A quirky yet popular race in Dungeons & Dragons, Tieflings are “humans” whose lineage was forever influenced by the Essence of Asmodeus, Overlord of the Nine Hells. Their appearance can range from a simple horned human to something more extreme, with unique skin colors and even longer horns than usual. Here we will talk about things you can do with a character of such a race, both mechanically and in role play.
Keep in mind that role-playing and lore tips only consider official D&D knowledge, as it’s impossible to know every homebrew scenario out there. Still, if the Tieflings from your DM’s scenario are similar to D&D canon, you can still use these tips for yourself.
5 The Outcasts
Depending on which world you play in, there is a good chance that you will be shunned by society. Chances are, your character will often encounter racism, especially if that’s important during the campaign. This is a topic that you, the other players and the DM should talk about before adding it to the plot as it is a sensitive issue.
NPCs and even the other characters of the party may reject you, or just not trust you, at least at first, and getting someone’s trust (or kicking them) will probably be an effort you’ll have to make.
This also provides opportunities to play either an evil PC, who wants to get back into society, or a lone wolf-type character, who is good but prefers to keep things to themselves because they know people will treat them badly. Anyway, be it by accident or on purpose, this race reflects a lot of real life minorities, which is why it’s important to talk to the DM here to make sure everyone is happy and comfortable with how it’s being handled .
4 Your lineage can be your plot
Another thing that comes from being a Tiefling, as mentioned briefly before, is your demonic or devilish (yes, these are different in D&D) ancestry. And that can give you compelling plot points to tackle in your character’s backstory.
For example, if you’re a Warlock, you can make a pact with your demon/devil ancestor, or a Paladin to be their warrior, since Paladins aren’t limited to “good” gods. Your lineage also automatically justifies a wizard, as it makes sense that you are simply born with powers. The options are plenty here.
And not only when it comes to choosing which class to give your character, but also your story in the campaign. You can be an avatar of chaos, represent your ancestor and use their powers for your personal gain. Or you can use such powers to actually do good, as a way to “cleanse” your bloodline of the sins of your ancestors. There are plenty of combinations here to perform, and all of them will help you build great character concepts.
3 Charisma based classes are your friends
Whether you want to intimidate or manipulate (or be nice), Tieflings add up to your Charisma, and also give you a cantrip and spells, all of which also rely on Charisma. This means they can combine well with manipulative Rogues, Warlocks, Sorcerers, Bards and even be an intriguing Paladin.
You can counter powerful attacks with Hellish Rebuke, trick many people with Thaumaturgy, and use Darkness to blind enemies (Warlocks can see through magical darkness through Eldritch Invocations and, for that matter, anyone who has Eldritch Adept). This gives you fun options to combine your race with these classes, based on where you want your character to excel.
2 They also have variants
While the Player’s Handbook only offers one type of Tiefling, they have many variants – some of them working almost like sub-races, available in expansion books, mostly in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes and the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.
In Mordenkainen’s, although they still improve your Charisma by two points, they change the other skill score as well as the spells you get as you level up. Meanwhile, the Sword Coast offers a few substitutions for such spells, meaning you can’t do such combos listed in the previous entry. Still, you can get some interesting skills to make up for them, including a whole variant with wings.
Naturally winged characters are extremely powerful so talk to your DM first as sometimes they can get banned. Anyway, if you can fly even with medium armor, Tieflings can turn into powerful characters in general, especially with ranged attacks…
1 Tieflings are great from a distance
While nothing really stops you from making a Barbarian or Monk Tiefling (which would also be brutal with the aforementioned wings), Tieflings excel with distance-fighting classes. The main variant gains a Charisma bonus and the Sword Coast variant gains Dexterity instead. And depending on how you split your skill scores, you could be good at both.
They can perform beautifully with spellcasting using Charisma as mentioned before and you can also make the powerful winged and ranged combination, personally tested and highly recommended. Achievements that increase the range of your attacks or spells can also allow you to fight at a very safe distance, and the wings can help you with maneuverability so you’re not left behind just because, well, you were left behind to get off. far to fight. But if frontlining is your thing, Paladin would be a good combination, especially with the Charisma bonus and fire resistance, as many creatures use fire.
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