Just starting up playing D&D again after a 15 year hiatus and stepping into a recently started homebrew campaign by a friend. It's modeled off of the Waterdeep setting (I think...I'm still learning my way around 5e). A cosmopolitan setting where early firearms are common-ish. The twist is that this world takes place entirely below-surface connected by an underwater ocean.
I was raised on 3.5e, so I'm excited about some of the nifty 5e features. No one in the party is an artificer, and given that this world is a little more tech-advanced than the standard high fantasy setting, an artificer seems like a great choice for the world. I'm also interested trying out a tiefling. In a submerged world that's exposed to the denizens of the underdark, a tiefling character makes a lot of sense.
What I can't wrap my head around though is the pairing: a tiefling artificer. I can't figure out a background to that pairing that "speaks to me" well enough that I think I could get into the roleplaying of it. I'd be interested in some thoughts about what makes a creature that has some connection to devils interested in the innovative dimensions of an artificer.
One option I'm thinking about is that this tiefling character despises the evil of devils brought on by personal experience and relationship to them. Infernal creatures aren't easily stopped by physical resistance. And clearly magic hasn't been effective at preventing their entrance into the material plane. So the character is trying to pioneer the union between invention and magic as a new way of fighting demons, devils, etc.
I feel like I'm about 60% of the way to an interesting character. But I'm not quite there. Any thoughts? FWIW, I think I'm going to make him an artillerist subclass, but I'd gladly go a different direction if something "fit" the character concept better.
Depends on how far you want to lean into the whole 'Spawn of Devils' angle, and whether that blood warps the character's thinking. If you want to really lean into Devilish Blood? Well. Devil's are creatures of order. Evil order, self-serving order, but order nonetheless. A devil will mislead, it will trick and bamboozle, it will withhold information, but devils do not actually tend to cheat, nor act chaotically.
Artifice is an ordered discipline. It binds magic into devices, forcing it to perform predictably and reliably. It's an art those who crave order and stability may well be drawn to. Wizardry is volatile, an extension of the caster's will. Artifice cannot achieve the same heights wizardry does, but it is more stable. A devil-tainted creature ostracized by society but that craves the structure society normally brings may turn to tinkering, inventing, and arcane machinery to try and fulfill that need. A Homunculus infusion could serve as a loyal companion that won't betray the tiefling the same way everyone else has, with the arcane firearm being a conduit to tame and control their infernal energies.
Or you could do something else entirely. That was just my first notion.
Well, if you can't figure out a good reason why your tiefling should be an artificers, maybe you shouldn't play your tiefling as an artificer?
That said, there is no reason what so ever why a tiefling couldn't be an artificer and it can probably be a lot of fun. The idea to fight the suernatural with technology is also well-proven classic that can work really well. What I would ask, if I were you, is what you really want from the race and class and how you can combine the two. Likey Yurei is alluding to, the whole "tieflings as devil spawns" isn't neccesarily a thing in 5E so you should probably talk to your DM on how that angle would fit best in the game.
Also, if you are dead set on playing a tiefling artificer I wouldn't worry too much about figuring out the perfect justification for such a combination. Presumably you'll be starting of at level 1 so there's really no need for an explanation other than "I like tinkering with stuff and sometimes I combine magic with these little things I build and they can be really useful." The rest you can work out as you go. :)
So the character is trying to pioneer the union between invention and magic as a new way of fighting demons, devils, etc.
The only thing that I can think of to add at the moment is that perhaps the merchant background could be the missing link. Maybe trying to sell prototype weapons or other gadgets, or even just trying to secure funding for such things in order to reach the mentioned goal. Could very well evolve into an arms dealer.
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Just starting up playing D&D again after a 15 year hiatus and stepping into a recently started homebrew campaign by a friend. It's modeled off of the Waterdeep setting (I think...I'm still learning my way around 5e). A cosmopolitan setting where early firearms are common-ish. The twist is that this world takes place entirely below-surface connected by an underwater ocean.
I was raised on 3.5e, so I'm excited about some of the nifty 5e features. No one in the party is an artificer, and given that this world is a little more tech-advanced than the standard high fantasy setting, an artificer seems like a great choice for the world. I'm also interested trying out a tiefling. In a submerged world that's exposed to the denizens of the underdark, a tiefling character makes a lot of sense.
What I can't wrap my head around though is the pairing: a tiefling artificer. I can't figure out a background to that pairing that "speaks to me" well enough that I think I could get into the roleplaying of it. I'd be interested in some thoughts about what makes a creature that has some connection to devils interested in the innovative dimensions of an artificer.
One option I'm thinking about is that this tiefling character despises the evil of devils brought on by personal experience and relationship to them. Infernal creatures aren't easily stopped by physical resistance. And clearly magic hasn't been effective at preventing their entrance into the material plane. So the character is trying to pioneer the union between invention and magic as a new way of fighting demons, devils, etc.
I feel like I'm about 60% of the way to an interesting character. But I'm not quite there. Any thoughts? FWIW, I think I'm going to make him an artillerist subclass, but I'd gladly go a different direction if something "fit" the character concept better.
Depends on how far you want to lean into the whole 'Spawn of Devils' angle, and whether that blood warps the character's thinking. If you want to really lean into Devilish Blood? Well. Devil's are creatures of order. Evil order, self-serving order, but order nonetheless. A devil will mislead, it will trick and bamboozle, it will withhold information, but devils do not actually tend to cheat, nor act chaotically.
Artifice is an ordered discipline. It binds magic into devices, forcing it to perform predictably and reliably. It's an art those who crave order and stability may well be drawn to. Wizardry is volatile, an extension of the caster's will. Artifice cannot achieve the same heights wizardry does, but it is more stable. A devil-tainted creature ostracized by society but that craves the structure society normally brings may turn to tinkering, inventing, and arcane machinery to try and fulfill that need. A Homunculus infusion could serve as a loyal companion that won't betray the tiefling the same way everyone else has, with the arcane firearm being a conduit to tame and control their infernal energies.
Or you could do something else entirely. That was just my first notion.
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Well, if you can't figure out a good reason why your tiefling should be an artificers, maybe you shouldn't play your tiefling as an artificer?
That said, there is no reason what so ever why a tiefling couldn't be an artificer and it can probably be a lot of fun. The idea to fight the suernatural with technology is also well-proven classic that can work really well. What I would ask, if I were you, is what you really want from the race and class and how you can combine the two. Likey Yurei is alluding to, the whole "tieflings as devil spawns" isn't neccesarily a thing in 5E so you should probably talk to your DM on how that angle would fit best in the game.
Also, if you are dead set on playing a tiefling artificer I wouldn't worry too much about figuring out the perfect justification for such a combination. Presumably you'll be starting of at level 1 so there's really no need for an explanation other than "I like tinkering with stuff and sometimes I combine magic with these little things I build and they can be really useful." The rest you can work out as you go. :)
The only thing that I can think of to add at the moment is that perhaps the merchant background could be the missing link. Maybe trying to sell prototype weapons or other gadgets, or even just trying to secure funding for such things in order to reach the mentioned goal. Could very well evolve into an arms dealer.