Tiefling

Did You Know?

• In the 4th edition setting, tieflings trace their origins to the ancient human Empire of Bael Turath, whose noble class made pacts with devils from the Nine Hells.
• Unlike half-fiends, tieflings are not necessarily of evil alignments; tieflings of all alignments exist, including good.
• Livonia Darktongue appears in the book Weapons of Legacy in 2005.

Publication history

The tiefling was introduced in the Planescape Campaign Setting (1994), with further details in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994) and The Planewalker's Handbook (1996). Cameron Lucas, for Game Rant, noted the race was originally conceived as a term for 'Planetouched' people affected by a godly being or demon, with hybrid features such as hooves or reptilian tails. The tiefling appears in the Monster Manual for the 3rd edition (2000) under the planetouched entry. The fey'ri and tanna'ruk tieflings appeared in Monsters of Faerun (2001), and the tiefling was presented as a player character race for the Forgotten Realms in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001) and Races of Faerûn (2003). The tiefling paragon was introduced in Unearthed Arcana (2004), and the race appears as a player character race in the Planar Handbook (2004) and Races of Destiny (2004). In the 4th edition, the tiefling appears in the Player's Handbook (2008) and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010), with a dedicated racial book, Player's Handbook Races: Tieflings (2010), and the adventure locale Vor Rukoth: An Ancient Ruins Adventure Site (2010).

Aspects

In earlier editions (3.5 and previous), tieflings have features referencing their fiendish lineage, such as horns, pointed teeth, extra fingers, cloven hooves, tails, and unusually colored eyes. They exude a feeling of evil even though the race has become civil, and many races distrust or hate them. In 4th edition and later, all tieflings possess large thick horns, prehensile tails 4 to 5 feet long, sharply pointed teeth, and solid-colored eyes (red, black, white, silver, or gold). Their skin ranges through common human shades into reds from brick red to ruddy tan, and hair ranges from dark blue to purple to red. Tieflings are characterized as charismatic and self-reliant, making excellent warlocks, warlords, and wizards. They do not associate with a specific god, so paladins and clerics are seldom found. Tieflings have no homeland and are rare due to a war with the dragonborn. Most prefer to adventure alone due to prejudice. In most editions, tieflings use ancestral Infernal names; in 3.5 they use human names until taking fiendish names, while in 4.0 onward they usually take an ancestral Infernal name. They are described as slow to trust, but loyal once trust is earned.

In various campaign settings

In the Forgotten Realms, tieflings and aasimar are more common than elsewhere, with elven and orc counterparts (Fey'ri and Tanarruk). In 3rd Edition, less common varieties include a dwarven counterpart (Maeluth) and a halfling counterpart (Wispling). In Planescape, tieflings are a common player race but are mistrusted and reviled by many plane inhabitants. In the Critical Role campaign setting, the first tieflings, also called Devilkin, were created in Vasselheim after a cabal of warlocks performed a ritual contacting fiendish forces. Asmodeus is often tied to this race, though some myths mistakenly attribute their creation solely to him. After centuries, tieflings have become accepted in Exandria, though they avoid superstitious rural areas. In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, tieflings are commonly called Hellspawn; in the empire of Cheliax they are subjugated and often enslaved. Some tieflings have stronger connections to specific fiendish races, such as grimspawn (descended from daemons) and pitborn (descended from demons). In Urban Arcana, tieflings are a playable race on Earth; to humans unable to perceive shadow, they appear as cynical humans with invisible horns.

Analysis

Johnny L. Wilson called tieflings 'the paranoid, loner obverse' of halflings, who believe life is out to get them, and found them suited to be great thieves and point persons due to saving throw bonuses. Gus Wezerek, for FiveThirtyEight, reported that of 5th Edition characters created on D&D Beyond from August 15 to September 15, 2017, tieflings were the sixth most created at 7,634 total, with the most popular class combinations being warlock (2,188), sorcerer (1,062), and bard (806). Stefan Ekman observed that the 5th edition Player's Handbook illustration of a tiefling avoids connections to the familiar real world and evokes a mysterious atmosphere, with outlandish costumes designed according to fantasy aesthetic rather than historical apparel. Philip J. Clements assumed tieflings are popular as player characters because they allow 'identity tourism' of a racial outsider, noting the trope of playing a racial outsider who protects those who revile them, but found this stereotype problematic as it focuses on individual good rather than confronting systemic racial politics.