If I have to play a tiefling character for whatever reason, what can I do to avoid being edgy and stereotypical...

If I have to play a tiefling character for whatever reason, what can I do to avoid being edgy and stereotypical? How can I make a tiefling feel "normal" and likeable?

If the other players have any idea what you are till you get hit with fire damage you're doing it wrong

Play a druid and hang around in animal form whenever people start casting "detect evil."

Play an elf instead, it's the same thing minus the edge.

Once I played a Tiefling who was absolutely terrified of his demonic heritage, and desperately wanted to be good, despite his constant inclination to evil.

I really wish that game had gone of for more than 3 sessions. I'll probably use him again for something else.

eat some pancakes and relax

Have a loving family, someone or something he/she would consider a family.

dont play an alignment-bound system

or play lawful evil with extreme emphasis on the lawful part (for utilitaristic reasons, you believe you have to avoid the party not liking you for any reason)
"pretend" to be at least neutral, but regulary notify the players that you only "pretend"

Easiest way? Avoid background like having absolutely nobody who cared for you, and don't use characterization quirks like "sullen, moody, hates everybody, wants to be evil, overzealous in acting good, wangsting, etc"...

Basically, don't get melodramatic about being an outsider or outcast, and don't use it as an excuse to be a wangsty lone wolf, and you'll have the basics in a nutshell.

I love Hellboy

You're not a demon, you're just a dude who looks like a demon
don't dwell on it, basically

If I wanna make a character likeable, I make them social and considerate.

I've noticed that likeable people are often fun to be around with, genuinely care about others (especially their friends) and they'll help their friends or even do things for them without having their friends ask them for the favor. For example, if you have a wizard in your party, ask them for ideas on how to get creative with your innate ability to cast Thaumaturgy.

Basically, be friendly and make people feel like they matter to you; which completely goes against the stereotype of tieflings and other demonic beings tend to be selfish, violent and prone to do atrocious acts.

This.

Play them as perfectly ordinary unless they're a girl, in which case she needs a nicely sized penis.

Same thing can be said for Drow, Half-Orcs and Chromatic Dragonborn if you're playing 5th edition. I always liked the idea of taking traditionally evil races and making them the good guys, despite their heritage and shitty circumstances.

There's just something satisfying about the whole "Oh well my species means I have to be evil? Fuck that I'm saving old ladies from liches or whatever" type of character. No doubt someone will interject with the whole 'oh you have to be a special snowflake' argument but really I think it's more about being a contrary bastard at heart.

Do what I did, play a bright eyed naive tiefling paladin who has left his isolated monastery for the first time in his life since he was taken in by the monks as a baby in order to do good deeds and defend the weak. Wear a large crusader helm that hides the horns, not because your trying to hide them, but because that is your helmet. Be loud and bright and friendly, and then confused and hurt when your heritage finally bites you in the ass. Then you soldier on and keep loving people, because even if they are assholes to you you still took a vow to protect them and you are gonna,prove to them you are more than your heritage. It's great fun.

Do evil in the little things. Make liberal use of graffiti, littering, and other general nastiness while not committing major crimes that can't be pinned on others. Simultaneously make yourself indispensible to the party via some resource others lack: connections, resources, magic, ect. The most evil person is someone nobody likes but nobody can do anything about.

Avoid being edgy and stereotypical? It's not hard. Just make a Tiefling who's more concerned with their day to day minutia than the fact that they look like they should be growing a goatee and carrying a pitchfork. Works with any other character race too.

Adventurers still gotta eat, even if there is some big backstory for the DM to work in at a later date. If your primary concerns at level 1 isn't keeping food in your belly, you're doing it wrong. Unless you're a race that doesn't need to eat. But then you've probably got other motivations that are just as common for a member of said race.

Just be regular tiefling-whatever

Wizard, Ranger, Monk etc.

Don't even mention your race when you intro your character, just describe any demonic parts casually, like mentioning your characters height or hair colour.

If they figure out you're a tiefling and get shitty about it, ask them why they're being a dick when you did nothing wrong.

My groups has a tiefling rogue. Rather, had. He's an elf now thanks to being reincarnated.

Either way, he was the least edgy person there because he was a colossal fuck up.

Twice, he has passed out drunk in combat. Once he got knocked the fuck out by our fighter in magical darkness. One time, he put his dick in a fire pillar. Another time, he got punched by an bloodhulk because he rolled wrong. And thats when he became an elf.

Anything can be edgy if you try hard enough. By the same token, anyone can be normal if you fuck up hard enough.

I have a tendency to suggest war crimes as strategies out of character as jokes.

This but with a buxom country girl who assumed (along with the village) she was half-Satyr are the best.

I once played a non edgy Tiefling Bard. He grew up in a major trading hub. There were all sorts of strange folk passing through that area, so his odd appearance didn't really turn many heads. He had a great relationship with his father, an elven Bard, who had a fair amount of money saved from his own adventures and passed the time performing in taverns and bazaars.

Initially he didn't have much desire to leave, that city was the sort where you could see much of what the world has to offer by letting it come to you. But one night his father got a letter, then informed him that he should leave on a long adventure and never trust anyone (or anything) claiming to be his mother.

In the end it was revealed that his dad once had an adventure involving devils and did what bards do best. My character was at the center of a multi-planar custody battle.

Take a read of Hellboy.
Main Character's a Tiefling, but is at his happiest being just a guy. Likes fighting monsters, drinking, hanging out. Hates dicks, monster or not. Can't go wrong with that.

you literally stated how to do it with your picrel and post, just make a normal and likeable character

Yeah, man, they're really fun to play.

On the flip side, I also love playing relatively normal characters that try to do good through Machiavellian means and end up being Lawful Evil.

Become a Tiefling that is also a Finn.
Or Swede. But no Scotland or ireland, we did that already.
Yes, a Tiefling barbarian Finn, or something. Make sure to have a Spurdo Gondola thing going on there.

Play Koakuma
aka literally no one knows anything about you so they have to make up a name based on your physical appearance

On a more serious note, just... don't be edgy?
There's nothing wrong with a tiefling who is bright, cheerful and is liked by everyone.

So he should play as an attractive semen demon secretary?

You say that like you wouldn't want to play that.

I wouldn't. I'd wanna fuck it.

constantly play the race card

"Azazeal light a torch"
"Why does a fiend have to do it, man? Racist Hummie"

I had an idea for one of these
>Tieflings exist
>Tiefling's father is a huge dick
>In a fit of "fuck you dad" he gets out of there and becomes a farmer
>Moves to bumfuck nowhere, community of like fifty
>They distrust him initially but through favors and hard work he ingrains himself with them
>his dad never really cared and doesn't look for him
>eventually takes a wife
>flash forward several generations
>family's still there
>citizens don't bat an eye at the evil-looking family
>Character is valley girl/farm boy tiefling raised away from the stigma
>wants to see the city yadda yadda plot happens to bring them to the story

>ask wizard for help with Thaumaturgy
>get told to fuck off and bother the cleric instead
Good plan

How to creative, user. Tieflings already know how to cast it perfectly (theoretically).

Besides, clerics would probably be wary of tieflings and most wizards are usually happy to study and experiment with new spells.

>not asking the theurge

All solid advice, thanks.

Why are you even asking this question? What is wrong with tieflings? What are tiefling stereotypes? Why are they not likeable?

Tieflings are brightly colored and have at least one demonic appendage. If your party isn't new to D&D they'll know.

Because they are literal demon spawn?

Because the majority of them are probably evil?

>Because they are literal demon spawn?
Even if we're using pre-4th ed lore, they're not "demon spawn", that would be a half-fiend. Tieflings are distantly related to their outsider ancestors, several generations removed.
>Because the majority of them are probably evil?
Although inclined towards evil, Tieflings are mortals and they forge their own path in the world. It's like being prejudiced against half-orcs.

Become the ultimate Chad Paladin-Bro. Worship Kord by leading your beach volleyball team in morning prayers, nightly shots of Jack and weekends building homes for the homeless. Make lay-on-hands into friendly noogies. If anyone mentions your demon heritage promptly scream out "IN BED! HEY-OOOOOHH!!!" Then fist bump the nearest Bro. When people question your lack of general angst squeeze their shoulder gentle, pull down your raybans look them in the eye and tell them that "Kord's first commandment is be excellent to each other. How can you be excellent to others when you're focused only on your own pain, my Dude?"

>My character was at the center of a multi-planar custody battle.
This is killer backstory. Im stealing it.

A tiefling raised by Dwarves with a thick scottish accent and a beard you can hang off of. He hates elves with a passion, and loves drinking and metal work.

Or, in a similar vein, give the reasons to operate outside of themselves. Do they have wants, needs and interests? Make getting to those things central to their narrative arc. Remember, the best way to have an interesting character is to have a proactive character and not a reactive character.

Could you give some details on his character please?

Why not just act like a regular human? Is there some prerequisite to act edgy or something?

For some races, it comes with the territory. Half fiends. Drow. Whatever else you can think of.

Well shit, I've just been kind of playing those types of characters as just regular people, giving them regular characteristics that I'd give to any race.

Its possible, but its really awkward to play a drow straight, considering their culture is about betrayal, power, and evil spider bitches.

In the entirety of the published shit in the DnD universe, there's only a handful of "Good" drow, two of which were father and son, one of which is now dead.

In the case of half fiends, they are literally half evil incarnate.

obviously there's some obligation to play to the tropes, whether thats straight or against them.

Agreed.

> How do I play [thing] so that its not like [adjective]?

Easy user. Don't play it like [adjective].

For useful advice, make the chatacter self conscious about its less human attributes. Like the movie version of Scott Pilgrim and his hat. Your Tief wears a hood because other people dont have horns.

>what can I do to avoid being edgy

+Round
+Soft

Huh, I figured if they were raised in a relatively mixed society they wouldn't have some of their more characteristic traits. Like, why would a tiefling or drow act like they stereotypically do if they are raised in a society that doesn't encourage that? Is it in their nature or something?

Well, the GM pitched the game as odd things happening to ordinary people, so a tiefling would stand out quite a bit. As a result, he hooked me up with a cap of human guise. So I had to keep my own tent and stuff.

He was LN. Agreements, deals, promises were everything. He made a point of owing no one favors. If he did, he would do something to work it off immediately. He avoided any typical corrupting influence, so the first quest giver tried to offer us money for the job, and he said, "No, I don't need it, I don't want it, all I need to know is that my mother's debt will be paid." He also tried to avoid things that he liked or found pleasurable because he expects things he desires to be from his demonic heritage. He was religious but not a cleric. He mostly just clung onto the holy book because he thought it made him a better person, sorta as a safety-blanket.

My original plan was to have him start out fearful, nervous, then try to use his demonic powers to protect people he cares about, constantly trying to justify borderline evil acts with good intentions, and slowly learn the meaning of good and evil and justice and all that, but like i said, the game only ran three sessions.

In a half fiends or tieflings case, yes. There is at least some part of their nature that tends towards evil.

In a drows case, most of the time. Keep in mind, they do follow a god, and that god does hold jurisdiction over most drow. The spider queen's a selfish bitch, and all that.

On top of this, a drow being on the surface for an extended period of time is rare in and of itself, and one being born on the surface is nigh unheard of.

How does one wear a helmet if they have horns?

Put holes in the helmet where the horns are.

Constantly denies being a tiefling out of shame. Claims to be a quarter minotaur, instead.

Ooh i like it. sort of "my faith is my shield" type dude. sounds really interesting.

I like that image a bit too much.

Why do you want the character to be a tiefling? What part of the story you want to tell with their character requires that specifically?

or you could just... you know.. not be edgy. just be like koakuma there, be ditzy and klutzy

>Ditzy and clutzy

I prefer the honest and hardworking version, personally.

I knew a woman who played a chaotic good tiefling which enjoyed exploring new things and experiences including planewalking yet she struggled with impulse control and overwhelming emotions so out of control she did a lot of damage whenever and wherever she goes. Kind of Tragic spin on trying to be normal, compassionate and passionate about all things worldly but struggling with your demonic heritage and body.

It wasn't really original (i know it sounds eerily similar, bare with me) or even good idea but it was impressive because it was done quite professionally for a woman, who played only occasionally then, with real passion and before 'Fall of Grace' was a established thing in Planescape really. No Mary Sue either.