Dungeons & Dragons Dumps Controversial Species

By Christian Hoffer

Dungeons & Dragons' 2024 Player's Handbook won't contain a controversial new species. In a video released today by Wizards of the Coast, D&D lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford stated that the Ardlings, a proposed species with celestial origins and animal heads, did not test well in the most recent playtest. "There are a lot of fans of the Ardling, but the Ardlings' time has not yet come," Crawford said. "The Ardling is moving out of the playtest for now and maybe in some future year we will return [to them]." 

"The real miss was context for people," Crawford said later in the video. "And we get it – this is a storytelling game. And the ardling felt a bit too much like it came out of nowhere. As enchanted as we are by these animalfolk with celestial origins, the place to introduce them is a place where we can provide more story context for them and their entry into the multiverse. They won't be in the Player's Handbook, but that does not mean they won't visit us in some future date." 

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The other species in the playtest – the dragonborn and the goliath – were much more favorably reviewed by playtesters. Crawford also noted that the revised Cleric class, especially the Holy Orders that provide some additional customization, received good reviews, but that the design team would continue to dig into the details on feedback. The video also noted that they were using feedback of design features that received high scores to make sure that they were making the right decisions. For instance, the Jump action introduced in a previous playtest received high scores but mostly mediocre commentary, and thus the D&D design team is moving on from that action. Future playtests will also include lists of rules and mechanics that are being cut from the playtest or modified for clarity's sake. While discussing that list, Crawford also noted that the "Eldritch Blast" cantrip currently does not appear in the Arcane spell list because they are considering making that spell a Warlock class feature. 

Crawford also stated that the next Unearthed Arcana playtest will focus on the Druid and the Paladin classes and will be released tomorrow, February 23rd. After that, Unearthed Arcana playtests might be released more infrequently but will have much more material. The subsequent Unearthed Arcana playtest will be released in April to provide more time for feedback. 

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