Sell me on fey!

[Nellisir]

The fey are nature incarnate, and in my mind the downright coolest creatures in D&D. Syltorian really hit the nail on the head.

We've been developing them and their otherworldly home, Faerie, over at Dicefreaks. Here's a link: http://dicefreaks.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6398

That's the summary of stuff we've more or less finished, and there are links in it to other things we've worked on (including proper Sidhe stats, particularly the daoine sidhe).

Nice, but...holy crap, the average CR is pretty high! I would've gone -way- lower and advanced them with templates, classes, and suchlike. As it is, your Faerie seems unsuitable for anyone under 15th level! (and then they can only face 4 cu sidhe! Yikes!)

 

[GreatLemur]

IRL, fey are usually humanoid creatures, or animalistic creatures of human intelligence, with a connection to an "Otherworld" or spirit world (one of the big things lacking from WotC's fey).

Ah, hell. I totally forgot about that element. Very good point. If D&D fey came from (or had some strong connection to) an outer plane or pocket dimension or something, the whole creature type would be a lot more meaningful.

Re dryads, nymphs, etc: Here's a point that's a little sticky for me. These are creatures/spirits from Greek myth, which are being classified IRL (?) with folkloric creatures from the middle ages.

Yeah, that's one of the really glaring issues with using elements with a strong cultural connections in a non-Earth-based fantasy setting. Dragons and vampires and elves have pretty much been mulched up and reconstituted by modern culture enough that they're almost culturally neutral, but I wouldn't just throw a satyr, redcap, phooka, domovoi, or sidhe into Eberron. That just doesn't fit, for me.

 

[TwinBahamut]

I agree that D&D has never gotten fey quite right.

In folklore and mythology, I think it is easy to label fey as either a sub-set of the general idea of "spirits", or as beings which exist on the boundry between being spirits and being living creatures. They are mysterious and otherworldly, superhuman and supernatural. They exist to punish humans who dare to intrude into their realms, or to trick human into coming into their realms so thet the human could be toyed with. 99% of the time, a human who even meets a fey endures misfortune, though the degree differs. They could be beautiful, childlike, or monsterous. They are the classic butterfly winged faeries, elves, and trolls, all wrapped up in one mix.

The only part of D&D I have seen yet to get faeries even close to right are the Daughters of Sora Kell in Eberron, but they arn't fey in that setting.

Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is a great example of a classic fey story. The old witch of the forest, the Baba Yaga, the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and the witch from Spirited Away, all have much in common with the dark side of the fey archetype.

If you have played Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the character of Midna, especially early on, is very much a fey character.

I think it is important to remember that the most common fey story of all time is the story of the person who accidentally wanders into the world of the faeries, spends some time partying there, and then leaves, only to realize that decades have passed.

Also, Chinese and Japanese animal spirits, such as the Kitsune or Tengu, have more in common with Fey than Greek Nymphs, including Dryads and Nereids.

 

[GreatLemur]

Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is a great example of a classic fey story.

Hell, as long as we're talking Miyazaki and fey, we can't forget Princess Mononoke. The creatures in that one skewed more towards the animal spirit / nature god end of the spectrum, but I think there are some fey traits there.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I really like the take of Exalted on the fey. These fey basically thrive on human emotions - and from their perspective, it doesn't matter if the emotions in question are based on love or hate.

Furthermore, they like to cast themselves as the protagonists in a story - with hapless mortals as the disposable supporting cast.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

See, it's the connection to folklore that I really don't dig about fey. I'm not hugely into European mythology, and I think a lot of the tropes that are important to it are pretty different from anything that's part of the RPG-style fantasy subgenre, or at least the facets of D&D that I'm interested in.

What, do the faery tales have too much blood and gore for you in them?

 

[Nellisir]

Also, Chinese and Japanese animal spirits, such as the Kitsune or Tengu, have more in common with Fey than Greek Nymphs, including Dryads and Nereids.

I've never had a problem with dryads and nereids being fey. They fall on the solitary/nature corner of the equation, like leshy.

 

[Razz]

Talking about fey, the designers of MMV has been saying there's a host of new fey in MMV coming up

 

[The Edge]

Demons? They destroy stuff. You don't need a reason to fight them, and they like to pop over any time for some havoc. Easy

Devils? They plot to destroy stuff. They make for good adventures and mix well with the cult types. Yup.

Angels and such? Don't get to see em much. Cool, but never known how to include em.

Abberations and nastys? Varried. Can fit all the above.

Goblins orcs and general mooks? Good for early levels, and then surpriseing high levs when they thought they'd never worry about them again.

Fey? I really don't know. Interesting. Very. Who and where are they though? I don't know. :\

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Demons? They destroy stuff. You don't need a reason to fight them, and they like to pop over any time for some havoc. Easy

Devils? They plot to destroy stuff. They make for good adventures and mix well with the cult types. Yup.

Angels and such? Don't get to see em much. Cool, but never known how to include em.

Abberations and nastys? Varried. Can fit all the above.

Goblins orcs and general mooks? Good for early levels, and then surpriseing high levs when they thought they'd never worry about them again.

Fey? I really don't know. Interesting. Very. Who and where are they though? I don't know. :\

Fey are creatures that metagame.

When coming across a certain situation, they don't ask: "How can I get more power out of this situation?" or "Does this give me sustenance?" or "How can I follow my personal ethos?"

Instead they ask: "How can I turn this situation into an interesting story?" Preferably with themselves at the center of it.

Therefore they seek bloody vengeance for the pettiest of slights. Therefore they show magnamity and give gifts to those who entertain them. Therefore they grant wishes to those who do not have the good sense to refuse.

For all these reasons and more, wise mortals fear them. And for all these reasons, they are among the best NPCs a GM can hope for.