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 |
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.
This is common in AL
I actually didn't run or play in any Curse of Strahd Expeditions, so hadn't known that they were released in tier order. But each of the first three seasons (Tyranny of Dragons, Elemental Evil, and Rage of Demons) were released in a "mixed' order. For instance, season 3 modules were for levels 1-2, 1-4, 5-10, 11-16, 1-4, 1-4, 5-10, 5-10, 5-10, 1-4, [missing one here], 1-4, 5-10, 1-4, in that order.
Why would they do this!?
Remember that AL characters are legal across seasons. If you end this season with a level 10 character you really like, you might not want to wait until the last quarter of season 6 to be able to play them again!
So what do we do?
Your instinct is right: the new character you created at L5 to play the tier 2 module is not AL-legal. You were looking for ways to play a higher-tier AL module than you had an AL-legal character to play. In general, you've got three routes in that case:
Use the catch-up rule to spend downtime and "skip" a level. You can only do this from 4-5, 10-11, or 16-17. (Edge case, not immediately useful to you, but it's kinda-common in AL.)
(a) Play some other AL-legal material to gain your character XP. This includes other seasons' modules, any of the hardcovers, and Lost Mines of Phandelver (from the Starter Set). Maybe some convention stuff I don't know about.
This carries the unpleasant continuity problem of having your character pop back and forth across the Realms, but it'll get you any amount of XP you're willing to "earn" outside of your main storyline.
(b) Or run some AL program(s). This gives you "GM XP" which you can spend at will on your own AL characters. Avoids continuity issues, but maybe you don't like GMing or don't have the players/time to run an AL table.
Make a character of whatever level you like (as you did) and go ahead and play with your friends, knowing that it's not an AL-legal session (for anyone). Nothing wrong with that, just that now you and your friends can't bring those characters to other AL sessions.
Best Answer
All the information you need, including what resources you will need, in addition to what classes and races are legal for play, can be found on the Organized Play section of the Wizards of the Coast website.