D&D 5E Tiefling preview!

gyor · Jul 12, 2014

Dungeoneer said:
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.

Not all Aasimar looked the same. Yes some, specifically those descended from Solars looked metallicy in skin and hair, but one born from a Planatar would more likely have an Aasimar with green skin like an Orion in look.

And in FR things got diverse. An Aasimar of Sharess would be more likely to have skin with cat patterns and other feline traits be more likely to turn to evil then other Aasimar. So FR pre 4e Aasimar was the best Aasimar because they weren't just aligned with them not just with celestials, but with Gods as well.

And let me remind people the 2e/3e Tiefling along with the other planetouched will be in the Planetouched race, whichrace, which is why they didn't include it in the PHB Tiefling. I imagine the Planetouched will be in the MM or DMG I'm guessing.

Lwaxy · Jul 12, 2014

Not read much of the thread but.... ugh, the art or what passes for it. And this covers only one little fraction of tieflings.

But then I tweak races around anyway.

Ruin Explorer · Jul 12, 2014

As a long-time Tiefling fan, this all seems pretty weird. Didn't WotC pretty clearly say that they were going with a more 2E-style Tiefling, as opposed to 3E or 4E?

Yet that's basically a 4E Tiefling with slightly different art (right down to the one-colour eyes), and perhaps less clarity on the backstory. As [MENTION=2067]Kamikaze Midget[/MENTION] points out, this is the race, not the subrace, too, so there isn't really room for a 2E-style variant, contrary to early assertions.

The main "thank goodness!" for me, though, is the retention of the CHA bonus, and the lack of a tendency to Evil. Obviously growing up in likely poverty and certainly subject to hatred and alienation from society means it's more likely one would end up there.

Natural Thaumaturgy cantrip is very cute as a racial ability.

Overall, it could have been worse, could have been better, but as long-time and unashamed Tiefling fan, I'd say this was 7/10, which is respectable. I think it's slightly better than 4E's default in terms of abilities and description, but 4E did have a much more interesting default backstory for them.

Morrus · Jul 12, 2014

I love the double-page-spread art layout. I hope we see a lot more of this.

Undertaker Sheep · Jul 12, 2014

Morrus said:
I love the double-page-spread art layout. I hope we see a lot more of this.

View attachment 62773

Oh my, that does look awesome! I can't wait to have the book in my hands and spent a few days marvelling at the layout.

doctorhook · Jul 12, 2014

Dungeoneer said:
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.

Hey man, you don't have to convince me! I've argued all those same points in the past.

Personally, I like celestials. I like aasimars, but I I find them a bit dull; I like devas a lot more. (I've said this before, but I prefer the spelling "daeva" as a counter to popstar jokes about the race.)

Dungeoneer said:
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.

Hold on, you mean Gary's own Greyhawk game didn't feature halflings riding raptors into battle across the plains of Flanaess? Because there's nothing about riding a raptor that isn't awesome.

JeffB · Jul 12, 2014

Melkor said:
Hearing a lot of praise for the art in this edition, but so far, other than the covers, I am a bit underwhelmed.

.

Me three. But I never gelled with anything Schindawhatshisname posted about to begin with, so I was prepared to not care for it. I am quite thankful Basic is art free.

lvl20dm · Jul 12, 2014

I notice that many posters are concerned about the depiction of the Tiefling as the 4e version, but the playtest packet actually addresses that. A sidebar in the playtest explained that a race called the "Plane-touched" will cover the older 2e Planescape concept of the race. The Plane-touched will have varied abilities and appearances - I'm guessing they might fold the Aasimar and Genasi into the race as well.

Of course, that info comes from the playtest, and I suppose plans could change. And we know that this Plane-touched race won't be in the PHB. I could see it in the DMG, or maybe even in something like the Monster Manual or a future, as yet unannounced, product.

To my mind this seems like a good compromise - I really liked both the older version of the Tiefling as well as the 4e incarnation.

Moorcrys · Jul 12, 2014

I'd imagine this is the 'core' tiefling, and that there will be some setting-specific tiefling sub-races down the line. To me, this is Wizards letting us know the race is a fundamental part of the 5e canon and will be supported as such. Because it's core and not tied to a particular setting, they have the freedom to go in a bunch of different directions with it through their supplements.

So I'd bet we'll eventually see a Planescape tiefling... they just have a limited amount of space in the core book to say, "Hey guys, this is a race we'll be making some use of in this edition."

CM · Jul 12, 2014

Dungeoneer said:
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.

This sums it up nicely.

It is regrettable that the 4e tiefling usurped the name, but what's done is done and I'd wager the majority of players today are more familiar with that version than its Planescape incarnation. And I say that as a huge Planescape fan.

D&D 5E Tiefling preview!

gyor

Legend

Lwaxy

Cute but dangerous

Ruin Explorer

Legend

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Undertaker Sheep

Explorer

doctorhook

Legend

JeffB

Legend

lvl20dm

Explorer

Moorcrys

Explorer

CM

Adventurer

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