Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the fey

[Cleon]

Here's the original text of the seelie faerie:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4651374-post261.html

And here's our conversion from last February:
Creature Catalog - Preview Creature

Thanks Shade, I thought we would have these covered somewhere.

From a brief read through, it looks like we can do the Faerie Changeling as a modification of the "Faerie, Seelie, Small" since that's what it basically is.

Indeed, it doesn't appear to have many differences apart from a greater Intelligence (High versus Very to High) and some fluff about "millennia of wisdom".

So, increase their Intelligence by 2 and add a Knowledge skill?

Give them a bardic-lore type ability to represent their vast experience?

They've got a point higher Armour Class (give them an +1 Insight bonus?)

Oh, and they're only armed with 1d4 damage faerie-sized blades (dagger to match the text or shortswords to match the damage?), but do not have longbows.

 

[Cleon]

I think there's very little to do with the human changelings, actually. There are a couple of vague words that they might learn to manipulate the Seeming, which is code for having SLAs IIRC. What we could do is write-up a faerie changeling (based on the seelie faeries we did) with an underbar about human changelings. Frankly, for the human changelings, I'd just say that they have the minor fey bloodline from the SRD/UA and usually at least 2 levels of rogue by the time they are adults. Perhaps a few exceptional ones get the intermediate or major bloodline.

Well a 2nd level Rogue with the Minor Fey Bloodline wouldn't get any adjustments from it. They wouldn't be able to get any of the SLAs the description mentions Human Changlings as possessing unless they were at least 4th level with the Major Bloodline, and the text appears to say that even infant-sized Human Changlings get minor "Seeming" powers.

To me it looks more like some kind of "Half-Fey" or "Faerie" template.

 

[freyar]

Yes, I agree that we can build a faerie changeling from the seelie faerie "menu" and tweak it a bit. I think they need to have all the human "appearance" traits for sure.

On the human changelings: I think the important bits from the original stats (human adult and human child in bold) are

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells / Nil / Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil / Nil / Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10% / Nil / Nil
...
PERCEPTION/SEEMING: Extraordinary / Lesser / Middling/Slight / Slight/None

and (emphasis in bold)

Human changelings look exactly like what they are: ordinary humans.
....
Adult human changelings fight as 2nd-level rogues. They generally are equipped with a short sword and/or dagger, a parting gift from the faeries. There is a 75% chance that it is a magical (+1) weapon. There is an additional 45% chance that they also carry another magical item (DM’s choice; as it’s a gift from the faeries, the more outrageous, the better).

Child human changelings,valued and protected by the seelie faeries, rarely have occasion to enter combat When they do, it is only in self-defense.
...
Adult human changelings retain their memories of time among the faeries, but cannot find their way back to the Seelie Cou rt. (Upon leaving, the faeries cast seelie spell of forgetting on them; see the “Faerie, Seelie” entry.) Their surreal upbringing forever alters them—even if returned to their own kind, they will never seem “quite right.”
...
PERCEPTION AND/OR SEEMING
Faerie changelings retain the extraordinary perception they enjoy in the Shadow World, but the only Seeming they can manipulate is that which they carry out of the Shadow World, surrounding them like an aura. Human changelings learn how to manipulate and penetrate the Seeming from their faerie guardians.

I think the bit about 2nd level rogues is more 2e-style monster stats than 3e-style; I'd argue that we should let them take whatever class levels they like but state that they usually have at least a couple of levels in rogue (or maybe even bard, which also seems appropriate). As for human changelings and seeming, I don't see anything that says they get specific SLAs. In fact, it seems quite vague to me. Give that they should be able to advance as normal characters, I think any bloodline strength could work, depending on DM's choice. I'd be willing to say that most are Intermediate, but it really doesn't seem like a template so much as learning a few tricks. I think the Hide bonus that the bloodlines get early on is a reasonable representation of the stealth they'd learn. I really really don't see this as a template at all.

 

[Cleon]

I think the bit about 2nd level rogues is more 2e-style monster stats than 3e-style; I'd argue that we should let them take whatever class levels they like but state that they usually have at least a couple of levels in rogue (or maybe even bard, which also seems appropriate). As for human changelings and seeming, I don't see anything that says they get specific SLAs. In fact, it seems quite vague to me. Give that they should be able to advance as normal characters, I think any bloodline strength could work, depending on DM's choice. I'd be willing to say that most are Intermediate, but it really doesn't seem like a template so much as learning a few tricks. I think the Hide bonus that the bloodlines get early on is a reasonable representation of the stealth they'd learn. I really really don't see this as a template at all.

Hmmm...

Okay, it looks like you're right. Reading it again it seem I put to much strength in the "Human changelings learn how to manipulate and penetrate the Seeming from their faerie guardians" bit.

My original interpretation was this was some kind of racial or competence bonus on saves or skill-checks to resist or penetrate magic of the Illusion or Enchantment school, and maybe an at-will power to detect invisible.

However, it could just reflect a Feat preference - e.g. Iron Will to resist mind-bending magic, Spell Focus (lllusion) or Spell Focus (Enchantment) for those Human Changlings that learn magic.

 

[freyar]

Glad we agree now.

 

[Cleon]

So what about the Faerie Changling, any thoughts about my proposal to modify the ENworld Small Seelie Faerie?

So, increase their Intelligence by 2 and add a Knowledge skill?

Give them a bardic-lore type ability to represent their vast experience?

They've got a point higher Armour Class (give them an +1 Insight bonus?)

Oh, and they're only armed with 1d4 damage faerie-sized blades (dagger to match the text or shortswords to match the damage?), but do not have longbows.

 

[freyar]

Those suggestions seem good to me, sure.

 

[Shade]

Added to Homebrews.

Give 'em the "Deceiver" theme from the seelie faerie menu to determine skills, feats, and SLAs?

 

[freyar]

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Shade]

Spell-Like Abilities: Always active—detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, detect law; at will—invisibility (self only).

A seelie faerie gains additional spell-like abilities based upon its theme (deceiver, helper, and so forth). The seelie faerie gains two spell-like abilities at Diminutive size, and two additional spell-like abilities for each size category greater. Thus, a Medium deceiver gains the abilities of Small, Tiny, and Diminutive deceivers.

Caster level for all spell-like abilities equals faerie's Hit Dice. The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Deceivers choose from the following list:
Diminutive: dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation
Tiny: magic aura, silent image, ventriloquism
Small: minor image, mirror image, misdirection, phantom trap
Medium: hallucinatory terrain, major image, secret page
Large: illusory wall, mirage arcana, persistent image
Huge: maze, mislead, project image, veil

Skills: A seelie faerie has skills common to all of its kind, in addition to a number of skills based on its theme. The number of additional skills and associated ranks are listed in its statistics block. When crafting a seelie faerie, assign the additional skills and ranks based on the following themes:

Deceiver: Bluff, Disguise, Forgery, Perform (comedy), Sense Motive

Feats: A seelie faerie has feats common to all of its kind, in addition to a number of feats based on its theme. When crafting a seelie faerie, select feats from the common list and the list based on its theme:

Common: Alertness, Dodge, Empower Spell-Like Ability, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Skill Focus, Weapon Finesse (Tiny, Small, and Medium only)

Deceiver: Deceitful, Persuasive, Point Blank Shot, Stealthy