Tieflings

Tieflings are mortals born into bloodlines marked by the influence of the Lower Planes. The source may be an old pact, a distant fiendish ancestor, prolonged planar exposure, or another event that altered a family and left traces capable of resurfacing generations later.

Their heritage is usually visible. Horns and tails are common, while skin tone, eyes, teeth, markings, and other features vary between families and lineages. Some traits remain consistent for generations, while others may disappear and later return in a descendant.

Most Tieflings grow up within the culture of their family and homeland rather than as part of a separate Tiefling society. Some families know exactly how their bloodline began and preserve records of the event. Others have only fragments of the story, and some have no explanation at all.

How a Tiefling is treated depends heavily on where they live. In regions with a history of demonic incursions, infernal bargains, or other fiendish activity, visible planar ancestry can attract suspicion regardless of the individual's beliefs or actions.

Fiendish Lineages

Three major Tiefling lineages are recognized in Eldareth: Abyssal, Chthonic, and Infernal.

Each is associated with one of the three Lower Planes: the Abyss, the Gray Wastes, and Baator. The lineage influences inherited magic and can shape certain physical traits, but it does not determine personality, morality, or belief.

Tieflings from the same lineage may otherwise have very different appearances, customs, professions, and relationships with their heritage.

Abyssal

Abyssal Tieflings descend from bloodlines touched by demons or other influences of the Abyss.

The origins of these bloodlines vary considerably. Some can be traced to demonic ancestry or an old pact, while others began after an incursion, ritual, planar breach, or prolonged exposure to Abyssal power.

Their features tend to vary more between relatives than those of other Tiefling lineages. Horns may grow in very different shapes even within the same family, unusual markings can appear unexpectedly, and traits absent for several generations may return in a later descendant.

This variation reflects the enormous diversity of the Abyss and its inhabitants rather than any inherent instability in the Tiefling themselves. The plane contains countless environments and demonic forms, and two Abyssal bloodlines may have little resemblance beyond the origin of their magic.

Families unfamiliar with their own history may therefore have little warning before an Abyssal Tiefling is born. In places that have suffered demonic attacks or incursions, their appearance can provoke fear or suspicion regardless of how distant that connection actually is.

Chthonic

Chthonic Tieflings carry bloodlines touched by the Gray Wastes and its fiendish inhabitants.

Their origins may lie in old bargains with Gloomfiends, distant fiendish ancestry, exposure to the Wastes, magical contamination, or other events that left a lasting mark upon a family. These origins differ from the formal contracts for which Baator is known, and many Chthonic bloodlines have no surviving agreement or obligation attached to them.

Their skin often has grey, ashen, or other muted tones, while their eyes may appear unusually pale, washed of color, or resemble dim embers. Some have noticeably cool skin, while others possess features whose coloration appears slightly faded compared with those around them.

Their inherited magic commonly reflects the draining and destructive qualities associated with the Gray Wastes. Necrotic power, weakness, diminished vitality, and other effects associated with depletion are particularly common expressions of Chthonic heritage.

These traits have sometimes led outsiders to associate Chthonic Tieflings with death or undeath, but the connection is misleading. The Gray Wastes are a Lower Plane of spiritual and emotional erosion rather than a realm of the dead, and Chthonic heritage does not make a Tiefling naturally inclined toward necromancy.

Some families preserve careful records in an effort to determine how the bloodline began, particularly when the same traits have appeared repeatedly. Others prefer not to investigate an origin involving an old bargain, fiendish influence, or an ancestor's dealings in the Lower Planes.

Infernal

Infernal Tieflings descend from bloodlines touched by the devils of Baator.

Many such bloodlines began with a contract or bargain made by an ancestor, though fiendish ancestry and other forms of infernal influence can produce the same result. Because Baator places considerable importance on recognized obligations and enforceable agreements, some families have preserved records concerning their origin for generations.

Their horns are often more regular in shape than those of Abyssal Tieflings, while red, dark brown, and other deep skin tones are common. Their eyes may glow faintly or lack visible pupils, and particular traits often remain recognizable within the same family over long periods.

Some Infernal families still possess copies of the original agreement, records of who signed it, or accounts of what was gained in return. In others, only fragments survive, leaving descendants to determine whether the old bargain has any continuing significance.

This has contributed to the assumption that Infernal Tieflings are naturally ambitious, calculating, or inclined toward contracts themselves. There is no requirement that a descendant share the motives, loyalties, or temperament of the ancestor whose actions first marked the bloodline.

For some families, tracing the original agreement remains important for practical reasons. Infernal contracts can define obligations and claims with considerable precision, and a condition written generations earlier may still matter if the agreement was never properly concluded.

Tieflings Across Eldareth

Tieflings existed long before the Upheaval, but their numbers became noticeably greater during the decades that followed.

As Eldareth's relationship with the surrounding planes became less stable, dormant fiendish traits began surfacing more frequently within existing families. New bloodlines also appeared following planar disturbances, encounters, and other events in which Lower Planar influence reached the Material Plane more strongly than it had before.

This increase occurred alongside the growing number of Aasimar, Genasi, and others with pronounced planar traits. By the early Reckoning Years, these peoples were increasingly referred to collectively as the Planetouched, and their growing presence became one of the clearest signs that the Upheaval had permanently altered Eldareth's relationship with the planes.

Tieflings can nevertheless be born almost anywhere in Eldareth, and their treatment varies considerably between regions.

In Vashkova, fiendish ancestry carries less stigma in some circles, particularly among families already familiar with inherited magic and old pacts. A known fiendish bloodline may still attract attention, but its existence is not automatically treated as evidence of wrongdoing.

Attitudes in Ostheria are considerably harsher. Tieflings may be treated as signs of corruption or unwanted fiendish influence regardless of their upbringing, religion, or conduct.

Tieflings can generally live more openly in Tessarion and Calvessa, though individual communities differ. In Vel'Nathar, attitudes often depend on local history. Some settlements remain wary because of past encounters with fiends, while others have known the same Tiefling families for generations.

There is no single Tiefling history shared across Eldareth. Bloodlines have appeared in many different families and regions, sometimes centuries after the pact, ancestor, breach, or magical event that first marked them.

For some families, that origin remains an active concern because old agreements or recurring magical effects still matter. For others, it belongs to distant family history and has little effect on everyday life beyond the traits inherited by their descendants.

Tiefling Traits

Ability Score Increase. When determining your character's ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. You can't raise any of your scores above 20.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Size. You are Medium.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Thanks to your fiendish heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Fiendish Legacy. You are the recipient of a fiendish legacy that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a legacy from the Fiendish Legacy table: Abyssal, associated with the Abyss; Chthonic, associated with the Gray Wastes; or Infernal, associated with Baator.

You gain the 1st-level benefit of the chosen legacy: a cantrip that you learn.

Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you gain the ability to cast a higher-level Spell with this trait as shown on the table. Once you cast the Spell with this trait, you can't cast that Spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest; however, you can cast the Spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait. Choose the ability when you select the lineage.

Fiendish Resilience. You have resistance to the damage type determined by your Fiendish Legacy trait.

• Abyssal: Poison
• Chthonic: Necrotic
• Infernal: Fire

Otherworldly Presence. You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. When you cast it with this trait, the Spell uses the same spellcasting ability you use for your Fiendish Legacy trait.

Fiendish Manifestation. Starting at 5th level, you can use a bonus action to manifest a transformation. Your eyes briefly become pools of darkness, and spectral, flightless wings sprout from your back temporarily. This transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action.

A number of creatures up to your proficiency bonus, other than your allies, within 10 feet of you that can see you must succeed on a Charisma saving throw. The save DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + the modifier of the spellcasting ability you chose for your Fiendish Legacy trait. On a failed save, a creature becomes frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

Until the transformation ends, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The damage type is determined by your Fiendish Legacy trait (Poison, Necrotic, or Fire), and the extra damage equals your proficiency bonus.

Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Languages. Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.