What are Tieflings in ‘Dungeons & Dragons?’

Dungeons & Dragons is more popular now than ever before. With shows like Stranger Things and The Legend of Vox Machina introducing the tabletop role-playing game to a new generation of players, this is a great time to be a fan. A new virtual tabletop platform and the live-action blockbuster Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ensure that its rising popularity is here to stay.

For the unfamiliar, getting into Dungeons & Dragons can be intimidating; there are seemingly over-complicated rules, more magical creatures than you can count, and a whole world of cities and towns with their own set of histories and politics — not to mention the recent open game licensing controversy. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but be assured, you don’t have to know everything about the Forgotten Realms to enjoy D&D.

If you’re planning on starting your own campaign or just want to know more about it, one of the best places to start is learning the most common races. While most races in D&D will be familiar to anyone who knows anything about the fantasy genre — elves, dwarves, and humans are common in most fantasy settings— some races, like tieflings, are less familiar.

A guide to tieflings

In Dungeons & Dragons, a tiefling is a humanoid that resembles a human in many ways. Generally born to human parents, they have devilish ancestry somewhere in their bloodline. Most commonly, they are descended from a distant human ancestor who became a tiefling after forming a pact with a powerful devil (usually Asmodeus). Tieflings can be born to seemingly human parents who have trace amounts of devilish ancestry somewhere in their family tree.

All tieflings have physical traits that distinguish them from humans. The most common descended from Asmodeus will have horns of varying shape and size, as well as dark pink skin and dark eyes. They can also have other hellish attributes such as a forked tongue, catlike pupils, or goat-like hooves. While rare, if a tiefling has a different ancestry, they might not be noticeably different from an average homo sapien. Thanks to their origins, they can also innately speak the Infernal language, and have the ability to cast spells like Hellish Rebuke.

Although tieflings look fiendish, they are not inherently evil, and can have any moral alignment. Many are cynical and self-reliant due to prejudice they face from other races. Most tieflings do not grow up with a nuclear family and while some cities have more than others, they do not have a home country. Due to this, they are generally slow to trust, but when they do, they are incredibly loyal to their friends.