Dragonborn & Tieflings: What is their place in your world?

[VBMEW-01]

My group and I have been formulating the 4E changes to our world (we like to allow everything out of the PHB, as a rule) and are working on our decisions concerning Dragonborn and Tieflings.

I thought it would be interesting to see how everyone is implementing these two races into their new or existing worlds (ours is pre-existing and we are currently unsure or undecided).

 

[Byronic]

Undiscovered harsh deserts and settlements?

Have a new inn open amongst other things and have the barkeep be a Thiefling?

What do you mean you never noticed that Mr Gillmoore was a Dragonborn? He's 8 feet tall and lights his candles with his own breath!

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

I don't plan on introducing either of them into my game. They're far too fantastical for the flavor of my homebrewed campaign world.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well I got a couple different worlds so shall do each in brief:

World 1:

Only "Tieflings" exist in this world, however they are very different from traditional Tieflings. They are called "Nefas" and have more in common appearance wise with Aberrations then Devils.

A Nefas is the child of two human parents who's child while in the womb is warped by the fluxes in reality that cover this world. As such it is born twisted and different, these changes can be subtle or alarming.

Nefas are looked down upon, and many are killed at birth. However, they are accepted within society given their numbers, the randomness of their births and many high-level members of the Aristocracy are Nefas (given that many Noble families are in close proximity to the ruling Aberrations or "Pandorans").

World 2:

Both Tieflings and Dragonborn reside in this world, they are two of the three most common races with only Humans being larger.

They each rule over their own empires. The Tieflings rule over a empire strikingly similar to the Roman Empire with the debaucheries of it cranked up. The Dragonborn empire is similar to the Egyptian, however Dragons have taken the place of many of the gods.

Humans are the common people, they are merchants, slaves, farmers, etc.

World 3:

Both Tieflings and Dragonborn also reside within this world. This is a world that has been shaped by the Feywild, specifically through dreams and nightmares. For the Feywild is a realm where such rituals of the mind take form and shape, as Humans began to delve into the Feywild the borders between the worlds began to break down and dreams and nightmares began to flood into our world. Some are invisible and cannot be seen, others are all too real.

The Tieflings are children born of mothers who are haunted by nightmares (many Tieflings are born at times of strife, war or disease). Though they share none of the mental traits we exhibit with nightmares, some begin to embody it as a way to identify with any kind of past.

Most Tieflings hide their devilish appearance (this is a common motif in the nightmares of humans and thus become the common form of Tieflings), and try to live normally. Many however given the stigma surrounding them and superstition seek work away from others.

Dragonborn are another race spawned from the thoughts of dreams and nightmares. No one is sure when they arrived in the world, only that they spawned from the dreams of Dragons. They share many common appearances with Dragons but are quite different in nature.

They have embodied many of the knightly ideals dreamt about by humans, but their monstrous nature has left such ideals to fester into mercenary profit. They are amongst the best mercenary forces in the world.

 

[frankthedm]

Tieflings will take the role of the Men of Leng who crew the strange ships of the Farranth and act as their agents to buy slaves.

The moon-beasts sail black galleys between the moon and the Dreamlands, trading rubies for slaves and gold at the port of Dylath-Leen. When there, they employ the Men of Leng, disguised in turbans, as their go-betweens and stay hidden below deck, lest the merchants of Dylath-Leen learn the terrible secret of with whom they are dealing.

 

[Rechan]

I think I'll be using them as per the implied setting, except for a caveat or two:

1) The Tiefling Empire is still around. It's just utterly gutted. The aristocracy is still present, but because the empire has no manpower, no infrastructure, the Tiefs are using hobgoblins, from grunt to upper-middle management.

2) A subculture of nomadic tiefs (or maybe DBs) that are pretty much the fantasy equivalent of bikers.

3) DBs are spread far and wide, partially to hide from the Tiefling empire, while they build resources to continue raiding, subterfuge, etc. Of course, others have left beyond the Tiefling's reach, to find a much more hospitable situation for them to claim their glory.

 

[Commonblade]

Dragonborn will work nicely as descendants of the Half-dragon/draconic offspring that came about after the current generation. Tieflings already exist in my world as engineered soldiers of a country run by the Devils, go figure.

 

[Derren]

I don't plan on introducing either of them into my game. They're far too fantastical for the flavor of my homebrewed campaign world.

But elves, dwarfs and maybe eladrin are not fantastical?

 

[ThirdWizard]

Dragonborn
Known throughout the land as mercenaries for hire, dragonborn hire themselves out to towns they pass through, usually traveling in troops of two to four individuals, thought these troops rarely remain in the area for long before moving on. The farmers and artisans that make up most of the population of settlements often can't take up arms to defend themselves without sacrificing their livelihood in the process, so dragonborn have become an important part of life to those who live here. While its true that most towns have a militia, those militias do not go beyond the immediate area. Dragonborn mercenaries do.

Often, these traveling warriors are not paid in gold or silver coins. They will perform a small service to the people of the area such as clean up a goblin warren, drive out some orcs who have reached too far, or kill some animal that has been stalking travelers. In return they are fed for a few days, perhaps a week, given a place to sleep, and then they take their leave. Thus, the relationship with dragonborn is a very symbiotic one, as a troop moves in and takes care of some trouble then leaves, allowing another to come and repeat the cycle in the coming weeks.

Tieflings
I haven't written up much of a description yet. They're going to be creators of the warforged and master artificers. They're going to be kind of like the mob, only they don't openly associate with each other, and when people are looking for something, a tiefling is your best bet on being able to find it due to their networks of information and subterfuge. They make excellent advisers because of this, but you have to watch them because you never can be sure what one is planning.

 

[Wormwood]

But elves, dwarfs and maybe eladrin are not fantastical?

I have to agree with Derren here.








Okay, I think I need to lie down now.