D&D (2024) All about Ardlings

[Chaosmancer]

Honestly, I just was compiling changes to all my DnD stuff, and looked back over Aasimar.

It is rather trivial to reflavor them to fit to this three-fold method. It just requires losing the goth aesthetic of the Necrotic shroud. Once you do that...

Beastlands and Ysgard -> Necrotic (Bestial) Shroud -> Fear my Glory!

Arcadia and Elysium -> Radiant Soul -> Winged Angel Compassion

Mount Celestia and Bytopia -> Radiant Consumption -> Burn in the Light of Justice!


and more interesting than the spells

 

[Marandahir]

None of the above.

This is not a Tabaxi or Loxodon or Minotaur or Giff or Tortle or Lizardfolk or Aarakocra or Locathah, etc (bipedal talking animal that acts something like a Human but with some alien mindsets).

Nor is it an anime dog or cat girl / furry - a humanoid being with a tail and animal ears on their head to tweak and say Osuwari! (Sit Boy!) to.

This is a fully humanoid body with a fully animal head. Many mythologies, not just Egyptian, have this sort of being. I think of how Raven is depicted in many Northwest First Nations stories, for example.

I also think of the Aztec and Mayan deities, and many animal-headed Japanese Kami too.

My first thought was to have a class of 12 Guardinals/Archons based the Chinese Zodiac, each with their own descendant Ardlings walking the Earth and representing them.

Aasimar are descendants of Angels and Humanoids. Ardlings are descended from the other Celestial alignment representatives. Angels don’t have an alignment other than good. Archons are LG (Heavenly), Guardinals are NG (Idyllic), and Pre-4e Eladrin we’re CG Outsiders (Exalted).

Given that we have Glitchlings in the other UA representing LN and Mechanus, and Tieflings of the three lower plane alignments, I imagine they’re (1) going to create a CN equivalent of Ardlings, Tieflings, and Glitchlings that come from Limbo (or just say that’s the Plasmoids in Planescape!!); (2) create a new CG Celestial people to represent Arborea, Ysgard, and the Beastlands and replace Eladrin; and (3) create an overarching evil Fiendish being that parallels Angels and isn’t necessarily Infernal, Abyssal, or Cthonic. Maybe even creating a parallel to Aasimar in the process (Rakshashas and Rakaastas, perhaps? I know they MIGHT be Arcanoloths, but… oh, or what about Clowns?! ;D)

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

For all of the instant hook that egyptian deities give Ardlings, they can also have 'soft fur or downy feathers', so you are full within the provided racial description to just make things as furry as you want.

Or pick a dragon as your animal, sprinkle some scales in, learn Draconic and bluff that you're just your everyday Dragonborn.

 

[Marandahir]

For all of the instant hook that egyptian deities give Ardlings, they can also have 'soft fur or downy feathers', so you are full within the provided racial description to just make things as furry as you want.

Fair enough. Tieflings are also no longer locked into being red skinned with devil horns and a non-prehensile tail whose ancestry is from the nobility of Bael Turath. There SHOULD be room for flexibility.

And to your point (and against mine), Guardinals were more Furry than the Egyptian Godlike Hound Archons.

 

[Parmandur]

None of the above.

This is not a Tabaxi or Loxodon or Minotaur or Giff or Tortle or Lizardfolk or Aarakocra or Locathah, etc (bipedal talking animal that acts something like a Human but with some alien mindsets).

Nor is it an anime dog or cat girl / furry - a humanoid being with a tail and animal ears on their head to tweak and say Osuwari! (Sit Boy!) to.

This is a fully humanoid body with a fully animal head. Many mythologies, not just Egyptian, have this sort of being. I think of how Raven is depicted in many Northwest First Nations stories, for example.

I also think of the Aztec and Mayan deities, and many animal-headed Japanese Kami too.

My first thought was to have a class of 12 Guardinals/Archons based the Chinese Zodiac, each with their own descendant Ardlings walking the Earth and representing them.

Aasimar are descendants of Angels and Humanoids. Ardlings are descended from the other Celestial alignment representatives. Angels don’t have an alignment other than good. Archons are LG (Heavenly), Guardinals are NG (Idyllic), and Pre-4e Eladrin we’re CG Outsiders (Exalted).

Given that we have Glitchlings in the other UA representing LN and Mechanus, and Tieflings of the three lower plane alignments, I imagine they’re (1) going to create a CN equivalent of Ardlings, Tieflings, and Glitchlings that come from Limbo (or just say that’s the Plasmoids in Planescape!!); (2) create a new CG Celestial people to represent Arborea, Ysgard, and the Beastlands and replace Eladrin; and (3) create an overarching evil Fiendish being that parallels Angels and isn’t necessarily Infernal, Abyssal, or Cthonic. Maybe even creating a parallel to Aasimar in the process (Rakshashas and Rakaastas, perhaps? I know they MIGHT be Arcanoloths, but… oh, or what about Clowns?! ;D)

I'm personally not a furry, but the idea of Egyptian god style animal headed people immediately struck me as aestheticly interesting and distinctive.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

From what I recall of the pictures of the guardinals in 2e, they were more "that guy makes me think of a lion" in the same way that people resemble their pets than "that guy literally has a dog head for a head", which always worked with how I saw NG.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Guardinals varied in how animal-like they appear, I'll bring up again for Equinals (the Horse Guardinals), about how some Equinals look like Bojack Horseman, and how other Equinals look like Sarah Jessica Parker.

 

[Corinnguard]

I'm personally not a furry, but the idea of Egyptian god style animal headed people immediately struck me as aestheticly interesting and distinctive.

The Egyptian gods were certainly that. However, a furry would find them more appealing if they looked decidedly more anthropomorphic.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cc/52/ad/cc52ad23d0405905df2c711934af52ea.jpg Kind of like these guys.

 

[Marandahir]

The Egyptian gods were certainly that. However, a furry would find them more appealing if they looked decidedly more anthropomorphic.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cc/52/ad/cc52ad23d0405905df2c711934af52ea.jpg Kind of like these guys.

Is that from Amonkhet? Magic artwork keeps on giving…

 

[Corinnguard]

Is that from Amonkhet? Magic artwork keeps on giving…

No, it's from a computer game called Smite. In this game, you get to play a deity fighting against other deities and their minions.

Here's the YouTube clip that has Horus in it.