D&D (2024) Ardlings, Shifter and Hengeyokai as different variations on animal people

[Lojaan]

Yeah but you keep reinforcing my point - nearly all of these are non western myth.

The western stuff is "a person who is sometimes depicted as having an animal head, sometimes" and we only have a handful of examples.

 

[Lojaan]

Okay. Does Reynard the Fox count?

Nope. Not a god

 

[Incenjucar]

Literally cave art has a bird-headed man.

 

[Cadence]

When did a God become a race?

Can I play as a Ilmater, or Shiva?

I assume if your DM let's you, although I'm not sure why one would jump to that instead of the poster having left a word out (maybe "like Egyptian gods"), especially given that they then say "These look like agents of the Gods rather than natural or fey peoples."

 

[Cadence]

Yeah but you keep reinforcing my point - nearly all of these are non western myth.

The western stuff is "a person who is sometimes depicted as having an animal head, sometimes" and we only have a handful of examples.

Edit: Missed the part where you explicitly wanted animal headed gods. Given the universality of animal heads in general in myth and folklore, it feels like making more godlike beings with them isn't particularly squashing any real world faiths to me. ymmv

-----

See cat person above from Germany.

See section on Western Middle ages at Cynocephaly - Wikipedia

Nuutti Pukki from Finland nuuttipukki – whytodayisbrilliant

And I'm assuming Google will turn up more from Europe if there is a specific number of examples we need.

 

[mellored]

I assume if your DM let's you, although I'm not sure why one would jump to that instead of the poster having left a word out (maybe "like Egyptian gods"), especially given that they then say "These look like agents of the Gods rather than natural or fey peoples."

Humans with animals heads never looked like agents of gods to me.

I mean, they could certainly be clerics. But I don't see anything inherently divine about a bird head. No more than a boar head being a barbarians.

 

[Mecheon]

I mean, they could certainly be clerics. But I don't see anything inherently divine about a bird head. No more than a boar head being a barbarians.

Aside from the fact D&D's had animal angels for yonks (Guardinals), It is showing they are part of two worlds. Not constrained to just humanity or just being an animal

Sphinx were similar but in a different direction, hence the human head on an animal body

 

[Raith5]

I much prefer the shifter - lycanthrope angle far better than the celestial - ardling angle. I just think it has a more compelling potential. For me the key is being to think of this ancestry being linked into the world in some meaningful cultural and historical way so that it enables PC build on it - rather than the PC in question being a rare weird animal person.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'm fine with them all being sub-races.

But Ardling should be fey.

Given their lore and the fact that making them fey steps in other races with feywild ties toes they should have the celestial creature type.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I much prefer the shifter - lycanthrope angle far better than the celestial - ardling angle. I just think it has a more compelling potential. For me the key is being to think of this ancestry being linked into the world in some meaningful cultural and historical way so that it enables PC build on it - rather than the PC in question being a rare weird animal person.

I kind of like the tie to Beast Lords particularly. I still want aasimar in the PHB.