Skip to content

Add Tiefling/Aasimar Races

AntonAnton Member, Moderator, Mobile Tester Posts: 513
edited July 2012 in Feature Requests
It would be great to make tiefling race into the game. We already have one tiefling (Haer'Dalis) after all.


Description
The child of a human and a creature from the lower planes. Many tieflings are indistinguishable from humans. Others have small horns, pointed teeth, red eyes, a whiff of brimstone about them, or even cloven feet. No two tieflings are the same.

Alignment
Any, except lawful good.

Allowed classes
Fighter, ranger, wizard (including specialist), priest, thief, bard, fighter/wizard, fighter/priest, fighter/thief, wizard/thief, priest/thief.

Modifications to ability scores
Int +1, Cha +1,
Str -1, Wis -1.

Racial Adjustments For Thieves
Detect & Set Traps +5%, Hide in shadows +10%, Move Silently +10%,

Special benefits and hindrances
Infravision (permanent). Blur (1 per day) . +2 on saving throws vs. fire, electricity or poison. Resistance to cold 10, electricity 10, acid 10, and fire 10.

Age
From 17+2d4 to 100+1d100

Literature
Planewalker's Handbook (1996), Monstrous Compendium Appendix I (1994)
Post edited by Tanthalas on
«13

Comments

  • KoreKore Member Posts: 245
    edited June 2012
    We couldn't have tiefling or aasimar as playable race for NAMECHAR because one parent is Bhaal...or would it still work?

    If Bhaal was walking as a human or fiend and reproduced with a fiend or human would that create a tiefling? I am unsure how Bhaal spawned his progeny. Does he simply take a form and his DNA assumes that race or is he DNAless and the race is simply the same as the parent? If it's the latter then I was under the impression that a pair of tieflings reproducing creates something slightly different.

    Edit: Oh wait, no, I'm thinking of Alu-Fiends and Cambions, I just looked it up. Yes, lore wise tiefling is fine.
  • FranticFeyFranticFey Member Posts: 31
    To be honest, I'd be interested in seeing if they can implement additional races, perhaps not just Tieflings but others as well. I'd love for drow to be an option (not counting rolling up an elf and merely changing the colors of the hair and skin.) That brings up the issue of having races that are more powerful than one another (level adjustment, in 3-3.5E terms.)

    Also, would we let Haer'Dalis' blade still be only utilized by him, or can the tiefling PC use it?!
  • KoreKore Member Posts: 245
    If drow was a PC race then would they have as much magic resistance as Viconia? That seems a little OP :)
  • AntonAnton Member, Moderator, Mobile Tester Posts: 513
    edited June 2012
    Created 1 more request for Drow only http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/201/add-drow-dark-elf-race
  • FranticFeyFranticFey Member Posts: 31
    If drow was a PC race then would they have as much magic resistance as Viconia? That seems a little OP :)
    Exactly! The magic resistance (although it works a bit differently in 3.5E, I'm not sure how it works in 2E) in addition to bonuses to Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma while only having a penalty in Constitution. And then there's the racial spells!
  • AndreaColomboAndreaColombo Member Posts: 5,533
    edited June 2012
    I'm fine with Haer'Dalis getting full P&P racial traits, but I wouldn't want Tieflings to become a selectable race for CHARNAME. The reason is the same I have written in the afore-linked thread about Drows.
  • Space_hamsterSpace_hamster Member Posts: 950
    How about a true fully developed half-ogre character, complet with sound sets, side quests, special items, and stronghold?
  • DazzuDazzu Member Posts: 950
    edited June 2012
    We can be half-orcs, why not full orcs?

    Or like Kits, leave race slots fully moddable to the point we can add races as we need them.

    Think on it:

    Gnoll
    Hobgoblin
    Goblin
    Ogre
    Half-Ogre
    Orc
    Lizard Man
    Kobold
    Bugbear


    Possibly others.
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    edited July 2012
    Warranted, the only occasion of a Tiefling character in a Black Isle RPG using 2nd Ed. rules was Annah from Planescape: Torment, I figured I'd toss it out there all the same, just to see what the general reaction would be. If nothing else it'd make for some interesting interactions with the Bhaalspawn heritage if you already had fiend's blood in you.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    3° edition has neeshka in Neverwinter nights 2. But if a Tiefling/Aasimar are compatible classes for BG is beiond me, i really don't know. A Tiefling could face the same problems as a Drow main char, but a Tiefling NPC should be nice. Without Thiefling main char option, an aasimar race would be out of place.

    But nothing against, i really would like in fact. Maybe a new mod make a decent tiefling/aasimar NPC, who knows.
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    Well, the main character thing could pan out in a variety of interesting ways. At the very least, they wouldn't face AS many problems as drow would, if perhaps for the simple fact that pre-4th Edition, not all tieflings/aasimar looked exactly the same. Hell, if I recall correctly, during 2nd Ed. tieflings and aasimar were known to have widely varying appearances, ranging from looking like humans with minor features like a tail or slitted eyes or a lone horn for the fiendish ones, or very light skin, golden hair, and the likes for the celestial blooded.. to looking like goatheaded freaks with snake tails or having wings.
  • kamuizinkamuizin Member Posts: 3,704
    edited July 2012
    Just forget, Haer'Dalis IS a thiefling, he just don't have the race title added i think, or at least don't receive the bonus from his race.

    In Fact Daer'Dalis was quoted as the 2° romance option for old BG2 and was cut if i'm not wrong for time pressure on the launch of the game. I hope this old possibility reborn in BG2 EE.
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    edited July 2012
    Actually, I think he does in fact have the race title..
    http://thaco.narod.ru/HaerDalis_parameters.jpg
    ..yep, there it is. Tiefling.
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    Wait, all Aasimar/Tieflings look the same in 4th Edition? That's a weird design change. How do they look?
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    edited July 2012
    They all pretty much look like this:
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19w0rqcoqPA/Td_qhpFtzsI/AAAAAAAAB58/PwvZRX75wjI/s1600/Tiefling.jpg
    http://images.wikia.com/forgottenrealms/images/c/c6/4e_tiefling.jpg
    http://www.nassaulibrary.org/centreblog/tiefling_ranger.jpg

    ..In other words, 'cambion' has now replaced 'tiefling' in 4th Ed. Hell, I think there's even multiple occasions where they just outright call Tieflings 'half-demons'. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that they stupidly ditched the entire Planescape cosmology, and the idea that demons/devils were embodiments of concepts such as 'Chaos' and 'Law', instead turning devils into 'fallen angels', and demons into 'evil elementals'.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    Hmm, and I remember Cambions being more like Drow in terms of coloring in 2e, though it was hard to tell, since the Pic was Black and White. As well, the skin looked kind of pebbled/warty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cambion.JPG

    And here are the original Tiefling appearance tables from the Planewalker's Handbook: http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~leirbakk/rpg/adnd/races/adnd_races_planescaperaceslist.html
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    @Baldur, @LadyRhian - Thanks, both of you. Man, I can totally understand that people were pissed of at 4th Ed. I'm no player so I can't judge the game mechanics, but from an outsiders point of view it seems they changed a lot of the lore and word design for the worse and made it much more boring.
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    edited July 2012
    Yeah, there was a ton of needless change. Among them being basically that 30+ years of history and setting development was just dumped in the trash, and they then completely reconfigured the entirity of Toril. I seem to recall they outright wiped Thay off the map, made Elminster go insane, and I dunno what else. In cosmology terms, they ganked most of the main movers and shakers in the divine ranks, made Asmodeus a deity and forcibly ended the Blood War, sealing the tanar'ri in something called the 'Elemental Chaos' (basically because now demons = elementals) - totally ignoring the fact that the Blood War was the only thing preventing devils (or demons, pending on the winner) from turning their full attention on the REST of the Planes. But then again, the 'Planes' don't exist in 4th Ed. either. So yeah.

    Hell, I remember when it came up for debate that if this project was going to go through, there was a huge risk factor that it might be forced to use 4th Ed. rules - and that if there WAS a Baldur's Gate 3 in the future, that too might be forced to use 4th Ed. because of some law or whatever that dictates that any DnD game or the likes that is released currently MUST use the currently established ruleset (even though the vast majority of DnD players hate it to death). The thought that the BG franchise could be tainted by 4th Ed. terrifies and repulses me.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    @Baldur Yeah. They also wiped out a lot of the parts of Toril based on real-life nations in the past, like the section that was Al-Qadim (based on the Middle East), Kara Tur and related portions of Oriental Adventures (based on China, Korea, Japan and Thailand, I think. And Maztica. They also got rid of Maztica.
  • BaldurBaldur Member Posts: 54
    W-What..? They.. they..

    *Flips his desk over*

    ..DAMN YOU!
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    @Baldur They actually say that Part of Abeir crashed into Toril and I think it replaced that part of the Realms that had Maztica.
  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    Kara-Tur was also wiped out? I thought that it still exists but they simply haven't made any modules for the eastern areas. I definitely read somewhere that although nothing is mentioned about oriental areas that they suffered the same land-mass changes that the western areas did when the spell-plague hit.
  • AntonAnton Member, Moderator, Mobile Tester Posts: 513
    Add Tiefling Race topic.
    @Tanthalas
  • XavioriaXavioria Member Posts: 874
    I think the PC being a tiefling or aasimar is a bit... silly... albeit not impossible. I do however think that they should input an aasimar NPC to add a bit of unknown flavor to the game. There's Haer'Dalis and Amber (I know amber is from a mod but i count her because she's very well done); and I think an Aasimar running around would definately shuffle thing sup a bit. Granted I always thought that Haer'Dalis NOT being romancable was a drawback, but if they add two males being romancable that are of those two races, then chances are, there would be some interesting fights between the two :)
    Of course that's for BG2 EE
  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    edited July 2012
    Merged the threads and slightly changed the title to include Aasimars.
  • KougaKouga Member Posts: 83
    Sorry for the ressurection, but I'd like to point out that the child of a human and a creature of the lower planes would effectively be a half-fiend, not a tiefling. Tiefling come later in the family line because the demonic power becomes less after each human in the line. Thefore a Tiefling would have to be born from a half-fiend or maybe even later.

    You'd have to adjust the description accordingly.

    I actually just read about it when I was reading about tieflings, I still have to find their racial bonuses, heh.
  • KouTheMadKouTheMad Member Posts: 77
    would love ta play a Tiefling.
  • Draith012Draith012 Member Posts: 174
    Well, I do like tieflings, but doesn't the game effectively make you a unique breed of... half-fiend/tiefling/whatever. You gain powers based on your reputation which represents your divine heritage. I think it's clear already.
  • IecerintIecerint Member Posts: 431
    A tiefling PC would mean that PC's mother was a tiefling.

    Similarly, a half-elf or half-orc PC means that the PCs mother was a half-elf or half-orc.
  • JarrakulJarrakul Member Posts: 2,029
    I'm in favor of adding subraces of all sorts, including Aasimars and Tieflings. There are potential balance issues with all subraces, but I suspect those could be worked out. It should be that hard to make Tieflings about as good as elves.
Sign In or Register to comment.

2025 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2025 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.