Tieflings
In game mechanics
Tieflings will follow standard Pathfinder rules as detailed in this link.
Social difficulty: ★★★☆☆ - Tieflings strike a stark resemblance with demons, which most people associate with evil, destruction, and deceit. It's this visual link that creates conflict, mostly out of misunderstanding. Many tieflings will be under watch upon entering a city, and while there are some settlements that may accept them, by and large they are categorized and deemed a threat. They are, however, allowed within most, if not all, civil settlements.
In rare occasions a human may give birth to a child with genetics substantially pulled from their demonic ancestry. This child is known as a Tiefling. Often times a tiefling will be the subject of distrust and ridicule from their environment, and many are subject to abandonment from parents not willing to rear a young clearly wrought from their infernal heritage. Considering humans are not aware they are the product of angelic and demonic heritage, many cite the child as being possessed by a devil, or an ill omen sent to curse the family. Yet despite their fiendish motif, tieflings have just as much agency as humans, and are capable of choosing a path of good and righteousness, but they will have to wrangle their feelings of intense wrath and consumptive darkness.
by Qissus
Tieflings are quite varied and unique even among themselves. Like demons, their genetics are chaotic intrinsically, and this manifests in different traits. One tiefling may be human in appearance with simply a brow ridge of horns that extend into sloping antlers behind their head, while another may have a leathery tail and sharp, shark like teeth. What is uniform is that they are a standard, medium sized humanoid.
An oddity is that they live nearly three times longer than their non-demonic, human kin. Biologically this is because the intense flare of abyssal genetics means their body is geared more towards their hellish ancestors who naturally live longer. A tiefling will often reach adulthood as their human parents die of old age, though this also means they are subjected to their teenage years longer and mistrusted not simply because of their aesthetic, but also because of their youth, much to their frustration.
Fortunately they are not entirely alone, as many similarly rejected races such as half-elves, half-orcs, or particularly peculiar, aasimars, will find a common bond in their difficulty integrating into societies, and those who value darkness, chaos, and evil will often revere tieflings, sometimes to the point of fetishization, considering them a blessing from the foul powers that be.
Basic Information
Growth Rate & Stages
Tieflings are considered an adult at the age of 60, and old at around 200. Maximum age for tieflings is around 260-270 years.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Naturally they are more predisposed to sensing dark and evil but only slightly, to the point that it is oft looked over. Otherwise they are just as perceptive as humans.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Despite being born of Human parents, they will often be given a name distinct from standard naming conventions. Sometimes this is done out of spite, sometimes to distinguish the child as a note to what they are.
Since most parents tend to distance themselves from their Tiefling young, it is rare they will have their last names. A Tiefling may adopt their own, or instead walk through life without a last name as a badge of independence.
Male names: Zoru, Barratio, Timilthan
Female names: Nyaz, Kassantha, Windren
Courtship Ideals
Tieflings often use comedy to help cope with their difficulty in societies, ranging from sharp sarcasm to grim gallows humor, and this is favored in the partners they court. A dark joke within tiefling circles is: 'The fastest way to a man's heart is to either make him laugh it up, or to cut it out of him'.
Other than that, their courting is very similar to Humans, though generally textured with plenty of ribbing and playful taunts.
Relationship Ideals
To last with a Tiefling one needs to understand where they are coming from. Their humor may cut and bite, but they reason 'If I didn't like you, I wouldn't pick on you', and even encourage a playful back and forth.
A good coupling to them are two individuals who can be just as tough on the other as the real world may be, while occasionally reminding them that they are in it together, and they can lean on one another.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Tieflings speak Common and either Abyssal or Infernal.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Although most civil races are not openly hostile to Tieflings, they are, usually, socially shunned. It is possible for them to prove themselves in their region and gain the favor of the people, or to join evil oriented societies where they may be venerated as an avatar of the unholy.
Alignment and Religion
Although a common opinion is that tieflings are naturally evil and thus worship evil gods, they are capable of any alignment. There is a bit of truth to the sentiment, however, as many fall victim to their own inner workings and infernal blood, choosing a life of chaos and wrong doing. However, it is possible for a tiefling to resist and rise above, seeking to conquer the very darkness that threatens to plague and devour. Many instead choose a life not too dissimilar to Humans
in that they are simply out to stake their claim in the world, be it as a sleepy and patient existence, or to fit their own desires. Most are neutral with a lean towards their chaotic tendencies.
Religion is equally subjective, often falling to whatever moral alignment the Tiefling involves themselves in. Many believe they worship Azox - God of Destruction since he is the cited as the creator of monsters, but, like their alignment, this is often ignorant conjecture.
Scientific Name
Homo Malum
Origin/Ancestry
Tieflings are the product of their demonic heritage 'flaring up' from human (which are a combination of angels and demons) parents.
Lifespan
260-270 years
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Tieflings usually have a very uncommon skin color, such as purple, red, black, white or yellow. However, their environment will not affect this hue, meaning they won't be able to tan, nor will they grow more pale with less exposure to sunlight.
Tieflings have a standard humanoid appearance with one head, two arms, two legs, and a torso. Some are capable of having a leathery tail, or horns, or a combination of both.
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