D&D 5E Tiefling Variants for 5e - Open Discussion

We all know the tieflings, and we all know that back in 2nd edition, they were essentially the mutts of the Lower Planes; tainted by the infernal, but with no particular clarity as to which of the many, many different fiendish species was their actual progenitor.

And yet... this wasn't quite enough. We all know that the half-orc basically evolved out of the attempt to balance gameplay with players' interest in playing an actual orc, and a similar sentiment has long gripped the tiefling: we can't play a full-fledged fiend, but, we could use the tiefling to emulate that without breaking the game over our knees. And so, there's long been some attempts at doing more "pureblooded" tieflings.

2nd edition had the tiefling traits table; whilst ostensibly used to generate random appearances, everyone knew that if the DM permitted, you could pick the right traits to go with a specific backstory.

3rd edition ignored this idea, unless one counts the existence of the fey'ri (elven tieflings) and tanarukk (orcish tieflings), but Pathfinder has full-fledged "tiefling subspecies" to represent each of its various fiendish races, from demons, devils and daemons to more unique critters like divs (malevolent genies), asuras (godly mistakes that hate their creators), kytons (OGL cenobites), and oni.

4th edition even touched upon the idea; Dragon Magazine had "lineages" for tieflings, like the Blightseers (tied to Baalzebuul, who had an entropic gaze), Broken Mirrors (tied to Levistus, who brought bad luck) and the Blood-Crowned Courtiers (directly devil-blooded tieflings, who basically had the power to hulk out).

5th edition? Well, beyond the variant racial traits in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, we've seen an attempt to make tieflings into a proper subrace-based racial collective in Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic, with the Diabolic (corebook) and Abyssal Tieflings.

But, what I'm curious about is this: do folks think the subrace approach for tieflings could be expanded upon? Could we make more varieties of tiefling via the subrace mechanic?

If people think the answer to the above is "yes", then what would those subraces actually be? I have a few ideas myself, mostly amounting to Night Hag, Ravaasta, and Demon Prince Lineages, and I'll share my reasoning and even some draft crunch for them if folks are interested, but I want to hear how people think we could flesh out the tiefling's racial options more.

I prefer not to see Tiefling subraces.

The SCAG variants are fun (though I've only played with the variants involving the appearance of the character). But I'm fine with some races not having subspecies.

Not all characters should be built around subclasses that are ideally optimized to the advantages a particular build needs.

[MENTION=6855057]QuietBrowser[/MENTION], here was my approach, riffing directly off of Planescape's AD&D Planewalker Handbook which first introduced significant variety between tieflings.

Fiendish Gifts (d20, roll or choose once; this replaces infernal legacy) [6 points]

1. Amoral. You are immune to any effect that would sense your emotions or read your thoughts, as well as any divination spell that you refuse. Wisdom (Insight) checks made to ascertain your intentions or sincerity have disadvantage. Additionally, you choose whether you detect as your actual race, alignment, or faction when it comes to special powers like truesight, heart sight, spells with triggers like glyph of warding, or magical items with use restrictions. [2+4=6]
2. Blood Hunger. A terrible hunger consumes you, driving you toward bloody cuisine. You have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature with half or less of its maximum hit points. At 3rd level simply tasting a drop of a creature’s blood can tell you its bonds, flaws, and ideals. At 5th level you can cast vampiric touch once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
3. Devil’s Sight. Like the devils you’re descended from, you can see sin in the hearts of man and fiend alike. Gain proficiency in Insight, and gain advantage on your Wisdom (Insight) checks when exploiting a creature’s guilty conscience. You can see in magical darkness using your darkvision, and its range increases to 120 feet. [2+2+2=6]
4. Demon Spawn. Demon blood runs in your veins. You are immune to Abyssal corruption and can sense the presence of demons and their influence within 30 feet as an action. However, when your blood is spilled it has some nefarious visual effect (e.g. steaming or turning into snakes momentarily). You know the message or prestidigitation cantrip (choose one when you select this trait), and instead of Infernal you know the Abyssal language. At 3rd level you can cast magic missile or Tasha’s hideous laughter (choose one when you select this trait) once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast shatter once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6] ###
5. Fiendish Resistance. Gain resistance to acid, cold, lightning, and poison damage. This is in addition to a tiefling’s normal fire resistance. [roughly worth +2 hp/level = 6]
6. Hag Spawn. The blood of night hags runs in your veins. You know the vicious mockery cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast detect magic once per day, or you may cast it as a ritual which doesn’t count against your once per day usage limit. At 5th level you can cast sleep (at 2nd level) once per day. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
7. Hellfire. The fires of the Nine Hells burn in your veins. Your skin burns anyone touching you, dealing 1 fire damage per round of prolonged contact. You know the fire bolt cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast burning hands as a 2nd level spell once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast continual flame once per long rest, though your continual flame always appears fiendish in some way (e.g. it might be spectral blue). Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
8. Infernal Wrath. You can draw on your inner fury to gain advantage on your attack roll or impose disadvantage on an enemy’s saving throw against your spell or attack. If your attack or spell hits and inflicts damage, it deals extra damage equal to your proficiency bonus or Charisma modifier (whichever is greater). You must take a short rest before you can use Infernal Wrath again.
9. Kiss of the Styx. Your kiss is imbued with the memory-stealing waters of the River Styx; when you kiss a willing or incapacitated creature, it must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 10 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus) or lose its last 24 hours of memory. You also know the chill touch cantrip and Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [4+2=6]
10. Liar’s Tongue. Gain proficiency in Deception, and gain advantage on your Charisma (Deception) check when you create a lie that has an unpleasant side effect for another person. You are immune to zone of truth or any spell, magic, or poison compelling you to speak the truth. (2+2+2=6)
11. Menacing Mien. Gain proficiency in Intimidation, and gain advantage on your Charisma (Intimidation) check if the target has superstitions about your fiendish ancestry which you exploit. You also know the thaumaturgy cantrip. [2+2+2=6]
12. Pestilent. You suffer sewer plague (see DMG 257) that makes you hideous to look upon, but also renders you immune to all other diseases. While you suffer no mechanical effects of the plague, anyone you touch or who comes into contact with you risks being infected if they fail a DC 11 Constitution save. At 3rd level you can cast detect poison and disease once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast blindness/deafness once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
13. Plane-Touched. When on the Lower Planes, you are immune to any psychic dissonance for being good-aligned, and you have an intuitive sense of special conditions and optional rules governing that plane (see DMG 57-66). You instinctively recognize a portal to the Lower Planes for what it is. You also have advantage on Intelligence checks to recall lore about the Lower Planes. [1+1+4=6]
14. Psychopomp. The afterlife calls to you, beckoning you to shepherd the restless dead to the shores of the Lower Planes. You know the spare the dying cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast detect evil and good once per long rest; additionally, when observing a petitioner (a dead soul) using detect evil and good, you can determine which plane they belong on. At 5th level you can cast speak with dead once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
15. Rakshasa Blooded. The beguiling blood of a rakshasa runs in your veins. You know the minor illusion cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast disguise self once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast detect thoughts once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
16. Shadow Sworn. Gain proficiency in Stealth. At 3rd level you can cast silent image once per long rest, and when you do you may make your own shadow seem to peel away from your body and act of its own accord. At 5th level you can cast blur or invisibility (choose one when you select this trait) once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
17. Succubus Blooded. Succubus blood runs in your veins. You know the friends cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast charm person once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast alter self once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]
18. Unhallowed. When you enter a consecrated space, such as an area warded by the hallow spell or under a deity’s protection. Celestials respond to you as if you were a fiend, and you can use magic restricted to fiends. ####
19. Winged. You have bat-like wings sprouting from your shoulder blades granting you a flying speed of 30 feet. [6?]
20. Yugoloth Blooded. The treacherous blood of yugoloths runs in your veins. You gain telepathy (30 feet). At 3rd level you can cast hex once per long rest. At 5th level you can cast darkness once per long rest. Charisma is your innate spellcasting ability. [2+2+2=6]

EDIT: The Unhallowed one I'm unsure about...my original thinking was that it let you bypass wards against typed creatures, but then I remembered tieflings aren't considered fiends. Then I thought maybe it allowed you to shrink holy auras like the hallow spell, but that seemed really fiddly and maybe too limited. So I still am not sure how to interpret the idea. Originally in the Planewalker's Handbook it was just flavor text about "creepy stuff happens when you enter a church", but I'm trying to balance everything on a 6-point system based on Infernal Legacy so need to expand the idea more.

Pre-SCAG, I played around with the idea of swapping Infernal Heritage spells to get a different feel. A tiefling with fallen Celestial in his bloodline might have a radiant power instead of fire, for example. Having Orcus as your grandpappy gives you necrotic abilities. Being the Son Of A Succubus opened up the "be my sucker ... um, excuse me, friend" spells.

I haven't looked carefully at the SCAG variants to compare yet. (Hopefully they were thinking along the same lines as I.)

I know my players would prefer the old-style tieflings that didn't necessarily show their heritage in the form of horns and tails. Just a table of appearance traits with no mechanical effect would probably be enough for them.

I think that SCAG has the right idea.
Tieflings are mutts, therefore it makes sense that any given Tiefling might be a little bit of A, a little bit of C and have a massive amount of D.

Kobold Stew said:

Not all characters should be built around subclasses that are ideally optimized to the advantages a particular build needs.

Click to expand...

This. I had a player try to create a 5E Warforged write-up and it pretty well came out with enough options that one would be forgiven for thinking Cannith built a custom model for each and every class. For tieflings, I prefer the 2E version, but they also weren't cambions. Their fiendish blood didn't even have to be a recent infusion. It could have been dormant for generations before suddenly manifesting. That level of taint doesn't come with features that are distinguishable for a certain bloodline. It's just a nasty rash with some perks. I could see in certain worlds, where extra-planar politics were particularly important, having a couple of subraces would be important, but I sure wouldn't put it in any other game.

Which actually brings up the number of subraces that are appropriate, in general. I really don't think that most races benefit from having multiple subraces. Elves do because of differing player expectations -- I see them as being intelligent with a knack for magic, while one of my players definitely sees them as being woodsy and at harmony with nature. So, high and wood subraces provide support for the major player expectations. Likewise, I like forest gnomes and see rock gnomes as largely an aberration spawned by Dragonlance, but the archetype of the "tinker gnome" is the more popular one (thankfully, it's lost the comic ineptitude). I really don't see where hill and mountain dwarves add much to the game. The different races of halflings definitely don't do much. I'd prefer to keep the subraces down, over all.

I think the table of random appearance traits should certainly come back. Have your Tieflings with grey skin, six fingers on each hand and vestigial wings, instead of the standardized red skin, massive horns and tails that we've got since 4e.

For variant abilities, that's a little more difficult. Simplest approach would be to swap around the spell-like abilities and possibly the resistances. I'd also allow more traits added later on with an "fiendish evolution" feat.

I wrote this thread up a while back. Maybe it will spawn creativity...
Tiefling Variants http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471175-Tiefling-Variants

Do tieflings need subraces? Honestly, the core tiefling just needa rewrite. As it stands, the tiefling is basically built towards being a warlock, and that's about it. I would prefer to see it generalized than a laser focus on a single class.