Do you smell that? That’s right! Nothing screams more basic than an edgy race getting into an edgy class. Let me guess your vibe is “I’m a lone wolf that works alone on the lonely road in my loneliness ALONE!”. I bet you listen to my chemical romance or panic! at the disco, don’t you?! Regardless, a Tiefling rogue is a good wombo combo. 

The Tiefling race AND the Rogue 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 Rogue

There’s a couple of things that must be known when building a Tiefling. They aren’t succubus or incubus as rule 34 fanatics and people in need of a good “no-horny-bonk” 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)	SLONGr bigSpiral/Ringed CurledFlat and extending sideways (good luck getting through doors)Single horn
Tails(compulsory feature)	LOOONG 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, there are certain qualities that 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

Rogue and all: “I could be right behind you and you wouldn’t know.” 

Rogues are a notorious OP class that are masters of sneak, steal, trick, and cha-cha real smooth. That is, if you know how to play the class right or else you’ll have your whole party coming at your throat rather than the enemies’. Yes, Rogues are good at being independent but when a job calls a party where no one is subordinate or leader then they have to work together. 

Archetype- It’s the kind of Rogue you want to main. Don’t be a Mary/Gary Sue and say you’re good at all of them, even Rogues have their limit.

• Arcane trickster: with a knack for illusion and enchantment spells, this subclass brings magic as a plus to being a Rogue.
  • Spell Casting– Not only do you get to do magic, but you also don’t need to go to wizard school to be able to do some of their spells.
    • Cantrips
    • Spell slots
    • Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher.
    • Spellcasting Ability- You’re going to need Intelligence for this
      • Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
      • Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus +your Intelligence modifier.
  • Mage Hand Legerdemain– a.k.a magic hands!
  • Magical Ambush
  • Versatile Trickster
  • Spell Thief

• Assassin: The edge lord’s archetype. A subclass is mainly made up of hired hitmen, bounty hunters, spies, and even priests trained to kill their deities’ enemies.
  • Bonus Proficiencies
  • Assassinate
  • Infiltration Expertise- a.k.a mastery in catfishing and scams
  • Impostor- this doesn’t just involve a change of outfit, but you can mimic a person’s voice, writing, and behavior. If anybody gets sus, you have an advantage in charisma to fool them regardless if your disguise is just a clip-on mustache. 
  • Death Strike– when you attack or hit a creature, it can immediately die. So yes, you b**** slap someone, to death. 

• Thief: A vanilla subclass to being a Rogue but not a bad one if your character is cunning and more on street crime.
  • Fast hands- Pickpocketing go brrr! This ability doesn’t just cover crime but also your skill in lock picking, using your tools and weapons, and disarming.
  • Second-story work- No, this does not mean you get to add more to your backstory. This refers to your climbing ability and running jump. Its name is that the ability helps you GET TO the second or upper floor of a building which is also referred to by fancy people as a story. 
  • Supreme sneak 
  • Use magic devices
  • Thief reflexes

Building your Rogue is advised to make your dexterity the highest, can’t be the master of sneak without the sneak. Next is Constitution which should be followed by Intelligence- +1 since you’re a Tief (ba-dum-tss). Next Wisdom and Charisma whichever has higher points depends on your choice of skills and role in the party then Strength. You do have a +2 in charisma for being hot literally and metaphorically. Other than that you have fire resistance and darkvision.

How to Play a Tiefling Rogue

Hit Dice: 1d8 per rogue level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per rogue level after 1st

Some of your class’ default features are:

• Expertise- choose two of your skill proficiencies or one of your skill proficiencies and your proficiency with thieves’ tools. By 6th level, you can choose two more proficiencies.
  • You can choose four skills from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.
• Cunning Action
• Ability Score Improvement
• Uncanny Dodge
• Evasion
• Reliable Talent
• Blindsense- If you can’t trust your eyes then you can trust your ears.
• Slippery Mind- No, it’s not you getting your head in the gutter or being easily distracted. It’s mental strength and wisdom. 
• Elusive- the second reason why enemies and DM will hate you. 
• Stroke of Luck- The main reason why you will be despised. Even if you purposely try to fail you’ll still be successful and fail in failing.

• As a Tiefling, a big plus is you can naturally cast 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

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 Rogue

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 have someone advocate for them. So why bother changing society’s views? That could be the reason why you’ve gone, Rogue.

As a rogue, it is essential to consider their background. What are their past and current ties with the law? A criminal past? What leads them to a life of being a rogue? What are their ideals? Since your race shares such a cyclical way of life, why not throw that into the mixing pot?  It gives your character more life and some material your DM can use to -torture you with- know your skill and proficiencies. Plus, Tieflings are notoriously known to be good at being ired mercenaries, bodyguards, and artists with a love for the darker-themed or macabre art and music. Tieflings are known for their powerful voices and war cries in battle.

Being a Rogue, you are capable of speaking Thieves cant. Can’t what?  Can’t be straightforward. It’s a kind of dialect, signs, and even symbols that hides a secret message. Like saying “I’ll do it later” actually means “I’m waiting for someone else to do it.” or a drawing of a cat on the wall means “Meeting at midnight.”. Apart from that, you’ll be able to speak and write infernal despite not studying it or Abyssal along with Common language. Plus, you’re ambidextrous, which means you can write with both hands and even your tail.