Tiefling
Out of the Tanar'ri at last! Let us move past the cambions and alu-fiends, and onward to a bit of varie... oh.
Tiefling
So you all know what a Tiefling is, right? I mean, anyone who paid attention to the 4th Edition previews knows what a Tiefling is. Oh, the outroar when their inclusion got announced! "I hate tieflings! Why did they take away gnomes? Gnomes are awesome! Have I ever played one before now? Um. Uh. I hate dragonborn, too! So cheesy!"
But I'll admit I've had a soft spot for them, and I like the entry. It doesn't go on, like all the other entries for PC races, about how NPC versions of the race have all these awesome abilities that PCs don't get access to. No, in an unprecedented move for the volume so far, Tieflings are the first whose NPCs are just like the PCs. The entry itself gets into typical tiefling fashion and some of the common variations on appearances in the description section, preferred spells and weapons in the combat section, their society or lack thereof in the next section (although there is a mention of 'schools', where a powerful tiefling will attract tiefling followers of like-minded nature) and even, in ecology, favored foods. Did you know Tieflings, in a crisis, can subsist on ashes, coals, and other mineral matter?
* A restaurant that caters to tieflings needs to restock their larder, and is willing to pay the PCs decent rates. They're not expecting you to supple the balaena blubber (They're savvy enough to not even mention it to people who would get upset about sentient neutral-good creatures as a food source), but exotic insects would be nice, and there's a growing vogue for the "flesh" of ash animentals.
* There's been a spate of muggings and murders lately. Magical darkness has been used in all of them, dropping on the victims, and by the time it's lifted, only a thoroughly looted body is to be found. Tieflings are obviously catching the front of the blame, and the Harmonium's been cracking down on them harder than usual to find the culprits... but come on. It's almost obviously a set-up. Right?
* Segory was a powerful tiefling mage and thief, and his school was one of the very few to survive the founder's death. Except now, out of the blue, there's people trying to take over. There's a Godsman claiming to be Segory reincarnated (She's a half-elf, but reincarnation IS weird like that), a lich claiming to be Segory having achieved "the final mastery of death", and more than a few people who look just like him stepping up, although that doesn't mean much in this multiverse full of dopplegangers, illusionists, and other such things. There's always people trying to take Segory's name or claim a relation to bolster their own school's reputation, but this is a bit much, all at once. Why the sudden interest in the school? What do these pretenders know that the PCs don't?
Tiefling
So you all know what a Tiefling is, right? I mean, anyone who paid attention to the 4th Edition previews knows what a Tiefling is. Oh, the outroar when their inclusion got announced! "I hate tieflings! Why did they take away gnomes? Gnomes are awesome! Have I ever played one before now? Um. Uh. I hate dragonborn, too! So cheesy!"
But I'll admit I've had a soft spot for them, and I like the entry. It doesn't go on, like all the other entries for PC races, about how NPC versions of the race have all these awesome abilities that PCs don't get access to. No, in an unprecedented move for the volume so far, Tieflings are the first whose NPCs are just like the PCs. The entry itself gets into typical tiefling fashion and some of the common variations on appearances in the description section, preferred spells and weapons in the combat section, their society or lack thereof in the next section (although there is a mention of 'schools', where a powerful tiefling will attract tiefling followers of like-minded nature) and even, in ecology, favored foods. Did you know Tieflings, in a crisis, can subsist on ashes, coals, and other mineral matter?
* A restaurant that caters to tieflings needs to restock their larder, and is willing to pay the PCs decent rates. They're not expecting you to supple the balaena blubber (They're savvy enough to not even mention it to people who would get upset about sentient neutral-good creatures as a food source), but exotic insects would be nice, and there's a growing vogue for the "flesh" of ash animentals.
* There's been a spate of muggings and murders lately. Magical darkness has been used in all of them, dropping on the victims, and by the time it's lifted, only a thoroughly looted body is to be found. Tieflings are obviously catching the front of the blame, and the Harmonium's been cracking down on them harder than usual to find the culprits... but come on. It's almost obviously a set-up. Right?
* Segory was a powerful tiefling mage and thief, and his school was one of the very few to survive the founder's death. Except now, out of the blue, there's people trying to take over. There's a Godsman claiming to be Segory reincarnated (She's a half-elf, but reincarnation IS weird like that), a lich claiming to be Segory having achieved "the final mastery of death", and more than a few people who look just like him stepping up, although that doesn't mean much in this multiverse full of dopplegangers, illusionists, and other such things. There's always people trying to take Segory's name or claim a relation to bolster their own school's reputation, but this is a bit much, all at once. Why the sudden interest in the school? What do these pretenders know that the PCs don't?