Tiefling
Race Details
“But you do see the way people look at you, devil’s child.”
Those black eyes, cold as a winter storm, were staring right into her heart and the sudden seriousness in his voice jolted her.
“What is it they say?” he asked. “One’s a curiosity, two’s a conspiracy—”
“Three’s a curse,” she finished. “You think I haven’t heard that rubbish before?”
“I know you have.” When she glared at him, he added, “It’s not as if I’m plumbing the depths of your mind, dear girl. That is the burden of every tiefling. Some break under it, some make it the millstone around their neck, some revel in it.” He tilted his head again, scrutinizing her, with that wicked glint in his eyes. “You fight it, don’t you? Like a little wildcat, I wager. Every little jab and comment just sharpens your claws.”
To be greeted with stares and whispers, to suffer violence and insult on the street, to see mistrust and fear in every eye: this is the lot of the tiefling. And to twist the knife, tieflings know that this is because a pact struck generations ago infused the essence of Asmodeus—overlord of the Nine Hells—into their bloodline. Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable.
Infernal Bloodline
Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance. 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. Their canine teeth are sharply pointed, and their eyes are solid colors—black, red, white, silver, or gold—with no visible sclera or pupil. Their skin tones cover the full range of human coloration, but also include various shades of red. Their hair, cascading down from behind their horns, is usually dark, from black or brown to dark red, blue, or purple.
Self-Reliant and Suspicious
Tieflings subsist in small minorities found mostly in human cities or towns, often in the roughest quarters of those places, where they grow up to be swindlers, thieves, or crime lords. Sometimes they live among other minority populations in enclaves where they are treated with more respect.
Lacking a homeland, tieflings know that they have to make their own way in the world and that they have to be strong to survive. They are not quick to trust anyone who claims to be a friend, but when a tiefling’s companions demonstrate that they trust him or her, the tiefling learns to extend the same trust to them. And once a tiefling gives someone loyalty, the tiefling is a firm friend or ally for life.
Tiefling Names
Tiefling names fall into three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some, the chosen name is a noble quest. For others, it’s a grim destiny.
Male Infernal Names: Akmenos, Amnon, Barakas, Damakos, Ekemon, Iados, Kairon, Leucis, Melech, Mordai, Morthos, Pelaios, Skamos, Therai
Female Infernal Names: Akta, Anakis, Bryseis, Criella, Damaia, Ea, Kallista, Lerissa, Makaria, Nemeia, Orianna, Phelaia, Rieta
“Virtue” Names: Art, Carrion, Chant, Creed, Despair, Excellence, Fear, Glory, Hope, Ideal, Music, Nowhere, Open, Poetry, Quest, Random, Reverence, Sorrow, Temerity, Torment, Weary
MET WITH MISTRUST
Ignorant people tend to be suspicious of tieflings, assuming that their infernal heritage has left its mark on their personality and morality, not just their appearance. The reality is that a tiefling’s bloodline doesn’t affect their personality. They are gifted with magic from the infernal realms but chart their own course in life.
Tiefling Traits
Tieflings share certain racial traits as a result of their infernal descent.Ability Score Increase
Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Charisma score increases by 2.
Age
Tieflings mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years longer.
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.
Infernal Legacy
You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the hellish rebuke spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal.
The other part is a demon
By far the coolest race design
I am having trouble finding the Devil's Tongue Tiefling. Can anyone help me with this?
Part human, part Taliesin Jaffe
Kind of stinks that they moved the subraces behind a paywall. :(
Where are the faiths? I've looked everywhere and can't find them.
hey
Cuz they look like Mew Two
demon/devil
i'm picking this because i like it too
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/scag/races-of-the-realms#Tieflings
The Variant Tiefling is missing the Feral trait
It would be epic if you'd include the infernal Cambions sub-races.
That’s a great idea
If you decided to ram into someone would they take extra damage from your horns???
Just made a Tiefling Paladin with the soldier background and I am trying to determine a backstory. Any advice?
Demon
It would be up to your DM to allow it but probably piercing damage I would think?
Can someone possibly tell me the height range for Tieflings please? Im a newbie haha
fave race
I think my character was spawned after a wizard summoned a demon to impregnate a sacrificial virgin. But she escaped by the help of her people and was hidden until the birth. She kept the demon impregnation ritual a secret though and played it off as if it was some farmboys baby she was in love with before the kidnapping. When the tiefling was born disfigured, her people presuned her to have sided with the dark powers and they apparently killed her, just after she couried the baby away to safety to be raised by the outcasts of her community. The tiefling eventually deemed his maturing abilities and inclinations too dangerous and destructive and he left the community abruptly. He began his adventures.
His mother may still be alive somewhere. His mother may have actually sided with the dark forces. He may have spent all his adventures pushing to be a "good" being, resenting his demonic half as a curse. Because he believed his mother to be a victim. But the truth that is out there for him to sadly discover is that his mother was actually a willing participant in the ritual, and her intention was to use the tiefling as a source of power. He may later discover she is alive, feeling a need to rescue her from whatever fate he thinks befell her, then later discovers that she is actually sided with the dark forces.
Now he has to deal with the principles of instinctive bloodline loyalty. He was able to form strong bonds and experience joy with his adventure companions, but there was always a deliberate resistance to curb the bulk of his demonic urges, reserving them for a source of energy to aid his party mates. But when he learns of his mothers true evil nature, he starts to question if he should just let his demonic side take the steering wheel.