Teleporting in the Feywild

[pukunui]

It has occurred to me that many of the race/class powers in the PHB presuppose that the PCs are on the material plane. No consideration is given to them being on other planes. For instance, a lot of the teleport powers (primarily the eladrin's fey step and the warlock's Fey Pact powers) involve briefly jumping into the Feywild. What happens if you're already in in the Feywild? Do they cease to function? Or do you jump briefly back into the material world? Or do you jump into some other part of the Feywild? Or what? No consideration seems to have been given to this (although I imagine it might be addressed in the upcoming Manual of the Planes.

Thoughts anyone?

Unless WotC rules otherwise, I'm inclined to just let the powers work normally no matter where the PCs are and handwave any concerns away by saying they either teleport you through a different part of the Feywild or back through the material world or something.

 

[Kordeth]

Neither of those abilities actually involve stepping into the Feywild--that was an old bit of fluff text from Races and Classes that doesn't show up in the PHB. Fey Step allows an eladrin to "teleport about the battlefield, cloaked in the magic of the Feywild," while Misty Step simply transforms the warlock into streams of silver mist that leap across the field and re-form.

So yes, teleport abilities work just fine in the Feywild.

EDIT: I see that you were referring to fey pact powers, not the pact boon, and some of those do have fluff text that describes "entering the Feywild." The key here is that that's fluff text--the power is no more barred from working in the Feywild than a fighter is barred from using Reaping Strike with a hammer because it describes "wicked jabs and small, vicious cuts" as part of the fluff text.

 

[2eBladeSinger]

I agree that it probably will (and definitely should) be addressed in the MotP.

If it is the case that the feylock and Eladrin are so attuned to the feywild that they are able to momentarily step into it, if but for a moment, even where the planes aren’t thin, then I don’t think they would be able to use the ability in the fey wild. That would involve stepping into the middle world or some other plane to which they are not similarly attuned and with which they have no inherent connection. However, if the shadowfell, astral sea, elemental chaos, et al. (and I’m speculating because I don’t know the answer) share similar, middle-world like, connections with the fey wild (i.e. it is thin in areas, linking the two) then I would say, yes, they could use the ability in the other planes. Of course I suspect the real answer might be NERF = BWF = Yes the abilities work everywhere.

EDIT = yes I was still under the archaic assumption that the fey teleports were 'steppin in' ala Races and Classes.

 

[Zurai]

Note that the PHB specifically says that the flavor text has no game meaning at all and that players should feel free to redefine it as much as they want. Drawing conclusions or basing rulings from the flavor text is thus utterly pointless.

 

[2eBladeSinger]

Note that the PHB specifically says that the flavor text has no game meaning at all and that players should feel free to redefine it as much as they want. Drawing conclusions or basing rulings from the flavor text is thus utterly pointless.

While I agree that this has been said, I would like to note that I think it’s a bit cowardly on their part to divorce, so definitely, flavor from mechanics. Yes, it does make things quite clear, but it makes flavor less important somehow. As if to say Well, here is a nice write-up for you on dragon ecology or what not but don’t take it literally – it’s more of a suggestion, the important thing to remember is +2, two squares, blinded condition, tap to destroy target artifact, ad nauseum. It was not always the case that the writers of D&D even made a distinction between 'flavor text' and 'mechanical outcome'.

 

[Zurai]

Not always, no - but it has been so since WotC took over. The exact same thing was true in 3E.

 

[pukunui]

Ha. I saw the fluff bits in the Fey Pact warlock powers and my brain just automatically inserted it into the other stuff, like the eladrin's fey step. I didn't even notice that they'd taken it out. As you say, though, it's all just fluff and doesn't really matter.

Note that the PHB specifically says that the flavor text has no game meaning at all and that players should feel free to redefine it as much as they want. Drawing conclusions or basing rulings from the flavor text is thus utterly pointless.

Where does it say that? I find it interesting considering that WotC hyped up their linkage of fluff and mechanics for 4th Edition. They've certainly done a better job of being evocative with this edition than the last one ... so I find it interesting that they would then put a clause in saying, "The fluff doesn't actually mean anything."

 

[Zurai]

Where does it say that? I find it interesting considering that WotC hyped up their linkage of fluff and mechanics for 4th Edition. They've certainly done a better job of being evocative with this edition than the last one ... so I find it interesting that they would then put a clause in saying, "The fluff doesn't actually mean anything."

PHB pg55:

You can alter this description as you like, to fit your own idea of what your power looks like.

 

[Ophidimancer]

Note that a lot of lore surrounding the Fae associate them with states of "in-betweenness" like the place where field meets forest, where ocean meets sand, the time when day meets night, etc. So I don't think it's too much of a stretch to imagine that those teleport powers work using a partial phase between one dimension and the next, thus useable anywhere where a Forbiddance spell or something similar has not hardened the wall between worlds.

 

[pukunui]

Note that a lot of lore surrounding the Fae associate them with states of "in-betweenness" like the place where field meets forest, where ocean meets sand, the time when day meets night, etc. So I don't think it's too much of a stretch to imagine that those teleport powers work using a partial phase between one dimension and the next, thus useable anywhere where a Forbiddance spell or something similar has not hardened the wall between worlds.

Ooh, good point. I like it.

@Zurai: Thanks.