Feral Tieflings in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition bring a unique blend of wildness and resilience to the game.
Selecting the right background can greatly enhance your role-playing experience, allowing you to embody the essence of a Feral Tiefling character.
What Are Backgrounds in D&D 5e?
Backgrounds are more than simple stat boosts in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. They reveal where your character came from, why you became an adventurer, and your place in the world.
Before choosing your Background, ask yourself a few questions:
- What was I before I became an adventurer?
- Why did I stop doing what my Background explains and become an adventurer?
- Where did I get the money to buy my starting equipment?
- Where did I learn the skills used in my class?
- What’s different about me compared to others with the same Background?
Best Backgrounds for Feral Tieflings
5. Haunted One
Skill Proficiencies – Choose two of Survival, Religion, Investigation, or Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Choose two languages, one of which being an exotic language (Undercommon, Sylvan, Primordial, Infernal, Draconic, Deep Speech, Celestial, or Abyssal)
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a monster hunter’s pack, one trinket of special significance (you may choose one or roll for one on the Gothic Trinkets table), and 1SP.
Why the Haunted One?
Shaped by a Harrowing Event, Haunted One Feral Tieflings have experienced some of the most horrific atrocities known to any living creature.
Their Heart of Darkness fills your eyes with unimaginable horror, noticed by those who speak to you, understanding that you are no stranger to darkness.
Folks consider Feral Tieflings more blasphemous than their “normal” counterparts, some hating them outright and treating them like animals because of their uncivilized actions.
Although Tieflings have suffered greatly, Feral Tieflings have been driven into the wilds and must now contend with the horrors that tread in the forest, unyielding and unforgiving.
4. Sage
Skill Proficiencies – History, Arcana
Tool Proficiencies – None
Languages – Two you choose
Equipment – A set of common clothes, a letter from a dead colleague posing a question you haven’t been able to answer, a bottle of ink, a small knife, a quill, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Sage?
Sages have the Researcher feature, allowing them to effortlessly recall information and lore.
If they do not know the information, they will know where to find the information, such as in a university, scriptorium, or some other place of knowledge.
However, some knowledge is extremely difficult to obtain and can take a long time to unlock or force you to perform questionable actions.
Feral Tieflings are already close to nature and, with their infernal heritage, closer to magic than they realize. Many tap into this primal magic, using it to learn about the multiverse and even stealing manuscripts to obtain knowledge.
3. Faceless
Skill Proficiencies – Intimidation, Deception
Tool Proficiencies – Disguise kit
Languages – Choose one
Equipment – A costume, a disguise kit, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Faceless?
Faceless characters have the Dual Personalities feature, where you have a persona that most of the world knows you by, even your fellow adventurers.
Everything about you is different than your true self, and once you wear your disguise, all similarities of your true self are hidden. Removing your disguise makes you unidentifiable as your disguise.
This means you can change your appearance between your personalities as you wish, one serving as your camouflage and the other to hide.
Note: If someone realizes the connection between your true self and your persona, your deception could lose its effectiveness.
Feral Tieflings might be animalistic, but they aren’t stupid, and with their increased Dexterity, they can easily become masterful Assassins who hide their true identities to infiltrate society without anyone knowing.
2. Gruul Anarch
Skill Proficiencies – Athletics, Animal Handling
Tool Proficiencies – Herbalism Kit
Languages – Choose one of Sylvan, Goblin, Giant, or Draconic
Equipment – A set of traveler’s clothes, a beast-hide cloak, the skull of a boar, a herbalism kit, a hunting trap, a Gruul insignia, and a pouch containing 10GP (Azorious 1-zino coins).
Why the Gruul Anarch?
Gruul Anarchs have the Rubblebelt Refuge and Gruul Guild Spells features.
Rubblebelt Refure gives you knowledge of ruined neighborhoods, overgrown parks, and vast rubblebets of broken terrain.
You can easily find areas for you and your party to rest here, and you can find food and fresh water in these areas for you and up to 5 others each day.
You also have various spells (up to 5th-level spells) added to your spell list, which are fueled by the rage burning within your heart, accompanying your magic with fiery effects like flames dancing over your hands or smoldering behind your eyes.
| Spell Level | Spell |
| Cantrip | Produce Flame, Fire Bolt |
| 1st | Thunderwave, Speak With Animals, Compelled Duel |
| 2nd | Shatter, Beast Sense |
| 3rd | Conjure Barrage, Conjure Animals |
| 4th | Stoneskin, Dominate Beast |
| 5th | Destructive Wave |
Feral Tieflings usually bear vast amounts of hatred for others, and because they are usually shunned from cities, they must make do with the things they find in the wilderness or the city’s outskirts.
1. Outlander
Skill Proficiencies – Survival, Athletics
Tool Proficiencies – One type of musical instrument
Languages – One you choose
Equipment – A trophy from an animal you killed, a set of traveler’s clothes, a hunting trap, a staff, and a pouch with 10GP.
Why the Outlander?
Outlanders have the Wanderer feature, giving them an excellent memory for geography and maps. Allowing them to always recall the general layout of settlements, terrain, and features around them.
They can also find fresh water and food for themselves and up to five others every day if the land offers water, small game, berries, and other things.
Feral Tieflings are used to living in the wilderness, shunned from civilization for their animalistic nature.
Most Feral Tieflings have become more like beasts, yet some regain their minds, making for excellent Scouts or even Assassins.
Final Thoughts
In closing, when choosing backgrounds for your Feral Tiefling in D&D 5e, consider options that enhance their wild and unpredictable nature.
Backgrounds such as Haunted One, Sage, or Gruul Anarch can provide intriguing roleplaying opportunities, while Outlander or Faceless backgrounds offer unique skills and experiences.