
Tiefling Species Details
Tieflings are either born in the Lower Planes or have fiendish ancestors who originated there. A tiefling (pronounced TEE-fling) is linked by blood to a devil, a demon, or some other Fiend. This connection to the Lower Planes is the tiefling’s fiendish legacy, which comes with the promise of power yet has no effect on the tiefling’s moral outlook.
A tiefling chooses whether to embrace or lament their fiendish legacy. The three legacies are described below.
Abyssal
The entropy of the Abyss, the chaos of Pandemonium, and the despair of Carceri call to tieflings who have the abyssal legacy. Horns, fur, tusks, and peculiar scents are common physical features of such tieflings, most of whom have the blood of demons coursing through their veins.
Chthonic
Tieflings who have the chthonic legacy feel not only the tug of Carceri but also the greed of Gehenna and the gloom of Hades. Some of these tieflings look cadaverous. Others possess the unearthly beauty of a succubus, or they have physical features in common, with a night hag, a yugoloth, or some other Neutral Evil fiendish ancestor.
Infernal
The infernal legacy connects tieflings not only to Gehenna but also the Nine Hells and the raging battlefields of Acheron. Horns, spines, tails, golden eyes, and a faint odor of sulfur or smoke are common physical features of such tieflings, most of who trace their ancestry to devils.
Tiefling Traits
Creature Type: Humanoid
Size:Medium (about 4–7 feet tall) or Small (about 3–4 feet tall), chosen when you select this species
Speed: 30 feet
Darkvision
You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Fiendish Legacy
You are the recipient of a legacy that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a legacy from the Fiendish Legacies table. You gain the level 1 benefit of the chosen legacy.
When you reach character levels 3 and 5, you learn a higher-level spell, as shown on the table. You always have that spell prepared. You can cast it once without a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in that way when you finish a Long Rest. You can also cast the spell using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the legacy).
Legacy | Level 1 | Level 3 | Level 5 |
---|---|---|---|
Abyssal | You have Resistance to Poison damage. You also know the Poison Spray cantrip. | Ray of Sickness | Hold Person |
Chthonic | You have Resistance to Necrotic damage. You also know the Chill Touch cantrip. | False Life | Ray of Enfeeblement |
Infernal | You have Resistance to Fire damage. You also know the Fire Bolt cantrip. | Hellish Rebuke | Darkness |
Otherworldly Presence
You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. When you cast it with this trait, the spell uses the same spellcasting ability you use for your Fiendish Legacy Trait.
Comments
Thaumaturgy links to the 2014 version instead of the 2024 version which provides advantage to intimidation checks.
love how its not just "your descended from some kinda fiend" anymore and they give you choices that have mechanical effects based on which plane your parents were from
Chthonic Tieflings my Beloved 💞
Fun fact: RAW it is impossible for a tiefling to learn Infernal or another language spoken by your fiendish ancestor without being a rogue or ranger. Or well technically you can still pick linguist even if it is considered legacy content.
How old do they get?
same goes for Drow and undercommon. at my table, we have a home rule that your first one needs to be a common language, and then any language for the second. it allows for much more customization to actually give characters languages that fit their backstory. For a Tiefling, one raised with their fiendish parent may know abyssal or infernal, along with common and some other language, while one raised in an orcish community may know orc and goblin. One who spent their life researching the upper planes may know celestial, while one born in the underdark could know undercommon. It's a home rule that I think works really well, especially for races who's languages aren't covered by common languages.
I think it's funny it was never addressed why suddenly you can play a non asmodeus lineage Tiefling, they should do campaign about it.
So they basically cut out all diversity that was there before to turn them from one of the most interesting into one of the dullest species around.
I like this new Tiefling.
how long do tieflings live on average???
As stated in the Player's Handbook:
Members of most species live for about 80 years, with exceptions noted in the text about the species in this chapter.
Tieflings don't have an overriding note like that, so they live about 80 years.
they mature and live about the same age as humans, sometimes longer
It’s op how you just get spells! I feel like every race should get that. That’s basically just 4e tho:)
Also I second wyvernous on the chthonic teiflings!!!!!!
I second this
dullest species? they've opened them up to be more then just an infernal. so i think this creates even more rp options and backstories