James Sutter Contributor |
Colin McComb Contributor |
Colin McComb wrote:yes, there is some discussion of non-human variants.YASE.
Hoping the same follows for the aasimar book!
I haven't seen the book for months, so I can't speak to what's happening with it in house, but I want to stress that I am not sure how in-depth this discussion goes, nor how mechanical it becomes. Because of the powers of tieflings, and because of the powers of non-humans, the non-humans might see their natural abilities subsumed under the fiendish blood.
On the other hand, multiple fiendish bloodlines! Wow!
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Eric Hinkle |
Cool image, but it would have been more appropriate to have the paladin be a tiefling as well, what with this being the tiefling player's companion and all...
Hoping there's interior art for heroic tiefling types.
There's nothing that say that the tiefling we see fighting Seelah has to be evil. Sometimes good guys end up fighting each other.
WelbyBumpus |
And since we're reprinting the big list of variant abilities and variant appearances
When I first heard about this book, just as I was coming off the disappointing reprint-fest of "Humans of Golarion," I thought "I sure hope this isn't just a reprint/retread of content I already have in Bastards of Erebus." Now I'm worried that's just what this product will be. It sounds like there is some new art and fluff, but the never-before-seen crunch seems limited: some feats and traits, and some limited class-specific stuff for just five classes. But the actual tiefling variants sound like reprint of earlier content.
I'll be watching the reviews carefully on this, but right now I plan to pass on this product and let the Bastards of Erebus tiefling article suffice.
If anyone finds this filled with awesome and substantially *new* material, shout out!
Mikaze |
Mikaze wrote:There's nothing that say that the tiefling we see fighting Seelah has to be evil. Sometimes good guys end up fighting each other.Cool image, but it would have been more appropriate to have the paladin be a tiefling as well, what with this being the tiefling player's companion and all...
Hoping there's interior art for heroic tiefling types.
I'd like for that to be the case*(and it would actually fit the tiefling scene) but the context clues like the burning church don't have me too hopeful there.
*like perhaps some Iomedaean holy symbols hidden amongst all of that teifling's doodads and Seelah apparently derping and jumping the gun, but that doesn't exactly paint Seelah(and paladins) in a positive light either...
Gorbacz |
Mikaze - let's be frank, the only way this cover would see you fully happy would be if it featured two tiefling paladins, one of them of Shelyn and the other of Iomeadae, one of the bug-eyed with mandibles and the other with a purple worm's head, making sweet sweet love.
And you would complain about lack of Good orcs there, anyway.
:P
Gorbacz |
Mikaze's consternation that Paizo keeps putting out 'player' companions that discourage *players* from using that content seems reasonable, to me.
But hey, as long as mocking the preferences of other posters is what gets you off, splooge away.
My long history of sparring with Mikaze (and my deep love for his Bestiary review posts) hopefully will lead to that being read as a friendly jab and nothing more.
Mikaze |
Mikaze - let's be frank, the only way this cover would see you fully happy
Actually...
Some possibilities:
Heroic tiefling vs villainous tiefling - Demonstrates that tieflings are not some homogenous group and are capable of choosing their own destiny, for good or ill
Tiefling underdog-type hero bailing out a surprised looking iconic by using his/her inherited powers against whatever danger is present - Demonstrates that tieflings can use their heritage for heroics and demonstrates how they're socially on the outs for the most part
Cunning tiefling rogue-type engaging in cunning lovable rogue-type behavior - Demonstrates a bit of the tiefling stereotype in a non-horribly negative fashion
All of which could offer a powerful, inspiring image for those wanting to play tiefling heroes when they pick up the tiefling Player Companion so that they can have material for their heroic tieflings that they'd like to play, which is why they're picking up a Player Companion.
That said, that ship's sailed(kinda like the Orcs player companion), but hopefully there will still be stuff for heroic tiefling types inside the book(unlike the Orc player companion).
It's a cool cover on its own merits. It just doesn't exactly sell it as a player companion for tieflings, IMO and all that.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
A question of extreme importance.
the variant tieflings.
to choose one of them instead of the generic beastiart 1 tiefling/ possible advanced races teifling, is it going to be thesame as bastards of erebus where we must take it as a lvl 1 feat?
I hope thats not the case
That's entirely up to your GM. We put that feat into Bastards of Erebus to give GMs who were worried that a tiefling was too powerful an option to reign them in a bit.
In fact, with the coming of the Advanced Race Guide... there'll be other ways to "balance" tieflings with other races.
ThatEvilGuy |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A question of extreme importance.
the variant tieflings.
to choose one of them instead of the generic beastiart 1 tiefling/ possible advanced races teifling, is it going to be thesame as bastards of erebus where we must take it as a lvl 1 feat?
I hope thats not the case
It is, literally, the only rule in the Paizo books that I liberally ignore, and so does my GM. If I want to play a kyton spawn tief, I don't want to take a feat to do so, or rely on the luck of the dice. I do, however, rely on the luck o' the draw for the variant "replace darkness with one of these abilities". After all, some of them increase your stats further! My demon spawned tiefling bard got very lucky when I rolled that extra +2 Charisma instead of the SLA!
That being said, I hope that the book expands the options beyond just the stat layout. Different set abilities and skills would be a nice addition as well.
ThatEvilGuy |
Just to be obnoxious...
Let's say, hypothetically, if I were a CN tiefling inquisitor of Calistria OR an oracle convinced he was blessed by Calistria specifically, and I opened this book, would I find something to make me smile or would I eat the pages in rage?
...And if it's the latter, I'll probably just get the pdf for now so as to not eat the book. :(
Steelfiredragon |
Steelfiredragon wrote:A question of extreme importance.
the variant tieflings.
to choose one of them instead of the generic beastiart 1 tiefling/ possible advanced races teifling, is it going to be thesame as bastards of erebus where we must take it as a lvl 1 feat?
I hope thats not the case
It is, literally, the only rule in the Paizo books that I liberally ignore, and so does my GM. If I want to play a kyton spawn tief, I don't want to take a feat to do so, or rely on the luck of the dice. I do, however, rely on the luck o' the draw for the variant "replace darkness with one of these abilities". After all, some of them increase your stats further! My demon spawned tiefling bard got very lucky when I rolled that extra +2 Charisma instead of the SLA!
That being said, I hope that the book expands the options beyond just the stat layout. Different set abilities and skills would be a nice addition as well.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that was a stupid idea.
having it as a blood heirtage racial feature would do better.
the aasimar variants would work better this way too....... but then then the aasimar are already underbalanced...
Tobias |
Shasazar wrote:Considering one of the variant Tieflings has to deal with the Succubus heritage, my next character is officially on hold in anticipation of this release. The only question now is Sorcerer or Oracle...I hope they did make a variant Tiefling that does deal with Succubus heritage.
The variant Tieflings from the Council of Thieves article were based on the classes of fiends rather than specific fiends like succubi. You weren't given a choice between Pit fiend tiefling, Succubus tiefling, Quasit Tiefling and the like, but you could be a Infernal Tiefling, Div Tiefling, Demon Tiefling, Daemon, Kyton, Oni, Asura and probably a few more that I'm missing.
I suspect that we'll get a similar presentation, with maybe a few suggestions for what fiendish relatives might cause what visual effects.
Shasazar |
With 'an expansive look at the 10 most common types of Tiefling heritage each providing x, y & z', assuming that's not old copy, I can't really imagine at least the succubus heritage not getting a treatment. Particularly with James Jacobs as Creative Director, he knows how to put books on fiends together.
While I have Bastards of Erebus, the demon heritage there is ok but doesn't really fit the Succubus. Which is fine, the Succubus is the mavrick non-monstrous looking subrace after all and you can't expect an article dealing with all fiends to focus in on the exceptions to the rule. And yes, I can use another heritage and call it something else but it's just not neat.
Anyway, fingers crossed.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Tieflings can't really trace fiendish lineage back to a specific father or mother of a specific fiendish race, actually. They're usually at least a few generations removed from specific fiends—that's what a half-fiend is for. (If there were room, I'd definitely love to publish rules for what the differences are between half-succubi, half-hezrous, half-piscodaemons, half-pit fiends, and so on...)...
What Blood of Fiends gives are rules for tieflings whose fiendish ancestry is more infused with one TYPE of fiendish outsider.
So... tieflings who are associated with demons, or devils, or oni, or kytons, and so on. Those who know their Pathfinder fiend races can now likely deduce what all the variant tiefling heritages are... so I'll just list them here:
asura
devil
div
demodand
demon
daemon
qlippoth
rakshasa
kyton
oni
In the meantime, if you want a SPECIFICALLY half-succubus creature, there's always the alu-demon from Tome of Horrors Complete.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Shasazar |
Shasazar wrote:Well... wait until you see the demon-spawn tiefling first! She DOES happen to look kind of succubusy...Well... darn.
Yeah, I know about the Alu-Fiend from ToHC. I was hoping for something a bit more reasonable to lay out in front of the DM. Alas, back to homebrew...
Oh, I'll still buy the book because I'm a sucker for all things fiendish (quippoth and kyton heritages, bonus). Also new art and more fluff, always good.
Mikaze |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Rakshasa, Kyton and Oni derived Tieflings sound totally awesome!
"And that's Sister Throxia, of the Dawnflower's Penitent Flaggelant order. Don't be alarmed, she's just a tiefling...you know how it is. And there's Brother Feldin..."
"Wait a second, this church has an order of flaggelants?"
"Well, just the one really."
"..."
"She was very insistent."
Azure_Zero |
Well... darn.
Yeah, I know about the Alu-Fiend from ToHC. I was hoping for something a bit more reasonable to lay out in front of the DM. Alas, back to homebrew...
In the ARG playtest, I did make succubus tiefling and a half-succubus.
Shasazar |
Shasazar wrote:Well... darn.
Yeah, I know about the Alu-Fiend from ToHC. I was hoping for something a bit more reasonable to lay out in front of the DM. Alas, back to homebrew...
In the ARG playtest, I did make succubus tiefling and a half-succubus.
Man, I cannot, CANNOT, wait to get my hands on the ARG.
Azure_Zero |
Azure_Zero wrote:Man, I cannot, CANNOT, wait to get my hands on the ARG.Shasazar wrote:Well... darn.
Yeah, I know about the Alu-Fiend from ToHC. I was hoping for something a bit more reasonable to lay out in front of the DM. Alas, back to homebrew...
In the ARG playtest, I did make succubus tiefling and a half-succubus.
Did you like succubus tiefling, and half-succubus, I made?
Shasazar |
Did you like succubus tiefling, and half-succubus, I made?
I like it, though I think it might be a little on the powerful side. The Tiefling entry is a little confusing but this is probably because I don't know the ARG. For example, I'm assuming that the 'Racial Base' section are alternatives balanced against other races.
On the Tiefling, in my option, buffing Dex, Int and Cha without a negative is a little excessive when you compare it to the base Tiefling. After all, we don't want to make a 'super-tiefling', just tweak the original to more accurately represent the concept... even if the munchkin on my shoulder is drooling at the possibilities for bards or arcane tricksters.
Fiendish resistances good, that's on par. Change Shape vs. Darkness 1/day... I'm conflicted. I think it's a fair enough trade, Darkness can be incredibly useful, though part of playing a Tiefling is roleplaying the conflict with a distrustful society. Natural Armour doesn't sit well with me, I know the Succubus has NA but thematically it doesn't sit right, Succubi are also the most human-seeming of the demons and natural armour seems more suited to a scaly or chitinous race.
Personally, once I get ARG, I'd be looking to use the Tiefling as a base, switch it to -2Wis, +4Cha (the hot blood of their ancestor makes them charming but impulsive), switch Stealth bonus to Perception bonus, switch Darkness for Unnatural Lust (Charm Person would be my other selection but might be a bit too good...). Then swap out Fiendish Sorcery for something else... immunity to level drain or a gift for languages perhaps?
The half-succubus is great, the only thing I could nit pick is the str bonus, I think there's a good case for dropping that in favour of a more even distribution of bonuses across Dex, Con and Int. Once I get my hands on ARG, I'd be looking more towards a +4Dex, Con & Int; +2 Wis; +6 or 8 Cha before looking to balance that in the rest of the build.
Azure_Zero |
Azure_Zero wrote:Did you like succubus tiefling, and half-succubus, I made?I like it, though I think it might be a little on the powerful side. The Tiefling entry is a little confusing but this is probably because I don't know the ARG. For example, I'm assuming that the 'Racial Base' section are alternatives balanced against other races.
....
The racial base is for choosing your non-fiendish heritage,
And I know that Succubus touched Rev 2.2 is on the powerful side as it is a 20 RP build and most standard races are 10 RP build, with aasimar and tiefling at 12 RP build, so it is likely a CR 1 race, not CR1/2 like other tieflings