Tiefling (tee-fling)
Thieves, liars, murderers... outcasts
"Man or demon? Mortal or monster? This is the conflicting reality a tiefling must live in. And while they struggle for their place in this world, the world is all too keen in keeping them from it."
The subject of uneasy stares and judgement, sufferers of violence and discrimination; that is the reality of one who bears the blood of a tiefling. None truly know where these odd people came from, but some are glad enough to tell you stories of their lineage. A popular old wives' tale says that it was a punishment from the gods above; some say that they're monsters that gained sapience; some say they're aliens from a different plane. But none could truly say for sure where these demonic-looking beings come from. But one thing is for certain: the entirety of the world does not seem to welcome them.
Player Options
Tiefling
- Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.
- Age. Tieflings mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years longer.
- Alignment. Tieflings might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but many of them end up there. Evil or not, an independent nature inclines many tieflings toward a chaotic alignment.
- Size. Tieflings are about the same size and build as humans. Your size is Medium.
- Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision. Thanks to your infernal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
- Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal.
Feral Tiefling
Tieflings are sometimes born with powerful demonic blood and oftentimes look much more demon than they do their racial ancestry. As a feral tiefling, your lineage does you no favors with the societies of Alluvia, but your speed and cunning is almost animalistic.
- Appearance. Your tiefling might not look like other tieflings. Rather than having the physical characteristics described in the Player's Handbook, choose 1d4 + 1 of the following features: small horns; fangs or sharp teeth; a forked tongue; catlike eyes; six fingers on each hand; goat-like legs; cloven hoofs; a forked tail; leathery or scaly skin; red or dark blue skin; cast no shadow or reflection; exude a smell of brimstone; exhibit a hunched back; claw-like fingernails.
- Feral. Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 2. This trait replaces the Ability Score Increase trait.
- Devil's Tongue. You know the Vicious Mockery cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Charm Person spell once as a 2nd-level spell. Once you reach 5th level, you can also cast the Enthrall spell once. You must finish a long rest to cast these spells again with this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. This trait replaces the Infernal Legacy trait.
- Hellfire. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Burning Hands spell once as a 2nd-level spell. This trait replaces the Hellish Rebuke spell of the Infernal Legacy trait.
- Winged. You have bat-like wings sprouting from your shoulders. You have a flying speed of 30 feet while you aren’t wearing heavy armor. This trait replaces the Infernal Legacy trait.
- Monstrous. You are able to morph your appearance into a monstrous, demonic form. Your voice becomes deeper and coarser to that effect. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Infernal Legacies
All tieflings are said to share bloodlines of prominent demon lords of the Nine Hells. Your tiefling is descended from one these demon lords and takes on one of their bloodlines. Players may choose any Infernal Bloodline from any available Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook as well as Unearthed Arcanas and homebrew content (under DM's discretion.)
Basic Information
Anatomy
Possessing a similar body structure to most sapient races in Alluvia, humans are the closest that they resemble to. The only differences are that tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes: some have curling horns like a ram, others have straight and tall horns like a gazelle’s, and some spiral upward like an antelopes’ horns. They have thick tails, four to five feet long, which lash or coil around their legs when they get upset or nervous. They have pointed ears similar to that of a half-elf's; not sharp enough as an elf, but not completely rounded like a human's.
Their canine teeth are sharply pointed, and their eyes are either solid colors—black, red, white, silver, or gold—with no visible sclera or pupil. Some tieflings have eyes akin to humans (i.e. sclera with pupils). Their skin tones cover the full range of human coloration, but also include various shades of the entire color spectrum (e.g. red, blue, purple, white, black, etc). Their hair, cascading down from behind their horns, is usually dark, from black or brown to dark red, blue, or purple.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not just humans that tieflings descend from but also other races that are humanoid in nature. An example are the Drakenari tieflings, who directly descend from tieflings themselves but possess orcish and draconic bloodlines as well. There are also elves, dwarves, and halflings who possess the characteristics of a tiefling. Although unlike specific classifications like half-elf, half-dragon, or half-orc, they all encompass the terminology of tiefling. As most, if not all, heavily take on the demonic visage of most tieflings.
Genetics and Reproduction
Tieflings, like most mammals, reproduce sexually. A sexual union between one or more tieflings shall result in the birth of another tiefling. In the case of a mixed ancestry, half-tieflings will often inherit one or more features of their tiefling parent. Including but not limited to: tails, horns, non-human skin tones, etc. Tieflings only exist within the spectrum of anthropomorphic races in Alluvia (bi-pedal races like leonin and the like are included in this spectrum).
Growth Rate & Stages
Tieflings will generally mature at the same rate as their parent ancestry. So, in essence, tieflings with elven ancestry will mature at the same rate as elves; tieflings with human ancestry will mature at the same time as humans; and then the same as dwarves and other races. During early adolescence or puberty stages, depending on their parent ancestry, tieflings will experience physical changes in their appearance; such as growing of horn stubs, sharpening of canine teeth, the growing of a tail appendage, etc. Not all tieflings exhibit these extraneous features, some may just have an odd skin coloration but do not possess horns, tails or other features of their fiendish blood.
Ecology and Habitats
Like humans, one can find tieflings in almost all stretches of the world of Alluvia and can survive in different temperatures, climates, and ecological conditions. Tieflings in the world of Alluvia vary depending on their demonic ancestry, some tieflings are naturally cold-blooded resulting in them preferring more warmer climates, while some are warm-blooded and prefer colder climates. Some tieflings prefer the cover of complete darkness rather than the rays of sunlight. The variety of tiefling ancestry is quite diverse, most sub-races and ethnic groups have varying nuances that differentiate them apart.
But in general, most tieflings in Alluvia reside within cities where they mostly adopt a culture of debauchery. As unwanted members of society, tieflings naturally gravitate towards communities that regularly commit criminal activities such as thieves' guilds, bounty hunting enclaves and the like. City tieflings can be described as survivors, fighting to keep themselves fed everyday even if it means going against authorities.
While most of the race's culture tend to thrive in urbanized areas, there are tieflings that prefer the solitude of the wilderness to the bustling socio-cultural gravitas of the cities. Some tieflings separate themselves into tribes scattered all across Alluvia. Varying in physiology, tieflings can generally survive in all temperatures and climates; but some ethnic groups and evolutionary links like feral tieflings are said to be able to survive in the coldest reaches of the realm. Some tieflings also find their ideal habitats in sweltering deserts. These tribal tieflings are said to be hunter-gatherer cultures but some are raiding tribes and prefer to terrorize communities and pillage their land for resources.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The tiefling race largely does not have a social structure as most of their kind are individualists and wanderers that seek to journey off on their own. In that sense, most tieflings do not have family units; one can find many tiefling children given away to orphanages due to this. The life of one who bears tiefling blood is seeped in loneliness, which is why most tieflings turn to crime and anarchy as a means to break out of society's woes. While there are tribal tieflings in the olden times, they have all been extinguished over time by authoritative forces seeking to 'protect' their land from invaders. Only few tribes remain active at present.
In that regard, tieflings seek to find multi-racial groups of fellow outcasts to join with; such as thieves' guilds, criminal syndicates or any type of organization in that vein. Most flock towards the Free City of Crowhaven to make a name for themselves as individualist philosophy reigns above all within Crowhaven culture. Over the years, some join terrorist groups to wreak havoc on organized societies and kingdoms all across Alluvia, deeply tarnishing the tiefling race even more. However, most tieflings do not care as there is little to no sense of camaraderie shared between members of the race. For most tieflings, it is every man for themselves out there.
Facial characteristics
Tieflings possess facial features akin to their parent ancestry. Tieflings with human ancestry usually adopt human facial characteristics melded with fiendish features like horns and tails. While elven tieflings may adopt their elongated ears and possess antler like horns from birth, some may even develop hoofed feet depending on the elf's evolutionary line. Dwarven tieflings adopt their dwarven line's height as well as their uniquely shaped horns which mostly bulk their entire forehead. There are many other variations of tieflings depending on their lineage, location, and ancestry.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Tieflings, like humans, are distributed all over Alluvia. However, unlike them, most tieflings have no nation, no place to call home, except for one major ethnic group. So they are often wanderers and drifters in cities and communities, searching for their next meal ticket. In rarer cases, a tiefling chooses to settle and becomes part of a community.
One can find tieflings in most nations across Alluvia, the highest concentration of their population is in the nation of Solaria: an exclusively tiefling community that are guided by a deity by the moniker of the The Omnipotent One. Apart from
Average Intelligence
Tieflings, like most sapient races, have above average intelligence and have found themselves to be quite civilized. Tieflings are in essence ultimately just like their parent ancestors, whether they be human, elven or any other sapient race; they manage to think and feel in a way that their ancestral lineage does. The only difference is merely that they look fiendish.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Unlike humans, however, tieflings have the natural capability to see in darkness to about 60 ft. in distance. Apart from that, they possess the normal hearing, sight, and general senses that a human does.
Scientific Name
Daemo-homo sapiens
Lifespan
Dependent on racial ancestry
Average Height
152 to over 182 cm.
Average Weight
55 to over 120 kg.
Average Physique
Tieflings are largely a race that is filled with slim to muscular physiques. As a race that suffers from societal discrimination, it is quite rare for one to see tieflings in seats of power or in the higher echelons of society. Therefore, most tieflings are impoverished and hold quite the malnourished physique, resulting in slim bodies. But those who partake in unscrupulous activities like mercenary work keep themselves healthy enough to maintain a muscular physique.
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
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