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Tiefling (Uncommon Heritage)

You descend from fiends or bear the mark of the fiendish realms, manifesting as some unusual feature that belies your heritage, such as horns or a tail. You gain the tiefling trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry.

You also gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from tiefling feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

When the influence of a demon, devil, or other fiend infiltrates the bloodline of a mortal family, tieflings are the inevitable result. Tieflings carry the sinister mark of the fiendish planes upon their flesh, and their specific abilities and physical qualities vary according to their heritage. Hellspawn are those who descend from devils, grimspawn hail from daemonic influences, and pitborn bear the influence of demons, though these are only the three most common among a wide variety of tiefling lineages.

Generations might pass between a fiend’s direct influence and the time a tiefling child is born. For those born to ignorant or fearful parents, childhood is particularly hard, but even those whose families accept and nurture them face fear and prejudice from society as a whole. In some cases, this rejection encourages a tiefling to embrace the evil within their heritage, though others carve out a place and live a fulfilling life despite the challenges facing them.

If you want a character who is supernaturally infused with sinister forces, might have a unique appearance, and can fill the role of a complicated or unexpected hero, you should play a tiefling.

You might…

  • Have a strong sense of self-confidence born from a life of having to rely on yourself.
  • Feel a kinship with society’s underprivileged or criminal elements, or even seek positions of power on the wrong side of the law.
  • Place incredible value on hard-won friendships and hold these companions closer than your blood family.

Others Probably…

  • Assume you’ve faced numerous challenges due to your heritage.
  • Mistake you for an evil agent of a sinister cult, a fiend worshiper, or even a fiend yourself.
  • Think you have associations with powerful fiends, potentially trying to bargain with you for power of their own.

Physical Description

Two tieflings, even siblings or twins, might not look similar at all, for the influence of fiendish lineage manifests in unique and unusual ways. These variations never make a tiefling’s appearance so strange as to obscure their humanoid ancestry, but horns, a forked tongue, vestigial wings, a tail, or a cloven hoof in place of a foot are all common and obvious signs of their heritage.

Society

Tieflings tend to adopt the society and culture they were born into. Since most societies consider them to be untrustworthy or even monstrous, tieflings typically gravitate toward those segments of society willing to overlook them entirely, or where their reputation can assist rather than hinder them. With determination and persistence, however, tieflings can earn respect and prestige despite their heritage, finding people who accept them as they are. In regions where worship of fiends is widespread, tieflings can live more openly and achieve great power and respect, although exceptions exist.

Alignment and Religion

A tiefling’s fiendish heritage doesn’t force evil or cruelty into their being, and each tiefling ultimately chooses their own faith, goals, and personality. But every tiefling feels their forbear’s influence in the back of their mind, always ready to tempt and goad when the world appears cruel and unjust. That so many societies hate and fear tieflings only pushes them further toward evil, and many tieflings gravitate toward religions that value and admire fiends. Tieflings who choose a path of good face their own challenges, finding they must be more diplomatic, understanding, and patient than members of other ancestries since they are so often faced with ignorance and suspicion. Such tieflings embrace faiths and philosophies that uphold empathy and eschew judgment, finding that even followers of good faiths sometimes struggle to see past fiendish features.

Tiefling Feats

The following feats are available to tiefling characters.

1st Level

Fiendish Eyes Feat 1

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) low-light vision

You can see in the darkness as easily as a fiend. You gain darkvision.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain into or out of this feat.

Fiendish Lore Feat 1

Tiefling

You were raised by a tiefling or a fiendish relative, or you’ve devoted yourself to researching the secrets of the fiendish realms. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Intimidation and Religion. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also become trained in a Lore skill related to the fiendish plane from which you trace your lineage (usually Abaddon Lore, Abyss Lore, or Hell Lore).

Form of the Fiend Feat 1

Tiefling

Part of your body has an obvious, fiendish appearance. Your hands end in razor-sharp claws, you have hooves instead of feet, sharp teeth fill your mouth, or a whipping tail extends from your spine. You gain your choice of one of the following unarmed attacks. The attack is in the brawling group and has the listed damage die and traits.

Body Part Damage and type Traits
Claw 1d4 slashing Agile, finesse, unarmed, versatile piercing
Hoof 1d6 bludgeoning Finesse, unarmed
Jaws 1d6 piercing Finesse, unarmed
Tail 1d4 bludgeoning Agile, finesse, unarmed

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain into or out of this feat, nor can you change the type of attack you gained.

Grimspawn Feat 1

Lineage Tiefling

Your lineage traces back to a daemon, one of the manifestations of horrific forms of death that devour souls within their foul home of Abaddon. As a result, you cling tenaciously to the last shreds of your own life force. You gain the Diehard feat.

Hellspawn Feat 1

Lineage Tiefling

Your lineage descends from devils, the conniving schemers of Hell’s malevolent hierarchy. You’re as skilled at noticing lies and twisted wordings as you are at constructing them. You are trained in Deception and Legal Lore. If you were already trained in Deception (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Lie to Me skill feat.

Nimble Hooves Feat 1

Tiefling

Your legs end in hooves rather than feet, with joints and tendons that allow you to move with great haste. Your Speed increases by 5 feet.

Special The Speed increase from this feat isn’t cumulative with any Speed increase from your ancestry feats (such as Nimble Elf).

Pitborn Feat 1

Lineage Tiefling

Your blood bears the mark of a demon, a living embodiment of sin from the fetid depths of the Abyss. Demonic power pulses through your veins and manifests in a different way for each pitborn, whether you have webbed fingers and thrive in the water, large hands capable of wrestling larger foes, or some other manifestation. You are trained in Athletics. If you were already trained in Athletics (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain any one common 1st-level skill feat with a prerequisite of trained in Athletics, as reflects the manifestation of your Abyssal blood.

5th Level

Fiendish Resistance Feat 5

Tiefling

Your connection to your fiendish forebears has granted you one of their resistances as well. Choose one of the following energy damage types: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. You gain resistance 5 to that damage type.

Though you can choose any of these, the damage type typically matches a fiend associated with your bloodline.

For instance, a hellspawn might choose resistance to fire, or a pitborn with a vrock ancestor might choose resistance to electricity.

Malicious Bane Feat 5

Tiefling

Whether your heart is pure or corrupt, you can call forth a malediction upon your foes. You can cast bane once per day as a 1st-level divine innate spell.

Skillful Tail Feat 5

Tiefling

You’ve always had a tail, but with practice, you’ve learned to use it for more than signaling your mood. You can perform simple Interact actions with your tail such as opening an unlocked door. Your tail can’t perform actions that require fingers or significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish, and you can’t use it to hold items.

9th Level

Daemon Magic Feat 9

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) Grimspawn

The magic of Abaddon runs through your blood, and you can wield that power. You can cast death knell and false life each once per day as 2nd-level divine innate spells.

Demon Magic Feat 9

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) Pitborn You can channel the power of the Abyss through your heritage, producing terrible tangible effects. You can cast paranoia and shatter each once per day as 2nd-level divine innate spells.

Devil Magic Feat 9

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) Hellspawn

Drawing on the infernal power of your sinister forbears, you mislead your foes with magical deception. You can cast invisibility and misdirection each once per day as 2nd-level divine innate spells.

Fiendish Wings [two-actions] Feat 9

Divine Morph Tiefling Transmutation

Frequency once per day You can strain to call forth bat-like or otherwise fiendish wings from your back, similar in appearance to those of your fiendish ancestors. Once manifested, these wings remain for 10 minutes. You gain a fly Speed equal to your land Speed while you’ve manifested your wings.

Light from Darkness Feat 9

Tiefling

You’ve battled the fiendish power within your nature and come out on top; whatever you decide to do with your life, for good or evil, will be your choice and your choice alone.

This struggle has granted you powerful resistance against the divine. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all saving throws against divine effects.

13th Level

Fiend’s Door Feat 13

Tiefling

Like many fiends, you have the supernatural ability to teleport yourself to safety. Once per day, you can cast dimension door as a 5th-level divine innate spell.

Fiendish Strikes Feat 13

Tiefling

Your festering connection to the forces of evil infuses your weapons with debilitating malevolence, tearing down creatures of good with every attack. All your weapon and unarmed Strikes deal 1 additional evil damage and have the evil and magical traits.

Summon Fiendish Kin Feat 13

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) any tiefling lineage feat

You have a deep connection to the fiendish realms, allowing you to summon a fiend matching your own lineage. Once per day, you can cast summon fiend as a 5th-level divine innate spell. The fiend you summon must match your own lineage.

17th Level

Fiendish Word Feat 17

Tiefling

You can call forth a blasphemous word from the fiendish realms to punish your foes. Once per day, you can cast divine decree as a 7th-level divine innate spell. You must choose evil for the spell, and you can Cast the Spell regardless of whether you have a deity or what their alignment is.

Relentless Wings Feat 17

Tiefling

Prerequisite(s) Fiendish Wings

Your wings are now a permanent part of your physiology. You gain the effects of Fiendish Wings at all times, rather than just once per day for 10 minutes.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide © 2020, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Amirali Attar Olyaee, Alexander Augunas, Kate Baker, Brian Bauman, Logan Bonner, Carlos Cabrera, James Case, Jessica Catalan, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Jesse Decker, Fabby Garza Marroquín, Steven Hammond, Sasha Laranoa Harving, Joan Hong, Nicolas Hornyak, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Erik Keith, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Patchen Mortimer, Dennis Muldoon, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Jessica Redekop, Mikhail Rekun, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Jason Tondro, Clark Valentine, and Andrew White.

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