D&D (2024) All about Ardlings

[Parmandur]

Only animal Tieflings I know of are Rakshasa spawn which is only way for playable tiger folk.

Theybare deacribed in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, as Mulan aristocracy descended from the Pharonoc gods.

 

[aco175]

Not a good video of the scene, but most will get it.

 

[aco175]

Forgot about this pronunciation from the TV show.

 

[humble minion]

which also ties into why I think a big part of Ardlings is "Aasimar don't have that Consistent Visual Theme"

Wasn't the reason that tieflings became all uniform in appearance (roughly in the 4e era) because WotC wanted them trademarkable (or copyright, or whatever, IANAL), and they were told by the legal department that they couldn't do this with the old Planescape tieflings that could look like absolutely anything?

Bit strange they'd be introducing a new race that's widely varied in appearance, in that light i would have thought.

 

[Corinnguard]

Wasn't the reason that tieflings became all uniform in appearance (roughly in the 4e era) because WotC wanted them trademarkable (or copyright, or whatever, IANAL), and they were told by the legal department that they couldn't do this with the old Planescape tieflings that could look like absolutely anything?

Bit strange they'd be introducing a new race that's widely varied in appearance, in that light i would have thought.

Their uniform appearance was more or less due to their common origin in 4e. From Wikipedia:

In the setting of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, the tieflings trace their origins to the ancient human Empire of Bael Turath. In the Empire, the noble class was completely obsessed with preserving and gaining power. Rumors of their schemes and obsession with power reached a realm called the Nine Hells, located around the Astral Sea. The devils that resided in the Nine Hells gave the ruling classes of Bael Turath visions while they slept, containing the directions for a grisly, month-long ritual that would extend their rule into eternity. The details of the ritual have been left unclear in the books from the Player's Handbook series describing the events, though it is described as being very horrible. As the ritual demanded the participation of every noble house, those that refused were wholly slaughtered. Once this was done, the ruling class began their ritual. Afterwards, devils from the Nine Hells began to appear, and the nobles gladly made pacts with them. These pacts gave power to the nobles and their descendants forever, but also gave them the devilish features of horns, non-prehensile tails, sharp teeth, and red skin. From that point forward, the former humans were the race known as the tieflings.

In 5th edition, the overlord of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus, is cited as the ancestral source of their devilish features.

The Aasimar or Devas as they were called in 4e also had something of a common origin. By 5th edition they were essentially the product of angels (even though there were other kinds of Celestials in D&D).

 

[humble minion]

Their uniform appearance was more or less due to their common origin in 4e.

That was the in-universe explanation, sure, but the underlying reason for both the uniform appearance and common origin was the desire to make them a more easily defendable IP.

 

[Yaarel]

That was the in-universe explanation, sure, but the underlying reason for both the uniform appearance and common origin was the desire to make them a more easily defendable IP.

It is entirely about the IP, including "brand name recognition", for licensing.

However, when imposing the IP too heavyhandedly, it impedes DM worldbuilding and homebrewing.

There needs to be ways to move the IP details into the official setting guides, while leaving the core rules as open as possible. The DM needs to use the core rules easily − for the homebrew setting too.

 

[Corinnguard]

That was the in-universe explanation, sure, but the underlying reason for both the uniform appearance and common origin was the desire to make them a more easily defendable IP.

What is IP? curious

 

[humble minion]

What is IP? curious

Intellectual Property, sorry.

Basically, WotC wanted to make their tieflings visually distinct so they were unique enough to stake a legal claim on them as creative property.

 

[Corinnguard]

Intellectual Property, sorry.

Basically, WotC wanted to make their tieflings visually distinct so they were unique enough to stake a legal claim on them as creative property.

It's cool. The Tieflings in 4e and 5e are certainly distinctive with regards to their appearance. So is WoTC bringing in the Ardlings into 1D&D for the sole purpose of making them IP too?

This bit of news makes me appreciate the Aasimar and the Tieflings even more in Pathfinder 1st edition. As you could play a generic Aasimar or Tiefling, or you could play as one from specific heritage in that RPG.