Races & Classes details from the WotC boards

[Bagpuss]

If "Dragonborn are a true breeding race that has nothing to do with humans." and "They [Tieflings] pass for humans from a distance."

What the hell is that wizards type of creature on the cover of the Players Handbook. Because it certainly looks like some race that has something to do with humans, but couldn't pass for a human at a distance.

 

[Derren]

As far as I know 4E Tieflings will be humans who in the past somehow stole powers from devils and transformed themselves into a new, self sustaining race called tiefling.
As for their looks, it probably depends on the distance.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

If "Dragonborn are a true breeding race that has nothing to do with humans." and "They [Tieflings] pass for humans from a distance."

What the hell is that wizards type of creature on the cover of the Players Handbook. Because it certainly looks like some race that has something to do with humans, but couldn't pass for a human at a distance.

Look at the next couple of sentences:

The text says that they have a small hord extending from their brow and a narrow tail. As they grow in power these thing get more pronounced. In the arts they have very pronounced tail and horn.

So, to make a totally arbitrary guess, heroic-level tieflings look quite like humans if they cover up their horns and tail, which won't be hard (long hair, bandanna, loose pants...); at paragon levels, these traits show quite openly (like the PHB cover); at epic levels, no one is going to mistake a tiefling for a human without magical disguise.

Edit:

As for their looks, it probably depends on the distance.

Makes sense, as well; if they're human-sized and more or less human-coloured, they're going to be hard to tell from humans at longer ranges, whereas you can instantly tell someone is a halfling, a dwarf or a dragonborn. (Elves and eladrin may or may not be easy to tell from humans... maybe the way elves move, who knows; half-elves, you probably need to see up close.)

 

[Derren]

Where did you get this quotes from kunadam from?

And this whole horn thing increases my fears again that in 4E all dragons will have ridiculous nose horns....

 

[Jinete]

So, to make a totally arbitrary guess, heroic-level tieflings look quite like humans if they cover up their horns and tail, which won't be hard (long hair, bandanna, loose pants...); at paragon levels, these traits show quite openly (like the PHB cover); at epic levels, no one is going to mistake a tiefling for a human without magical disguise.

That's a great design idea. It's like
Heroic:
"I'm just your everyday common human, nothing to see here"

Paragon:
"Ok, who said that? If the one that called me a freak doesn't step up, the whole village gets it"

Epic:
"Obey your new Tiefling overlords! We are powerful and cool and we have tails!"

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Where did you get this quotes from kunadam from?

ENworld front page.

And this whole horn thing increases my fears again that in 4E all dragons will have ridiculous nose horns....

Really, why? If the dragonborn were spoke of as having big horns as standard, or with nose horns, then I could see why you'd worry about that. But tieflings have been "horny" ever since they were introduced in the 2e, and horn-headed fiends go way back in history.

 

[Derren]

Really, why? If the dragonborn were spoke of as having big horns as standard, or with nose horns, then I could see why you'd worry about that. But tieflings have been "horny" ever since they were introduced in the 2e, and horn-headed fiends go way back in history.

Somehow I assumed this was about dragonborn and not about tieflings(probably because the first quote started with dragonborn before switching to tieflings.

 

[Aristotle]

I'm torn...

I don't like the idea of the implied setting being too invasive, and the dragonborn fluff mentioned certainly feels that way to me, or to port in races and classes that seem like they should be campaign setting specific.... but at the same time I acknowledge that you can't design in a vacuum, else you'll likely just get boring generic fantasy with no innovation.

At the same time, the fluff completely supports my point of light setting, which features a human city state on grassy plains (also inhabited by dwarves), and vast wetlands where halflings live. My halflings are a little more primitive than the implied merchant halflings, but some do come to the human market to sell or trade pelts, pottery, and so on. I *may* even have a spot for dragonborn in this particular setting, despite my desire to dislike them.

 

[Stoat]

Strange thing, I hated the idea of Dragonborn until I saw "lives in the desert." Now I know what lives in that big blank spot on the eastern edge of my homebrew. One line of fluff, and I can now tell you everything about the declining Dragonborn Empire of Astar-Bahiti.

As long as the PHB doesn't hardwire too much history and culture into the mechanics, I'm fine with a little implied setting.

 

[catsclaw227]

After reading the snippets, I am glad I preordered the book. I can't wait to see the art.