Tieflings in Ravenloft

[Willum Tournir]

I'm going to be running a 3e ravenloft campain next month and one of the pcs wants to run a tiefling. Any ideas on how npcs should react, or other information regarding tieflings in ravenloft?

[Jennifer]

Hi willum,
general opinion is that really strange creatures and PC races such as tieflings are very unsuitable for ravenloft.

the reaction of most of the NPC's will probably be something along the lines of: "a demon, burn it, drown it, quick!"

If you and your players do want to go on with the tiefling character try to get some things very clear, such as how did the tiefling end up in ravenloft, how did the tiefling come to be? how will the other PCs react to the presence of someone who is so strange and different and who will likely get them into trouble, just by being there?

(the villagers will probably go: "a demon and his spawn, burn them!")

All in all i think the NPCs will reacte very unfavorably and I would advise against this.

jennifer

[Jester of the FoS]

It really depends on how inhuman he looks and how well he hides his features. If he can cover up small horns and mask his fangs he might slip by. Larger and more inhuman changes might make him stand out a tad.

Most people would react in the "kill it! kill it!" manner, even the less supersticious lands would think of it as a freak or birth defect, but they might be more prone to view it as a caliban than a demon.

[Malus Black]

I rather like the idea of a tiefling in Ravenloft, if handled properly that is. 'Course, he'd have to hide his demonic heritage (smoked glasses if red eyes, heavy hood if horns, etc.), but I think that a tiefling in Ravenloft is a great role-playing opportunity. We have a character with demonic heritage in a world which time and again seems to be asking "why are some people evil," and I'd love to see the character try to figure out whether evil is part of his blood, or if he chooses his own destiny. But yeah, if he's got horns and tail he's heading for the nearest bonfire very quickly unless he's good at disguises.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Just as an interesting aside, I'm not convinced a Ravenloft "tiefling" would necessarily have to be the genetic descendent of fiends, at all. Perhaps an already-pregnant woman who falls prey to a gradual transpossession could produce a tiefling offspring -- even though she and the father were normal humans at the time of conception -- or a curse upon the parent(s)might blight their child with such a fiendish taint. You could even rule that a certain percentage of random caliban-births IYC result in tieflings rather than "standard" calibans.

[Igor the Henchman]

Same as a caliban.

[Desertrising]

I must concur that the hardest thing this character will face is the fact that a tiefling would be treated with and alarming ammount of prejudice and it has been my experience that players get upset and react hostily when they are persecuted. However I love the Role Playing aspects of the character and think it could make some great strides as it asks itself am I evil?

As far as creating a reason for a teifling. There are a couple of fiends running around in Ravenloft so that is pretty easy to solve and the earlier mentioned curse would be great as well.

My two cents

[Willum Tournir]

Thanks for the replies! The player that wants the tiefling loves the challanges of role-playing, and was expecting to be an outcast. However, he was concerned about having a horde of villagers kill him in the first session. He described his appearance as having crimson red hair, small horns, and red eyes. The suggestion of a cloak and smoked glasses is excellent, and I really appreciate that and the other comments (keep them coming, I love to hear others' opinions!) I also liked the ideas with the parents being transgressed - a great idea that I will mention to the pc, since he was originally going to come into the campaign from a different realm. I hold backgrounds very highly in my campaign, and when writing his, he described his demeanor as someone who strives to be good, but he gets an intense rush from seeing scenes of massacre and such, which he's trying to overcome. I figured that kind of attitude would go great with ravenloft, since the struggle with inner demons and sin is something that even the common human goes through in the realms of dread. Any other suggestions that any of you feel would enhance the campaign? Oh, also, what do u think his OR should be? Same as calibans?

[Jester of the FoS]

The same as a Calibans is a good and quick OR but the Ravenloft: DMG has rules for customizing Outcast Ratings.
Just remember that a good disguise roll can make or break social interactions. He might want to put some ranks in that.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

general opinion is that really strange creatures and PC races such as tieflings are very unsuitable for Ravenloft.

While I would agree with this statement in general, David and Igor are correct that a tiefling wouldn't be much different than a caliban. It depends somewhat on the overall appearance of the tiefling would be, but I would say that they would probably have an OR 5 (or something close to that). Again, certain items and clothing can disguise the more fiendish or deformed aspects of the tiefling.

Just remember that a good disguise roll can make or break social interactions. He might want to put some ranks in that.

In fact, I would recommend that you consider letting a tiefling take Bluff and Disguise as his racial skill bonuses. Hide would still be perfectly acceptable as well, but you might consider altering it if the character has had to live his life hiding in public versus cloistering himself away in back alleys.

[alhoon]

Where I disagree:
Most people in Ravenloft don't know what a tiefling is. . . So an OR 5 is extremely high for someone with Crimson red hair, small horns and red eyes.
He would be considered a calliban in some lands which is normal, but I would suggest an OR 4.

However In Tepest he would probably be considered a fey and I believe that Barovian guards would attack him on sight if his true form is revealed.

Also: I would suggest that once he makes something bad, he immediately enters a stage of transposition. This is not exactly a transposition, but voices in his head along with fiendish powers start to awake. If he doesn't resist, he will turn to a normal fiend, not exchanged with one.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I like the transposition idea, but I disagree about the OR.

While 5 might be a touch too much, I definitly think your standard Tiefling would be immediatly recognized as something very wrong. The red hair might slip by, but horns (if undisguised, I mean) would instantly mark such a character as something unholy.
Your average ravenloftian villager, or mage for that matter, wouldn't know the difference between a teifling and a true fiend. Probably wouldn't care much, either.

On that note though, one might also expect that asimars might recieve similar, if only slightly better treatment.

[Jasper]

Actully I think Asimar would face their own unique challege. Once outed every village he enters will have its own wave of "Please heal my child with your holy touch" and "We have an Angel amoung us! He will smite the unbeleavers." Every sick and plaged indavidual will want to touch the Asimar infecting him with all manor of desease (even if he is imune he will still be a carrier). Any miracle that the towns people demand that the asimar can not preform brings down the wrath of the whole town.

And he will have to constantly watch his stuff as thieves regularly will take his personal items to resell as Holy Relics.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

Most people in Ravenloft don't know what a tiefling is. . . So an OR 5 is extremely high for someone with Crimson red hair, small horns and red eyes.

If we only consider appearance, then I would tend to agree with you, alhoon. However, despite the lack of knowledge about tieflings, I would think that most denizens of the demiplane would be aware of the following factors (please see Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide p. 103 for further details):

Medium-Size = OR +1
Distinctly Inhuman = OR +2
Evil (or worse) Reputation = OR +1 (to +3)
Unnatural Powers = OR +1

Considering these traits, this would give the average tiefling an outcast rating of 5. Of course, this could be higher or lower depending upon the individual. I agree with Stephen, however, in that the standard undisguised tiefling would be recognized as something wrong and/or unnatural. Overall, OR 4 or OR 5 is somewhat spliting hairs. The key thing is to base the OR on the particular character in question.

Your average ravenloftian villager, or mage for that matter, wouldn't know the difference between a teifling and a true fiend.

A large portion of my last tabletop Ravenloft campaign actually revolved around tiefling that most people considered to be a fiend. In fact, the PCs thought that the tiefling mage was merely a lesser fiend. It wasn't my initial intention, but the game played out very well that by the time the players defeated the evil menace, the grandfather (the full-blooded fiend) showed up and all hell broke loose...

[Willum Tournir]

Great minds think alike, dont they! I also thought about having the pc go through a sort of transposition when two things occur: when he is in the midst of true brutality and bloodshed, and when a true fiend is present. He would then stay in transposition for an alotted period of time, or, by some means, he is unable to witness the cause of the transposition. It will be more like an inflicted lycanthrop, changing according to various triggers. But that was just my idea...if you guys have anything you think would make it better, feel free to share your opinions!

Now, regarding the OR. After reading through the dmg and listening to your responses, I took some things into consideration. Although he is disguised, more than likely he's going to be paranoid, and therefore, look pretty damn suspicious (especially if he's already had an encounter with a mob, or worse yet, the inquisition). I think as long as his disguise remains unnoticed, I dont think he'll have much of a problem. However, the more times he is witnessed and escapes, the more word will get around of a fiend (or fey) terrorizing the lands - whether the pc does good or bad. Afterall, many folk in Ravenloft are supersticious to such things, and even seeing horns on the pc will cuase quite the ruckus. So i was thinking of a base OR of 4, that may rise during the course of the adventure.