Homebrew Drow/Tiefling Hybrid Species Details

  

“We found what was left of the notes.  What in the Seven Planes were they thinking?  How could they even consider playing God, and with two such races as this?  We have heard of many natural meldings before, but this!! This is beyond stupidity, beyond reason, even beyond belief. 

There is only evidence that one of the poor creatures escaped, but what if there were more.  Lots more.   I shudder to think what could become of us all if that is true”

— Brastin Elgridge, Scientist and Explorer

 

The existence of this race was discovered when the ruins of an advanced laboratory were stumbled upon beneath an old abandoned city.  The laboratory itself was obviously much newer than the city it was under and was probably built where it was for concealment purposes.  There were signs of two different periods of destruction, one presumably when the subjects of the "experiment" decided to try and escape, and a second once it was obvious that the entire project was no longer viable.  The damage was relatively recent, within the last 20 years.

All information given below was gathered from partial notes found at the site of the former laboratory.  It is entirely probable that the information is not complete, and there is a slight chance that it is completely incorrect in some aspects.  However, the best possible information that can be confirmed, surmised or guessed has been provided here.

Hybrid Appearance

This race is genetically designed with the intent of creating evil infiltration units, although with some mistakes.  They share some of the heritage of both their Tiefling and Drow origins, but there is reason to believe that, in appearance, some look very much like Elves and some very much like Tieflings.

The Tiefling infernal heritage, as much as was considered reasonable, was left intact in all of the Hybrids.  However, their appearance was certainly tampered with. Tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes and this was retained in the Tiefling-resembling Hybrid design.  The notes indicate that their trait for tails was removed, as was their trait of canine teeth.  The Hybrid has eyes that are uniformly dark solid colors—black, red, any very dark color—with no visible sclera or pupil. Their skin tones are dark, but also include various shades of red. Their hair is also uniformly dark, from black or brown to dark red, dark blue, or purple.  It is likely that these Hybrids could easily be taken for genuine Tieflings by those not familiar with Tieflings.

Drow are descended from Elves and have their general appearance.  Some of the Hybrids were created with virtually no trace of their Tiefling heritage except for a darkening of the skin and eye color similar to that found in their Hybrid Tiefling counterparts.  They are slender and graceful, with the pointed ears, eye shape and general characteristics of their Elvish cellular structure.  They also stand somewhat smaller than their Tiefling-resembling counterparts, although still well within the range of normal height and weight for a human.  Passing as an Elf, especially to any not familiar with those of Elvish descent, would be very easy for this strain of Hybrid.

Self-Reliant, Suspicious and Paranoid

We have no idea how the Drow/Tiefling Hybrid will react to the outside world.  However, it would be safe to assume that the Hybrid would be very suspicious, afraid to trust anyone and definitely wary of, or even frightened by, anything that resembles high technology or scientific apparatus. 

The beings (and their race) responsible for the creation of this Hybrid race, and the subsequent attempted destruction of them, is completely unknown.  There is a very high probability that the Drow/Tiefling Hybrid would attack any member of that race on sight.

There has been no record of anyone encountering this Hybrid so far.  It is possible that the Hybrid has simply died.  This is considered highly unlikely and it is more probable that the Hybrid has blended into general society.  They were designed and trained to be self-sufficient, resilient, opportunistic as well as friendly and personable (for infiltration purposes).  If more than one did escape, they may have even formed their own enclave or settlement somewhere.

Missing Abilities

It is apparent from the notes that several major abilities and skills were missing from the Drow/Tiefling Hybrid, whether by accident or by deliberate design.

The ability of Elves to trance instead of sleep is totally absent from the Hybrid, as is the immunity to magically induced sleep.  The Fey Ancestry advantages and skills are totally missing as well, although proficiency in other skills was somehow added.

The abilities of the basic Tiefling appear to have been retained more or less intact regardless of appearance.

Hybrid Names

It is not known what names these Hybrids will take.  They were referred to by batch number and individual number within that batch when they were in the laboratory.  It is extremely unlikely they will retain these identifiers, and will instead simply adopt any name that takes their fancy.  It could be one they have heard, one they read about or even one of the names of their designers.  

MERGING OF MAGIC

The notes we found made it very clear.  These creatures retained the base magic ability of both their genetic contributors.  As such, they will be able to cast the spells that were an innate part of the Tiefling heritage and the ones that were part of the Drow heritage.  The notes did seem to indicate that these spells had been designed into the genetic structures themselves, meaning they would be known to the creature without any training and would be innate to their existance.

 Alignment

As with so much other information about this race, the information here is fragmentary.  The notes that were found seemed to indicate that these Hybrids were supposed to be completely evil.  However, other notes hinted that the evil alignment, supposedly bred into these creatures, had gone horribly wrong, and various individuals were demonstrating what was referred to as "aberrant alignments". 

One thing was clear.  Individuals of both Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil alignments (as well as any other alignment combinations) existed.  This "flaw" in the Hybrid design was eventually one of the reasons for the apparent destruction of the race and the laboratory in which they were created and kept.

At this time, the alignment of the surviving Hybrid (or Hybrids) is not known.

A Final Warning.

These Drow/Tiefling Hybrids were created artificially and were never part of a family or society.  They may demonstrate very anti-social behavior, could be very violent if even slightly provoked, and should be approached with extreme caution (something that, some would say, applies to the entire Tiefling race in general).  It is also entirely possible that more, many more, than one of these creatures escaped, survived and that they are able to reproduce.  The blunt truth is that we just do not know.

Again, the information detailed above is made up of fragments of notes and records and should not be taken as an accurate or complete description of the "race".

Drow/Tiefling Hybrid Traits

A genetic experiment gone wrong, this Drow/Tiefling Hybrid may be the only one to survive.

Ability Score Increase

As a result of your combined heritage, both your Charisma and your Dexterity increase by 2.

Age, Size, Movement.

The life span of a Drow/Tiefling Hybrid is unknown.  You will not be older than 35 years old.
A Drow/Tiefling Hybrid (of either appearance) is roughly the same size and has the same variations as a human.  Your size is Medium.
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Modified Skill Proficiency

The scientists managed to instill certain skills that their creations knew "instinctively", although it is unknown if this was by accident or design.  You have Proficiency in both the Stealth and Deception skills.

Superior Darkvision

The genetic designers retained your Drow vision.  You have darkvision with a radius of 120 feet

Modified Sunlight Sensitivity

You have disadvantage on all attack (hit) rolls and on Wisdom Perception checks when you and your target (or the thing you are trying to observe) are both in direct sunlight.  You have the same disadvantage on Wisdom Perception checks if you are in shadow or shade but the thing you are trying to observe is in direct sunlight.
You suffer no penalty on ranged attack rolls or casting spells if you yourself are in shadow or shade but your target is in direct sunlight.
A completely overcast day is considered "shade" for the purposes of this trait.

Drow Magic

You know the Dancing Lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Faerie Fire 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. These spells do not form part of your known spell lists and do not require a spell slot to cast.  Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Tiefling Magic

You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Hellish Rebuke spell (as a 1st-level spell) and the Disguise Self spell once with this trait and regain the ability to cast both when you finish a long rest.  These spells do not form part of your known spell lists and do not require a spell slot to cast.  Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Weapon Proficiency

You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords and light crossbows.

Hellish Resistance

You retain your Tiefling resistance to fire damage.

Languages

You can speak, read and write Common, Undercommon, Elvish and Infernal.