, but don't normally exist there, traditionally. Alternatevely, like in GH, Aasimar might be a human that was gifted by a divine being at birth, and it is less heritage than it is chosen-one.
I think temporary features are secondary to what you are for the remaining 23 hours 59 minutes a day. That's one of the reasons I dislike goliaths' enlarge feature, it kinda takes away from what they are for the rest of the time. A species has to have a foundation of constantly working features to change the feel of the game, as well as lore that would help players build a character's identity, something that differs from default generic human.
I agree. It bugs the crap out of me that Aasimar and Dragonborn basically get wings for a few minutes a day, and don't improve.
Or at least a broader range of physical descriptions, drawn from more Celestial creatures, so we can look at those for inspiration.
The issue I have is that there is really only one Celestial creature that has an animal head and humanoid body, which is the Hound Archon. There really is nothing about Celestial Animal people except the Ardling saying there is. And honestly, 3E D&D and before sort of already had the Aasimar covering that in the above mentioned Egyption empire of FR. It is more that 4E and 5E have just ignored so much of the past lore and setting material rather than it not existing.
Honestly, I would have preferred the first version of the Ardling be relabeled Aasimar, and have the animalistic features added to the already existing list of *possible* appearance modifications for the Aasimar, as well as other Celestial-type weird appearances like a multitude of eyes (Biblical-style angels), several faces (Hindu deities), etc. I always felt that D&D lore was singularly lax in the variety of Celestial appearances unless you go all the way back to 1st (and OD&D)'s Dieties and Demigods books that at least *tried* to pull in other RL cultures, even if they were... severely offensive in places.
The second version leaned far more heavily into Beast-mode, but in order to become a generic Animal people (which I actually have in my campaign world (long story, not really worth retelling here)., so I would appreciate an official version), they'd have to remove those last little bits of Divineness for me to be comfortable using them instead of my current homebrew.
Unfortunately for the Ardling, the creature they are based on doesn't even exist in 5e. I didn't even put it together at first that they were supposed to represent Guardinals. And I at least played back in the days when they existed. A lot of new players are never going to see the connection without the monsters.
Using the forgotten realms wiki (because I don't have those books anymore), we see these varieties of Guardinals:
Mustevals - Mice standing on hind legs Cervidals - Look exactly like Satyrs Lupinals - Wolves standing on hind legs Equinals - Horse head on human body, will always look funny Avorals - Bird people with interesting arm/wing appendages Ursinals - literally just bears Leonals - Thundercats
And then you might toss in Hound Archons too.
Some of these have their own unique powers and personalities. Some have their own distinct appearance. Others really don't. But it is a pretty short list of animals either way. They could have made the Ardling tied very closely to these Guardinals and given you a choice of those 7 specific appearances with powers that really evoke each one. It would be thematically pretty cool. As long as they print Guardinal monsters again.
But it would really limit anyone who wanted to use the species for a different character concept. It's probably good that they opened it up to any animal, even prehistoric ones. Unfortunately it doesn't help with the identity. This is why I still feel it would be better with an even broader choice of appearance inspiration. Let players pick their looks based on any celestial creature. List plenty of animal options so players know that's always there. But also allow for other looks too.
I for one seriously hope they don't do that, as I like being able to make up my own lore, particularly for Aasimar.
However, in FR, there is an Egyptian-themed nation (Mhulrandi ?), where the uncommon Aasimar are literally the semi-divine decendants of the Egyption-like pantheon. In Ravenloft, Aasimar are non-natives who are especially trapped in those realms, and it might actually twist their vefy celestial nature by simply existing there. In DL, they are partially divine beings, but don't normally exist there, traditionally. Alternatevely, like in GH, Aasimar might be a human that was gifted by a divine being at birth, and it is less heritage than it is chosen-one.
It doesn't have to limit your creativity. General doesn't cancel the particular. Tieflings have just enough lore to explain their existence and provide players and DMs with general guidelines and expectations about their place in the world. I haven't seen anyone complain about how constraining it is. This is about how much the aasimar need - ancient myths, basic expectations.
What gets me is that WotC wants to add a new RACE to One D&D, but they have not added the Artificer so far. Another reason why I will be staying away from One D&D like it was 4e.
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
The only thing I don't like is that they're "celestial". I would make them Fey instead. My homebrew campaign doesn't have anything celestial or fiend races, and there are no angels, demons, devils, etc.
The only thing I don't like is that they're "celestial". I would make them Fey instead. My homebrew campaign doesn't have anything celestial or fiend races, and there are no angels, demons, devils, etc.
So that means Tieflings aren't in your campaign either, right?
Correct. Also, neither are humans. It's a whole backstory of the world that has cut off most access to planes and vanished all humans.
I'd rather just have an aasimar. I'd never play an ardling as written, but generally I dislike weird (non straight up humanoid/tolkien-like) races.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I would use the first Ardling, mostly as is mechanically with expanded appearance options. Make the LG ones based on Archons, the NG ones based on Guardinals (animal heads), and the CG one based on Celestial Eladrin (or something else to take this place if Celestial Eladrin are not a thing anymore). I like the symmetry with the Tieflings and think it works quite well. I would not make it a Player's Handbook race though.
Then you keep the Aasimar as is and based on Angels.
Then you can use the second Ardling, under a different name. Drop all the celestial aspects of it and make it a generic beastfolk species. This may or may not be in the Player's Handbook, and there is no reason to toss out all the specific beastfolk races already made.
Bing, bang boom, and I might make it this way in my games regardless of how it plays out officially.
I didn't read through all of the previous comments, so maybe this was already covered, but I would scrap Ardling all together, and instead, use the Aasimar, but have three variants like with the Tiefling. The thing I like about the new Tiefling is that we have the clear three types - abyssal (ancestry to CE Demons), infernal (ancestry to LE Devils), and chthonic (ancestry to NE Yugoloths/Daemons), each connected to the main three types of fiends. They need to do something similar with the Aasimar as a new standard race connected to three main celestials by alignment, with the Ardling being one of three the subtypes, specifically connected to the NG Guardinals [but I think with the Eladrin now fey/elves and not celestials anymore, the Guardinals need to become CG].
I would do angelic/heavenly (ancestry to NG Angels and Devas) with traditional aasimar abilities and appearance, hiero/idyllic (ancestry to LG Archons) with more divine authority and streamline abilities and appearance, and ardling/exalted (ancestry to CG Guardinals) with heroic and animal-like abilities and traits. Or something like what I described, where whatever D&D 5.5 (or as they unfortunately want to call it, D&D 1 :/) has the the three main types of celestials and by alignment. I think I would be more happy with Aasimars with one of three options being bestial versus the Ardling and all beast qualities. I do appreciate that the Ardling has a sort of eastern myth feel and not typical western myth like most races and monsters in D&D though... but that's not enough for me to want them more than Aasimar as a long time player (started playing during the later end of Adv-D&D 2e and early 3e).
If D&D creators/game makers are less aiming to have a celestial race and more just want to give players an animal/beast humanoid race option, then they should just go for it and scrap all of the celestial stuff, make Ardling more and only about animal traits and abilities.
A lot of the 5e player base is new and not really familiar with Planescape lore, which is why I think the Ardling fell so flat. It got lumped in and confused with the Aasimar when in reality they're quite different. If they try to release it again maybe a year or so later, especially if they do another planescap based adventure, then I think people will be more receptive.
With that being said, I think in my home games, I'm gonna have this re-work as an option
Ardling
Ardlings are supernal beings who are either born on the Upper Planes or have one or more ancestors who originated there. Their bright souls shine with the light of immortal beings who call the Upper Planes home.
An ardling typically has a head or other features such as ears or a tail, resembling that of an animal, typically one with virtuous associations. Depending on the animal, the ardling might also have soft fur, downy feathers, or supple bare skin. The ardling’s celestial legacy determines the animal it resembles.
An ardling gains a measure of magical power from their celestial legacy. in addition their moral and ethical outlook is self-determined, however, not fixed by ancestry.
ARDLING TRAITS
Creature Type: Humanoid
Size: Medium (about 4–7 feet tall) or Small (about 3–4 feet tall), chosen when you select this Race
Speed: 30 feet
Life Span: 200 years on average
As an Ardling, you should pick one beast with a CR of 2 or less and give your character physical features of that beast. In addition you have these special traits
Dark Vision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Bonus Proficiency. Choose one additional Proficiency from the following: Acrobatics, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival
Ardling Language. You can always communicate with any Beast type creature
Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to Radiant Damage
1 Level- Celestial Presence. You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage).
3 Level- Celestial Presence. You can also cast the Animal Friendship Spell with this trait. You can cast it with the trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. You can also use any Spell Slots you have to cast the Spell.
5 Level- Celestial Presence. Once per day you can use an action to polymorph into the beast associated with your Ardling Legacy for one hour requiring no concentration. You revert back if you become incapacitated. Additionally, you can revert back to your normal form by using an action.
While in this form you cannot cast spells, wield weapons or shields, benefit from any armor and you cannot speak to any creature that isn’t a beast. You use the stats of the chosen beast but you keep your Health, Hit Dice, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
ARDLINGS OF MANY WORLDS
Ardlings bring a little bit of the Upper Planes with them wherever they go. On many worlds, the first ardlings used the magic of their celestial legacies to inspire and heal others.
By virtue of their celestial legacies, some ardlings strive to make the world a better place. Others use their supernal gifts to be the best version of themselves they can be. Still others are delighted to have a connection to the Upper Planes without the responsibility of always having to do the right thing
This is basically shifter from Eberron setting. A species of halfway-lycanthropes who can temporarily shift to enhance their bestial aspects depending on their breed.
I always saw Shifters more like were-creatures though. Like, a Shifter is always going to be humanoid. Sometimes they are just slightly more bestial, like a Hollywood werewolf.
What I liked about this idea was it was turning into the animal completely. Just a person becoming a housecat. It's not strong or scary. It's useful in other ways. It's different from mechanics we already have. And it's not another anthro species.
It would allow for a nice way to represent concepts like the Selkie, or so many Trickster spirit myths, or folktales of humans falling in love with someone that turned out to be a swan or a rabbit etc. These are some of my favorite myths and the suggestion just got me thinking of how it could mechanically be done. Becoming an actual snake or deer is just something far more interesting to me personally than all the various ways DnD has represented part animal humanoids with some claws or dashing.
I think temporary features are secondary to what you are for the remaining 23 hours 59 minutes a day. That's one of the reasons I dislike goliaths' enlarge feature, it kinda takes away from what they are for the rest of the time. A species has to have a foundation of constantly working features to change the feel of the game, as well as lore that would help players build a character's identity, something that differs from default generic human. Like when you play a dwarf, you always have that toughness going for you, and always having artisan skills regardless of background and class influences how you act, you're naturally drawn to arguments about craftsmanship and events in industries, and dwarven lore reinforces that. That's an example of great synergy between lore and mechanics that express it. Whatever the hell ardlings end up being, in my opinion they have to have that kind of foundation first.
Yeah I get definitely get what you're saying. The above concept was just something that appeals to me for reasons outside of the Ardling. It might be something I work on for my own games. More of a tangential distraction.
What your saying is for sure an issue with Ardlings. They don't really have much of an identity yet. Their features flopped from one thing to another, leaving us with only 'animal head from heaven' as the common factor. Most of what interests people in them are things they brought themselves to the idea. It fills a hole that some people were looking for. A blank template to put their story on. But the text itself didn't tell us much. Guardinals don't even exist in 5e for people to look at for inspiration. They weren't ever super interesting on their own. But at least they used to have some fun personality traits and animal examples.
It's one of the more difficult things for any PC species based on something as intangible as outer planes. The designers don't want to force one single character concept on players, and rightfully so. For something like a Dwarf, we have decades of modern fantasy material to give us an idea of what the norm is. So much so that someone playing 'against type' is recognized immediately as doing it deliberately. If you see a new take on Dwarves, it's interesting and unique, because we're all so familiar with the usual version.
But what is someone with celestial blood? Or at least a blessing from above? We do have plenty of examples in myth. But they are all individuals. Their Heavenly aspect is something they deal with as individuals. It's a personal relationship. These stories don't usually include whole communities of people like this. DnD hasn't traditionally had whole cultures of people with a similar background like this. It's had individuals.
So you can't really rely as much on cultural influences to define the Ardling in the world. Unless they make nations of them all over the place. We don't have a real world common myth for what this kind of people would be like. Even without LotR, we would still have stories of the Aes Sidhe and the like around the world to inspire elves. But what is a half angel? They're as unique as the individual story.
So that really leaves the designers stuck with mostly the mechanics and appearance to tell the story. Ardlings have a unique appearance, but unfortunately it's one that turns off as many people as it excites. That means the mechanics have to pull a lot of weight. And so far they've not really told much of a story. The first version could have been any divine creature. The second version could have been a perfectly suitable generic beast person. Neither informs the player of who they are like a Halfling's Lucky or a Dwarf's craft skills even. I generally like the basic species more than later ones because they often do have more interesting mechanics that tell more of a story. Ardlings need something like that. Or at least a broader range of physical descriptions, drawn from more Celestial creatures, so we can look at those for inspiration.
I have a lot more thoughts on why Tieflings work better, and the changes to Goliaths, but I doubt it would add much to the conversation.
The thing with tieflings is that they kind of have their identity - it's not that rich and definitive, but it's there. 1DnD provided a good description of their appearance, biology, and origin, and there's a backstory that explains why they're fiendish-looking humanoids and how they're perceived by default - accepted in large and cosmopolitan communities, shunned in backwater and prejudiced ones.
Aasimar, however, lack even that. They're just random people who have unspecified celestial heritage because who knows why. Also, they mostly look like humans and there's no expectations or general predisposition towards them. There could be a dramatic story about an army of celestials who ventured into Material Plane to set it straight and lost their way, assimilated, forgot their mission, realized its futility, or perhaps were stripped of most of their powers for breaking the balance or something. Then, different lineages could be based on different Upper Planes of existence from Arcadia to Ysgard, mirroring tiefling design in general. Lastly, aasimar backstory might define them as preachy and unbending, but reliable people in general, prone to messianic complex but also altruistic, or at least this could be the stereotype that the outside world might have about aasimar "nation". This could provide the basis for immersion that they so sorely lack.
The problem is, where do ardlings even fit in that grand scheme of things? Best I can come up with, their original design would make them a lineage of aasimar that hails from Beastlands, Arborea, and Ysgard. Though instead of beast heads, I'd rather have them have features that keep them similar enough to the other aasimar lineages.
I for one seriously hope they don't do that, as I like being able to make up my own lore, particularly for Aasimar.
However, in FR, there is an Egyptian-themed nation (Mhulrandi ?), where the uncommon Aasimar are literally the semi-divine decendants of the Egyption-like pantheon. In Ravenloft, Aasimar are non-natives who are especially trapped in those realms, and it might actually twist their vefy celestial nature by simply existing there. In DL, they are partially divine beings, but don't normally exist there, traditionally. Alternatevely, like in GH, Aasimar might be a human that was gifted by a divine being at birth, and it is less heritage than it is chosen-one.
I agree. It bugs the crap out of me that Aasimar and Dragonborn basically get wings for a few minutes a day, and don't improve.
Or at least a broader range of physical descriptions, drawn from more Celestial creatures, so we can look at those for inspiration.
The issue I have is that there is really only one Celestial creature that has an animal head and humanoid body, which is the Hound Archon. There really is nothing about Celestial Animal people except the Ardling saying there is. And honestly, 3E D&D and before sort of already had the Aasimar covering that in the above mentioned Egyption empire of FR. It is more that 4E and 5E have just ignored so much of the past lore and setting material rather than it not existing.
Honestly, I would have preferred the first version of the Ardling be relabeled Aasimar, and have the animalistic features added to the already existing list of *possible* appearance modifications for the Aasimar, as well as other Celestial-type weird appearances like a multitude of eyes (Biblical-style angels), several faces (Hindu deities), etc. I always felt that D&D lore was singularly lax in the variety of Celestial appearances unless you go all the way back to 1st (and OD&D)'s Dieties and Demigods books that at least *tried* to pull in other RL cultures, even if they were... severely offensive in places.
The second version leaned far more heavily into Beast-mode, but in order to become a generic Animal people (which I actually have in my campaign world (long story, not really worth retelling here)., so I would appreciate an official version), they'd have to remove those last little bits of Divineness for me to be comfortable using them instead of my current homebrew.
Unfortunately for the Ardling, the creature they are based on doesn't even exist in 5e. I didn't even put it together at first that they were supposed to represent Guardinals. And I at least played back in the days when they existed. A lot of new players are never going to see the connection without the monsters.
Using the forgotten realms wiki (because I don't have those books anymore), we see these varieties of Guardinals:
Mustevals - Mice standing on hind legs
Cervidals - Look exactly like Satyrs
Lupinals - Wolves standing on hind legs
Equinals - Horse head on human body, will always look funny
Avorals - Bird people with interesting arm/wing appendages
Ursinals - literally just bears
Leonals - Thundercats
And then you might toss in Hound Archons too.
Some of these have their own unique powers and personalities. Some have their own distinct appearance. Others really don't. But it is a pretty short list of animals either way. They could have made the Ardling tied very closely to these Guardinals and given you a choice of those 7 specific appearances with powers that really evoke each one. It would be thematically pretty cool. As long as they print Guardinal monsters again.
But it would really limit anyone who wanted to use the species for a different character concept. It's probably good that they opened it up to any animal, even prehistoric ones. Unfortunately it doesn't help with the identity. This is why I still feel it would be better with an even broader choice of appearance inspiration. Let players pick their looks based on any celestial creature. List plenty of animal options so players know that's always there. But also allow for other looks too.
It doesn't have to limit your creativity. General doesn't cancel the particular. Tieflings have just enough lore to explain their existence and provide players and DMs with general guidelines and expectations about their place in the world. I haven't seen anyone complain about how constraining it is. This is about how much the aasimar need - ancient myths, basic expectations.
Instant ban.
What gets me is that WotC wants to add a new RACE to One D&D, but they have not added the Artificer so far. Another reason why I will be staying away from One D&D like it was 4e.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
The only thing I don't like is that they're "celestial". I would make them Fey instead. My homebrew campaign doesn't have anything celestial or fiend races, and there are no angels, demons, devils, etc.
Correct. Also, neither are humans. It's a whole backstory of the world that has cut off most access to planes and vanished all humans.
I'd rather just have an aasimar. I'd never play an ardling as written, but generally I dislike weird (non straight up humanoid/tolkien-like) races.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I would use the first Ardling, mostly as is mechanically with expanded appearance options. Make the LG ones based on Archons, the NG ones based on Guardinals (animal heads), and the CG one based on Celestial Eladrin (or something else to take this place if Celestial Eladrin are not a thing anymore). I like the symmetry with the Tieflings and think it works quite well. I would not make it a Player's Handbook race though.
Then you keep the Aasimar as is and based on Angels.
Then you can use the second Ardling, under a different name. Drop all the celestial aspects of it and make it a generic beastfolk species. This may or may not be in the Player's Handbook, and there is no reason to toss out all the specific beastfolk races already made.
Bing, bang boom, and I might make it this way in my games regardless of how it plays out officially.
delete
Party player curation.
I didn't read through all of the previous comments, so maybe this was already covered, but I would scrap Ardling all together, and instead, use the Aasimar, but have three variants like with the Tiefling. The thing I like about the new Tiefling is that we have the clear three types - abyssal (ancestry to CE Demons), infernal (ancestry to LE Devils), and chthonic (ancestry to NE Yugoloths/Daemons), each connected to the main three types of fiends. They need to do something similar with the Aasimar as a new standard race connected to three main celestials by alignment, with the Ardling being one of three the subtypes, specifically connected to the NG Guardinals [but I think with the Eladrin now fey/elves and not celestials anymore, the Guardinals need to become CG].
I would do angelic/heavenly (ancestry to NG Angels and Devas) with traditional aasimar abilities and appearance, hiero/idyllic (ancestry to LG Archons) with more divine authority and streamline abilities and appearance, and ardling/exalted (ancestry to CG Guardinals) with heroic and animal-like abilities and traits. Or something like what I described, where whatever D&D 5.5 (or as they unfortunately want to call it, D&D 1 :/) has the the three main types of celestials and by alignment. I think I would be more happy with Aasimars with one of three options being bestial versus the Ardling and all beast qualities. I do appreciate that the Ardling has a sort of eastern myth feel and not typical western myth like most races and monsters in D&D though... but that's not enough for me to want them more than Aasimar as a long time player (started playing during the later end of Adv-D&D 2e and early 3e).
If D&D creators/game makers are less aiming to have a celestial race and more just want to give players an animal/beast humanoid race option, then they should just go for it and scrap all of the celestial stuff, make Ardling more and only about animal traits and abilities.
Just a couple of thoughts
A lot of the 5e player base is new and not really familiar with Planescape lore, which is why I think the Ardling fell so flat. It got lumped in and confused with the Aasimar when in reality they're quite different. If they try to release it again maybe a year or so later, especially if they do another planescap based adventure, then I think people will be more receptive.
With that being said, I think in my home games, I'm gonna have this re-work as an option
Ardling
Ardlings are supernal beings who are either born on the Upper Planes or have one or more ancestors who originated there. Their bright souls shine with the light of immortal beings who call the Upper Planes home.
An ardling typically has a head or other features such as ears or a tail, resembling that of an animal, typically one with virtuous associations. Depending on the animal, the ardling might also have soft fur, downy feathers, or supple bare skin. The ardling’s celestial legacy determines the animal it resembles.
An ardling gains a measure of magical power from their celestial legacy. in addition their moral and ethical outlook is self-determined, however, not fixed by ancestry.
ARDLING TRAITS
Creature Type: Humanoid
Size: Medium (about 4–7 feet tall) or Small (about 3–4 feet tall), chosen when you select this Race
Speed: 30 feet
Life Span: 200 years on average
As an Ardling, you should pick one beast with a CR of 2 or less and give your character physical features of that beast. In addition you have these special traits
Dark Vision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Bonus Proficiency. Choose one additional Proficiency from the following: Acrobatics, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival
Ardling Language. You can always communicate with any Beast type creature
Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to Radiant Damage
1 Level- Celestial Presence. You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage).
3 Level- Celestial Presence. You can also cast the Animal Friendship Spell with this trait. You can cast it with the trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. You can also use any Spell Slots you have to cast the Spell.
5 Level- Celestial Presence. Once per day you can use an action to polymorph into the beast associated with your Ardling Legacy for one hour requiring no concentration. You revert back if you become incapacitated. Additionally, you can revert back to your normal form by using an action.
While in this form you cannot cast spells, wield weapons or shields, benefit from any armor and you cannot speak to any creature that isn’t a beast. You use the stats of the chosen beast but you keep your Health, Hit Dice, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
ARDLINGS OF MANY WORLDS
Ardlings bring a little bit of the Upper Planes with them wherever they go. On many worlds, the first ardlings used the magic of their celestial legacies to inspire and heal others.
By virtue of their celestial legacies, some ardlings strive to make the world a better place. Others use their supernal gifts to be the best version of themselves they can be. Still others are delighted to have a connection to the Upper Planes without the responsibility of always having to do the right thing