Stellar Tieflings

Stellar Tieflings (Being playtested, subject to change)

Tieflings are very adaptable and versatile, they can be from anywhere. The Material Plane, the 9 Hells and the Abyss are the most notable ones but there exists a variant that is rarely seen on the material plane. Stellar Tieflings, beings born with the power of the stars in their blood, thus making them perfect for sustaining life in space or the astral plane.

Long ago, groups of tieflings ventured from the 9 Hells to the Astral Plane to find a new place to settle. Life in the Silver Void has imbued their souls with a spark of astral light. That light manifests as a starry gleam in an astral tiefling's eyes.

As time went on and they evolved to be stronger and more resilient they began leaving the Astral Plane and moving to space, finding as many uninhabited planets to live on as possible. Eventually, they found a new planet to call their own which they call among themselves Veilrim. As they grew settled and accustomed to their home something terrible happened. Stagnation. They began to ponder how to further advance their culture and bolster race’s strength for future generations.

So they learned to travel through space, get to know the area and map out the cosmos and the astral plane. Astral Tieflings have very well detailed maps of the locations they settle down in. They also began the process of strengthening their people. They began to cull the weak, a planet wide battle to purge out those that are unfit for battle. After a long and bloody 300 year long war they sucessfully did what they set out to do. Any Astral Tieflings born after this event which they call “The Culling” are stronger, more resilient and built for not only space travel but to be dominant and aggressive warriors.

The bodies of Stellar Tieflings are built for dwelling through space and the astral plane. Due to this older Stellar Tieflings become, the slower they age. This allows them to have an incredibly long lifespan both in and out of the astral plane, thus making them able to live for thousands of years. As a result, they retain their good health and youthful appearance for much longer. Despite being several millennia old, they remain rugged.

Despite culturally being made to lean towards loving war and battle, there are still many Stellar Tieflings that make huge leaps and bounds in their home’s technology and construction. They are surprisingly advanced in their technology on Veilrim as they have ships for travel to other planets but they do this only if there are things to bring along with them. Typically, they just fly themselves.

After The Culling, they are known to keep to themselves and no longer have a need to kill each other so the planet is a haven for strong warriors, smiths, artificers and philosophers. They rarely go to other places to trade resources with other planets.

However, some are rather malicious in nature and leave Veilrim and they attempt to conquer other places and planets to satisfy their ravenous desire for war and conflict. These malicious rebels are branded as rogue stars and are slated for capture and execution. To them this is a big deal as they don’t kill each other anymore so they are sure to honor them by granting them one last battle to the death. If they win they are imprisoned for the rest of their life and if they lose, well, they die.

The natural stellar power within them makes them innately attuned to gravity magic. They learn it very quickly and use it in their every day life. Stellar tieflings make some of the most dangerous graviturgy wizards due to their strong bodies and strong minds. In Stellar Tiefling culture, the mindset of the mind is a part of the body, therefore the key to a strong mind is a strong body is something most Stellar Tieflings believe. This mindset often put them at odds with Astral Elves and Gith. As most know traversing the Astral Plane requires a strong mind and the body is not as useful. But the Stellar Tieflings brute force their way through traversal since they are naturally attuned to the Astral Plane.

The astral spark within Stellar Tieflings are extremely adaptive and powerful. It is so powerful, that they can reproduce with almost any other race and their astral spark will almost completely overshadow the inherit genetics of the Non-Stellar Tiefling, making said offspring almost purely a Stellar Tiefling themselves. Additionally, if the Non-Stellar Tiefling parent has no astral spark, then the offspring will inherit all the standard Stellar Tiefling abilities. Humans, for example, completely lack the astral spark so a Human/Stellar Tiefling hybrid is genetically nearly identical to a pure-blooded Stellar Tiefling and will eventually become just as powerful. However, if the Non-Stellar Tiefling parent has an astral spark then the astal sparks will conflict with each other thus making it difficult for the abilities to manifest immediately. Astral Elves, for example, already have a spark of their own that grants them their own abilities. These sparks will fight and eventually the Stellar Tiefling spark will win and take over thus ridding the offspring of the other parnet’s spark. In both examples this leads to someone being a Stellar Tiefling in all senses of the way except appearance as they will keep the physical traits and appearance from the Non-Stellar Tiefling parnet.

Due to the astral spark of Stellar Tieflings being strong enough to snuff the spark of many beings see the spark of a Stellar Tiefling as a curse while others see it as a blessing. Some people seek them out to have powerful children while others avoid them and fight travelers off fearing the spark within them. Due to this fear many Stellar Tieflings traveling or trading Stellar Tieflings end up getting into fights with beings like Astral Elves, Gith and Giff.

Pure blood Stellar Tieflings are derived from Infernal or abyssal bloodlines, they usually look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance. Tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes - some have curling horns like a ram, others have straight and tall horns like a gazelle's, and some spiral upward like an antelopes' horns. They can have thick tails, which can be up to four to five feet long, which lash or coil around their legs when they get upset or nervous. Their canine teeth are sharply pointed, and their eyes typically have a black or white sclera and a wide range of pupil colors all of which visibility displays their astral spark as light manifests as a starry gleam in a Stellar Tiefling's eyes. Their skin tones can be any color. Their hair, cascading down from behind their horns, which can also be any color.

Meanwhile, Stellar Tieflings with a non-Stellar Tiefling parents often resemble their non-Stellar Tiefling parents as the spark slowly takes over their being and forces them to manifest the power of the Stellar Tieflings while also doing away with the abilities they'd get from their other parents.

Ability Score Increase Increase one ability score by 2, and increase a different one by 1, or increase three different scores by 1.

Creature Type You are a Humanoid.

Speed Your walking speed is 30 ft.

Stellar Body You can mentally alter your body to adapt to future threats. Whenever you finish a long or short rest you can select a resistance. This resistance cannot be changed until you take another long or short rest. You also count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity.

Gravitational Prowess You know one of the following cantrips of your choice: Fire Bolt, Magic Stone, or Mold Earth. Additionally, when you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Magnify Gravity spell. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the Immovable Object spell once with this trait. You must finish a long rest to cast these spells once again with this trait. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it (choose when you select this race).

Darkvision Thanks to your infernal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Starlight Flight You are born with either wings or innate flight, granting you a flying speed equal to your walking speed. These wings or innate flight is specifically for flying in vacuums and the astral plane, so when flying in space or the astral plane you can fly normally despite there being no air or gravity as you propel yourself off your own center of gravity. However, you are still hindered by intensified gravity.

Stellar Traveler Your body is made for long periods of space travel. You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe for up to 10 months. You have advantage on saving throws against disease. Additionally, when flying through space or the astral plane for more than an hour you gain the following benefits:

• Difficult terrain doesn't slow your group's travel.
• You can't become lost except by magical means.
• Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling, you remain alert to danger.
• If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you are travelling by flying outside of combat, you fly twice as fast as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Languages You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate.