Can a former Aarakocra turned lineage fly while wearing armor?

Question

The ancestral legacy trait states:

If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it.

while the Flight trait of an Aarakocra states:

You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Does the restriction from the Flight trait also apply to the new lineage?

I would say that RAW a lineage can fly while wearing (medium/heavy) armor because the Ancestral lineage trait doesn't say that you keep the trait that grants/granted you your speed but only the speed itself. At the same time I think that this is probably not RAI.

Would this assumption be correct?

Answer 1

The flight speed should include the restriction

It makes no sense thematically or for balance for a reborn Aarakocra to be better at flying than a standard, living Aarakocra. Unfortunately, it is likely that the designers did not take Aarakocra into account when designing the reborn lineage, and a very strict reading may indicate otherwise.

Unclear wording means that you should talk to your DM

Contrast the Aarakocra with the Tabaxi. The trait that gives the Aarakocra flight also gives it a restriction on that flight. Meanwhile, the trait that gives Tabaxi its climb speed also grants claw attacks. In my opinion, the intent would be for the Tabaxi to have its climb speed, but not claw attacks, and the Aarakocra to have its flight speed including the restriction.

Thankfully, the DM is there to handle this kind of inconsistency. Either way, when using lineage like this, you should work closely with the DM to make sure you are both on the same page.

Answer 2

An Aarakocra does not have a fly speed while wearing medium or heavy armor, so there is no fly speed while wearing medium or heavy armor to inherit.

The Aaracokra's Flight feature states:

You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Therefore, while wearing medium or heavy armor, an Aarakocra does not have a fly speed. You only have a flying speed while you are not wearing medium or heavy armor. Ancestral Legacy states:

you can keep...any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it

Since an Aarakocra definitively does not have a fly speed while wearing medium or heavy armor, there is no fly speed while wearing medium or heavy armor to gain from the race.

Therefore, an Aarakocra who takes a lineage retains their fly speed, but only while they are not wearing medium or heavy armor.

This makes sense from a game balance perspective.

The Aarakocra's flight is known to be a very strong feature, and the rest of its racial features are balanced against this. The lineage introduces a new set of racial features that have not been balanced against having a feature as strong as 50 feet flying, much less 50 feet flying in heavy armor.

Answer 3

Your new race inherits the fly speed, without the fly condition of your previous race

As you pointed out in the Ancestral Legacy feature, the speed is what copied over to the new race, not the feature that gave you that speed. Thus by RAW you are correct and you would no longer have the Aarakocra armor limitation imposed on your fly speed, since that was a condition specific to the Aarokocra.