Spell Resistance

Lore & Background

In the Planescape setting, tieflings were described as being a mixture of human and 'something else' with the implication that the medium-sized non-human ancestors originated from the evil 'lower planes'. In further supplements, it was clarified that tieflings were usually descended from fiends but not in the same manner as half-fiends, since a tiefling's fiendish ancestry lies further up the family tree. In 4th Edition, tieflings are a race whose human ancestors made a bargain with devils to increase their power. Their origin is similar in 5th Edition.

Reader's Guide

The tiefling appears as a player character race in the Player's Handbook for the 4th edition (2008), and again in Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010). In 5th Edition, the tiefling appears as a player character race in the Player's Handbook (2014). Variant tiefling options appear in the Sword Coast Adventure Guide (2015) and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018).

Did You Know?

• The name 'tiefling' was derived by Wolfgang Baur from the German word 'tief' meaning 'deep, low', and the suffix '-ling' meaning 'offspring', alluding to their origins in the 'lower planes'.
• One of the first artists to depict the tiefling was Tony DiTerlizzi.
• In 4th edition, artist William O'Connor designed tieflings to have prominent horns and tails, giving them a 'sexy, dark and gothic appeal'.