Do tiefling horns have skin?

[Strudel1000]

This question came up in my D&D group a week or two ago. The party’s firbolg barbarian was asking the satyr druid and tiefling warlock (my character) how we took care of our horns.
The satyr replied that he buffed and polished his, and the tiefling explained that she has to keep hers moisturized, since they’re covered in skin.

This came as a surprise to the rest of the group (both IC and OOC), but it makes sense to me- in most illustrations I’ve seen of tieflings, the horns come directly out of the forehead and are the same color/texture as the rest of the skin, which I assumed meant the horns were covered by a layer of skin.

Has anyone else given any thought to this? I’m curious to hear other people’s opinions!

[Cicciograna]

I guess that should come down to each player's choice. If I were to play a tiefling my horns would be external bony protrusions, but I feel there's a lot of freedom here.

[Eldan]

Tieflings are incredibly varied (one AD&D book had a two-page random table for how they looked). Many dont' even have horns. As a DM, I'd say that's the kind of small thing I'd absolutely leave up to the player to decide. I mean, it has no rules impact whatsoever.

[DavidSh]

In the real world, cattle, sheep, and antelope have "true" horns with a bony core sheathed in keratin, the same substance that makes hair and fingernails. Rhinoceroses have horns that are entirely keratin. Deer antlers grow as bone sheathed in skin. When the antler is mature, the skin peels off, leaving dead bone. Later the antler is shed. Giraffes have "ossicones", with skin over a bony core, and never shed.

It sounds like the tiefling warlock had ossicones.

[farothel]

Tieflings are incredibly varied (one AD&D book had a two-page random table for how they looked). Many dont' even have horns. As a DM, I'd say that's the kind of small thing I'd absolutely leave up to the player to decide. I mean, it has no rules impact whatsoever.

I totally agree here, as long as it doesn't matter, it's up to the player to decide. The only time something has to match is for instance in PF2 where you can take a tiefling feat that gives you an extra attack form. The body part needed for that attack, be it hooves, a tail, claws of big teeth, you have to have of course. And even then I would allow you to customize how you see fit (there are many forms of hooves and tails for instance).

[dafrca]

In the real world, cattle, sheep, and antelope have "true" horns with a bony core sheathed in keratin,....
I have always thought of the tiefling horns to be this way, but not because they have to be but rather because it has never come up and thus I have never thought beyond my core basic mental image.

As a GM, I would not mandate a type and leave it to the player as others have said. It feels like one of those fun facts about a character, like hair style for example, that is fun t know but should be a player call. :smallsmile:

[Mastikator]

Tiefling horns tends to look like goat horns, so they should have as much skin as goat horns

[BisectedBrioche]

I'd say that most tiefling horns tend to be based on some real world horn or other (for example, the tiefling in my current game has springbok horns, as it fits her character).

It's kind of an odd one, since tieflings started off with random traits, but got a more specific appearance in art as time's gone on (and a lot of people ignore that; when was the last time you heard of a tiefling who was restricted to red skin?).

[dafrca]

It's kind of an odd one, since tieflings started off with random traits, but got a more specific appearance in art as time's gone on (and a lot of people ignore that; when was the last time you heard of a tiefling who was restricted to red skin?).
I have always thought they would have traits reflective of their parents. I do not see them as all the same but then I do not see fiends as all the same nor humans as all the same either. :smallbiggrin:

[Anonymouswizard]

It's kind of an odd one, since tieflings started off with random traits, but got a more specific appearance in art as time's gone on (and a lot of people ignore that; when was the last time you heard of a tiefling who was restricted to red skin?).

Most Tieflings I see, which isn't many.

As for Tiefling horns, I'd personal assume they're all keratin, although I'd also understand people going for 'true' horns. Earlier editions I believe tended towards true horns, them looking like they might be covered in skin is relatively recent (I believe 4e, although it might be 5e).

[Eldan]

Not so sure about older editions... there's like a half dozen named Tieflings in Planescape that also have illustrations, I don't think any of them even have horns.

[Spore]

Not so sure about older editions... there's like a half dozen named Tieflings in Planescape that also have illustrations, I don't think any of them even have horns.

That's honestly how I prefer my tieflings. Same thing with Fire Genasi not burning, Aasimars not having physical wings or a halo or Dhampirs not being fully blown vampires.

They are called plane-touched not plane-doused.

[Eldan]

This might be a Tiefling with horns in the crowd scene:

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bd88db093a6320f071b1a50/1626922057101-6HD4B6XVZZ1F6T1XGQZN/2e_TPH_TieflingTalk.jpg?format=500w

Other than that, flipping through the books, there's a lot of digitigrade legs with hooves, a few tails, but no horns. Pointy ears on everyone, though.

[BisectedBrioche]

Most Tieflings I see, which isn't many.

I meant the tieflings players create. Obviously I only have anecdotal evidence for the games I've played, but as far as APs go, I can only think of OXventure (and the fact that the OX crew were new to D&D at first was the point).

[Anonymouswizard]

I meant the tieflings players create. Obviously I only have anecdotal evidence for the games I've played, but as far as APs go, I can only think of OXventure (and the fact that the OX crew were new to D&D at first was the point).

Most Tieflings I see, which isn't many (because I prefer to pay other systems).

[Imbalance]

>.>
<.<
...could Twi'leks be a potential evolutionary future of Tieflings whose lekku are actually skin horns...?

[Stonehead]

The idea of horns covered in skin evokes such a primal disgusted reaction from me. If it has skin, it probably has nerve endings, and that really creeps me out.

The original idea came from goat horns, but I'm fine with leaving it up to each player. I just don't understand why you would want that.

[dafrca]

The idea of horns covered in skin evokes such a primal disgusted reaction from me. If it has skin, it probably has nerve endings, and that really creeps me out.

Just curious, does the idea of deer antlers creep you out too or is it just the idea on a humanoid that does it? :smallsmile:

[Eldan]

Yeah, if that creeps you out, never research deer antlers online. Especially not what they do with them in spring and autumn.

[Stonehead]

Just curious, does the idea of deer antlers creep you out too or is it just the idea on a humanoid that does it? :smallsmile:

Antlers didn't freak me out, until I read this thread and learned that they're covered in skin.

[LaZodiac]

Think about how metal a Tiefling with antler style horns would be though. Spring rolls around and suddenly the dude is covered in blood and using his own horns as a BBQ spit, and eating it all, meat and bones both.

[thethird]

For what is worth whenever I play a tiefling they tend to be descendants of beshaba, so they definitely have antlers.


Some tieflings were not descended from mere fiends at all, but from powerful gods. These tieflings often had their own physical characteristics that set them apart. Tieflings sired by Beshaba, for instance, often had antlers instead of horns and pale, white hair.

[sktarq]

The idea of horns covered in skin evokes such a primal disgusted reaction from me. If it has skin, it probably has nerve endings, and that really creeps me out.

The original idea came from goat horns, but I'm fine with leaving it up to each player. I just don't understand why you would want that.

Well this is how I generally think of the little nubby horns (1-3 inches) that have the same colour as the skin (because the skin covers the growth from the skull)
As for why you'd want it. Because it evokes horns without fully having them. The skull is stretching out as if is wants to grow full horns but not so much that it actually breaks through the skin. Do the fiend has big horns, the half-fiend has small horns and the tiefling great-grandchild has these nubs that evoke their ancestor but are not like their ancestor...just enough to remind you that they are not quite human. Thus it also evokes that the dark nature exists under the skin as is waiting to burst out but is not open about it.

And also shouldn't those whose blood is touched by the dark forces be disturbing?

[dafrca]

For what is worth whenever I play a tiefling they tend to be descendants of beshaba, so they definitely have antlers.

This makes me think of some of the woman from Heilung who has antlers in her on-stage images often. :smallsmile:

[gnomish dwelf]

if they are kewl tieflings do not have skin over their horns, skinned horns are what tieflings that get bullied by other tieflings have. Long death to tieflings anyway! long life our aasimar friends!

[The Morgue Bats]

I think they don't have to be mutually exclusive by any means. What we understand about biology currently points to multiple facets of a living being's genetic makeup combining in incredibly complex ways, resulting in a hugely diverse expression of possibility. Tieflings with skin-covered horns might have adapted to a specific climate over centuries of adaptation. Depending on how you and the DM of your table want to reflect the idea, you could easily adapt the lore: maybe that particular trait is the mark of a bloodline whose ancestors settled down somewhere particularly cold. Maybe the physical expression of their horns reflects some other physical characteristic; big ol' true horns might be a sign of great physical strength, or coated horns are seen as a sign of quick intellect (I'd keep away from associating negative traits in this manner personally, it echoes a lot of Bad Things if it goes that route). Maybe it's tied to the dark aspects that bore the first tieflings into the world, depending on what type of fiend served as their progenitor - in which case tieflings with the same type of horn might all consider one another as some level of kin to one another. Maybe it's the opposite of that, closer to full-blown speciation - only tieflings with the same kind of horns can make more little tieflings to run around, but because of their commonality of experience and general ancestry, they all consider one another to be one people.

I can't personally comment on what the "canon lore" is, as a Forever Dwarf Player, but since this question probably doesn't have a "true canon" answer: the truth is what makes you as a player say, "I dig it."

[BisectedBrioche]

There's also the fact that tieflings explicitly have a supernatural element to their heritage, which gives you a bit of room for "it's magic".

Personally I like to design my tiefling characters based on their bloodline (my current character's Glasya, so she has a forked tail, for example).