Tiefling

Simultaneously more and less than mortal, tieflings are the offspring of humans and fiends. With otherworldly blood and traits to match, tieflings are often shunned and despised out of reactionary fear. Most tieflings never know their fiendish sire, as the coupling that produced their curse occurred generations earlier. The taint is long-lasting and persistent, often manifesting at birth or sometimes later in life, as a powerful, though often unwanted, boon. Despite their fiendish appearance and netherworld origins, tieflings have a human’s capacity of choosing their fate, and while many embrace their dark heritage and side with fiendish powers, others reject their darker predilections. Though the power of their blood calls nearly every tiefling to fury, destruction, and wrath, even the spawn of a succubus can become a saint and the grandchild of a pit fiend an unsuspecting hero.

Description

No two tieflings look alike; the fiendish blood running through their veins manifests inconsistently, granting them an array of fiendish traits. One tiefling might appear as a human with small horns, a barbed tail, and oddly colored eyes, while another might manifest a mouth of fangs, tiny wings, and claws, and yet another might possess the perpetual smell of blood, foul incenses, and brimstone. Typically, these qualities hearken back in some way to the manner of fiend that spawned the tiefling’s bloodline, but even then the admixture of human and fiendish blood is rarely ruled by sane, mortal laws, and the vast flexibility it produces in tieflings is a thing of wonder, running the gamut from oddly beautiful to utterly terrible.

Racial Traits

Ability Adjustment: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma. Tieflings are quick in body and mind, but are inherently strange and unnerving.
Size: Medium.
Speed: Tieflings base land speed is 30 feet.
Type: Humanoid (Human, Planetouched).
Age: Tieflings mature at the same rate as humans, but tend to have longer lifespans. Their Old and Venerable ages are double that of normal humans.
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and tieflings can fuction just fine with no light at all.

Special Qualities

Fiendish Resistance (Su): Tieflings have Acid Resistance 5, Cold Resistance 5, and Electricity Resistance 5.
Skilled: Tieflings have a +2 Racial bonus on Bluff and Stealth checks.
Spell-Like Ability (Sp): Tieflings can use Darkness once per day as a spell-like ability (caster level equal to the tiefling’s character level).

Languages

Automatic Languages: Common and Infernal.
Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Infernal, and Orc.

Alternate Racial Traits

The following alternate racial traits may be selected in place of one or more of the standard racial traits above.
Beguiling Liar: Many tieflings find that the best way to get along in the world is to tell others what they want to hear. These tieflings’ practice of telling habitual falsehoods grants them a +4 Racial bonus on Bluff checks to convince an opponent that what they are saying is true when they tell a lie. This racial trait replaces skilled.
Bullying: Tieflings are often disparaged and kept low in the social order, where they commonly resort to robbing those weaker than themselves. Tieflings with this racial trait gain a +1 Racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Bonus to Disarm or Steal. This racial trait replaces skilled.
Fiendish Sprinter: Some tieflings have feet that are more bestial than human. Whether their feet resemble those of a clawed predator or are the cloven hooves common to many of their kind, tieflings with this trait gain a 10-foot Racial bonus to their speed when using the Charge, Run, or Withdraw actions. This racial trait replaces skilled.
Light from the Darkness: Tieflings who deny the evil of their heritage to go on to become heroes refuse to use the dark magic of their blood, but their struggle grants them uncanny resilience against evil’s touch. As long as they retain a good alignment, they can cast Corruption Resistance against evil once per day as a spell-like ability. If a tiefling uses this ability on themselves, the duration increases to 1 hour per level. This racial trait replaces the spell-like ability racial trait.
Maw or Claw: Some tieflings take on the more bestial aspects of their fiendish ancestors. These tieflings exhibit either powerful, toothy maws or dangerous claws. The tiefling can choose a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage or two claws that each deal 1d4 points of damage. These attacks are primary Natural Attacks. This racial trait replaces the spell-like ability racial trait.
Pass for Human: Discrimination against tieflings with horrifically fiendish features is so intense that even tieflings look up to those precious few of their kind who can pass as human. These tieflings have otherworldly features that are so subtle, they aren’t often noticed unless the tiefling points them out (for example, eyes that flash red in the throes of passion, or fingernails that are naturally hard and pointed). Such a tiefling doesn’t need to succeed at a Disguise check to appear to be human. The tiefling does not automatically gain their associated outsider language (but may select it as a bonus language if their Intelligence score is high enough), and they may not select other racial traits that would grant them obviously fiendish features (such as the fiendish sprinter, maw or claw, prehensile tail, scaled skin, or vestigial wings alternate racial traits). This ability alters the tiefling’s languages.
Prehensile Tail: Many tieflings have tails, but some have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items. While they cannot wield weapons with their tails, they can use them to retrieve small, stowed objects carried on their persons as a Swift Action. This racial trait replaces fiendish sorcery.
Scaled Skin: The skin of these tieflings provides some energy resistance, but is also as hard as armor. Choose one of the following energy types: cold, electricity, or fire. A tiefling with this trait gains resistance 5 in the chosen energy type and also gains a +1 Natural Armor Bonus to AC. This racial trait replaces fiendish resistance.
Smite Good: Once per day, a tiefling with this racial trait can smite a good-aligned creature. As a Swift Action, the tiefling chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is good, the tiefling adds their Charisma bonus (if any) to attack rolls against the target and gains a bonus on damage rolls against the target equal to their number of Hit Dice. This effect lasts until the first time the tiefling successfully hits their designated target. This racial trait replaces fiendish sorcery and the tiefling’s spell-like ability.
Soul Seer: Rare tieflings have a peculiar sight that allows them to see the state of a creature’s soul. They can use Deathwatch at will as spell-like ability. This racial trait replaces the spell-like ability and fiendish sorcery racial traits.
Underworld Guide: Those who brave the lightless tunnels below the world’s surface learn to identify the dangerous phenomena that characterize the Underdark. Characters with this trait gain a +2 bonus on Initiative checks, and on saves against traps and hazards when underground (from a lifetime of dodging accursed pools, cave-ins, and green slime). This racial trait replaces fiendish sorcery and the tiefling’s spell-like ability.
Vestigial Wings: Some tieflings possess a pair of undersized, withered, or stunted wings like a mockery of those of their fiendish forbearer. Sometimes these wings are leathery, like those of a bat. Other times they are covered with a scattering of black, red, or violet feathers. Rare manifestations can take even more bizarre forms. These wings do not provide the lift required for actual Flight, but do have enough power to aid Flight attained by some other method, and grant a +4 Racial bonus on Fly skill checks. This racial trait replaces skilled.