How tieflings born and grow up? - Story & Lore - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums (2024)

Hi there,

I don't know if this is the better place to post my question, anyway, move it as necessary.

I was thinking about my next character and he'll be a Tiefling. But it occurred me, while doing his background, that I don't know exactly how are tieflings born and how they grow up.

There are any official references about it?

One of my questions regards parentage: is human X human possible; human x tiefling; or only tiefling x tiefling?

The another one is has to do with the tiefling physical traits. Is the baby already born with horns, tail, red skin and so on... or that traits develop with time (teenagers, maybe) ? Like a normal child is born... and thenhe begins to "change" as approaches adulthood.

Thanks for the help.

By the lore from Erin M. Evans books in the Forgotten Realms canon ("the Brimstone Angels"), tieflings can breed with many races (like humans) but they breed true: even if only one parent is a tiefling, the child will be a tiefling from birth, with all the obvious skin hues, iris-less eyes, tails, and nubs of growing horns that follows.

Sword Coast Adventurer's guide has some conflicting input where it says that tiefling traits can skip generations, but they also mix non-Asmodeus tieflings into it, so it may be that the Asmodeus-pacted bloodline breeds differently than the distant offspring of other devils and demons.

Quote from Twooshort >>

"with all the obvious skin hues, iris-less eyes, tails, and nubs of growing horns that follows"

Hmm... I see... I wish I could make the racial traits appear as the character was reaching adulthood... But it seems that I'll have to deal with that. :)

Thanks for your input!