D&D (2024) All about Ardlings

[HammerMan]

did she choose medium or small and what linage? I don't see skunk under suggestions

She just asked “can I be like a..” and she went with th one that gets Thaumaturgy as her cantrip.

Edit: I don’t know if she is small or medium.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Guardinals the original inspiration for Ardlings had a variance between less animal-like or more animal-like. Tony DiTerlizzi who was the first one to draw Guardinals was able to convey Guardinals that were human featured with some subtler animals features. The problem is that just about every artist after Tony DiTerlizzi conveys them as being full on animal like. I know Hound Archons and Warden Archons have always been full-on animal like, and Sword Archon has changed a bunch between editions, but the Guardinals weren't completely.

I'm strongly of the opinion that Ardlings should just be a legacy/lineage of Aasimar. And that PHB Aasimar should have as it's legacies Protector, Ardling and maybe Reincarnate (aka 4e Deva). As for Ardlings themselves, they should probably take more after DiTerlizzi's example for the Guardinals.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

OT rant - I'm a bit irked that WoTC keeps on adding more and more species to the huge list of choices, yet they won't grandfather half elves or half orcs (in their original "form")

We honestly don't know that they won't. As much as I personally don't care, I suspect that this choice won't go down well in playtest feedback and they'll throw them back in. If ANYTHING is truly a "test" to use the playtest to gage player reaction, THIS one is probably it. And the most likely that they already have a plan to walk-back on.

The "half everything else" sidebar should probably be kept. But Half-Elf and Half-Orc should probably stay in the PHB. And probably will.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Cause in the other thread about his playtest he says she is new, like never even heard of D&D before seeing it on stranger things... so she went and did what took me 2 or 3 character creations before I could... made it her own and went without using examples... so I was wondering is all.

Kids can be really open to that sort of thing. (As can new players). It should be encouraged!

 

[beancounter]

We honestly don't know that they won't. As much as I personally don't care, I suspect that this choice won't go down well in playtest feedback and they'll throw them back in. If ANYTHING is truly a "test" to use the playtest to gage player reaction, THIS one is probably it. And the most likely that they already have a plan to walk-back on.

The "half everything else" sidebar should probably be kept. But Half-Elf and Half-Orc should probably stay in the PHB. And probably will.

Thanks, I appreciate your encouraging words ,but I get the feeling that petitioning WOTC for half elves and orcs is like petitioning NASA for Pluto

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Thanks, I appreciate your encouraging words ,but I get the feeling that petitioning WOTC for half elves and orcs is like petitioning NASA for Pluto

Poor Pluto - though I defend that choice by pointing out that Pluto IS still a planet - it's just a Dwarf Planet, and has a whole lot of company in that category. In a lot of ways, the solar system is just more interesting for the variety. It's not so much that we've got 8 planets instead of 9 now, it's that we have 8 "planets" and 5+ "dwarf planets".

That doesn't seem like a loss to me.

(This attitude can be applied to D&D, so it's not as much of a tangent as it appears).

 

[Yaarel]

Is it "legal" for an ardling character to have a human head and play it somewhat like an awsimar?

I think it is legal in the sense that a human is an animal (but not a Beast). Thus is a rules-as-written possibility for appearance.

I feel the player can choose any appearance from completely beast to completely human and any transition between.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Is it "legal" for an ardling character to have a human head and play it somewhat like an awsimar?

I think it is legal in the sense that a human is an animal (but not a Beast). Thus is a rules-as-written possibility for appearance.

Sure, why not?

 

[Minigiant]

First thing I thought was Anubis Grave Clerics.

Full on animal head

 

[ClockworkNinja]

Is it "legal" for an ardling character to have a human head and play it somewhat like an awsimar?

I think so- a half-ardling with human features would work with RAW.

IMO the mechanical features currently on ardling would be a good start for aasimar anyway.

If I could suggest a change, I might like to see a staged upgrade to the flight mechanic- eg at low tier you can glide if you fall or jump from a height, at mid teir you have the singe-turn flight currently described in the playtest, and at high tier you can just fly.