Tiefling

The tiefling (/ˈtiflɪŋ/ TEE-fling)[1] is a fictional humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Originally introduced in the Planescape campaign setting in the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, they became one of the primary races available for player characters in the fourth edition of the game.[2][3]

In the Planescape setting, where Tieflings were introduced, they were described as being a mixture of human and "something else" with the implication that the medium-sized non-human ancestors originated from the evil "lower planes". In further supplements it was clarified that Tieflings were usually descended from fiends but not the same as half-fiends, since a Tiefling's fiendish ancestry lies further up the family tree. This description remained true in 3rd Edition.

In 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, tieflings are a race whose human ancestors made a bargain with devils to increase their power.[4] Their origin is similar in 5th Edition.[5]

Tiefling Ranger

Name

The name, pronounced /ˈtiːflɪŋ/, was derived by Wolfgang Baur from German tief meaning "deep, low", and the suffix -ling, "offspring," alluding to their origins in the "lower planes" (in the 2nd and 3rd editions); it may also allude to Teufel, German for "devil."[6][7]

Publication history

One of the first artists to depict the tiefling was Tony DiTerlizzi.[8]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition

The tiefling was introduced in the Planescape Campaign Setting (1994)[4][9] with more information in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994)[10] and The Planewalker's Handbook (1996).[11]

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition

The tiefling appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000)[12] under the planetouched entry.[13]

The fey'ri and tanna'ruk tieflings appeared in Monsters of Faerun (2001).[14] The tiefling is presented as a player character race for the Forgotten Realms setting in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001),[15] and the tiefling and fey'ri appear as player character races in Races of Faerûn (2003).[16]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition

The tiefling appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003) under the planetouched entry.

The tiefling paragon was introduced in Unearthed Arcana (2004).[17]

The tiefling appears as a player character race in the Planar Handbook (2004),[18] and Races of Destiny (2004).[19]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition

The tiefling appears as a player character race in the Player's Handbook for the 4th edition (2008),[3][4] and again in Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010).[20] Tieflings also have a racial book dedicated to them in this edition, Player's Handbook Races: Tieflings.

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition

The tiefling appears as a player character race in the Player's Handbook for the 5th edition (2014). Variant tiefling builds appear in the Sword Coast Adventure Guide (2015) and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018).

Fictional history

In the setting of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, the tieflings trace their origins to the ancient human Empire of Bael Turath. In the Empire, the noble class was completely obsessed with preserving and gaining power. Rumors of their schemes and obsession with power reached a realm called the Nine Hells, located around the Astral Sea. The devils that resided in the Nine Hells gave the ruling classes of Bael Turath visions while they slept, containing the directions for a grisly, month-long ritual that would extend their rule into eternity. The details of the ritual have been left unclear in the books from the Player's Handbook series describing the events, though it is described as being very horrible. As the ritual demanded the participation of every noble house, those that refused were wholly slaughtered. Once this was done, the ruling class began their ritual. Afterwards, devils from the Nine Hells began to appear, and the nobles gladly made pacts with them. These pacts gave power to the nobles and their descendants forever, but also gave them the devilish features of horns, non-prehensile tails, sharp teeth, and red skin. From that point forward, the former humans were the race known as the tieflings.

In the 5th Edition, the overlord of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus, is cited as the ancestral source of their devilish features.

Aspects

In earlier versions of Dungeons & Dragons, 3.5 and previous, tieflings have any of a number of features that reference (directly or indirectly) their fiendish lineage. These include horns located on their heads, pointed sharp teeth, extra fingers, cloven hooves in place of feet, tails, and unusually colored eyes. They exude a feeling of "evil" even though their race has become civil and no longer lusts for power. Many races distrust or outright hate tieflings, seeing them as devil worshippers. Tiefling villains often live up to this reputation, whereas player characters have the choice to abandon this stereotype.

In 4th edition and later, tieflings are a core character race[21] and have had their appearance altered from 3.5 and earlier.[12] All tieflings possess large thick horns of various styles on their heads, prehensile tails approximately 4 to 5 feet in length, sharply pointed teeth, and their eyes are solid orbs of red, black, white, silver, or gold. Tiefling skin ranges through common human shades right into the reds, ranging from brick red to a ruddy tan. Tiefling hair, which starts behind their horns, ranges from dark blue to purple to red in addition to more normal human colors.

Within the setting of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, tieflings are characterized as charismatic and self-reliant, and make excellent warlocks, warlords, and wizards.[21]

In Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, tieflings do not associate with a specific god or gods. Their lack of faith also means paladins and clerics are seldom, if ever, found. Tieflings have no homeland and are very rare due to a long-lasting war with the dragonborn, another race seen in the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Most tieflings prefer to be adventurers and rarely ever adventure with their own kin due to the prejudices of other races (people are concerned when two or more of their kind travel together).

In most editions, tiefling naming conventions consist of ancestral Infernal names. In 3.5, tieflings use human names until they seek to differentiate themselves from their parents, after which they usually take fiendish "names" of Infernal or Abyssal origin that sound menacing. In 4.0 onwards, tieflings usually take an ancestral Infernal name, although some young tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, choose a name that signifies a concept and then try to embody the concept.

In most editions, tieflings are described as slow to trust, but those who do earn their trust and loyalty earn a firm friend or ally for life.

Alignment

Unlike half-fiends, tieflings are not necessarily of evil alignments. Tieflings of all alignments exist, including good, although many take more shady jobs, such as that of thieves, assassins or spies. Tieflings are often portrayed as antiheroes.[12]

In a standard 3.0 and 3.5 game, tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they are aware of the tiefling's unsavory ancestry or not.

In 4th edition, tieflings have the same alignment choices as any other starting character.

In 5th edition, tieflings do not have an innate tendency towards evil, though many usually end up going down that path due to the prejudice against them. Also due to the prejudice against them, tieflings have a fierce independent streak and are inclined towards being chaotic.

In various campaign settings

Tieflings appear in a number of campaign settings, including the following notable examples:

In the Forgotten Realms

In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, both tieflings and aasimar are more common than in other settings. Tieflings even have elven and orc counterparts (Fey'ri and Tanarruk, respectively). In the 3rd Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, less common varieties of the tiefling were introduced, including a dwarven counterpart, the Maeluth and a halfling counterpart, the Wispling.

In Planescape

In the Planescape campaign setting, tieflings are a common race available to player characters, though they are mistrusted and reviled by many inhabitants of the planes.

In Pathfinder

In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, tieflings are commonly known by the colloquial term Hellspawn. Due to limitations in the Open Game License, they are referred to exclusively by this term in the Pathfinder Tales novels. In the empire of Cheliax, tieflings are subjugated and often enslaved, despite the royal house's affiliation with Hell. Some tieflings have a stronger connection to one of the fiendish races, such as the grimspawn, who are descended from daemons, and the pitborn, who are descended from devils.

Notable tieflings

Livonia Darktongue appears in the book Weapons of Legacy in 2005.

In Urban Arcana

Tieflings are a playable race in Urban Arcana, which is based on the premise that races from Dungeons and Dragons exist on earth. Most tieflings in Urban Arcana are humans with horns, although more obvious appearances exist. To regular humans who cannot perceive shadow, they appear to be cynical humans—the horns are not visible to those unable to perceive shadow.

In other media

In the PC game Planescape: Torment the player character is joined by Annah, a tiefling fighter/thief with a rat-like tail. In Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn the tiefling bard NPC Haer'Daelis can join the party. In Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, Valen Shadowbreath, a tiefling weapons master, is a recruitable henchman and potential romance option. Arden Swift is a tiefling NPC who plays a minor role in the last act of the campaign. In Neverwinter Nights II, tiefling is a playable race and Neeshka, a female tiefling rogue, can join the party. Tieflings are also a playable race in the online MMORPG Neverwinter, developed by Cryptic Studios.[22] Two variants of Tieflings are among the playable races in Dungeons & Dragons Online.[23]

The Brimstone Angels novels by Erin M. Evans, set in the Forgotten Realms, feature the tiefling warlock Farideh as the main character.[24] One of the main characters in the Dungeons & Dragons comic by John Rogers, Tisha Swornheart, is a tiefling warlock.[25] The Pathfinder Tales novels by Dave Gross feature the tiefling Rogue Radovan Virholt as one of the two primary protagonists.

References
  1. "The Tiefling Race for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e)". D&D Beyond. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  2. "Planescape Campaign Setting (2e)". rpgnow.com. 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  3. Heinsoo, Rob, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt. Player's Handbook. (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
  4. Ewalt, David M. (2013). Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It. Scribner. ISBN 9781451640502.
  5. Dungeons and Dragons: Player's Handbook (5th ed.). Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast. 2014. p. 42. ISBN 9780786965601.
  6. Linguaphiles, Неделен Прегледwrote in; 06:10:00, 2003-01-29 06:10:00 Неделен Преглед Med99 Linguaphiles 2003-01-29. "tiefling".CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "A Short History of Tieflings - Unbound Worlds". 15 October 2014.
  8. "Inside The Fantasy Art Of Superstar Artist Tony DiTerlizzi". io9.com. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  9. Cook, Zeb. Planescape Campaign Setting. (TSR, 1994)
  10. Varney, Allen, ed. Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (TSR, 1994)
  11. Cook, Monte. The Planewalker's Handbook. (TSR, 1996)
  12. Tresca, Michael J. (2010). The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games. McFarland. ISBN 9780786458950.
  13. Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
  14. Wyatt, James and Rob Heinsoo. Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
  15. Greenwood, Ed, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, and Rob Heinsoo. Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)
  16. Reynolds, Sean K., Forbeck, Matt, Jacobs, James, Boyd, Erik L. Races of Faerûn (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
  17. Collins, Andy, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, and Rich Redman. Unearthed Arcana (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
  18. Cordell, Bruce, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel. Planar Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
  19. Noonan, David, Eric Cagle, and Aaron Rosenberg. Races of Destiny. (Wizards of the Coast, 2004
  20. Mearls, Mike, Bill Slavicsek, and Rodney Thompson. Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast, 2011)
  21. Slavicsek, Bill; Baker, Rich; Mearls, Mike (2008). Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies. For Dummies. ISBN 978-0470292907.
  22. "Massive: Delving Into High Fantasy in MMOs". Boise Weekly. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  23. Justin Olivetti (March 28, 2019). "Dungeons and Dragons' Masterminds of Sharn is up for pre-order, targeting April 30 release". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  24. "A Fantasy Heroine Who's Closer to Jean Grey than Frodo Baggins". io9.com. 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  25. Rogers, John (2011). Dungeons & Dragons Volume 1: Shadowplague. IDW Publishing.
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