[RPG] Can a Tiefling Subrace be Feral

character-creationdnd-5eoptional-rulesracestiefling

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes offers the option to select a different heritage for a Tiefling by replacing the default Ability Score Increase with its own (as well as by replacing the Infernal Legacy trait):

The traits of the chosen subrace replace the tiefling’s Ability Score Increase and Infernal Legacy traits given in the Player’s Handbook.

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide offers variant tieflings by either replacing Infernal Legacy (for Winged, Hellfire, or Devil's Tongue) or by replacing one Ability Score Increase trait with another increasing feature (Feral):

Feral… This trait replaces the Ability Score Increase trait.

While a non-Asmodeus Tiefling subrace is not compatible with Winged, Hellfire, or Devil's Tongue (since they both replace Infernal Legacy with their own option), a non-Asmodeus Tiefling subrace may be eligible for Feral (by replacing the subrace's own Ability Score Increase with the Feral one). Is it?

Best Answer

It's possible with DM permission.

The Feral trait is described as being allowed by DM permission in the sidebar on page 118 of the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, as follows (emphasis mine):

Since not all tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus, some have traits that differ from those in the Player's Handbook. The Dungeon Master may permit the following variants for your tiefling character...

Assuming the DM is open to it, there's no reason that a Levistus Tiefling, for example, doesn't quality as a "tiefling character" for purposes of variant traits including the Feral trait for ability scores. There's nothing in either SCAG or Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes that addresses feral tieflings at all beyond that one sidebar, so there's no lore indicating that a non-Asmodeus tiefling can't be feral. All we're told is that the PHB tiefling is an Asmodeus Tiefling (this is reinforced in MTOF on page 21) and that not all tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus. It doesn't actually say that the variant options are restricted to non-Asmodeus tieflings, and even if that seems to be implied, note that that passage was written before MTOF ever presented any other non-Asmodeus options.

So, with DM permission, the combination should be possible (even though, as I explained in a related answer to another question, it's not technically possible using D&D Beyond's tools).

Related Solutions

[RPG] How strong is the tiefling’s Infernal Legacy trait, and what should I consider when homebrewing a racial trait that replaces it

In Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic (2015), they playtested a Tiefling Variant with an Abyssal Tiefling subrace. The Abyssal Tiefling gets this Abyssal Arcana trait instead of the original Infernal Legacy trait:

Abyssal Arcana. Each time you finish a long rest, you gain the ability to cast cantrips and spells randomly determined from a short list. At 1st level, you can cast a cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can also cast a 1st-level spell. At 5th level, you can cast a 2nd-level spell.

You can cast a spell gained from this trait only once until you complete your next long rest. You can cast a cantrip gained from this trait at will, as normal. For 1st-level spells whose effect changes if cast using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you cast the spell as if using a 2nd-level slot. Spells of 2nd level are cast as if using a 2nd-level slot.

At the end of each long rest, you lose the cantrips and spells previously granted by this feature, even if you did not cast them. You replace those cantrips and spells by rolling for new ones on the Abyssal Arcana Spells table. Roll separately for each cantrip and spell. If you roll the same spell or cantrip you gained at the end of your previous long rest, roll again until you get a different result.

Abyssal Arcana Spells

d6 1st Level 3rd Level 5th Level

1 Dancing lights Burning hands Alter self

2 True strike Charm person Darkness

3 Light Magic missile Invisibility

4 Message Cure wounds Levitate

5 Spare the dying Tasha’s hideous laughter Mirror image

6 Prestidigitation Thunderwave Spider climb

d6	1st Level	3rd Level	5th Level
1	Dancing lights	Burning hands	Alter self
2	True strike	Charm person	Darkness
3	Light	Magic missile	Invisibility
4	Message	Cure wounds	Levitate
5	Spare the dying	Tasha’s hideous laughter	Mirror image
6	Prestidigitation	Thunderwave	Spider climb

I would assume that homebrew could trust this list to be at least somewhat balanced as possible spell replacements, since it made it to UA. However, keep in mind that UA is not strictly canon, but rather playtest material from WotC game designers.

In that regard, the Infernal Legacy trait looks a lot like a Dragonmark (from Unearthed Arcana: Eberron (v1.1)) or the Magic Initiate feat (PHB, p. 168). You could also skin one of those feats into a racial ability, as a homebrew that wouldn't deviate too much from the rules.

And completely RAW, you could always do a Feral Tiefling with the Devil's Tongue trait (SCAG, p. 118), too.

[RPG] Do I add the Proficiency Bonus to the Spell Save DC of a Tiefling’s Hellish Rebuke

The Spell save DC would include the proficiency bonus.

Player Handbook (p.205)

The DC to resist one of your spells equals 8 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus + any special modifiers

A special modifier would be a bonus from a magic item for example.