Faerie Encounters

[Ambrus]

Hm. You've given me food for thought. Another factor to the mite/kobold war I hadn't mentioned is that the kobolds's shaman is secretly out to destroy the kobolds seeing as how he isn't a kobold at all but rather a bitter gnome who died at the hands of kobolds and was subsequently reincarnated (via the spell) into a purple kobold. Shunned by his kinsmen, he took to infiltrating kobold tribes and engineering their destruction. This war is likely a result of his machinations.

Another important fact about the Golarion game-world—gnomes are kin to the fey; having migrated from Faerieland to the mortal world in ages past. I'd be happy to change the relevant story elements to make it more fable-like. The key figure seems to be the fey-gnome-turned-kobold. Perhaps he's some sort of changeling who's infiltrated the kobold tribe, or possibly some sort of fey-trickster (like Robyn Goodfellow) who happens to have it in for the mites because of some perceived slight he hopes to avenge...

 

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[wcpfish]

How about one of the baddest fey of all time? Baba Yaga is here for 4e D&D....check her out....Baba Yaga: Queen of the Wicked Fens - Escape Velocity Gaming | DriveThruRPG.com

Great thread by the way!

William C. Pfaff
President of Escape Velocity Gaming

 

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[Ambrus]

Setting aside the background of the war for the moment, I'm presently more focused on the player's impending explorations of the mites' subterranean lair. There's a fair bit of lore surrounding the fair folk's halls within hollow hills (called raths)and the dangers involved in venturing inside.

The first such difficulty often involves finding the hidden entryway into the rath. The most common method often involves discreetly following a faerie as they go inside. Another means of gaining entry involve ritualistically circling nine times around the hill beneath which a rath is located beneath the light of a full moon.

Once inside a rath, visitors often stumble into a lavishly decorated hall filled with lords and ladies dressed in finery and dancing to lively music. The unsuspecting visitors are then entreated to join in the dancing or to feast upon the fine foods and wines of the fey; accepting any of which will doom the visitor to eternal enslavement beneath the earth.

However, although they are faeries, mites are more of the misshapen-and-grotesque-little-old-men type of fey than the resplendent faerie lords of the underworld such as the Irish sidhe; they simply don't have the magical oomph needed to pull off such elaborate tricks. Still, it would seem possible to retain some of the classic elements which mortal visitors must contend with when venturing inside a faerie rath. Having the mites playing lively folk music on makeshift instruments and inviting the party to dance in hopes of using their distraction to pick-pocketing some of the party's equipment and then surrounding the PCs for an ambush sounds sort of fable-like. Perhaps they could even use their paltry prestidigitation cantrips to disguise rotting or poisonous food as savoury confections with which to tempt the PCs could be another tactic.

Any suggestions are of course welcome.

 

[kitcik]

EDIT: Actually, let me open that offer up. Do you have a fey-related product you think does a great job of capturing the right "feel"? Email me a copy, and I'll be happy to tell everyone if I agree, and why. Any product, any publisher, any system. I'll be utterly honest in my review, and if my review is favourable you may absolutely quote it to advertise.

This is not a gaming related product, but rather a series of novels which I find excellent for fey-related gaming ideas. The Rhymer and the Raven by Jodie Forrest (and its two sequels).

 

[Raven Crowking]

How about one of the baddest fey of all time? Baba Yaga is here for 4e D&D....check her out....Baba Yaga: Queen of the Wicked Fens - Escape Velocity Gaming | DriveThruRPG.com

Great thread by the way!

William C. Pfaff
President of Escape Velocity Gaming

Before I jump into this review, here are some disclaimers:

(1) I am not a fan of 4e D&D. Specifically, the emphasis on defining things by their combat prowess. Of course, this was also a problem with 1e and 2e. IMHO, 3e does the best job with non-combat creatures. YMMV.

(2) As a direct result, I am unlikely to notice any small error vis-a-vis the 4e rules. So, I am not going to focus on the "crunch" side here.

(3) I greatly dislike giving any product a poor review. I greatly enjoy, OTOH, telling people what I like. Sharing good stuff is always more fun than stepping on someone else's efforts.

With those things in mind:

WHAT I LIKED:

* Lore. There are some good bits of usable lore in the product, although they are not given a full treatment. I was glad to see Baba Yaga's servants being fleshed out in the product.

* Skill Challenges. The product includes two skill challenges that are appropriate for Baba Yaga. One is getting info out of the old bony-shanks. The other is brewing azure rose tea. Both are appropriate for the folkloric Baba Yaga.

* Combat Powers. Some of the combat powers are interesting. I particularly liked the image of an angry Baba Yaga smashing foes with her pestle. The three versions of Baba Yaga given all would make interesting combatants, IMHO, but I am not completely certain how they stack up against PCs.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

* Interior artwork. If you liked the very early TSR and White Dwarf artwork, your mileage will vary. The preview in the link allows you to see the artwork if you want.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SEEN

* More Skill Challenges. Few creatures offer the wide potential for skill challenges that the folkloric Baba Yaga does. I would like to see an "Escape the Bony-Shanks" skill challenge, for example, that allows the PCs to acquire various objects that, when thrown down, impede her progress.

* Iron Teeth and Skeletally Thin (or Bony Shanks) worked into her description or powers. Baba Yaga is a cannibal spirit that represents (IMHO) Aging and Time. Some of her combat powers reflect this, but not explicitly.

* Baba Yaga's Fence included in the pdf. It is mentioned as a freebie on the web site, though, so anyone who is interested ought to check it out.

* Campaign Use: A section about using Baba Yaga in actual campaign play. How do you use the old witch, apart from fighting her or trying to get information out of her? A section on this would be useful.

* Folklore of Baba Yaga: A section about the folkloric Baba Yaga, as well as sources used.

Overall, I would guess this pdf would be useful to 4e DMs, but only of moderate interest to others.

YMMV.

EDIT: Since EVG sent me a review copy, I feel duty bound to leave this review up, or it, too, would be removed.

RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Removed

 

[Ambrus]

Sorry I haven't gotten to the rest of the Kingmaker fey encounters yet.

Now worries. We're progressing slowly and I'll welcome your ideas whenever you have a chance to post them.