I'm considering building a character with tiefling parents! Adoption would be an easy enough route, but there's a more comical twist with the human child being family by birth. If it's a matter of bloodline, it wouldn't be out of the question in my opinion, but I wanted to open it up to everyone and see their thoughts!
And yes, I understand typically it'd be rare for two tieflings to be together... humor me :)
Well if it's possible for a Tiefling to be born from two Human parents - which it is - then I absolutely don't see a problem with it being possible the other way round.
You could just say it's an extremely rare occurrence if there's a problem with it.
I'm considering building a character with tiefling parents! Adoption would be an easy enough route, but there's a more comical twist with the human child being family by birth. If it's a matter of bloodline, it wouldn't be out of the question in my opinion, but I wanted to open it up to everyone and see their thoughts!
And yes, I understand typically it'd be rare for two tieflings to be together... humor me :)
It doesn't work according to the canon lore; tieflings always breed true. It's your world though, and you can do what you want.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
In the Forgotten Realms lore, it is true that most tieflings breed true and that their children always carry the same resemblance of Asmodeus as the Tiefling parent. This is a result of a century-old ritual pact baker's dozen tieflings performed to enter into a pact with Asmodeus when the Overlord of the Nine Hells had just achieved actual godhood. I really recommend reading Erin M. Evans books starting with Brimstone Angels if you want all the lore on this.
Still, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide clarifies that not every bloodline entered into that pact, which is where the "Feral Tiefling" variant comes in. Mordenkainens' Tome of Foes then goes all the way to describe the Tiefling variants of bloodlines originating from the other Lords of the Nine Hells (Baalzebul, Glasya, and all those nice devils).
As for your human child of Tiefling parents, maybe the pact their ancestors entered has run its course? They may have promised an unlikely 13 generations of 13 children to a Lord of Hell, and despite all odds your grandparents (and granduncles and grandaunts) produced 13 children alltogether in every generation. So with the pact fulfilled, you were born as (the first?) human child of the 14th generation? Question is if any living being even remembers that there was a pact, I really doubt that after so long, but it could be a known fact among devils so that your fresh bloodline is a highly valued prize for prospective pacts.
While it clarifies that not all blood runs of asmodeus, nothing contradicts the fact that tieflings now breed true. Anything else is supposition.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
While it clarifies that not all blood runs of asmodeus, nothing contradicts the fact that tieflings now breed true. Anything else is supposition.
Since supposition and speculation are practically the same thing, it seems like a pretty good topic for General Discussion, yes? I really like the generations pact idea. Maybe a Human being born to Tieflings is a bad omen, that could be a backstory subplot as well.
Once the Infernal bloodline is exposed, it dominates the lineage going forward... but...
This is your character. D&D adventures are almost always about the exception and not the standard.
What happens if there's Celestial heritage hidden away in the bloodline, too? I've not read anything that states a bloodline cannot have both Celestial and Infernal heritage. Is it possible that the Celestial heritage exerting itself upon a Tiefling child would simply cancel the Infernal heritage? Dunno.
You can also leave it a mystery to your character and your character's parents - a possible hook for an adventure.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Thank you everyone for the input! I've got some good direction from this! If anyone else would like to chime in, I'll always be open to other takes! Really only just started playing D&D last March, and I haven't gotten into the lore outside of the 5E source books yet!
You could be realistic and simplified, and say the infernal is the dominant gene, and the human is recessive. Then it's a 1/4 chance of a Human coming from two tieflings
To not understand why it happened because ancient magic is involved is even more simplified. Not everything needs a scientifically accurate explanation.
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I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
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Greetings,
I'm considering building a character with tiefling parents! Adoption would be an easy enough route, but there's a more comical twist with the human child being family by birth. If it's a matter of bloodline, it wouldn't be out of the question in my opinion, but I wanted to open it up to everyone and see their thoughts!
And yes, I understand typically it'd be rare for two tieflings to be together... humor me :)
Well if it's possible for a Tiefling to be born from two Human parents - which it is - then I absolutely don't see a problem with it being possible the other way round.
You could just say it's an extremely rare occurrence if there's a problem with it.
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It doesn't work according to the canon lore; tieflings always breed true. It's your world though, and you can do what you want.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
In the Forgotten Realms lore, it is true that most tieflings breed true and that their children always carry the same resemblance of Asmodeus as the Tiefling parent. This is a result of a century-old ritual pact baker's dozen tieflings performed to enter into a pact with Asmodeus when the Overlord of the Nine Hells had just achieved actual godhood. I really recommend reading Erin M. Evans books starting with Brimstone Angels if you want all the lore on this.
Still, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide clarifies that not every bloodline entered into that pact, which is where the "Feral Tiefling" variant comes in. Mordenkainens' Tome of Foes then goes all the way to describe the Tiefling variants of bloodlines originating from the other Lords of the Nine Hells (Baalzebul, Glasya, and all those nice devils).
As for your human child of Tiefling parents, maybe the pact their ancestors entered has run its course? They may have promised an unlikely 13 generations of 13 children to a Lord of Hell, and despite all odds your grandparents (and granduncles and grandaunts) produced 13 children alltogether in every generation. So with the pact fulfilled, you were born as (the first?) human child of the 14th generation? Question is if any living being even remembers that there was a pact, I really doubt that after so long, but it could be a known fact among devils so that your fresh bloodline is a highly valued prize for prospective pacts.
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
While it clarifies that not all blood runs of asmodeus, nothing contradicts the fact that tieflings now breed true. Anything else is supposition.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Since supposition and speculation are practically the same thing, it seems like a pretty good topic for General Discussion, yes? I really like the generations pact idea. Maybe a Human being born to Tieflings is a bad omen, that could be a backstory subplot as well.
Once the Infernal bloodline is exposed, it dominates the lineage going forward... but...
This is your character. D&D adventures are almost always about the exception and not the standard.
What happens if there's Celestial heritage hidden away in the bloodline, too? I've not read anything that states a bloodline cannot have both Celestial and Infernal heritage. Is it possible that the Celestial heritage exerting itself upon a Tiefling child would simply cancel the Infernal heritage? Dunno.
You can also leave it a mystery to your character and your character's parents - a possible hook for an adventure.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Thank you everyone for the input! I've got some good direction from this! If anyone else would like to chime in, I'll always be open to other takes! Really only just started playing D&D last March, and I haven't gotten into the lore outside of the 5E source books yet!
You could be realistic and simplified, and say the infernal is the dominant gene, and the human is recessive. Then it's a 1/4 chance of a Human coming from two tieflings
This is D&D, realism goes flying on the window to chase dragons.
To not understand why it happened because ancient magic is involved is even more simplified. Not everything needs a scientifically accurate explanation.
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.