Tiefling
6 variants
Tieflings are human-based planetouched, native outsiders that were infused with the touch of the fiendish planes, most often through descent from fiends who had bred with humans. Tieflings are known for their cunning and personal allure, which made them excellent deceivers as well as inspiring leaders when prejudices were laid aside.
Tainted, but not Controlled, by Evil
Tieflings have a number of abilities gifted to them by their fiendish heritage. By and large, Tieflings are alluring and intelligent creatures, with a seductive aura in spite of their obviously evil ancestry. To a large degree, Tieflings were more capable of guile than a great number of races, but these were not their dominant qualities.
Most Tieflings are aware from an early age that they are different from others around them, and would give in to strange urges and desires because of their unusual ancestry. Few Tieflings are raised with the love a normal human child might expect to receive and this shapes most of the race into bitter individuals who expect eventual rejection from all whom they meet. While some would follow this path towards evil, others reject it wholeheartedly and seek to make a good impact on the world around them, sometimes becoming the most heroic characters of all. Few can maintain this discipline however, and most Tieflings fall somewhere between both extremes.
Because Tieflings are generally distrusted throughout the world, owing to their fiendish heritage, many are themselves distrusting and self-reliant. Tieflings are also proud and secretive by nature and possess a dark demeanor. Unfortunately, this only helps to further the reputation Tieflings have for being social outcasts and untrustworthy scoundrels. However, members of other races would find that once they demonstrate friendship and trust towards a Tiefling, it would quickly be reciprocated in full. Once that bond was forged, it was rarely broken.
Fiendish Legacy
Tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they were aware of the Tiefling's unsavory ancestry or not. While some looked like normal humans, most retained physical characteristics derived from their ancestor, with the most common such features being horns, prehensile or non-prehensile tails, and pointed teeth. Some Teflings also have eyes that are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold, while others have eyes more similar to those of humans. Other, more unusual characteristics include a sulfurous odor, cloven feet, or a general aura of discomfort they left on others.
In many other ways, Tieflings are similar to humans physically. Tieflings are, on average, just as tall as humans, from 5 ft and 6 inches to 6 ft and 2 inches and weigh just a little bit heavier at 140 to 220 lbs. Tiefling skin is usually human-like in color, though extending past normal human colors into reddish hues as well. Tiefling hair is also often the same color as human hair, though dark blue, red, or purple are common shades amongst the race.
Tieflings who have strikingly inhuman features were often killed at birth by their horrified parents or others. Only those Tieflings with subtle features or born to someone indifferent to their appearance, either out of acceptance or cruel purpose, were likely to reach adulthood. The physical appearance of a Tiefling often depends on the exact ancestry that spawned it, a bloodline that might have remained dormant for generations. Diabolic or demonic Tieflings could, besides the common horns and tails, possess a forked tongue, leathery or scaly skin, the smell of brimstone, or unusually warm flesh. Some accounts even held these Tieflings to cast neither shadows nor reflections. Some diabolic Tieflings also sported goat-like legs or hooves.
Embrace or Reject the Dark
Like other races that are the result of the breeding of two or more others, Tieflings have no true culture they can call their own. However, there are many archetypal features of Tieflings that are not necessarily innate. This includes their attitude regarding their heritage, and while some Tieflings embrace it, others are repulsed by it, forging the two most common stereotypes of Tieflings.
The former Tieflings, who are proud of their fiendish past, are often fascinated by the dark and sinister events that touch the world, but are not necessarily evil or inclined to perpetuate them. Some Tieflings of this type chose to use their knowledge of evil and their own fiendish abilities to thwart these dark plots and schemes. Others seek to learn more and to emulate these evil deeds. Other Tieflings are ashamed or even frightened of their heritage and wish only to escape the shadow that lurks over them as a result. Some do this through constantly doing good, as though to make up for the evil that begot them. Others instead hide and try to go unnoticed as they pass through the world, preferring to be ignored and forgotten than noticed and made a target because of their past.
Regardless of their motivations, Tieflings often distrust one another, sometimes even casting the same preconceptions on one another that others did on them. In spite of this, many secretly desire to have another Tiefling nearby, if only to experience some small kind of kinship. Some of these Tieflings gather as partners-in-crime, while others are sought out by good Tieflings who hope to redeem others of their race. Tieflings, in general, don’t get along well with the other races of the world and are slow to trust others of any race, even their own.
Tieflings are human-based planetouched, native outsiders that were infused with the touch of the fiendish planes, most often through descent from fiends who had bred with humans. Tieflings are known for their cunning and personal allure, which made them excellent deceivers as well as inspiring leaders when prejudices were laid aside.
Tainted, but not Controlled, by Evil
Tieflings have a number of abilities gifted to them by their fiendish heritage. By and large, Tieflings are alluring and intelligent creatures, with a seductive aura in spite of their obviously evil ancestry. To a large degree, Tieflings were more capable of guile than a great number of races, but these were not their dominant qualities.
Most Tieflings are aware from an early age that they are different from others around them, and would give in to strange urges and desires because of their unusual ancestry. Few Tieflings are raised with the love a normal human child might expect to receive and this shapes most of the race into bitter individuals who expect eventual rejection from all whom they meet. While some would follow this path towards evil, others reject it wholeheartedly and seek to make a good impact on the world around them, sometimes becoming the most heroic characters of all. Few can maintain this discipline however, and most Tieflings fall somewhere between both extremes.
Because Tieflings are generally distrusted throughout the world, owing to their fiendish heritage, many are themselves distrusting and self-reliant. Tieflings are also proud and secretive by nature and possess a dark demeanor. Unfortunately, this only helps to further the reputation Tieflings have for being social outcasts and untrustworthy scoundrels. However, members of other races would find that once they demonstrate friendship and trust towards a Tiefling, it would quickly be reciprocated in full. Once that bond was forged, it was rarely broken.
Fiendish Legacy
Tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they were aware of the Tiefling's unsavory ancestry or not. While some looked like normal humans, most retained physical characteristics derived from their ancestor, with the most common such features being horns, prehensile or non-prehensile tails, and pointed teeth. Some Teflings also have eyes that are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold, while others have eyes more similar to those of humans. Other, more unusual characteristics include a sulfurous odor, cloven feet, or a general aura of discomfort they left on others.
In many other ways, Tieflings are similar to humans physically. Tieflings are, on average, just as tall as humans, from 5 ft and 6 inches to 6 ft and 2 inches and weigh just a little bit heavier at 140 to 220 lbs. Tiefling skin is usually human-like in color, though extending past normal human colors into reddish hues as well. Tiefling hair is also often the same color as human hair, though dark blue, red, or purple are common shades amongst the race.
Tieflings who have strikingly inhuman features were often killed at birth by their horrified parents or others. Only those Tieflings with subtle features or born to someone indifferent to their appearance, either out of acceptance or cruel purpose, were likely to reach adulthood. The physical appearance of a Tiefling often depends on the exact ancestry that spawned it, a bloodline that might have remained dormant for generations. Diabolic or demonic Tieflings could, besides the common horns and tails, possess a forked tongue, leathery or scaly skin, the smell of brimstone, or unusually warm flesh. Some accounts even held these Tieflings to cast neither shadows nor reflections. Some diabolic Tieflings also sported goat-like legs or hooves.
Embrace or Reject the Dark
Like other races that are the result of the breeding of two or more others, Tieflings have no true culture they can call their own. However, there are many archetypal features of Tieflings that are not necessarily innate. This includes their attitude regarding their heritage, and while some Tieflings embrace it, others are repulsed by it, forging the two most common stereotypes of Tieflings.
The former Tieflings, who are proud of their fiendish past, are often fascinated by the dark and sinister events that touch the world, but are not necessarily evil or inclined to perpetuate them. Some Tieflings of this type chose to use their knowledge of evil and their own fiendish abilities to thwart these dark plots and schemes. Others seek to learn more and to emulate these evil deeds. Other Tieflings are ashamed or even frightened of their heritage and wish only to escape the shadow that lurks over them as a result. Some do this through constantly doing good, as though to make up for the evil that begot them. Others instead hide and try to go unnoticed as they pass through the world, preferring to be ignored and forgotten than noticed and made a target because of their past.
Regardless of their motivations, Tieflings often distrust one another, sometimes even casting the same preconceptions on one another that others did on them. In spite of this, many secretly desire to have another Tiefling nearby, if only to experience some small kind of kinship. Some of these Tieflings gather as partners-in-crime, while others are sought out by good Tieflings who hope to redeem others of their race. Tieflings, in general, don’t get along well with the other races of the world and are slow to trust others of any race, even their own.