Rules - Tiefling Balance
Hey guys:
I've decided to bring my love/hate relationship to Tieflings to a whole new level. This is a Tiefling hate thread. I HATE the current rules balancing of Tiefling. I am going to outline why, and demonstrate how I would fix it.
I believe the class is terrible both as a roleplayer, and as a powergamer. +1 LA races are notably bad as spellcasters, simply due to their LA, so they make poor wizards right off the start. Their stat mods are best for wizards, of course, save that any +0 LA race is a better wizard. Next up, we move to their favored class, rogue. Dex and Int are great for rogues, but unfortunately, a rogue has as many cha abilities as dex abilities, and we get stuffed on cha, so realistically, a good third of your abilities/skills start out gimped. None of the other +1 LA races suffers from penalties to the few classes they are expected to excel at. Further, from a Flavor perspective, we see multiple demons, almost all with a charisma bonus. Forceful personalities, of course, abound in both the upper and lower planes. Not so with Tieflings. Muted beings and weak personality, apparently. No lust, no fire, no passion. Succubi and Incubi are the most likely demons to mate with humans, and have a +6 cha mod, but worry not about flavor making sense, Tieflings have a -2 cha.
So what are we left with? A race that makes a bad wizard, a bad bard, a passable but not great rogue, and little else. I would, in fact, state that it makes a worse wizard than a human, and a worse rogue than a human. All for a +1 LA.
How would I fix the Tiefling? I can think of a few ways. But I think what I'd do is give them +2 int and +2 cha. Just like the Aasimar, they get 2 good and no bad mods. Both mods help their favored class, and neither is in a "fighting stat", to unbalance it further.(Not that I believe str or dex should be weighted more or less than a non-fighting stat, but anyway). Now you have a Tiefling capable of making a Rogue better than a human, which I think is just fair. It also makes the Tiefling far closer an analogue to the Aasimar, rather than its weak step-child.
Lets look at the proposed changes, in total:
Tiefling(new and improved)
* +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma.
* Medium size.
* A tiefling’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Racial Skills: Tieflings have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Hide checks.
* Racial Feats: A tiefling gains feats according to its class levels.
* Special Attacks (see above): Darkness.
* Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Infernal. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc.
* Favored Class: Rogue.
* Level adjustment +1.
Aasimar(same as ever)
* +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma.
* Medium size.
* An aasimar’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision: Aasimars can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
* Racial Skills: Aasimars have a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Listen checks.
* Racial Feats: An aasimar gains feats according to its class levels.
* Special Attacks (see above): Daylight.
* Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and electricity 5.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan.
* Favored Class: Paladin.
* Level adjustment +1.
Doesn't that look more fair.
This would step Tieflings into the low end tier of LA +1 races at least.
Hey guys:
I've decided to bring my love/hate relationship to Tieflings to a whole new level. This is a Tiefling hate thread. I HATE the current rules balancing of Tiefling. I am going to outline why, and demonstrate how I would fix it.
I believe the class is terrible both as a roleplayer, and as a powergamer. +1 LA races are notably bad as spellcasters, simply due to their LA, so they make poor wizards right off the start. Their stat mods are best for wizards, of course, save that any +0 LA race is a better wizard. Next up, we move to their favored class, rogue. Dex and Int are great for rogues, but unfortunately, a rogue has as many cha abilities as dex abilities, and we get stuffed on cha, so realistically, a good third of your abilities/skills start out gimped. None of the other +1 LA races suffers from penalties to the few classes they are expected to excel at. Further, from a Flavor perspective, we see multiple demons, almost all with a charisma bonus. Forceful personalities, of course, abound in both the upper and lower planes. Not so with Tieflings. Muted beings and weak personality, apparently. No lust, no fire, no passion. Succubi and Incubi are the most likely demons to mate with humans, and have a +6 cha mod, but worry not about flavor making sense, Tieflings have a -2 cha.
So what are we left with? A race that makes a bad wizard, a bad bard, a passable but not great rogue, and little else. I would, in fact, state that it makes a worse wizard than a human, and a worse rogue than a human. All for a +1 LA.
How would I fix the Tiefling? I can think of a few ways. But I think what I'd do is give them +2 int and +2 cha. Just like the Aasimar, they get 2 good and no bad mods. Both mods help their favored class, and neither is in a "fighting stat", to unbalance it further.(Not that I believe str or dex should be weighted more or less than a non-fighting stat, but anyway). Now you have a Tiefling capable of making a Rogue better than a human, which I think is just fair. It also makes the Tiefling far closer an analogue to the Aasimar, rather than its weak step-child.
Lets look at the proposed changes, in total:
Tiefling(new and improved)
* +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma.
* Medium size.
* A tiefling’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Racial Skills: Tieflings have a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Hide checks.
* Racial Feats: A tiefling gains feats according to its class levels.
* Special Attacks (see above): Darkness.
* Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Infernal. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Orc.
* Favored Class: Rogue.
* Level adjustment +1.
Aasimar(same as ever)
* +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma.
* Medium size.
* An aasimar’s base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision: Aasimars can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
* Racial Skills: Aasimars have a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Listen checks.
* Racial Feats: An aasimar gains feats according to its class levels.
* Special Attacks (see above): Daylight.
* Special Qualities (see above): Resistance to acid 5, cold 5, and electricity 5.
* Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Sylvan.
* Favored Class: Paladin.
* Level adjustment +1.
Doesn't that look more fair.
This would step Tieflings into the low end tier of LA +1 races at least.
