D&D 5E Tiefling preview!

[Dausuul]

I feel people are again complaining about the orange slice in their free drink.

Considering this drink costs $50, I don't think it's unreasonable to complain if you don't want an orange slice in it.

 

[Shemeska]

Some of my favorite tiefling images:


Factol Rhys of the Ciphers (of tanar'ri heritage)




Annah from Planescape: Torment



A tiefling worshiper of Saranrae from Pathfinder

 

[grimslade]

The stats seem solid for a tiefling or a planetouched: tiefling. I actually like rules and it seems like a good framework for other Planetouched.
I knew the 4E tiefling was going to be default, remember Hasbro and WotC want D&D to be a 'Brand' tied-in to all sorts of other products besides the TTRPG. One of those tie-ins is the Neverwinter MMORPG who have 4E tieflings as a race. I am sure the DMG will have ways to re-skin the tiefling for Planescape fans, and hopefully a plethora of modified powers reflecting their nefarious heritages.

 

[Stormonu]

So the first thing I'm going to do is introduce a tiefling cult that bobs their tails as a symbolic rejection of their evil heritage - akin to getting circumcised.

 

[dd.stevenson]

I think the art is pretty weak. I don't look at that picture and think about how much fun it would be to play a female tiefling character. I can't see any players I know about getting excited, either.

Honestly, I never gave a fig about FR tiefling lore, so it doesn't bother me how wotc decides to split the difference on that one.

 

[Dire Bare]

It's unusual that they went with the 4e Tiefling given how much hate it got. Must have been the loud minority not the majority.

Yup. WotC wouldn't be bringing back the 4E tiefling against overwhelming hate for it. Besides, it's still unclear if we've seen the entire tiefling entry for the PHB. And even if we have (or further pages don't give us the old tiefling back), it doesn't mean we won't see the concept further down the road. And it's sooooo easy to fix if you prefer your tieflings cloven footed . . . . sigh.

The original tiefling (2E) was designed for a specific setting, Planescape, and was truly a beautiful thing, hence it's exploded popularity as a racial option. But in it's true glory, the 2E tiefling is a bit complex for a core race. The 4E tiefling is easier to grasp as a concept. To truly please the Planescape grognards, we'd need several pages of tables to help determine your chaotic character appearance.

It's also a contest between subtle and bold in appearance, as alluded by a previous poster. The 2E tiefling, with all of it's randomness in appearance, was subtle. Put on a hat and some pants and folks might not notice your diabolic heritage right off. The 4E tiefling is bold in appearance, there's no way your going to disguise your heritage except in a very, very dark room. Which makes the race a more clear concept to grasp, and makes art direction easier as well.

To "fix" this issue, I think my first tiefling character will be the old-school style with no tail, cloven hooves, and slightly pointed ears. And I'm going to do bad things, and blame it on the more obvious-looking tieflings in the party! "Look at the size of those horns and that tail! She's got devil-red skin and pointy teeth! She's eeeeevil, and obviously the one to blame!"

 

[doctorhook]

Weren't Aasimar just renamed to Deva in 4e? Felt like they were pretty much the same thing.

They filled a similar role (celestial-themed PC race) but the similarities ended there. Aasimar were humans with celestial ancestry. Devas were mortal angels who reincarnated upon death, with the risk of being reborn as a rakshasa if they had turned to evil during their previous life. Visually they were about as far apart as 2E and 4E tieflings; aasimar are beautiful with golden or silver hair and skin, while devas were uncanny-looking light-purple- or sky-blue-skinned humanoids with dark-coloured geometric patterns across their faces.

 

[I'm A Banana]

And even if we have (or further pages don't give us the old tiefling back), it doesn't mean we won't see the concept further down the road. And it's sooooo easy to fix if you prefer your tieflings cloven footed

Well, the fear isn't that the Fun Police will come and make us play a certain way.

It'd just (a) be nice to see, (b) consistent with their stated intent to bring in lapsed players, (c) consistent with the "all D&D worlds" stated intent of the PH, (d) reassuring to folks that the Asmodeus tiefling wouldn't get shoved into Sigil, and (e) innoculate the game against the presumption that everyone who plays a tiefling is playing the PH tiefling (which might be a consideration for setting books or adventures where tieflings feature or splats that expand options).

Those are all pretty legit concerns/reasons to be bummed about the Turathi tiefling being the one in the 5e PH.

 

[Dungeoneer]

They filled a similar role (celestial-themed PC race) but the similarities ended there. Aasimar were humans with celestial ancestry. Devas were mortal angels who reincarnated upon death, with the risk of being reborn as a rakshasa if they had turned to evil during their previous life. Visually they were about as far apart as 2E and 4E tieflings; aasimar are beautiful with golden or silver hair and skin, while devas were uncanny-looking light-purple- or sky-blue-skinned humanoids with dark-coloured geometric patterns across their faces.

You can't say Aasimar without Aasssss... and there's your problem right there. The name is problematic. Also the hook is not strong. Aasimar look like... pretty people with silver hair? D&D lore already has a plethora of races that are basically "Human, but a different color." And how do you roleplay one? Is it just a goody-two-shoes human? There are plenty of those as it is.

I think the Deva was intended to be a reimagining of the Aasimar. I'll admit it was a pretty radical one. But I do think that the Deva concept was quite successful. I had several players that wanted to play one (and I did too) which I can't say for any of the other new races introduced in 4e. Deva have a distinctive and interesting appearance and a strong roleplaying hook.

Whether or not they take another crack at re-working the Aasimar, I hope to see the Deva reincarnate for 5e.

 

[Dungeoneer]

It'd just (a) be nice to see, (b) consistent with their stated intent to bring in lapsed players, (c) consistent with the "all D&D worlds" stated intent of the PH, (d) reassuring to folks that the Asmodeus tiefling wouldn't get shoved into Sigil, and (e) innoculate the game against the presumption that everyone who plays a tiefling is playing the PH tiefling (which might be a consideration for setting books or adventures where tieflings feature or splats that expand options).

I don't quite understand this. The Planescape tiefling is obviously setting specific. It would be a bit strange to suddenly throw a PS race into the PH. Nor does the presence of a non-PH tiefling in the core book imply that the PS flavor tiefling won't show up in the Planescape setting book.

Imagine if I got upset because the PH dwarves weren't Dark Sun dwarves or the PH halflings weren't Eberron halflings.