D&D 5e: Tiefling Druid Guide

D&D 5e: Tiefling Druid Guide
Tree hugging hippies that live the furry dream where even the mention of hygiene is a grave sin. You’ll burn anyone who hurts nature but you’re also capable of burning down nature and becoming nature.
The Tiefling race AND the Druid class can be found in the Player’s Handbook. Click here to pick up your own copy of The Player’s Handbook!
How to Make a Tiefling Druid
There’s a couple of things that must be known when building a Tiefling. They aren’t succubus or incubus as rule 34 fanatics claim. Neither are they well-loved but discriminated against.
There are three ways a Tiefling is created:
- Descended from a Tiefling parent (regardless if both or only one is a tiefling) or ancestor
- A human is transformed into one through magical means
- When a being of the nine realms of hell mates with a human
Tieflings are humanoid beings and creating one feels a lot like those mix and match custom character sim games as heritage has to be taken into account. To make it simpler, here’s a table of options open in creating a tiefling:
- Infernal tieflings– most common and possibly be related to Asmodeus or some other hellish being.
Skin | Human shadesHot Red Dark blueScalyFurryLeathery |
Eyes | Solid colored and catlike (compulsory feature) BlackRedWhiteSilverGold Glowing eyes |
Mouth | vampire-like pointed teeth (compulsory feature)FangsForked tongue |
Horns(compulsory feature) | Small or bigSpiral/Ringed CurledFlat and extending sideways (good luck getting through doors)Single horn |
Tails(compulsory feature) | LONG AND T H I C C |
Optional | Smelling like eau de brimstoneSkin hot to touch (as if looking the part wasn’t enough)More or less than 5 fingersYour tail can grab thingsGoat like legshoof for feetCast no shadow or reflectionBat like wings |
- Planar Tieflings– Rare variety of tieflings. Descendants of demons, devils, rakshasas, night hags, the avatars of evil deities, or those that oppress workers and demand to see the manager. Compared to Infernals, certain qualities are required:
demons | May look like infernal tieflingsNo hooves or goatlike legs |
devils | may resemble the infernal tieflings, not of Asmodeus |
rakshasas | Cat eyes and furry skins |
night hags | bruised-looking blue skinsmall hornsglowing red eyes |
Applies to all Planar Tieflings | Can almost pass as a human but have certain dead giveaways such as, but not limited to:red eyessmall hornsa missing shadow. |
- Rare traits
- As if there wasn’t enough variety to a Tiefling, a rare few have a few unique qualities, more detrimental than not. A few examples are:
- Being harmed by direct sunlight
- Susceptible to holy water
- Vulnerable to certain spells such as spirit wrack or cacofiend
- Can’t enter holy grounds or areas
- Silver = bad
- Skin that flakes ash- practically eczema or desquamation.
- Smelling like ash, brimstone, sulfur, or rotten meat- Not even deodorant can help you.
- Unnaturally cold or hot skin- Yes, to the point that you can cook or freeze food on your skin.
- Your touch can kill plants
- Uneasing aura- You’re the creepy guy even if you aren’t the creepy guy.
- Other hellish beings can recognize you just like your relatives in real life where they know you but you don’t have any idea who they are.
- Armor for skin, resistance to any injury made by non-magical or non-silver weapons.
- Hellish nightmares- Sleep paralysis must be awkward as a Tiefling)
-A few examples of this case are:
- The tiefling Tenosh has the power to generate cold from her hand, climb sheer surfaces with ease, and does not need to sleep.
- Ghienna cannot use portals and can never leave the city of Sigil, though this is a close secret.
- Factol Rhys of the Transcendent Order has a partial protective carapace, and her hair seems to move on its own as if blown by the wind
The way of the Druid: “I speak for the Trees!”
- Druid Circles– these aren’t just your mental support group that druids go to. These are societies that act as an organized stateless group that focuses on nature, balance, and the druid way -like a hippie cult without a leader. Apart from that this acts as like your category:
- Circle of land- circle for mystics, sages, advisers, and those kooky old people who give senseless words that people think are wisdom.
- Bonus Cantrip- additional druid cantrip of your choice
- Natural recovery
- Circle Spells- like a certain elemental bending cartoon, your spells depend on what land you were initiated in.
- Circle of land- circle for mystics, sages, advisers, and those kooky old people who give senseless words that people think are wisdom.
- Arctic
- 3rd hold person, spike growth
- 5th sleet storm, slow
- 7th freedom of movement, ice storm
- 9th commune with nature, cone of cold
- Coast
- 3rd mirror image, misty step
- 5th water breathing, water walk
- 7th control water, freedom of movement
- 9th conjure elemental, scrying
- Desert
- 3rd blur, silence
- 5th create food and water, protection from energy
- 7th blight, hallucinatory terrain
- 9th insect plague, wall of stone
- Forest
- 3rd barkskin, spider climb
- 5th call lightning, plant growth
- 7th divination, freedom of movement
- 9th commune with nature, tree stride
- Grassland
- 3rd invisibility, pass without trace
- 5th daylight, haste
- 7th divination, freedom of movement
- 9th dream, insect plague
- Mountain
- 3rd spider climb, spike growth
- 5th lightning bolt, meld into stone
- 7th stone shape, stoneskin
- 9th passwall, wall of stone
- Swamp
- 3rd darkness, Melf ’s acid arrow
- 5th water walk, stinking cloud
- 7th freedom of movement, locate creature
- 9th insect plague, scrying
- Underdark
- 3rd spider climb, web
- 5th gaseous form, stinking cloud
- 7th greater invisibility, stone shape
- 9th cloudkill, insect plague
- Land Stride
- Nature’s Ward
- Nature’s Sanctuary
- Circle of the Moon– Fierce guardians of the wild. These druids gather under a full moon and trade news and trade warnings like some free-range convention for Tarzans. This circle allows you to transform into more varieties of animals from elementals to Not-even-Silvanus-knows creations.
- Combat Wild Shape
- Circle Forms
- Primal Strike
- Elemental Wild Shape
- Thousand Shape
*There are other circles not mentioned in the 5e handbook. So if you’d like more variety- and to overwork your DM- here are the others:
- Circle of Dreams- Glorified essential oil users. These druids are capable of healing that makes you wonder if they’re just furry clerics.
- Balm of summer court
- Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow
- Hidden Paths
- Walker in Dreams
- Circle of Spores– For melee, offense, resistance to poison, and recreating the last of us. That’s right, you can zombify a corpse and have it do your bidding. The undead isn’t the strongest, though, but it makes for good defense and distraction.
- Circle Spells
- Circle of Spores
- Symbiotic Entity
- Fungal infestation
- Spreading spores
- Fungal body
- Circle of Stars- An OP druid circle where you can both heal and attack. There’s a catch, though, if studying the spell lists and beast you can turn into wasn’t enough, you also have to learn to study this Circle with your DM to better understand it. Is it worth the trouble and effort? “Probably,” says every adult about college.
- Star Map
- Starry Form
- Archer
- Chalice
- Dragon
- Twinkling Constellation
- Cosmic Omen
- Full of Stars
- Circle of Wildfire- Compared to the other circles, you get a built-in pet, a spirit made of fire instead of the usual beast-and-master bond. A common concern is fire resistance, but your Tiefling blood has that covered. You’re free to burn down the forest and your enemies while cackling in the middle of it all.
- Circle of Wildfire spells
- Summon Wildfire Spirit
- Enhanced bond
- Cauterizing Flames
- Blazing Revival
- Circle of the Shepherd- A great support to the party with your very own army of animals, or better yet, pestilence to reenact the plagues of Egypt.
- Speech of the Woods
- Spirit Totem
- Mighty Summoner
- Guardian Spirit
- Faithful Summons
Compared to other spellcasters that require mostly Charisma or Intelligence for their magic, your class focuses on Wisdom. Since living in the wilderness and with smelly beasts takes a toll on your appearance and hygiene. Wisdom should be prioritized followed by Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, and finally, Charisma. Your +2 in Charisma and +1 in Intelligence may not be much help but you do have fire resistance and darkvision.
How to Play a Tiefling Druid
(https://sites.google.com/site/citadelsdraconia/fifthedition-d-d/classes/druid)
Hit Dice: 1d8 per druid level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per druid level after 1st
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
We’ve discussed the Circles but it’s time for you to know some things that default to the Druid class:
- Spellcasting- Druidic magic relies on wisdom and the divine essence of Nature.
- As a Tiefling, a big plus is you are a natural in the thaumaturgy cantrip. By 3rd level, you get to do hellish rebuke as a 2nd level spell, and by 5th level, darkness spell. All these spells require charisma which would be difficult to use being a Druid. Apart from that, you get dark vision, but everything is gray in the darkness, advantage in speed, and resistance to fire damage.
- Ability Score Increase
- Timeless Body- At 18th level, going all-natural finally pays off as being a druid slows down your body’s aging. After every 10 years, you will look like you’ve aged for 1 year.
- Beast Spells
- Archdruid
- Wild Shape- by 2nd level you achieve ultimate furry transformation. You can turn into any animal you have seen and use it twice before having to rest. Fleas included, you can turn into a hybrid with the permission of your DM.
- You can stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your druid level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form unless you expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
- It should be noted that any damage you take in beast form won’t have any effect in your original form UNLESS during beast form you lose all your health. So any excess from that will affect your original form’s health.
- You can’t cast spells in your beast form. As far as communication and hand gestures are concerned, you’re limited by your beast form. It doesn’t interrupt the concentration for any spells you’ve cast just before the transformation.
- You can still do things your original form can AS LONG AS your best form has a feature to accommodate it. Say, you have darkvision and you transform into a rat then that’s okay. If you have the power of flight but turn into a fish then that’s when it’s not applicable unless you become some sort of air-breathing fish hybrid.
- For your equipment or anything you’ve worn, it’s up to the DM if it is still on you, slips off, or can’t be used unless your beast form has usable thumbs or permits it. So talk to them about it.
Think of Tieflings as the counterpart of half-elves that got the shorter end of the stick. Tieflings face a lot of racism and discrimination regardless of whether they are evil or not. This has caused them to be very reserved, suspicious, and self-reliant loners. They have a quick temper, stubbornness, self-confidence, and fickleness in relationships. This does not limit them from working with others as they’d likely treat others in a contractual or work-type relationship. Fortunately, though, they will learn to reciprocate the trust given to them in a way. When they allow themselves to open up or give loyalty towards someone, that person/receiving a friend and ally for life.
How to Roleplay as a Tiefling Druid
The topic of how Tieflings came to be is covered, but what of their lives? Like most hybrids, they have no land of their own or a place where their kind gathers. Tieflings are uncommon, and with the whole hot topic of Asmodeus, they are rarely friendly with their style or relatives. As mentioned before, racism and discrimination have been part of a Tiefling’s life since the day of their birth or creation. Even a Tiefling baby born to two human parents (where one so happened to have a Tiefling or Fiend blood in the lineage or the baby was cursed) would likely be abandoned and taken in by orphanages and churches, or crime rings.
Despite their strange form, their bodies are very similar to that of humans, from weight and height (Maximum height for a male Tiefling is 6”7, for a female 6”5) to the skeletal structure. On the other hand, life expectancy is similar to humans, but few can live to 150 years. They can live on an omnivorous diet (like humans) but slightly lean more to meat. Though they consume other stuff such as bone, gristle, marrow, blubber, blood, ash and can subsist on coal or inorganic rock. They at times even drink a cocktail of broth, oil, and sulfur. Tieflings can be both male and female, one of the other, or none at all. Some Tieflings can even pass as humans in appearance.
Similarities or not, so long as fiendish blood runs and features are evident, they are treated with caution. With the rejection Tiefling faces, many turn to a life of crime or mischief, which has further people’s prejudiced perspectives on them. Well, it’s not like it’d be easy to change others’ views or someone is advocating for them. So it’d be no wonder why they’d choose a life to be a druid.
Druids have a special relationship with nature. As such, a Druid will hold certain plants as sacred. They will use these unique plants for spellcasting or making weapons. Additionally, not all druids have an “I LOVE NATURE!” attitude as some become Druids to take advantage of its powers. Some traditional druids and in it for the ancient practices serve nature and its deities. Some Druids do serve non-nature connected deities or the dark ones, but it is best to stick closer to those who hold on to the environment.
Apart from that, you’ll be able to speak and write infernal despite not studying it or Abyssal along with Common language. In addition, you can write in Druidic, a beautiful language very few apart from Druids know how to read. Plus, you’re ambidextrous, which means you can write with both hands and even the tail.