Tieflings

[Nytmare]

Dungeonbjörn and Dragonbjörn!

I fixed that for you.

 

[Wormwood]

I fixed that for you.

I am appalled by the lack of umlauts in this, the most METAL edition of the game to date.

WotC, you're on notice.

 

[Piratecat]

In fact, we could probably label you assborn. How's that sound?

It sounds like you'll get suspended if you insult people. Please don't do so. It's okay if people disagree with you; there's no need to take a personal shot.

 

[Umbran]

No call for the snarky reply. In fact, we could probably label you assborn. How's that sound?

It sounds like an insult, which is notably against the EN World rules of conduct.

I note that responding to snark with more snark rather makes one into a pot calling a kettle black, and does nothing to make the thread a nicer place. If you have a problem with a post, please report it to the moderators (using the little exclamation point icon at the bottom of the post). If you feel a need to discuss the rules and how they are applied on these boards, please e-mail one of the moderators - our addresses are in a post stickied to the top of the Meta Forum.

 

[PeelSeel2]

I hate trufflelings with a passion, but I am going to have to find a place for them in my campaign because I know some of my players are going to want to be one. So I came up with a background story for them that fits my campaign.

They are the moneychangers and bankers of my realm now. They have carved that niche out since they do not have a homeland, they have to be accepted because of the service they perform, but they survive with a prejudice against them. It allows them to have a good excuse to be in any village with grudging acceptance.

 

[Dausuul]

I also dislike the name; along with aasimar, baatezu, tanar'ri, and so on and so forth, it's one more legacy of TSR's boneheaded decision to excise all mention of demons and devils from 2E. It would make me very happy if 4E would ditch all that guff.

Unfortunately, while they did explicitly get rid of "aasimar," and I haven't heard any mention of "baatezu" or "tanar'ri" (crossed fingers), they did not ditch "tiefling," and I've concluded that it requires too much effort to change it. Yeah, I can slap any name I want on the race in my campaign, but the books will constantly be pushing the players back toward "tiefling," and new players will come in with "tiefling" already fixed in their heads.

So, I decided that the history of my world includes a human warlock named Tieflos who was the progenitor of the race, the guy who made the original deal with the archdevils. At least that way the name makes some kind of sense.

(The real pity is that now D&D is stuck with "tiefling" forever. Assuming that the tiefling race becomes popular, as it almost certainly will, the name will become iconic, and renaming it in later editions will cease to be a realistic possibility.)

 

[Wormwood]

So, I decided that the history of my world includes a human warlock named Tieflos who was the progenitor of the race, the guy who made the original deal with the archdevils. At least that way the name makes some kind of sense.

This is the coolest idea I've seen today. Yoink!

(The real pity is that now D&D is stuck with "tiefling" forever. Assuming that the tiefling race becomes popular, as it almost certainly will, the name will become iconic, and renaming it in later editions will cease to be a realistic possibility.)

I hadn't thought of that. Depressed now.

 

[rkanodia]

For me, it's quite near to the german word 'Teufel', as a minimisation becoming 'Teufeling', and then made english, therefore the name 'Tiefling'.

Of course, the race still looks totally silly, with their giant cow-horns and that impractical tail, but oh well, you can't have everything, I guess...

I completely agree. I understand that 'tief-' is a corrupted 'translation', but it works for me all the same. The '-ling' suffix is kind of dismissive and derisive, and I think that fits too, since I would imagine that humans wouldn't really have a kind and welcoming name for their devil-tainted brethren. I think 'Cambion' just sounds generic and meaningless. Maybe sounds like 'Cambrian explosion', and is the name of a race of trilobite people?

 

[fafhrd]

Pronunciation makes all the difference for me. Teef-ling makes me think of some house gnome that bogarts your nose hair trimmer in the middle of the night. Tie-fling sounds more sinister, and that's how I'll say it, right or not.

 

[Ebon Shar]

I completely agree. I understand that 'tief-' is a corrupted 'translation', but it works for me all the same. The '-ling' suffix is kind of dismissive and derisive, and I think that fits too, since I would imagine that humans wouldn't really have a kind and welcoming name for their devil-tainted brethren. I think 'Cambion' just sounds generic and meaningless. Maybe sounds like 'Cambrian explosion', and is the name of a race of trilobite people?

I disagree. I like the term Cambion and I'll probably use that in place of tiefling. Cambion just sounds more sinister and more closely tied to the "hellish" origin of tieflings. Isn't cambion, though, a male form, sort of like incubus is to succubus? What would the feminine form be?