Get it? Because their spinal cord and ribcage are fused into a shell, making it seem like they don't have a spine but in fact they do and– I think I made my point.
Tortles were released into the D&D world with two (arguably three if you want to start an AC debate) issues. Firstly, their lifespans are not reasonable for a chelonian race. Whilst real world chelonians do have lifespans within the 50 year range (e.g. C. mydas lives around 80 years, D. coriacea estimates range between 30-80 years), turtles are commonly depicted as long lived (predominantly due to the lifespan of species such as C. nigra and M. temminckii), and an opportunity for a race with longevity rivalling elves was poorly missed here.
The second issue is one that is not unique to the tortle but will inevitably be one that shapes their role in D&D games: they lack cultural variation and identity that makes them unique and interesting options for players. I can almost guarantee that the first time most people meet tortle NPCs, they will be on one island, all have one way of life, and be present so that DMs can tick off another race on their checklists and players have somewhere they can call home and never go to so that they can play their totally original idea for an adolescent tortle monk.
Let's try and remedy that.
