Tieflings
- “All beasts are happy, for when they die,
- Their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements;
- But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell.
- Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me!
- No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer
- That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven.”
Damning whispers and vicious rumors follow the old family on the hill, who trucked with demons long ago. A young woman curses her inheritance as she draws a hood over curved horns. The daring courtier makes a scandalous stir, with eyes aflame and a tongue as barbed as his tail.
Bad Blood
Everything has a price. This is the lesson learned by proud emperors, who sold the souls of their subjects for one more victory. By desperate merchants, who made promises that should never have been kept. By unwise sages, who signed away their lineage for tidbits of knowledge.
Condemned for some ancestral sin, tieflings are born into bloodlines ravaged by ancient pacts or divine curses, branded from birth by fiendish essence. The scions of wicked houses and survivors of damned kingdoms, tieflings endure a foul reputation they never earned.
Hounded and feared, the mistakes of the past hang heavy over the tiefling race. Their inheritance is darkness, one that their greatest heroes defy time and again.
Inherit the Earth
Tiefling skin ranges across normal human tones, from savannah dark to winter pale, as well as bloody reds, ashen greys, bruise blues, and stranger hues. While most tieflings have a largely human shape, some exhibit hooved or clawed feet, scaled skin, bony protrusions, membranous wings, forked tongues, or pointed ears.
All share a few features, however. Eyes of one solid color, with an unnatural gleam. A thick tail, four or five feet long, that coils and sways. And horns – curved or straight, large or small, ridged or smooth, many or few.
Tieflings are accompanied by less physical deformities, such as the smell of brimstone, a twitching shadow, or an unnatural reverberation of the voice. These omens do little to endear them to the common folk.
Dance with the Devil
Actual tiefling nations are rare, the splintered relics of pact-ridden empires. Those hellbred with common origins often form a diaspora, scattered across the world but bound by shared suffering. More isolated bloodlines are the issue of lone hubristic nobles or depraved arcanists.
Whatever their history, tiefling families are insular by necessity, teaching children to be suspicious of kindness and loyal to proven kin, ready to pack up their lives and flee the moment disaster strikes. Tieflings are an easy scapegoat for failed harvests or sudden fires, and many are left orphaned or confined to slums.
At times, the tiefling curse will emerge in a family that had long-forgotten its dark roots. Such unfortunate babes are often abandoned at temples or orphanages, and raised to hate what they are.
Highway to Hell
Despite their small numbers, a sizeable portion of tieflings become adventurers. Already used to a life of unpredictable danger, they seek the truth behind their hellbred history, or an escape from the judgement of strangers. A great many dream of a chance to win fame and fortune, to overturn the fear and hatred their bloodline bequeathed to them.
Tiefling Names
Tiefling families who take perverse pride or find bitter honor in their ancient oaths use names of fiendish origin, passed down through generations. As a result, children desperate to reject this dark legacy often adopt new, fresh names that express a concept or virtue they hope to uphold.
Others are simply named according to the mortal customs of their homeland – or whichever will accept them.
- Male Infernal Names: Ammon, Balam, Dantalion, Forneus, Gusion, Halphas, Ipos, Malax, Naberius, Ronove, Zaleus
- Female Infernal Names: Agaris, Berith, Decarabia, Forasis, Gremory, Hanni, Kimaris, Leraje, Sitri, Vapula
- Abyssal Names: Coogalach, Ele'orto, Jaga-Sorr, Ommoyt, Paugna'r, Quachil, Tegoth, Nuog, Yaq-osha
- Virtuous Names: Art, Clarity, Creed, Glory, Hubris, Lord, Patience, Rebel, Solace, Temerity, Vanity, Wisdom, Zakat
Art Credit:
Wizards of the Coast
Tiefling Traits
Tieflings share certain racial traits as a result of their ancient fiendish descent.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age. Tieflings mature at the same rate as humans, but can live a little longer. Those who linger past a century age poorly.
Alignment. Tieflings are said to be innately spiteful, but most are simply embittered by prejudice. Evil or not, their independent drive inclines toward a chaotic alignment.
Size. Tieflings are about the same size and build as humans, not including their horns. 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 one damage type of your choice: cold, fire, or poison.
Unholy Aura. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, and your choice of Abyssal or Infernal.
Subrace. The touch of fiends lingers uncomfortably in mortal flesh, with a variety of results. Choose one of these subraces.
Bladelings
Your bloodline sold themselves into the ancient wars between demon and devil, or heaven and hell. They were reforged into living weapons, skin thorned with shards of bone or metal.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Barbed Skin. You can calculate your AC as 12 + your Constitution or Dexterity modifier while you are not wearing armor, or if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
At the start of your turn, any creature grappling or being grappled by you suffers 1d6 piercing damage.
Living Armory. You can use an empty hand as any light melee weapon you are proficient with, without impeding normal use of the hand. Weapons with the thrown property can be hurled as a bone spike, without being lost.
Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Stormlings
Your bloodline was once spirited into hellish realms, marked by demon-wings that extend from your shoulders or lower back and bear you aloft on unnatural winds.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma and Wisdom scores increase by 1.
Wicked Wings. Your wings grant you a flying speed of 30 feet. Any armor you wear must be adapted to these wings. Your flying speed is halved while wearing medium armor, and you cannot fly in heavy armor.
Curselings
Your bloodline called dark power upon and into themselves, resulting in progeny with strange and disturbing gifts listed only in forbidden texts.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma and Intelligence scores both increase by 1.
Blasphemous Secrets. You gain proficiency with one skill of your choice: Arcana, Investigation, Religion.
Cursed Legacy. You choose a cursed legacy, and learn the cantrip associated with it. You learn another spell at 3rd and 5th level. You can cast each of these spells once as a 2nd-level spell, without expending a spell slot or material components. You must complete a long rest before you do so again.
You can use Charisma or Intelligence as your spellcasting ability for these spells.
| Legacy | 1st level | 3rd level | 5th level | 1d10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blight | chill touch | ray of sickness | blindness/deafness | 1 |
| Discord | vicious mockery | thunderwave | shatter | 2 |
| Filth | acid splash | grease | web | 3 |
| Gloom | dancing lights | fog cloud | darkness | 4 |
| Hellfire | firebolt | hellish rebuke | flaming sphere | 5 |
| Lies | friends | charm person | suggestion | 6 |
| Nightmares | message | sleep | phantasmal force | 7 |
| Pride | guidance | unseen servant | levitate | 8 |
| Rime | ray of frost | armor of Agathys | hold person | 9 |
| Shadows | minor illusion | disguise self | invisibility | 10 |
Madness of the Abyss
At the DM's discretion, a player who wishes to enjoy a more chaotic experience can choose the Chaos legacy for a Curseling Tiefling.
You do not receive set spells. Instead, roll 1d10 for each spell offered by the Cursed Legacy feature when you complete a long rest. You gain that spell from the table until the end of your next long rest.
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