Tiefling Tables

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I love Tieflings. I love the name. I love the story. I love the feel. Planescape was, by far, my favorite 2nd E setting. Tiefers still see a lot of play in my campaign. I'm thrilled that they'll be included in the PHB1.

I hope they'll get tables, or something equivalent, for making each Tiefling different. The Planewalkers Handbook had cool tables, but like much of 2nd E these had the potential to be game-breakingly unbalancing.

Someone was recently complaining about the 4E art featuring ubiquitously big-horned Tieflings. I have no problems with big-horns, but I do have a problem with ubiquity. Some Tieflings in my campaign have horns. Some have cat-like eyes. Some have entirely blue skin, or the scent of ash, or goat legs, or downy feathers instead of hair. They don't all get darkness either

 

[Nifft]

Cool idea. I like tables.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Shroomy]

I voted "Other." Players and DMs running tiefling NPCs should be able to create fiendish traits on their own, not roll on a table; the PHB and MM should have a list of common traits that players and DMs can choose from or base their own traits on. I also don't think that individual traits should have a mechanical effect (role-playing, sure, but mechanical, nope).

 

[Dog Moon]

I voted "Other." Players and DMs running tiefling NPCs should be able to create fiendish traits on their own, not roll on a table; the PHB and MM should have a list of common traits that players and DMs can choose from or base their own traits on.

Maybe the way they could do it is have a big table of like 50 ideas with each having a 2% chance of occurring. It would still give you a list of 50 ideas you could go off of, even if you don't want to roll anything.


As for the spell-like, I think if they wanted to make this random, I believe it should go along with the appearance change and even go a step further and have Tiefling appeance/ability be based off a singular type of Demon. Only Tieflings descended from a Barbed Devil would have horns of some sort and their spell-like would be Spike Growth or something like that.

More work obviously, but I don't think it'll ever happen, so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Let them have random or chosen abilities.

 

[Nifft]

Players and DMs running tiefling NPCs should be able to create fiendish traits on their own, not roll on a table; the PHB and MM should have a list of common traits that players and DMs can choose from or base their own traits on.

The poll does say "choose/roll", so I figured that was included.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Shroomy]

As for the spell-like, I think if they wanted to make this random, I believe it should go along with the appearance change and even go a step further and have Tiefling appeance/ability be based off a singular type of Demon. Only Tieflings descended from a Barbed Devil would have horns of some sort and their spell-like would be Spike Growth or something like that.

More work obviously, but I don't think it'll ever happen, so it doesn't really matter.

I think that this would be the type of thing that would be perfect for Dragon.

 

[Nifft]

I think that this would be the type of thing that would be perfect for Dragon.

Damn it, now I kinda want to subscribe.

Grrrr, -- N

 

[WyzardWhately]

Being able to pick some features would be kinda cool. I'd just hate to deal with the way it used to be. I got lucky once and rolled a teifling who was immune to non-magical weapons..kinda broken at first level. So, I'm cool with it so long as the anatomical features, if rolled, aren't tied into anything mechanical. Palladium tried this route in Nightbane and it was kinda rough.

 

[Shroomy]

IMO, in terms of racial abilities, tieflings should be identical at 1st level. Fiendish traits should be affect appearance only and have no mechanical impact. Mechanical differentiation at the racial level should be accomplished via feats.