Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends (PFRPG)

4.60/5 (based on 8 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends (PFRPG)
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Born of mortal and fiendish blood intertwined, tieflings are tainted individuals thrust into a world that has learned to both fear and despise them. Whether they openly display their freakish ancestry in settlements known for their tiefling populations or hide such shameful attributes through either mundane or magical methods, all tieflings know that they are different.

Blood of Fiends presents a player-friendly overview of the tieflings of the Pathfinder campaign setting, as well as new rules and information to help players customize their own fiendish characters.

    Inside this book, you’ll find:
  • Detailed information on the origins, physiology, traditions, social interactions, and beliefs of tieflings—the accursed descendants of mortals and fiends.
  • A table of 100 variant tiefling abilities to further customize your fiendish characters.
  • An expansive look at the 10 most common types of tiefling heritages, each of which provides tiefling characters with alternate ability score modifiers, skills, and spell-like abilities.
  • New feats for battle-hardened tiefling characters.
  • New curses and inquisitions for fiendish oracles and inquisitors.
  • New subdomains for tiefling clerics, each reflective of a different fiendish realm.
  • New masterpieces for tiefling bards and a bloodline for daemontainted sorcerers.
  • Dozens of new traits to flesh out your tormented character and bodily features to help distinguish your tiefling.

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

Written by Hal Maclean and Colin McComb

Each bimonthly 32-page Pathfinder Player Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for social, magic, religious, and combat-focused characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-423-8

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

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Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

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Average product rating:

4.60/5 (based on 8 ratings)

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5/5

I've reviewed this on RPGGeek.com.

You can read it here.


Fantastic Book

5/5

This is definitely my favorite player companion so far. It gives you more new rules than any other player companion, and it somehow manages to do that without getting rid of the flavor. The new tiefling heritages are great, and there are plenty of feats, traits, and other goodies to customize your tiefling characters. Well done, Paizo!


The tieflings get their due

5/5

As the title suggests, the Pathfinder Player Companion: Book of Fiends is a book for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, it is intended for players, and it is meant to give more options and ideas on how to play a character of the tiefling race. That is, someone descended from fiends of the Lower Planes (devils, demons, and whatnot). The book succeeds admirably in this, providing an overview of what a tiefling's family life and upbringing will probably be like which is to say unpleasant, and their likely views on everything from the gods to violence to society.

It also provides new subdomains for tiefling divine spellcasters, ten variants on the base tiefling depending on who and what your fiendish ancestor was, new spells, new feats, and a raft of traits that give minor bonuses while helping to both connect your tiefling to the campaign setting and to establish their character, and much more. This is an amazing piece of work for the price listed and a very worthy addition to any Pathfinder player's library, especially for fans who want to try something different from the usual elves and dwarves and halflings.


Link to Official ENWorld Review

5/5

I've posted my ENWorld review on Blood of Fiends HERE.


Excellent Start to the Blood Of X Series

5/5

Blood of Fiends is an invaluable resource for anyone playing tiefling characters. It expands on the tiefling article featured in Council of Thieves #1: Bastards of Erebus, providing no less than 12½ pages of fluff that brings great detail to tieflings in Golarion as opposed to the 3 pages of fluff presented in the aforementioned article (not counting the article's Random Features table which is also present in Blood of Fiends).

In addition to the expanded fluff, the book features a bunch of game mechanics, some of which were included in the Council of Thieves article as well. The variant tiefling heritages are more detailed in this book, providing descriptive text and awesome portraits showcasing a sample version of each heritage. One of the feats presented in the Council of Thieves article, Fiendish Heritage, has been ommitted from Blood of Fiends. So if you want a variant heritage for your tiefling character, just choose one. Don't bother with the feat.

Overall this is a great player resource with lots of useful fluff AND crunch. Some of the material has been presented before, sure, but that was as an article in a primarily GM-focused product. Blood of Fiends presents all the information players need to play tiefling characters without having to borrow their GM's book. Artwork is, for the most part, phenomenal.


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Why is everyone talking about half-orcs in a section about a book for Tieflings?


Because that's how we roll.


James Jacobs wrote:
And in truth... I actually like half-orcs. Had I my druthers... there'd be no dwarf iconic, and we'd probably replace Harsk with a half-orc. But people like dwarves too, I guess... ;-)

Sorry, James, I didn't know your true intent. I just don't like it when all the races don't get equal time in the spotlight. But does this mean we're not going to see any half-orcs in art simply because they're hard to use? That makes me sad :(.

Okay, enough derailing the thread.

*Sigh* Another great book that I'll have to wait half a year for, and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out. An aasimar book would be cool.


Just wanted to add my two copper on the whole "seems to be more stuff for Evil PCs"...really??

There's what 1 base class, 4 PrCs(at least, maybe 1 or 2 more), 1 archetype(again, I think not positive), some supernatural powers that are apparently evil themes for the Monk and maybe a dozen or two spells and feats.

About 90% of each evil book is actually GM material, with the lone exception of Faiths of Corruption.

On the flip side, there's 21 base classes, at least 17 PrCs, dozens of archetypes and more spells and feats than you can stick a shake at for good characters.

Ya see, that's the default assumption, PCs are the good guys, which means unless a Spell, Class, PrC etc actually requires you to not be good, its an option for the good side.

Now, perhaps what people want are more options for Celestial themed characters and books dealing with the good aligned planes, which is definitely something I can support and request.


Personly I would love to see what people want and/or expect from this book.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I now wanna make a half-orc/tiefling. Would fit well into Belken and possibly the Worldwound.

Or an impish halfling...


Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

I now wanna make a half-orc/tiefling. Would fit well into Belken and possibly the Worldwound.

Or an impish halfling...

The ARG's Race creation system would allow the creation of those race combos.


Azure_Zero wrote:
Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

I now wanna make a half-orc/tiefling. Would fit well into Belken and possibly the Worldwound.

Or an impish halfling...

The ARG's Race creation system would allow the creation of those race combos.

How about a half-orc/aasimar? Now that would be interesting.


Dragon78 wrote:
Personly I would love to see what people want and/or expect from this book.

I would like to see more types of tieflings, not just humans with fiend blood, but other mortal races with fiend blood. In home games, I generally say that for the "humans with minor differences" (elf, dwarf, and halfling), the fiendish side wins out and just use regular tiefling stats (with a size adjustment for halflings). But what about fiend-tainted fey-descended races, like gnomes? Or more brutal and/or monstrous races like orcs and gnolls? Or fiend-blooded kobolds and barghest-descended goblins? Yes, several of these would seem more like fodder for a GM book on tieflings, but it would be good to see a section on how fiend blood affects other races and some basic statistics for them (and hopefully the statistics would not just be "add the fiendish simple template," as you can't even create a human tiefling with that template).

Silver Crusade

Dragon78 wrote:
Personly I would love to see what people want and/or expect from this book.

A lot of the above, but also maintaining a "bumped-down" non-outsider option that is tagged as being completely in line with the core races so that GM's won't be so antsy about allowing them.

After all, tieflings(and aasimar) started out as player races before 3.x changed them. It would be nice to have them back entirely where they belong.

Scarab Sages

So, as I normally do when I see new Pathfinder goodness on the horizon, I am obliged to ask the following question:

How much of this book will be approved for PFS Organized Play? Will players be allowed to play Tieflings in the Organized Campaign upon the release of this book?


Suddenly April seems so far away...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Barong wrote:
...and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out...

I know when! I know when!

:-P

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tarrintino wrote:

So, as I normally do when I see new Pathfinder goodness on the horizon, I am obliged to ask the following question:

How much of this book will be approved for PFS Organized Play? Will players be allowed to play Tieflings in the Organized Campaign upon the release of this book?

My guess: none of it, since tieflings are not a core assumption for player races. Even though tieflings (and aasimar) make GREAT PC choices.


James Jacobs wrote:
Barong wrote:
...and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out...

I know when! I know when!

:-P

Can you give a hint?

is it in 2012 or 2013?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Azure_Zero wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Barong wrote:
...and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out...

I know when! I know when!

:-P

Can you give a hint?

is it in 2012 or 2013?

I would guess June 2012.


James Jacobs wrote:


And in truth... I actually like half-orcs. Had I my druthers... there'd be no dwarf iconic, and we'd probably replace Harsk with a half-orc. But people like dwarves too, I guess... ;-)

You know, you're okay in my book, James, no matter what the others say about you ;) I'd gladly take a Half-Orc over a Dwarf any day :)

This looks like my kind of book ... any chance we might see a random appearance table in it?

Silver Crusade

Also hoping for:

Back when the original tiefling article in Council of Thieves came out, some of us did complain about the lack of wild variety amongst the tieflings in the artwork, especially given what a large portion of that article was about. This really hit home when artwork for other tieflings in that adventure path did have some awesome range shown off, like the design for that all-black one.(vagueness intentional for spoilers sake)

It could be cool to really show off a lot of the possibilities you can get with this race.

Same thing for any possible aasimar book too, really.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Azure_Zero wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Barong wrote:
...and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out...

I know when! I know when!

:-P

Can you give a hint?

is it in 2012 or 2013?

I cannot. I'm not allowed.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Sketchpad wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


And in truth... I actually like half-orcs. Had I my druthers... there'd be no dwarf iconic, and we'd probably replace Harsk with a half-orc. But people like dwarves too, I guess... ;-)

You know, you're okay in my book, James, no matter what the others say about you ;) I'd gladly take a Half-Orc over a Dwarf any day :)

This looks like my kind of book ... any chance we might see a random appearance table in it?

We did just that in the original article on tieflings in Pathfinder #25 that significant portions of this book is based on. So... yup!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Mikaze wrote:

Also hoping for:

Back when the original tiefling article in Council of Thieves came out, some of us did complain about the lack of wild variety amongst the tieflings in the artwork, especially given what a large portion of that article was about. This really hit home when artwork for other tieflings in that adventure path did have some awesome range shown off, like the design for that all-black one.(vagueness intentional for spoilers sake)

It could be cool to really show off a lot of the possibilities you can get with this race.

Same thing for any possible aasimar book too, really.

The problem, I suspect, with the artwork in that article was that WotC's 4th edition tiefling had saturated the market... and that includes artists. We use a lot of the same artists as other RPG companies... particularly WotC... so sometimes when we say "draw/paint us a monster" the artist doesn't realize we want a different version of the monster. Usually when we get art in that's inappropriate, we request changes to the art or simply kill the art before publication... but in this case, that wasn't really an option since the monthly deadline didn't really leave us an option. Well... it DID... but "run the article with no art" wasn't really great. And while those tieflings looked similar to WotC's desgn... they still looked different enough that we went ahead with it.

That design is specifically one we're trying to avoid in this book.

In fact, I just saw the sketches today for the 10 variant tiefling portraits, and wow... they're pretty cool. Especially the qlippoth tiefling. That guy won't get invited to ANY dances, that's for sure.

Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
That design is specifically one we're trying to avoid in this book.

God bless you James. God bless you.

I'm of course biased towards tiefling designs like 2e's Factol Rhys and "The Painter". But I'm seriously keen to see this book's look at various tiefling types by descent. Is there a daemon-blooded tiefling perchance (since they got mentioned prominantly in BotD3)?

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
In fact, I just saw the sketches today for the 10 variant tiefling portraits, and wow... they're pretty cool. Especially the qlippoth tiefling. That guy won't get invited to ANY dances, that's for sure.

Which Whately brother does he look more akin to? :P

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:


In fact, I just saw the sketches today for the 10 variant tiefling portraits, and wow... they're pretty cool. Especially the qlippoth tiefling. That guy won't get invited to ANY dances, that's for sure.

I just did the Happy Dance. Thanks, James!


James Jacobs wrote:
Azure_Zero wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Barong wrote:
...and who knows when a Aasimar book will come out...

I know when! I know when!

:-P

Can you give a hint?

is it in 2012 or 2013?
I cannot. I'm not allowed.

Your words are hint enough of a possible time point.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

The old planescape version of the tiefling is still the iconic tiefling to me, complete with the race's variable and often subtle and infernal physical traits and appetite for things like charcoal and bones. Pathfinder's version of the tiefling is pretty close to that, which is why I like Pathfinder's tieflings.

Contributor

Ashanderai wrote:
The old planescape version of the tiefling is still the iconic tiefling to me, complete with the race's variable and often subtle and infernal physical traits and appetite for things like charcoal and bones. Pathfinder's version of the tiefling is pretty close to that, which is why I like Pathfinder's tieflings.

Same thing here w/ regards to what I consider tieflings to be.

That said, look at who's writing this book (Mr 'Faces of Evil' McComb). I suspect that we'll both be very happy. :)


Cool, 10 variants for Tieflings, those will be very interesting pics. I hope the Aasimar will get so many variants.


Dragon78 wrote:
Cool, 10 variants for Tieflings, those will be very interesting pics. I hope the Aasimar will get so many variants.

I would like More than 10 variants.

More specific heritages.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Todd Stewart wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:
The old planescape version of the tiefling is still the iconic tiefling to me, complete with the race's variable and often subtle and infernal physical traits and appetite for things like charcoal and bones. Pathfinder's version of the tiefling is pretty close to that, which is why I like Pathfinder's tieflings.

Same thing here w/ regards to what I consider tieflings to be.

That said, look at who's writing this book (Mr 'Faces of Evil' McComb). I suspect that we'll both be very happy. :)

Oh, I quite agree. I like variety and options.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Dragon78 wrote:
Cool, 10 variants for Tieflings, those will be very interesting pics. I hope the Aasimar will get so many variants.

They won't because they can't. There's just not that many types of good outsider as there are evil outsider.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Azure_Zero wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
Cool, 10 variants for Tieflings, those will be very interesting pics. I hope the Aasimar will get so many variants.

I would like More than 10 variants.

More specific heritages.

But I suspect if we gave you 14 variants, you'd want more than 14.

10 variants is actauly quite a lot. It's also not really a number we can expand without inventing entirely new races of evil fiends, and that's not something I think that is all that necessary at this point, since 10 is probably enough.

And since we're reprinting the big list of variant abilities and variant appearances, your options for unique tieflings will quite literally be in the millions. Maybe even higher once you factor in 10 variant tieflilngs on top of the standard tiefling (who we assume is a mongrel with mixed fiendish blood from multiple fiendish races).


James Jacobs wrote:
Azure_Zero wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
Cool, 10 variants for Tieflings, those will be very interesting pics. I hope the Aasimar will get so many variants.

I would like More than 10 variants.

More specific heritages.

But I suspect if we gave you 14 variants, you'd want more than 14.

10 variants is actually quite a lot. It's also not really a number we can expand without inventing entirely new races of evil fiends, and that's not something I think that is all that necessary at this point, since 10 is probably enough.

12 is enough variation for me.

But I would ask that you look at the stats and abilities of the specific fiends that will become tiefling variants and put those traits with the variant.
I also request that you take the most humanoid fiends for the variants like; Succubus, or Erinyes.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
In fact, I just saw the sketches today for the 10 variant tiefling portraits, and wow... they're pretty cool. Especially the qlippoth tiefling. That guy won't get invited to ANY dances, that's for sure.

This is really cool to hear. :D

Todd Stewart wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:
The old planescape version of the tiefling is still the iconic tiefling to me, complete with the race's variable and often subtle and infernal physical traits and appetite for things like charcoal and bones. Pathfinder's version of the tiefling is pretty close to that, which is why I like Pathfinder's tieflings.

Same thing here w/ regards to what I consider tieflings to be.

That said, look at who's writing this book (Mr 'Faces of Evil' McComb). I suspect that we'll both be very happy. :)

spit takes

Did not realize earlier...


There is always traits and feats for more abilities, options, and variations that could be there.


Product discription wrote:
and new options for inquisitors and summoners and sorcerers

Does that mean we'll get fiend specific bloodlines.

If so, super sweet.
Especially true, if their is a Succubus and or Erinyes bloodline.
And if you could, could you make a prestige class like dragon disciple for the succubus or Erinyes bloodlines.


...I wish this book came out earlier. Like a few months ago. My favorite race is tiefling and I'm trying to branch out by playing a kitsune in an upcoming campaign but... but this book... it... it calls to the character womb that spawns tieflings... the options... so much new.

You guys are going to bankrupt me this year with all the awesome.

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kvantum wrote:
That basically says "this race is an afterthought".

Random thought, after re-reading this.

*Most* of the non-human races are afterthoughts.

We've got over a half-dozen human ethnicities, with their own distinctive languages and cultures, and over a dozen nations dominated by them, while elves are tucked away in a single nation, speaking a single language, and dwarves have just recently gotten updated to appear on the map at all, and speak a single language, and halflings, gnomes, half-orcs and half-elves are still tucked away in other people's nations and cultures, lacking any real presence on the map or diverse cultures of their own.

Half-orcs lacking much representation isn't that shocking, when you consider that gnomes and halflings, both full-blooded racial types and not 'half' anything, don't even have a visible presence in the setting. (There are more countries run by devil-worshippers, full blooded orcs, evil atheists and *undead* than there are run by halflings or gnomes, after all!)

Making *all* Ulfen dwarves (braid-bearded, loud-singing, longship-raiding axe-wielding Linnorm-slaying mead-drinking Viking dwarves, but, really, aren't they already most of the way there?), and *most* Varisians halflings (with the occasional adopted 'honorary' Varisian gnome or human or half-elf, 'cause Varisian's are open-minded like that) and *all* Shoanti half-orcs (descended from orc/human crossbred warrior/mameluke/slave caste in ancient Thassilon), and you would have a setting where half-orcs (and dwarves and halflings, etc.) have a culture and a footprint both in the setting's history and on the map.

Still, that's a-changing with Dragon Empires, which has a nagaji-dominated land and a tengu-dominated country and an elven-dominated country and an *aasimar*-dominated country! Way, way cool!

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.

So hey, is it impolite to toot my own horn (or squawk my own beak or whatever that vrock avatar is likely to say) and sort of quietly announce that I think this is a pretty excellent book? I mean, I haven't seen the final product or anything, but I really like this book.

Just saying.

And yes, Todd, you will get your wish.

Contributor

Colin McComb wrote:


And yes, Todd, you will get your wish.

The Painter from Planescape being the iconic tiefling? :D


The Painter from planescape?

I remember the artwork for the 2nd edition planescape, they had the best pic of a female Catlord I have ever seen. I also really like the pics for the Erinyes devil and the Lilind.


Hopefully the Variant Tiefling Ability chart has been... re-thought somewhat.

"As a full-round action, you can bleed and collect 5 sp worth of precious blood per day."

What?


I am curious to know if there are going to be variant options or suggestions for tieflings that are not of human-fiend stock but have a different core race as a parent, such as a halfling or elf.

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Todd Stewart wrote:
Colin McComb wrote:


And yes, Todd, you will get your wish.
The Painter from Planescape being the iconic tiefling? :D

I was actually talking about daemonspawn, but... sure!*

Dragon78 wrote:
I remember the artwork for the 2nd edition planescape, they had the best pic of a female Catlord I have ever seen. I also really like the pics for the Erinyes devil and the Lilind.

Tony DiTerlizzi has all that stuff up on his website if you want to look those over again. And yes, I totally had a crush on the Catlord.

ThatEvilGuy wrote:
I am curious to know if there are going to be variant options or suggestions for tieflings that are not of human-fiend stock but have a different core race as a parent, such as a halfling or elf.

I'm not sure how much James is going to let me say here (he walks jauntily past my house swinging chains sometimes, looking meaningfully in through the window), but I'm pretty sure I can say that yes, there is some discussion of non-human variants. I'll let James talk about it further, though, because I hear his distinctive whistling now.

*The Painter will not actually appear in this supplement.


Colin McComb wrote:


I'm not sure how much James is going to let me say here (he walks jauntily past my house swinging chains sometimes, looking meaningfully in through the window), but I'm pretty sure I can say that yes, there is some discussion of non-human variants. I'll let James talk about it further, though, because I hear his distinctive whistling now.

This, almost as much as the general subject matter of the book, will force to pre-order this sucker. Kicking and screaming. I swear.

I'm currently poking around making an elf-demon tief variant using the Advanced Race Guide playtest, however I trust the pros, such as yourself, have come up a slightly more, how shall I put it, elegant a solution to this quandary.


ThatEvilGuy wrote:

...

I'm currently poking around making an elf-demon tief variant using the Advanced Race Guide playtest, however I trust the pros, such as yourself, have come up a slightly more, how shall I put it, elegant a solution to this quandary.

here is a solution I made during the playtest

Silver Crusade

Set wrote:
and *all* Shoanti half-orcs (descended from orc/human crossbred warrior/mameluke/slave caste in ancient Thassilon), and you would have a setting where half-orcs (and dwarves and halflings, etc.) have a culture and a footprint both in the setting's history and on the map.

Just wanted to say, as a fan of the Shoanti and half-orcs, I really, really like this idea.

Cultural footprints are something I miss for a lot of these races.

Silver Crusade

Colin McComb wrote:
yes, there is some discussion of non-human variants.

YASE.

Hoping the same follows for the aasimar book!


I want the book now, but I know it's better to wait for a polished product


Will this product get a teaser in the paizo blog?

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