Simultaneously more and less than mortal, tieflings are the offspring of humans and fiends. With otherworldly blood and traits to match, tieflings are often shunned and despised out of reactionary fear. Most tieflings never know their fiendish sire, as the coupling that produced their curse occurred generations earlier. The taint is long-lasting and persistent, often manifesting at birth or sometimes later in life, as a powerful, though often unwanted, boon.
Despite their fiendish appearance and netherworld origins, tieflings have a human’s capacity for choosing their fate, and while many embrace their dark heritage and side with fiendish powers, others reject their darker predilections. Though the power of their blood calls nearly every tiefling to fury, destruction, and wrath, even the spawn of a succubus can become a saint and the grandchild of a pit fiend an unsuspecting hero.
Male Names: Baru, Dellisar, Maldrek, Molos, Sarvin, Shoremoth, Temerith, Voren, Zoren.
Female Names: Allizsah, Indranna, Kasidra, Kilarra, Mellisan, Mordren, Nisha.
No two tieflings look alike; the fiendish blood running through their veins manifests inconsistently, granting them an array of fiendish traits. One might appear as a human with small horns, a barbed tail, and oddly colored eyes, while another might manifest a mouth of fangs, tiny wings, and claws, and yet another might possess the perpetual smell of blood, foul incenses, and brimstone. Typically, these qualities hearken back in some way to the manner of fiend that spawned the tiefling’s bloodline, but even then the mixture of human and fiendish blood is rarely ruled by sane, mortal laws, and the vast flexibility it produces in tieflings is a thing of wonder, running the gamut from oddly beautiful to utterly terrible.
Tieflings on the Material Plane rarely create their own settlements and holdings. Instead, they live on the fringes of the land where they were born or choose to settle. Most societies view tieflings as aberrations or curses, but in cultures where there are frequent interactions with summoned fiends, and especially where the worship of demons, devils, or other evil outsiders is legal or obligatory, tieflings might be much more populous and accepted, even cherished as blessings of their fiendish overlords.
Tieflings seldom see another of their own kind, and so usually simply adopt the culture and mannerisms of their human parents. On other planes, tieflings form enclaves of their own kind. Often such enclaves are less than harmonious—the diversity of tiefling forms and philosophies is an inherent source of conflict between them, and cliques and factions constantly form in an ever-shifting hierarchy where only the most opportunistic or devious gain advantage. Only those of common bloodlines or those who manage to divorce their worldview from the inherently selfish, devious, and evil nature of their birth manage to find true acceptance, camaraderie, and common ground among others of their kind.
Tieflings face a significant amount of prejudice from most other cultures, who view them as fiend-spawn, seeds of evil, monsters, and lingering curses placed upon the world. Far too often, civilized ancestries shun or marginalize them, while more monstrous ones simply fear and reject them unless forced or cowed into acceptance. But half-elves, half-orcs, and—most oddly—aasimars tend to view them as kindred spirits who are too often rejected or who don’t fit into most societies by virtue of their birth. The widespread assumption that tieflings are innately evil—ill-founded though it may be—prevents many from easily fitting into most cultures on the Material Plane except in exceedingly cosmopolitan or planar-influenced nations.
Though many assume tieflings worship devils and demons, their religious views are as varied as their physical forms. Individual tieflings worship all manner of deities, but they are just as likely to shun religion all together. Those who give in to the dark whispers that haunt the psyche of all tieflings serve all manner of powerful fiends.
Tieflings rarely integrate into the mortal societies they call home. Drawn to the adventuring life as a method of escape, they hope to make a better life for themselves, to prove their freedom from their blood’s taint, or to punish a world that fears and rejects them.
Languages: Abyssal, Common, and Infernal.
Agile: Tieflings start with a d6 in Agility instead of a d4. This increases maximum Agility to d12+1.
Darkness: Calling on the shadows, a tiefling can darken an area. Once per day as a limited free action, the tiefling can cast minor darkness as an Innate Power.
Darkvision: Tieflings ignore penalties for Illumination up to 10” (20 yards).
Fiendish Sorcery: Tiefling sorcerers with the Abyssal or Infernal Bloodlines reduce the Rank Requirement for Advanced Bloodline to Veteran.
Intelligence: Tieflings start with a d6 in Smarts instead of a d4. This increases maximum Smarts to d12+1.
Native Outsider: A tiefling's Type is Outsider rather than Humanoid.
Outsider (Minor): Most cultures are suspicious of tieflings. They subtract 2 from all Persuasion rolls and are often resented or belittled by others.
Fiendish Sprinter: Some tieflings have feet that are more bestial than human. Whether their feet resemble those of a clawed predator or are the cloven hooves common to many of their kind, these tieflings gain the Fleet-Footed Edge. This replaces Intelligence.
Prehensile Tail: Some tieflings have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items. While they cannot wield weapons with their tails, they can use them to retrieve stowed objects carried on their persons as a free action. This replaces Fiendish Sorcery.
Vestigial Wings: Some tieflings possess a pair of undersized, withered, or stunted wings like a mockery of those of their fiendish forbearer. Sometimes these wings are leathery, like those of a bat. Other times they are covered with a scattering of black, red, or violet feathers. Rare manifestations can take even more bizarre forms. These wings provide limited lift, allowing her to fly at Pace 6. She must make a Vigor roll at the end of every round spent flying or take Fatigue. This replaces Fiendish Sorcery.