How are tieflings born?

[lytokk]

So I was looking through the players manual trying come up for an answer to this but it doesn't exactly state it. Could a tiefling be born to human parents just as some accident of genetics meaning one or both has some sort of infernal bloodline? Or are they just a race that breeds true all the time? About all I have to go on is the line "tieflings are derived from human bloodlines". I'm writing up the backstory for my wife's tiefling who's going the orphaned urchin background, and I'm just trying to figure out what race her parents might have been.

[Tenmujiin]

So I was looking through the players manual trying come up for an answer to this but it doesn't exactly state it. Could a tiefling be born to human parents just as some accident of genetics meaning one or both has some sort of infernal bloodline? Or are they just a race that breeds true all the time? About all I have to go on is the line "tieflings are derived from human bloodlines". I'm writing up the backstory for my wife's tiefling who's going the orphaned urchin background, and I'm just trying to figure out what race her parents might have been.

It depends on the world and individual tiefling. The default fluff assumes they are born as a result of some pact by their parents or grandparents or some infernal blood 1 or more generations ago. Chances are the parents won't be tieflings or only one of them will be.

[lytokk]

Well its a FR game, but without the campaign setting out I don't know how exactly things are supposed to be fluffed yet.

[Zevox]

Well its a FR game, but without the campaign setting out I don't know how exactly things are supposed to be fluffed yet.
The fluff actually has changed between editions, it seems.

Back in 3rd edition Tieflings were the actual descendants of a fiend who had a child with a Human - more distant descendants than Half-Fiends, which were treated separately, but still descendants of them. They could be as closely related as the fiend's grandchild, with one of their parents being a Half-Fiend, or could be a very distant descendant born to an otherwise all-human family, the fiendish blood of the family's ancestor being a recessive trait in the rest.

In 5th edition, going by the Players Handbook, Tieflings are supposed to be the result of one of their ancestors - again, could be someone closely related or someone from the distant past - making a pact with a fiend to infuse himself (or herself) with fiendish blood, becoming a Tiefling. One line from the PHB seems to me to imply that Tieflings always breed other Tieflings in this version: "Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children's children will always be held accountable." Which would mean that at least one of a Tiefling's parents would have to be a Tiefling.

When I was familiar with it back in 3e, the Forgotten Realms used the former - but the latter idea didn't exist at the time, either. I'd say just use whichever you prefer, personally.

[Ralanr]

I assumed 5e/4e tieflings came from other tieflings. Like how dwarves come from dwarves.

I prefer the pathfinder/3.5 version. Where genetics can be a major *******.

[Mrmox42]

In my campaign World, the birth of a Tiefling is accompanied by thunder and lightning, frogs raining from the sky, rivers turning blood red and the like. This is the result of the natural world protesting against the unnatural birth.
Tieflings are rare, and a result of one of their parents making a pact with a fiend for some reason or other. Their child becoming a Tiefling is usually something that is written with very small letters in the pact.
Tieflings may, of course, also be the result of somebody actually being really friendly with a fiend (who is possibly in disguise).
The conclusion: Kids, don't do fiends.

[kaoskonfety]

The conclusion: Kids, don't do fiends.

Fiends are bad, m'kay?

[FatherLiir]

In my campaign World, the birth of a Tiefling is accompanied by thunder and lightning, frogs raining from the sky, rivers turning blood red and the like. This is the result of the natural world protesting against the unnatural birth.
Tieflings are rare, and a result of one of their parents making a pact with a fiend for some reason or other. Their child becoming a Tiefling is usually something that is written with very small letters in the pact.
Tieflings may, of course, also be the result of somebody actually being really friendly with a fiend (who is possibly in disguise).
The conclusion: Kids, don't do fiends.


Out of curiosity how does your world deal with Caiphons found in the MM?

[Inevitability]

I believe 4e had something about how a tiefling and a human would always give birth to a tiefling. Not sure if 5e says the same, though.

[coredump]

The first rule of Tiefling births is:
You do not talk about Tiefling births...



(Can you guess the second rule..??)

[Envyus]

The Children of Cambions (AKA half fiends) will also be Teiflings.

Teiflings can breed true as well.

[Mrmox42]

Out of curiosity how does your world deal with Caiphons found in the MM?

Caiphon? Isn't that some sort of Far Realm star/god/thing?

My World is heavily influenced by the Lovecraftean Elder Gods, which the 'new' Gods continously have to keep distracted, so they don't find our little planet and attempt to warm themselves against it - which will have the same result as an ocean warming itself against a candle. (I love that quote)

[FatherLiir]

Caiphon? Isn't that some sort of Far Realm star/god/thing?

My World is heavily influenced by the Lovecraftean Elder Gods, which the 'new' Gods continously have to keep distracted, so they don't find our little planet and attempt to warm themselves against it - which will have the same result as an ocean warming itself against a candle. (I love that quote)


Perhaps I got the name wrong, and I don't have a copy of the MM right in front of me at this minute but I was pretty sure they were the result of a Female fiend giving birth to the offspring of a mortal which is pretty much what is going on here.

If you have ever read any of the DnD Novel series, I love how the Brimestone Angel series deals with Teiflings, warlocks, and the different classification of fiends from Asemodeous himself to a lowly Imp, the levels of organization to the 9 hells. I enjoyed it. I bring this up because the "Fiend" of one of the main character's pact is (at least i thought i was) a Caiphon who was kind of like a spoiled demon prince who had a small obsession with "collecting warlocks" the way someone collects baseball cards, or other collector edition items.

Anyways; back on topic Tieflings are rare for a reason.

[Dhavaer]

Perhaps I got the name wrong, and I don't have a copy of the MM right in front of me at this minute but I was pretty sure they were the result of a Female fiend giving birth to the offspring of a mortal which is pretty much what is going on here.

That's a cambion.

[TheOOB]

I always got the implication that Tieflings were originally born out of some sort of deal or pact, and that in modern times they are mostly born from other tieflings.

[FatherLiir]

that's a cambion.

thank you kind person

[Safety Sword]

Well little Timmy, a mummy demon and a daddy demon sometimes hate each other so much that a little baby demon is delivered to the ninth circle of hell by a vrock wearing a bonnet...

[PoeticDwarf]

If a tiefling dad and a tiefling mom love each other, they get a baby, this is called a tiefling. The tiefling is also called a tiefling. That's why they call it tieflings.

[KnightOfV]

I always default to the old folklore idea that children can just be cursed being born under a bad moon, or an auspicious date (Hallow's Eve or your world's equivalent).

Maybe a dark entity or god randomly singled out an unbaptized child and the parents just wake one morning to find the babe growing horns.

Or a desperate person made a deal with a devil and offered his first born's soul in exchange for riches, talent, or luck. The person lives their life happily for many years, almost forgetting about the pact until they have a child they never meant to have... and they gaze upon their child's demonic features for the first time and suddenly remember in horror what they promised.

Perhaps a dark mysterious figure offered to save a dying newborns life, and when the mother accepted, the babe recovered but was forever marked with horns and a dark destiny.

Or even the horrified parents have no idea why they birthed a tiefling. Lots of interesting feasible backstories you can make.

I like to think every tiefling is a bit unique in how they were cursed, be it sins of the parents, bad luck, or demonic influence- a physical mark of the power of evil still very much influencing the world and tormenting unsuspecting folks- kinda tying in to the old superstions. I always hated the idea of tieflings as a single long ago cursed proud, noble bloodline thing.

[artemis_hunter]

If a Tiefling can born to one or more parents who have made a pact, and a "Warlock is defined by a pact with an otherworldly being" then would that mean that a warlock would have a Tiefling child.

[Millstone85]

Artemis, the post before yours was made in 2015. We are in 2018.

You should have made a new thread. A moderator will probably close this one for necroing.

[Zejety]

My FR understanding is this:

In the Forgotten Realm, Tieflings originally adhered more to the rules of genetics. You have fiends in your ancestry? Then you are likely to have some physical traits to show for it. These can be different from person to person, will likely become fewer or less pronounced in your descendants, but could also be recessive and suddenly show up again.

At some point in time (probably an edition switch?) a group of Tiefling warlocks, the Toril Thirteen made a pact with Asmodeus and performed a ritual that transformed every Tiefling on Faerun. The traits became a lot more standardized, reflecting Asmodeus. This made Tieflings more of a uniform race instead of mutant humans. It also caused all of their offspring (even with humans) to be born as such Asmodeus-Tieflings.

Now from more recent publications, I understand that Tieflings born from fiendish relationships after that event, in contrast to descendants of the the Asmodeus-Tieflings, still follow the old rules. This is what opens the way for the Tiefling variants in SCAD and MTOF.

[JackPhoenix]

If a Tiefling can born to one or more parents who have made a pact, and a "Warlock is defined by a pact with an otherworldly being" then would that mean that a warlock would have a Tiefling child.

Begone, foul necromancer! Leave the dead to rest!

Check the datum of the latest post before you reply. This thread is 3 years old, start a new one, if you're serious about the question.

[MrConsideration]

With a full set of teeth, under the auspices of a blood moon, when two-headed goats are spawned and all milk goes sour.


It depends on your campaign world. Personally in mine it's a mixture of 'your granddad did the nasty with a Nalfeshnee' and 'you were born cursed and left by your parents to die of exposure....and survived'.

[Regitnui]

When a mommy succubus and a dayddy human love each other very much...