Time for an all-pixie campaign

[Dice4Hire]

Rodney (Moridin) Thompson's post on RPGnet here, makes me almost certain it will be, which I find really, really exciting.

Treading plenty of new ground there. =)

While pixies in 3.5 were Small creatures, Tiny fits better thematically.

Also, Mirrorstone's Practical Guide to Faeries (which I've heard makes mention of the Feywild, essentially linking it to 4e canon) depicts what seem to be pixies (I've only glanced at previews of the book myself, unfortunately) at a scale that is very much Tiny or smaller.

I just cannot see WOTC introing a whole new set of rules architecture for a tiny race. How does tiny deal with armor, weapons, grabs, etc. A whole lot of rules baggage.

There is a reason there are no large PC races.

I cannot see tiny PC races.

 

[Almacov]

I just cannot see WOTC introing a whole new set of rules architecture for a tiny race. How does tiny deal with armor, weapons, grabs, etc. A whole lot of rules baggage.

There is a reason there are no large PC races.

I cannot see tiny PC races.

It does seem like it would take a lot of fiddling.

My first instinct upon reading that they were producing a playable Pixie was that it would probably feature a racial utility (Possibly a choice later than first level, like the options the Shade or Vryloka have) that would allow it to shrink to Tiny (and lose ability to attack in that form.).

Now, I'm not so sure.
I am, however, hyped to see what they have chosen to do with this.

(As a side note, I find it likely we'll see invisibility, memory loss/sleep, and/or irresistible dance related racial utilities. For old-times' sake. )

 

[JPL]

I'm fine with any of the proposed solutions. I just plain don't want to deal with 3-dimensional combat, at least not as the default in every single encounter.

I sorta like the alternate forms idea --- a Small "fight" mode (with minimal flight capability) and a Tiny "flight" mode (with minimal combat ability). Seems like the type of evolutionary adaptation one would expect in the arcane-charged forests of the Feywild.

 

[tuxgeo]

I'm fine with any of the proposed solutions. I just plain don't want to deal with 3-dimensional combat, at least not as the default in every single encounter.

I sorta like the alternate forms idea --- a Small "fight" mode (with minimal flight capability) and a Tiny "flight" mode (with minimal combat ability). Seems like the type of evolutionary adaptation one would expect in the arcane-charged forests of the Feywild.

It wouldn't have to alternate forms to be alternate: each pixie might be faced with a "fight or flight" choice each round, such as having to use a Standard action to fly (or other possibilities).
That would allow different forms of alternation.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

In Gamma World, the Flying player trait gives you -2 to hit while flying. (I suppose such a rule would keep flying sorcerers and fey warlocks in check. Because I assume pixies will have high Charisma.)

 

[mneme]

I'm guessing they'll give first level pixies "fly 6 (limit: 1), thus forcing them to end their turns no more than 1 square off the ground. Or even limit: 0 (letting them zig-zag during their turn, but forcing them to hover at ground level at EOT rather than hoving above a monster). Then let them bump the limit up to 1 in heroic, and higher in paragon and epic, so by high paragon or low epic at the latest, they've got an unlimited fly speed cheaper than most characters can get it (so probably a feat, maybe a class at-will instead).

Could even really give them automatic flight upgrades (limit:1 at 1st level, limit: 3 in paragon, remove the limit in epic), but that's not usually Wizards' style.

The problem is, of course, that letting you hover higher than 1-2 squares above the ground is unbalanced in Heroic, as you ca become immune to melee against many monsters. Plus plenty of small winged creatures don't fly all that high most of the time, so it's justifiable.

 

[pauljathome]

Plus plenty of small winged creatures don't fly all that high most of the time, so it's justifiable.

Its justifiable in terms of game balance. And anything can be justified with the "its magic" meme.

But it sure as heck isn't realistic otherwise. Please find a bird that stays within 10 feet of the ground all the time, especially when somebody below it is scaring it. Note that even if a pixie is Tiny in D&D terms it is still a reasonably large bird. A common raven, for example, is 2.5 lbs.

 

[Incenjucar]

Its justifiable in terms of game balance. And anything can be justified with the "its magic" meme.

But it sure as heck isn't realistic otherwise. Please find a bird that stays within 10 feet of the ground all the time, especially when somebody below it is scaring it. Note that even if a pixie is Tiny in D&D terms it is still a reasonably large bird. A common raven, for example, is 2.5 lbs.

Please find a bird that is a humanoid with insect wings.

 

[keterys]

Altitude limits don't stop you from climbing. They stop you from ending your turn higher than that. So you can use it to fly up a castle wall, tree, over gaps, etc.

And I'm pretty sure pixie body, wing shape, and lack of "I fall to bits when hit by anything cause my body parts are as hollow and light as possible" all point to "magic" being involved.

 

[Estlor]

In retrospect, it is now clear that my 25 years of RPG experience have all been leading up to the release of "Heroes of the Feywild" and the introduction of pixies as a PC class.

Post-Essentials 4e continues to unabashedly steal from BECMI.

Tall Tales of the Wee Folk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This already happened in 1989.