Planetouched Races - Tieflings
Duncehack Edition
Re: Skipped Preamble
Refer to the first part of this series (or the link dump) if you're interested in that.
Obligatory Natural Crit Plug
Someone else made a thing that lets me make homebrews without having to post them on pastebin or something. They deserve a lot of credit for that.
Obligatory /tg/ Plug
The feedback I got from various Anons on this helped me build it into something that wasn't bad and stupid.
I love you all in a way only abused spouse can possibly understand.
Balance Rationale
See Part 1, for full essay.
Main thing is: Races are worth approx. 3 feats + 2 lanaguage proficiencies.
For the purposes of this I'm working on a 'build point' system that assumes races are worth 18 build points.
So, what's wrong with Tiefling?
From the UA: That Old Black Magic we have the Abyssal Tiefling, which was almost good to just throw straight into the game and then... they just dropped it.
A missed opportunity if you ask me. Other than that, cleaning up the flying rules and just consolidating all the character generation options and it's all done.
So, what to do?
Clean up mostly. That and racial feats, that took some more effort.
Note on Copyrighted Names
This only really matters if you're trying to get as far away from WotC names for whatever reason.
Stuff that isn't copyrighted:
- Asmodeus (Biblical)
- Glasya (full name is Glasya-Labolas)
- Stygia (Hellenic)
- Mammon (Biblical)
- Avernus (it's a place in the real world)
- Cania (it's a place in the real world)
- Phlegethos (grey area, but it's one letter away from Phlegethon which is a hellenic underworld reference).
- Malbolge
- Mephistopholes
Stuff that is copyrighted:
- Fierna
- Baalzebul (bastardisation of either Baal + Beelzebub (most likely), or Bhaal + Bartzabel (Which pops up in real life occultist circles))
- Maladomini
- Levistus
- Minauros
- Zariel
Tiefling
- Ability Scores: Cha +2 or Dex +2
- Size: Medium
- Speed: 30 ft.
- Darkvision. 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.
- Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and either Infernal or Abyssal (determined by your subrace).
Abyssal
All Abyssal Tieflings trace their bloodline to the demons of the Abyss. These Tieflings have the following additional features.
- Ability Score. You gain +1 in an Ability Score of your choice.
- Abyssal Fortitude. Each time you finish a long rest, your resistance to a particular damage type changes, based on the Fortitude listing in the chart below. If you have resistance to Poison damage through this feature, you also gain resistance to the Poisoned condition.
- Abyssal Arcana. Each time you finish a long rest, you gain the ability to cast cantrips and spells randomly determined from a short list. At 1st level, you can cast a cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can also cast a 1st-level spell. At 5th level, you can cast a 2nd-level spell. You can cast a spell gained from this trait only once until you complete your next long rest. You can cast a cantrip gained from this trait at will, as normal. For 1st-level spells whose effect changes if cast using a spell slot of 2nd-level or higher, you cast the spell as if using a 2nd-level slot. Spells of 2nd-level are cast as if using a 2nd-level slot. At the end of each long rest, you lose the cantrips and spells previously granted by this feature, even if you did not cast them. You replace those cantrips and spells by rolling for new ones on the Abyssal Arcana Spells table. Roll seperately for each cantrip and spell. If you roll the same spell or cantrip you gained at the end of your previous long rest, roll again until you get a different result.
Abyssal Arcana Spells
| d6 | Cantrip | 1st Level Spell | 2nd Level Spell | Fortitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | dancing lights | burning hands | alter self | Acid |
| 2 | true strike | charm person | darkness | Cold |
| 3 | light | magic missile | invisibility | Fire |
| 4 | message | cure wounds | levitate | Lightning |
| 5 | spare the dying | Tasha's hideous laughter | mirror image | Poison |
| 6 | prestidigitation | thunderwave | spider climb | Thunder |
Build Point Weight: 10
6 for ability scores, 2 for darkvision, 2 for fire resistance
Subrace Weight: 9
3 for ability scores, 6 for Racial Magic
All subraces follow the same template, and all variants do not change the cost.
With Base Race: 19
Ribbons: None
Final Build Weight: 19
Changes
Choice of Ability Score Abyssal Tieflings lose out compared to their Infernal counterparts on Ability Score flexibility.
Abyssal Fortitude changed from 'Your hit point maximum increases by half your level (minimum 1).'
That version of Abyssal Fortitude was worth about 1/4 of the Tough feat and is just kind of bad.
This way, you have a damage resistance that changes along with your spells. If you don't like that for whatever reason, you can change it back.
On True Strike being Awful
At the time of this writing I haven't finished the cantrip overhaul yet, and given . In the meantime, accept this in way of apology. Making it work the way guidance and resistance function might make it meaningfully useful. I'm aware there's builds that used it, and the fact it gave advantage to spell attacks is a useful niche, and I'll likely do something to fill that void down the road. For now, here's an option for you:
True Strike
Divination cantrip
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Touch
- Components: S
- Duration: Up to 1 minute
You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one attack roll of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the attack. The spell then ends. Only one creature may benefit from your true strike at a time.
Infernal
All infernal tieflings have the blood of a particular Devilish lineage within them, providing the following:
- Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
- Legacy. You select from one of the 'Legacy' options below. These represent your devilish lineage.
Asmodeus (PHB)
- Ability Scores: Int +1
- Infernal Legacy. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the hellish rebuke spell as a 2nd-level spell; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Once you reach 5th level, you can also cast the darkness spell; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Baalzebul
- Ability Scores: Int +1
- Legacy of Maladomini. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ray of sickness 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 crown of madness 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.
Dispater
- Ability Scores: Dex +1
- Legacy of Dis. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self 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 detect thoughts 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.
Fierna
- Ability Scores: Wis +1
- Legacy of Phlegethos. You know the friends cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person 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 suggestion 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.
Glasya
- Ability Scores: Dex +1
- Legacy of Malbolge. You know the minor illusion cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self 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 invisibility 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.
Levistus
- Ability Scores: Con +1
- Legacy of Stygia. You know the ray of frost cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the armor of Agathys 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.
Mammon
- Ability Scores: Int +1
- Legacy of Minauros. You know the mage hand cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Tenser's floating disk spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a short or long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the arcane lock spell once with this trait, requiring no material component, and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Mephistopheles
- Ability Scores: Int +1
- Legacy of Cania. You know the mage hand cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands 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 flame blade 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.
Zariel
- Ability Scores: Str +1
- Legacy of Avernus. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the searing smite 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 branding smite 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.
Variant Features:
You may exchange your Legacy feature, or your Abyssal Arcana feature for one of the following:
Winged
You have bat-like wings sprouting from your shoulder blades. You have the following features:
- Flight You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing heavy armor. If you are wearing medium armour, this speed reduces to 30 feet instead.
- Gliding If you are wearing heavy armour, or otherwise unable to fly, you can instead glide. While gliding this way, you have a 30 ft flight speed, however you cannot ascend and at least 5 feet of that movement each turn must be spent descending. If you're unable to spend 5ft to descend slowly (e.g. your movement speed is reduced to zero), you fall instead. While falling, you can spend your reaction to reduce falling damage by half.
- Standing Leap. Your long jump is up to 25 feet and your high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start, so long as you're able to beat your wings at least once during the jump. Your strength modifier is doubled when determining extra feet added onto these distances.
Devil's Tongue
- Devil's Tongue. You know the vicious mockery cantrip. When your reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the enthrall spell once with this trait. You must finish a long rest to cast these spells once again with this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them.
Hellfire
- Hellfire. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell once per day as a 2nd-level spell; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Once you reach 5th level, you can also cast the darkness spell; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Feral
- Claws. You grow retractable claws from the tips of your fingers. Extending or retracting the claws requires no action. The claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the normal bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike.
- Feral Savagery. You can spend your bonus action to make a claw attack, even if you don't use the attack action during your turn.
- Where it Hurts. When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell, you can deal extra damage of the attack's or spell's type to it equal to your character level + Your Proficiency Modifier. You can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Wilder
- Prehensile Tail: Your tail is prehensile and can manipulate objects upto a range of 10 ft. The tail can only move a weight of up to your Strength score in pounds.
- Tail Lash: You can use your tail to slap or trip up opponents. You may use your bonus action to shove an opponent within 5 ft of you. You can make shove actions to opponents within 10 ft, but if you do, you may only pull them 5 ft towards yourself. The tail can be used to make unarmed strikes (dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage) to a range of 10 feet. It can also hold a weapon, but only if the weapon has the light property. The normal restrictions on unarmed fighting and two-weapon fighting also apply to the tail.
- Sturdy Footing: You have advantage to resist being moved or knocked prone unwillingly (i.e. being victim of the shove action).
- Fleet of Foot: You have a movement speed of 35 ft.
Changes
Winged variant feature overhauled, to bring it in line with other flying creatures.
Devil's Tongue and Hellfire are not changed as such, but a weird emergent property of the rules that support them and the various infernal lineages above is that these serve as a 'default' spell list you can always replace the various lineage options. I wanted to retain that. Does mean you can be an Abyssal Tiefling that goes completely against the spirit of the Abyssal Tiefling, but I guess you do you?
Feral and Wilder were created purposefully to allow for properly feral, non-casting Tieflings at tables that don't allow flight. Yes I was staring at what I'd done to Dragonborn for features (as well as a little of what I did to goblinoids). Sue me.
Tieflings are one of the races that Wizard's of the Coast routinely get pretty alright, mostly because it's just a very simple chassis that's difficult to screw up.
No one really complains about a Tiefling's mechanics being overpowered, rather they complain about the veritable cornucopia of subraces, disproportionate time in the spotlight and propensity for edginess.
Optional Rule
Tieflings are a touch overloaded. If your DM wishes to add a minor downside to compensate:
Social Stigma (Tiefling)
In your travels, you find some people are cold, aloof, or even outright hostile towards you. Once per game session, the DM may force you to reroll a social skill roll that you make.
Tiefling Racial Feats
Expanded Lineage (Full-Feat)
Your bloodline has a wider range of fiendish power than other tieflings.
You can select Legacy spells from any Infernal Tiefling subrace that you do not already have access to, or the Abyssal Arcana feature, and gain all of its benefits.
Alternatively, you may select one of the Tiefling variant options (Winged, Hellfire, Devil's Tongue, Feral, or Wilder), and gain those benefits instead.
Flames of Phlegethos (Half-Feat)
You learn to call on hellfire to serve your commands. You gain the following benefits:
- Flames seem to endure in your hands. Any weapon that is ignited with a non-magical flame (such as a torch you are using as a club), will not extinguish unless you will it to (it will still go out when it runs out of fuel however).
- When you roll fire damage, you can reroll any roll of 1 on the damage dice, but you must use the new roll, even if it is another 1. If a weapon is on fire, its bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage may be rerolled this way.
- Whenever you cast a spell, or deal a critical hit with a weapon attack that is on fire, you can cause flames to wreathe you until the end of your next turn. The flames don't harm you or your possessions, and they shed bright light out to 30 feet and dim light for an additional 30 feet. While the flames are present, any creature within 5 feet of you that hits you with a melee attack takes 1d4 fire damage.
Infernal Constitution (Half-Feat)
Fiendish blood runs strong in you, unlocking a resilience akin to that possessed by some fiends.
Infernal Tieflings gain the following benefits:
- You have resistance to cold and poison damage.
- You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.
Abyssal Tieflings with this feature instead roll 2d6 for their Abyssal Fortitude. Should an Abyssal Tiefling with this feature roll doubles, they may freely select their second damage type to resist.
Serpent Tongue (Half-Feat)
Your words are more corrupting and seductive than others' words due to your fiendish influence.
You gain advantage on deception, persuasion, intimidation or performance checks that directly appeals to, or justifies indulging in, corrupt behaviour, whether that is a vice, a sin, a derelection of duty, or a social taboo.
The actual moral weight of the appeal is irrelevent, only that the listener believes that the action is in some way immoral. Due to the nature of the topics at hand, failures to convince, or deliver upon, any check that gains advantage in this way may be met with hostility and perhaps even violence.
Expanded Lineage
Given the sheer volume of options in this race, I didn't want to repeat myself, hence the way I wrote it. I know simply saying 'you get other subraces' stuff!' is a bit of a cop out, but I'm also kind of not sure what else to do with Tieflings, especially given my brightest ideas for feats ended up Variant Options above.
Flames of Phlegethos
Given that not all options give fire damage spells, I removed that requirement from this feature. Added the critical hit line specifically for tieflings that go the spell-less route.
Infernal Consitution
Just giving an extra section on Abyssal Tieflings to make it usable for them.
Static Abyssal Constitution
If for whatever reason you don't like having Abyssal Tieflings roll 2d6 and would prefer they keep the static cold and poison damage resistances, then they just roll 1d4 for their Abyssal Fortitude instead: 1 for Acid, 2 for Fire, 3 for Lightning, 4 for Thunder.
Serpent Tongue
Designed to be a mirror for Flames of Phlegethos for Tieflings who pick one of the social spell sets.
Essentially playing on the whole 'silver tongued devil' archetype with this one. If you're confused about what gives advantage, the rule of thumb is: "Anything the character would be ashamed of if anyone found out, or feel guilty about enjoying if they ever actually did it".
The whole point is that you're goading people into shitty, destructive practices in order for you to get your way - you're asking people to debase themselves for that advantage. Bribery, nepotism, blackmail, any form of gluttony, excess or seduction are all tools of this particular trade. It's not intended to be an always on friends - the cantrip is the brute force method, this feat is intended to be the subtle route.
Mind you, the reason I put in that part about 'the actual moral weight is irrelevent' is because there are uses that wouldn't be all that wrong given an appropriate context (few though they might be): convincing a guard to abandon their post might and go to the pub might sound like a bad thing, but doing so becuase you know they'll be slaughtered otherwise and you're actively trying to save their life is a little more noble.