Tiefling babies

[Particle_Man]

If a human and a tiefling have a child the child is a tiefling.

Can an elf and a tiefling have a child?

Can an eladrin and a tiefling have a child?

In either case would the child be a half-elf or a tiefling?

(I am thinking of a tiefling that is fey-pact, but might also have a fluff-based blood connection to the fey realm, so being descended from eladrin would help with that, even if it makes no crunch difference).

 

[LuckyAdrastus]

According to their racial entry from PHB:

"Their [tieflings] bloodline is tainted by their diabolical connections, passing to their descendants through all generations. In many ways, they are human; they can have children with humans, for example, but their offspring are always tieflings."

This makes it clear that they produce tieflings with humans. It implies that they produce tieflings with other races they can procreate with ("their bloodline is tainted ... passing to their descendants through all generations"), without specifying which races they can breed with. However, since they are "in many ways, ... human" it would seem reasonable that they can reproduce with the races humans normally can reproduce with. Those include elves, half-elves, eladrin, half-orcs, orcs, changelings, dwarves (in Dark Sun, at least). In previous editions you also had half-ogres, half-dragons, and many half-outsiders -- presumably you could still if the DM/player agree.

You could also reasonably state that they are infertile with various races that humans are fertile with. If they do breed, the result is a tiefling unless the DM has a good storyreason to give something else (e.g. a tiefling/devil union producing a devil).

FWIW, I played in a campaign with a tiefling feypact warlock who was born in the Feywild to an Eladrin mother and an unknown tiefling father.

 

[Pbartender]

If a human and a tiefling have a child the child is a tiefling.

Can an elf and a tiefling have a child?

Can an eladrin and a tiefling have a child?

In either case would the child be a half-elf or a tiefling?

Sure, why not? Either one. Take your pick.

So long as the rules aren't being broken, what difference does it really make? It's your game (or your DM's), so you decide (or ask your DM).

There's nothing necessarily wrong with, for example, having a character that more or less looks like a Tiefling but functionally uses Half-elf stats, or vice versa.

 

[JohnSnow]

Personally, I'd rule that tieflings count as human in all respects for breeding purposes. Save one: the offspring is always a tiefling. That goes along with it being a curse, after all.

So a tiefling could have a child with a human, elf, or half-elf, but the child would ALWAYS be a tiefling. At the discretion of me or the player (for a PC), such a character might have some "odd" physical characteristics (pointed ears or unusual skin or eye color, for example...), but they would be otherwise tieflings in all respects.

Personally, I'd include eladrin too, since I basically allow them to be "elves" for breeding purposes (although logically, the offspring's dual heritage is "eladrin" rather than "elf"). Ditto drow, I guess. Hmmm, a tiefling/drow hybrid could look a lot like Nightcrawler from the X-Men...

 

[AngryMojo]

Hmmm, a tiefling/drow hybrid could look a lot like Nightcrawler from the X-Men...

Make him a swordmage on top of that, and focus on teleportation powers. Good times.

 

[Ryujin]

I'm in the camp of "it ain't possible" but if you need to go that way, and if the DM agrees, then so be it.

You could always go a simpler way though; "Friend of an Eladrin House" background. Not a blood relation, but sort of "adopted" by them as a court jester, bodyguard, or just a friend.

 

[Solvarn]

Fey'ri

The fey'ri were to elves (eladrins actually) as tieflings are to humans.

Fey'ri - The Forgotten Realms Wiki - Books, races, classes, and more

I have a few modification ideas for them, I feel that the fey'ri were more seduced with the promise of power then the tiefling. I think they have a much more "succubi/erinyes" feel to them than whole "angry fire" thing tieflings have going on.
​

 

[Squire James]

I'd probably treat it with some oversimplified genetic rules, where each person is either a "pure blood" tiefling, a "half-tiefling" that is treated as a tiefling in all respects, a "sliver tiefling" that is treated as a different race, and people with no tiefling blood ("No Blood"). Tiefling is a dominant trait, so when there's doubt, go for the choice with more tiefling:

Pure Blood x Pure Blood = Pure Blood
Pure Blood x Half Blood = Pure Blood
Pure Blood x Sliver = Half Blood
Pure Blood x No Blood = Half Blood

Half Blood x Half Blood = Half Blood
Half Blood x Sliver = Half Blood
Half Blood x No Blood = Sliver

Sliver x Sliver = Sliver
Sliver x No Blood = No Blood

There will probably be some snobbery involved similar to how the villains acted in Harry Potter with "wizard blood", especially in the Turathi High Council. The "normal" tieflings probably don't care so much.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Aw, man...I thought it said "Tiefling babes."

 

[Shemeska]

If a human and a tiefling have a child the child is a tiefling.

Can an elf and a tiefling have a child?

Can an eladrin and a tiefling have a child?

In either case would the child be a half-elf or a tiefling?

Prior to 4e, tieflings were never exclusive to having their mortal heritage be human, or their infernal heritage even be exclusive to a single fiendish lineage. Some tieflings were partially human and partially tanar'ri / demonic, while others might be partially elven and fiendish, or halfling and fiendish, etc. There were also some specific true-breeding lineages of specific mortal and specific fiendish bloodlines (like the gold elf and tanar'ri descended fey'ri from FR).

4e broke with that tradition something fierce (or just took the fey'ri example and ran in that direction) and had all tieflings possessed of a common descent. However there's no reason to necessarily stick with the 4e default if it serves you better in-game, and there's plenty of precedent to go many other ways.

And to the fantasy punnett square question, going by the 2e/3.x manner of looking at such crossings, you could end up with a tiefling, or an elf (4e eladrin), or possibly a half-elf, and the fiendish blood might manifest spontaneously generations later in random ways.