Well, it’s like WotC read my mind, and decided to take the whole thing to the next level!
For those not aware; today WotC released a big announcement regarding the next year or so of D&D…including new book releases, plans to refine the existing rule-books, and so forth….check it out. It’s pretty exciting stuff.
Among it all, was an Unearthed Arcana focusing on Races, Backgrounds and Feats…and among the many tweaks to existing player races; WotC also granted us a brand-new player race, the Ardling!
Before diving into the new race, I just want to put this out there: I, as well as a decent amount of players, had been clamoring for a dog-race in D&D for some time…I mean, we’ve gotten hippo, frog, birds, rabbit, lizards, fish, and no less than two feline-folk races…it was feeling like “man’s best friend” was getting left in the dust.
I had even written-up a draft for a celestial-type dog folk race as a homebrew; basing it off the hound archons of the Upper Planes. Well, it seems I needn’t of bothered, because WotC decided to not just provide some lore for archons; but essentially every animal-based celestial creature.
Let’s take a look:
Description - 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 has a head 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, as well as the ability to manifest spectral wings. An ardling’s moral and ethical outlook is self-determined, however, not fixed by ancestry.
The three celestial legacies are as follows:
Exalted - The fierce passions of Arborea, the heroic heart of Ysgard, and the wondrous nature of the Beastlands call to ardlings who have the Exalted celestial legacy. Their celestial ancestors are heroic champions of the Chaotic Good planes.
Heavenly - The blissful harmony of Arcadia, the unwavering justice of Mount Celestia, and the bucolic paradise of Bytopia touch the souls of ardlings who have the Heavenly celestial legacy. Their celestial ancestors are staunch defenders of the Lawful Good planes.
Idyllic - The Idyllic celestial legacy connects ardlings not only to the Beastlands and Bytopia but also to the eternal compassion of Elysium. Their celestial ancestors are paragons of kindness who hail from the Neutral Good planes.
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 have these special traits.
Angelic Flight. As a Bonus Action, you sprout spectral wings for a moment and fly up to a number of feet equal to your Speed. If you are in the air at the end of this movement, you fall if nothing is holding you aloft.
You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.*
Celestial Legacy. You are the recipient of a celestial legacy that grants you magical abilities. Choose a legacy from the Celestial Legacies table: Exalted, associated with Chaotic Good planes; Heavenly, associated with Lawful Good planes; or Idyllic, associated with Neutral Good planes.
You gain the initial benefit of the chosen legacy: a cantrip that you learn. You also choose the animal you most closely resemble; the table provides a few suggestions for each legacy (you don’t gain wings by choosing an animal that can fly).
Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you gain the ability to cast a higher-level Spell with this trait, as shown on the table. Once you cast the Spell with this trait, you can’t cast that Spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest; however, you can cast the Spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the legacy).
Damage Resistance. You have Resistance to Radiant Damage.
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.
You know, it’s not for me…. But my son is thrilled with the idea. About a week ago he and I put together an aasimar/divine soul sorcerer… but tonight we’re going to rework this character into an ardling. Whether or not I ever want to make one, I’ll love it because I get to share it with someone I love.
My hype sort of centers around a while back when I was doing some research into the Upper Planes…I went in expecting your typical angelic creatures…you know, angel wings, halos, lots of glowing and whatnot…
…and then, boom: a mean-looking dog warrior, with blood-red skin, brandishing a greatsword, with a description that stated that hound archons like to pummel their enemies with their fists.
It was far more heavy-metal than I expected, and easily became my favorite monsters…since that point, I’d brainstormed character concepts based around a celestial character who trains to join the ranks of the hound archons.
The Ardling provides a nice opportunity to bring that concept forward, finally.
Not fully decided on this yet, but my initial response to ardlings is not completely a positive one. I like the concept, but I'm not understanding why you would remove the aasimir from this position which it had already claimed. To me, have the tieflings be the evil origin group, the aasimir be the good evil group (expanding/repositioning them to reflect the lawful/neutral/chaotic aspects), and perhaps move the ardlings to cover a neutral origin group. What do you all think of this idea?
Aasimar we’re not removed; they got their update in “Monsters of the Multiverse”.
Technically, aasimar we’re not originally in the Players Handbook to begin with.
If the notion was to have a polar opposite to the tiefling…sure, I get that. Humanoid-looking celestial to mirror the humanoid-looking infernal. A bit bland, maybe, but sometimes you want to be a tad more grounded.
However, I think the Ardling deserves a seat at the table…it’s the old artwork of the previous editions, but I’ve seen a hound archon stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a planetar. Kind of makes me think they deserve an equal status, as far as the player races go.
Even on the tiefling side of things, the new Abyssal and Cthonic options provide the Infernal-equivalent of a more beast-like or insectoid player character.
I like the added space for players to flex their creative juices…so long as the DM permits it so, of course.
To me, have the tieflings be the evil origin group, the aasimir be the good evil group (expanding/repositioning them to reflect the lawful/neutral/chaotic aspects), and perhaps move the ardlings to cover a neutral origin group. What do you all think of this idea?
That neutrality is somewhat covered by the Fey, alignment-wise. And they do have bestial options.
Aasimar also have their Protector, Scourge, and Fallen options to reflect the varying states of alignment.
There is a wealth of lore within the Upper Planes that I think can, and should, be addressed with the Ardling. I look forward to designing NPC’s for these settings, now that some structure has been presented.
Not fully decided on this yet, but my initial response to ardlings is not completely a positive one. I like the concept, but I'm not understanding why you would remove the aasimir from this position which it had already claimed. To me, have the tieflings be the evil origin group, the aasimir be the good evil group (expanding/repositioning them to reflect the lawful/neutral/chaotic aspects), and perhaps move the ardlings to cover a neutral origin group. What do you all think of this idea?
I see where you’re coming from, but Ardlings suit my purposes better as written. Same probably goes for the OP if I guess rightly.
I get the impression that Wizards are still experimenting with the idea for the ideal playable celestial. I remember Aasimars from back in 3.5. In 4 they changed it over to Deva’s with a completely different origin. They went back to Aasimar, but they’re obviously still not content given they keep on wandering away. Tieflings on the other hand have been stable.
granted, you can have an aasimar origin without it even being an aasimar with a divine soul sorcerer.
To me, have the tieflings be the evil origin group, the aasimir be the good evil group (expanding/repositioning them to reflect the lawful/neutral/chaotic aspects), and perhaps move the ardlings to cover a neutral origin group. What do you all think of this idea?
That neutrality is somewhat covered by the Fey, alignment-wise. And they do have bestial options.
Aasimar also have their Protector, Scourge, and Fallen options to reflect the varying states of alignment.
There is a wealth of lore within the Upper Planes that I think can, and should, be addressed with the Ardling. I look forward to designing NPC’s for these settings, now that some structure has been presented.
My first impression to animal headed celestials was something along the lines of Egyptian gods. Granted, The Egyptian pantheon spreads a bit wider than Ardlings do.
The only real issue I have with the Ardlings is the Angelic Flight trait. It feels like it doesn't fit.
Personally, I'd rather they have something like "Detect good and evil" without concentration for 10 minutes as a bonus action (proficiency bonus per long rest). "Celestial Sight".
Leave the angelic wings to the Aasimar.
Edit: Just to clarify, the ability is fine, I just look at it and it feels like there could have been something better, but if it makes it to the printer, I'm good.
Ehhhhhh, only one of the Aasimar variants actually gets flight, and even then it works differently from form how the Ardling currently works, so I think it'll be fine. Although, it does make me wonder about that Totally-Not-A-Modron-We-Swear that came out in the previous UA...
It's one of the most exciting thing in the play test material. One of my player came with the idea of a druid humanoid with demonic dad and celestial fox mother. I was initially battling to find how to make that work clearly with dnd. With the ardling I now have a clear path of a half tifeling (abyssal or chthonic) half ardling (idyllic) character. I'll make the PC appear human and have a trait that allows or force him to have a tifeling or ardling appearance depending of particular conditions. Pretty fun stuff with major internal conflict in alignement and hermit background.
I get the feeling Ardling are meant to replace and improve asimar, but with out truly replacing them. As a animal headed celestials are far less Angelic in straight viewing. Allowing for more player options. But from what I am hearing there is a Half race rule that lets you chose any race keep it traits and merge its visuals with another race. That means asimar are just half human ardlings, or angels your choice.
If the notion was to have a polar opposite to the tiefling…sure, I get that. Humanoid-looking celestial to mirror the humanoid-looking infernal. A bit bland, maybe, but sometimes you want to be a tad more grounded.
That's the reason I'd actually welcome ardlings replacing aasimar. Aasimar always felt like they were made just because there had to be some counterpart to tieflings, they were secondary, lacking individuality, identity. Even though I'm definitely not into playing as an angelic furry, I see ardlings as an uograde to aasimar lore- and flavor-wise. Now, they still have to be tuned to get back to Mordenkainen aasimar level of sheer power with their healing hands and revelation.
Dog races, cat races, bird races... I guess it seems fun in a pokemon game. But these oddball worlds based off of children's cartoons and everquest never really held any fun for me in games or in literature. It seems like a utopian world were there are 150 races that no one can see a difference in does appeal to certain crowds, it just never takes off well in a serious game or decent novel or movie. For me, story telling is king, and I prefer things to be cohesive and logical. As far as playable races, I always preferred simple well fleshed out races that have bonuses and hinderances. And if there were occasional needs for flavor, something could be tailored to the player level and adapted, but for every bonus there is a hinderance.
I am definitely not a fan of every character deserves a chance and should be unkillable.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
I like what I'm seeing with the Ardling - it feels very Planescape to me. If they are planning on (finally) updating some of the Celestial creatures, like Archons and Guardinals, then it also makes sense. To draw on Planescape, I could see the Ardling looking like this:
or maybe this:
or somewhere in between the two. And maybe that is actually the plan.
Well, it’s like WotC read my mind, and decided to take the whole thing to the next level!
For those not aware; today WotC released a big announcement regarding the next year or so of D&D…including new book releases, plans to refine the existing rule-books, and so forth….check it out. It’s pretty exciting stuff.
Among it all, was an Unearthed Arcana focusing on Races, Backgrounds and Feats…and among the many tweaks to existing player races; WotC also granted us a brand-new player race, the Ardling!
Before diving into the new race, I just want to put this out there: I, as well as a decent amount of players, had been clamoring for a dog-race in D&D for some time…I mean, we’ve gotten hippo, frog, birds, rabbit, lizards, fish, and no less than two feline-folk races…it was feeling like “man’s best friend” was getting left in the dust.
I had even written-up a draft for a celestial-type dog folk race as a homebrew; basing it off the hound archons of the Upper Planes. Well, it seems I needn’t of bothered, because WotC decided to not just provide some lore for archons; but essentially every animal-based celestial creature.
Let’s take a look:
Description - 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 has a head 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, as well as the ability to manifest spectral wings. An ardling’s moral and ethical outlook is self-determined, however, not fixed by ancestry.
The three celestial legacies are as follows:
Exalted - The fierce passions of Arborea, the heroic heart of Ysgard, and the wondrous nature of the Beastlands call to ardlings who have the Exalted celestial legacy. Their celestial ancestors are heroic champions of the Chaotic Good planes.
Heavenly - The blissful harmony of Arcadia, the unwavering justice of Mount Celestia, and the bucolic paradise of Bytopia touch the souls of ardlings who have the Heavenly celestial legacy. Their celestial ancestors are staunch defenders of the Lawful Good planes.
Idyllic - The Idyllic celestial legacy connects ardlings not only to the Beastlands and Bytopia but also to the eternal compassion of Elysium. Their celestial ancestors are paragons of kindness who hail from the Neutral Good planes.
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 have these special traits.
Angelic Flight. As a Bonus Action, you sprout
spectral wings for a moment and fly up to a number of feet equal to your Speed. If you are in the air at the end of this movement, you fall if nothing is holding you aloft.
You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.*
Celestial Legacy. You are the recipient of a celestial legacy that grants you magical abilities. Choose a legacy from the Celestial Legacies table: Exalted, associated with Chaotic Good planes; Heavenly, associated with Lawful Good planes; or Idyllic, associated with Neutral Good planes.
You gain the initial benefit of the chosen legacy: a cantrip that you learn. You also choose the animal you most closely resemble; the table provides a few suggestions for each legacy (you don’t gain wings by choosing an animal that can fly).
Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you gain the ability to cast a higher-level Spell with this trait, as shown on the table. Once you cast the Spell with this trait, you can’t cast that Spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest; however, you can cast the Spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the legacy).
Damage Resistance. You have Resistance to Radiant Damage.
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.
You know, it’s not for me…. But my son is thrilled with the idea. About a week ago he and I put together an aasimar/divine soul sorcerer… but tonight we’re going to rework this character into an ardling. Whether or not I ever want to make one, I’ll love it because I get to share it with someone I love.
My hype sort of centers around a while back when I was doing some research into the Upper Planes…I went in expecting your typical angelic creatures…you know, angel wings, halos, lots of glowing and whatnot…
…and then, boom: a mean-looking dog warrior, with blood-red skin, brandishing a greatsword, with a description that stated that hound archons like to pummel their enemies with their fists.
It was far more heavy-metal than I expected, and easily became my favorite monsters…since that point, I’d brainstormed character concepts based around a celestial character who trains to join the ranks of the hound archons.
The Ardling provides a nice opportunity to bring that concept forward, finally.
Not fully decided on this yet, but my initial response to ardlings is not completely a positive one. I like the concept, but I'm not understanding why you would remove the aasimir from this position which it had already claimed. To me, have the tieflings be the evil origin group, the aasimir be the good evil group (expanding/repositioning them to reflect the lawful/neutral/chaotic aspects), and perhaps move the ardlings to cover a neutral origin group. What do you all think of this idea?
Aasimar we’re not removed; they got their update in “Monsters of the Multiverse”.
Technically, aasimar we’re not originally in the Players Handbook to begin with.
If the notion was to have a polar opposite to the tiefling…sure, I get that. Humanoid-looking celestial to mirror the humanoid-looking infernal. A bit bland, maybe, but sometimes you want to be a tad more grounded.
However, I think the Ardling deserves a seat at the table…it’s the old artwork of the previous editions, but I’ve seen a hound archon stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a planetar. Kind of makes me think they deserve an equal status, as far as the player races go.
Even on the tiefling side of things, the new Abyssal and Cthonic options provide the Infernal-equivalent of a more beast-like or insectoid player character.
I like the added space for players to flex their creative juices…so long as the DM permits it so, of course.
That neutrality is somewhat covered by the Fey, alignment-wise. And they do have bestial options.
Aasimar also have their Protector, Scourge, and Fallen options to reflect the varying states of alignment.
There is a wealth of lore within the Upper Planes that I think can, and should, be addressed with the Ardling. I look forward to designing NPC’s for these settings, now that some structure has been presented.
I see where you’re coming from, but Ardlings suit my purposes better as written. Same probably goes for the OP if I guess rightly.
I get the impression that Wizards are still experimenting with the idea for the ideal playable celestial. I remember Aasimars from back in 3.5. In 4 they changed it over to Deva’s with a completely different origin. They went back to Aasimar, but they’re obviously still not content given they keep on wandering away. Tieflings on the other hand have been stable.
granted, you can have an aasimar origin without it even being an aasimar with a divine soul sorcerer.
My first impression to animal headed celestials was something along the lines of Egyptian gods. Granted, The Egyptian pantheon spreads a bit wider than Ardlings do.
The only real issue I have with the Ardlings is the Angelic Flight trait. It feels like it doesn't fit.
Personally, I'd rather they have something like "Detect good and evil" without concentration for 10 minutes as a bonus action (proficiency bonus per long rest). "Celestial Sight".
Leave the angelic wings to the Aasimar.
Edit: Just to clarify, the ability is fine, I just look at it and it feels like there could have been something better, but if it makes it to the printer, I'm good.
Ehhhhhh, only one of the Aasimar variants actually gets flight, and even then it works differently from form how the Ardling currently works, so I think it'll be fine. Although, it does make me wonder about that Totally-Not-A-Modron-We-Swear that came out in the previous UA...
Not gonna lie, I'm fine with all the mechanics but hated the animal heads lmao Mostly cause it's not my thing.
I still think it's weird Aasimar is put far away from the spotlight while tiefling (which I love) get more highlight as a base ancestry option.
I am not a fan. We have the Aasimar. I feel like the two races overlap.
It's one of the most exciting thing in the play test material. One of my player came with the idea of a druid humanoid with demonic dad and celestial fox mother. I was initially battling to find how to make that work clearly with dnd. With the ardling I now have a clear path of a half tifeling (abyssal or chthonic) half ardling (idyllic) character. I'll make the PC appear human and have a trait that allows or force him to have a tifeling or ardling appearance depending of particular conditions. Pretty fun stuff with major internal conflict in alignement and hermit background.
I get the feeling Ardling are meant to replace and improve asimar, but with out truly replacing them. As a animal headed celestials are far less Angelic in straight viewing. Allowing for more player options. But from what I am hearing there is a Half race rule that lets you chose any race keep it traits and merge its visuals with another race. That means asimar are just half human ardlings, or angels your choice.
That's the reason I'd actually welcome ardlings replacing aasimar. Aasimar always felt like they were made just because there had to be some counterpart to tieflings, they were secondary, lacking individuality, identity. Even though I'm definitely not into playing as an angelic furry, I see ardlings as an uograde to aasimar lore- and flavor-wise. Now, they still have to be tuned to get back to Mordenkainen aasimar level of sheer power with their healing hands and revelation.
Dog races, cat races, bird races... I guess it seems fun in a pokemon game. But these oddball worlds based off of children's cartoons and everquest never really held any fun for me in games or in literature. It seems like a utopian world were there are 150 races that no one can see a difference in does appeal to certain crowds, it just never takes off well in a serious game or decent novel or movie. For me, story telling is king, and I prefer things to be cohesive and logical. As far as playable races, I always preferred simple well fleshed out races that have bonuses and hinderances. And if there were occasional needs for flavor, something could be tailored to the player level and adapted, but for every bonus there is a hinderance.
I am definitely not a fan of every character deserves a chance and should be unkillable.
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
Excuse me, my games with 150 races are very much set in the apocalypse, thank you very much! =P
I like what I'm seeing with the Ardling - it feels very Planescape to me. If they are planning on (finally) updating some of the Celestial creatures, like Archons and Guardinals, then it also makes sense. To draw on Planescape, I could see the Ardling looking like this:
or maybe this:
or somewhere in between the two. And maybe that is actually the plan.
Wizards of the Coast has actually unveiled a lot more about the Ardling in their newest Unearthed Arcana update (which is part of their ongoing One D&D playtest), which is a bit different than what you list here. You can check it out here: https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/one-dnd/cleric-and-revised-species/tr8jAj5cc33uQixi/UA-2022-ClericandSpecies.pdf
If you don't feel like digging through the PDF (which covers a bunch of other additions), there's also a pretty good summary of the Ardling here from the website Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics: https://dungeonsanddragonsfan.com/2022/12/05/ardling-one-dnd-news/
Can't help but wonder if this is WotC way of moving away from a Judeo-Christian / Euro concept of an angel to a more world-friendly theme...