Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Quick disclaimer, this question is regarding my 4e campaign, but it is fairly generic and I'm hoping to get some thoughts from all you Lords of the Boards.
I need a Fey Lord or two - basically the equivalent of a devil/demon prince, but with a fey bent to it. I know Pathfinder has fey lords in their products, though the only place I can think of with info is Carnival of Tears. Has other information been released about the Pathfinder farie realm and its residents? Sandman is another good source of info on Fey Lords.
Anyway, I'm looking for flavorful and interesting powerful Fey beings with interesting agendas and followers for inspiration.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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A faerie is Lord over whom, then?
It might be over other faeries. To establish that relationship, you'd want to showcase an entire fae court.
It might be over nature itself, like the Wild Huntsman or Tom Bombadil.
What function do you want the character to have in the narrative: opponent, neutral force, patron?
Quick disclaimer, this question is regarding my 4e campaign, but it is fairly generic and I'm hoping to get some thoughts from all you Lords of the Boards.I need a Fey Lord or two - basically the equivalent of a devil/demon prince, but with a fey bent to it. I know Pathfinder has fey lords in their products, though the only place I can think of with info is Carnival of Tears. Has other information been released about the Pathfinder farie realm and its residents? Sandman is another good source of info on Fey Lords.
Anyway, I'm looking for flavorful and interesting powerful Fey beings with interesting agendas and followers for inspiration.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Bill's a midsummers night dream is a good place to start.
Whitewolf's book on the Umbra ( second edition) had a whole section devoted to the realms of the Fey.
There is also many websites dedicated to fairy lore such as this one.
Norse and Celtic mythology would also hold a good source of information.
And if your really into research read Neil Gaimans (You might know him from somewhere) Neverwhere, MirrorMask and Stardust. Might give you a few ideas.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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A faerie is Lord over whom, then?
It might be over other faeries. To establish that relationship, you'd want to showcase an entire fae court.
It might be over nature itself, like the Wild Huntsman or Tom Bombadil.
What function do you want the character to have in the narrative: opponent, neutral force, patron?
Patron and opponent. I'm going to put my explanation in some spoilers just in case my players are browsing the boards:
One of the PCs is a devotee of a fey lord and a rival fey lord will be supporting a nearby group of elves who will eventually cross swords with the PCs. The PCs will not be fighting either lord directly, but I'd like to have two lords who are rivals and would clash with each other. I really don't want to go through the work of creating and showcasing an entire fae court, which is why I'm hoping I can piggyback on someone else's work. That way, I can take one or two entities from an existing framework, embellish them as I need to, but still have all their background material in case I need it.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Bill's a midsummers night dream is a good place to start.Whitewolf's book on the Umbra ( second edition) had a whole section devoted to the realms of the Fey.
There is also many websites dedicated to fairy lore such as this one.
Norse and Celtic mythology would also hold a good source of information.
And if your really into research read Neil Gaimans (You might know him from somewhere) Neverwhere, MirrorMask and Stardust. Might give you a few ideas.
That website is great! Thanks.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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When you mentioned your idea, I immediately thought of
Faeries ought to have a lot of misdirection and disguise abilities. So the opponent Fae Lord could be disguising himself as the patron and trying to give the PC's gifts to "help" them (like a fast horse that clings to the rider and runs immediately to the bottom of the nearest river).
for the most bang for your buck, they should be brothers, siblings, father and son, a married couple (a la Zeus and Hera).
Are you looking for stat blocks? Can't quite help you there, but the King of Roses from Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale is a good start (maybe make him a little nicer, but keep the capriciousness). Eladrin with some levels in a controller-style class might be good.
Inspiration, try reading "War for the Oaks" by Emma Bull. Best durned representation of fey that I've found.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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When you mentioned your idea, I immediately thought of ** spoiler omitted **
Where would I find information on the misers?
I agree as to having a relationship between the entities. That's one of the things I hope to find in an existing pantheon.
Lilith - I don't need stat blocks at this point, I'm mostly trying to get a concept for the entities in order to fill out some details and build the world a little.
Where would I find information on the misers?
I agree as to having a relationship between the entities. That's one of the things I hope to find in an existing pantheon.
Lilith - I don't need stat blocks at this point, I'm mostly trying to get a concept for the entities in order to fill out some details and build the world a little.
As a lark I checked out Wikipedia. Holy crap, they have everything!
I believe that Eric Menge, formerly of the LG Geoff Triad (probably the LG region that most developed fey), wrote an article re: the fey and the Seelie and Unseelie realms for WOTC (possibly published in Dungeon or Dragon magazine, or in the Oerth Journal). If you can find it, there should be some good stuff in it.
For a fey leader, are there verdant prince's in 4.0? Maybe you can adapt one from 3.5. While a verdant prince's 3.5 powers are a bit goofy, imo, they are the spitting image of what a fey lord might look like (apparently the writers of Hellboy 2 somewhat agreed). Give him a couple of joystealer, redcap, and treant guards/servants (along with other fey as desired), and he'll be good-to-go.
You're playing 4e, well sorry I won't help then.
How about the Jack of Tears from the Creature Collection 1, its a 3.x source but you can probably do some adjustments to make it fit. Or just use it as inspiration. Technically he is an outsider and not a fey though.
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You might want to check out a series of books written by Tom Deitz. They start with a book called Windmaster's Bane . The books themselves are....not bad. The writing fluctuates from "okay" to "fantastic". The Sidhe figure heavily into the novels and how they interact with modern day Georgia.
Its a lot of reading (the series clocks in at something like nine books) but if you are not in a huge hurry it is good inspiration. And, honestly, you only need to read the first three books (they are fast reads). You get some legendary figures like Nuada, Lugh, Arawn, etc. with some nice original material thrown in.
If you don't want to do a ton of reading but just looking for some ideas, visit the Encyclopedia Mythica site. Check under Celtic myth and get all sorts of information.
In the past I have used Arawn and Lugh as opposing forces . I mix together Celtic myth without regard to whether its origin is Irish, Welsh, or Scottish.
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Some other thoughts....
W.B. Yeats compiled a number of Irish tales. These collections might have something for you.
Some of Charles De Lint's work (Spirit in the Wires, Forests of the Heart, various short story collections) are pretty good and a fun read.
The new Changeling game is a good source as well.
Norse and Celtic mythology would also hold a good source of information.
And if your really into research read Neil Gaimans (You might know him from somewhere) Neverwhere, MirrorMask and Stardust. Might give you a few ideas.
I'd like to second this, especially the Celtic myth. Can I suggest you look into the Seelie and Unseelie court for ideas.
Cheers
Chris
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Some visual inspiration....
Watch Labyrinth or Legend. (heh.....Jareth is a great fey lord)
Any of Brian Froud's books.
Sorry, posting as things occur to me.
Perhaps looking into historical figures might give you some inspiration.
Richard III for example could make a good fey lord with the details changed.
Also if your into Anime - Record of the Lodoss War's Pirotess is a really excellent example of a feywild underdark drow to me. Im sure you could come up with something from the whole series in fact.
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Are you looking for a place to have background material, stat blocks ect or are you looking for just info about possible antagonists to use? Personally I think dipping into history like the war of Roses or even some Alexandre' Dumas works wonders for things like this. I have also found inspiration in Louis Lamour and the Stereotypical Rancher vs Farmer is also a great way to pull off strange mechanizations of bad guys motives.
Anyway, I'm looking for flavorful and interesting powerful Fey beings with interesting agendas and followers for inspiration.Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
The Huntsman snd/or the Wild Hunt.
"War of the Flowers" by Tad Williams is my favorite take on the fae as living in a parallel-but-related dimension from the modern world. The Wiki article has a good, thorough summary of the book (with spoilers, obviously), as the book itself is a hefty page-turner.
The book posits that Titania and Oberon are in a long-term hibernation-unto-death, and that in their absence, the fae lords are running the realm of Faerie and are in conflict with one another. Some lords have organized their Houses like 19th-early 20th century English nobility, while others have modeled them like late-20th century mega-corporations.
There are hostilities between traditionalists and modernists, class struggles between winged sprites (Tiny, Small) and wingless humanoid fae (Medium), competition and ambition for magical-political power, and rehashing of old personal/family grudges. Also, the goblins/trolls/orcs are used as brute labor and have their own Zorro-like leader calling for revolution (and hunting-down high-ranking fae).
You could use any of those as a basis for the relationship between your two fae lords, or for a twist, you could make one of the PCs (spoiler for the book)
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I would look to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell (novel)
I really like the take on Fey in that book. Sebastian, it’s a fairly hefty read, so if you’re not familiar with it, here’s some ideas from it which might help in a pinch.
He has this court of faeries who he forces to continually take part in dances, balls and candle-lit parades around the silent halls of his castle in his honour. He has a favourite few mortals who he forces to take part in his dances every night. He has the power to step easily between the mortal and fey worlds, only be seen when (and by whom) he chooses and make it so that mortals he interacts with are unable to tell anyone anything about him (if they try to, they instead go into long rambling off-topic stories that usually involve faeries in some manner).
He’s casually cruel and extremely self centered, although he would never think of himself as evil. Nor would he think twice about murdering someone or taking whatever he wants, as it is only right that he should get what he wants.
I need a Fey Lord or two - basically the equivalent of a devil/demon prince, but with a fey bent to it. I know Pathfinder has fey lords in their products, though the only place I can think of with info is Carnival of Tears. Has other information been released about the Pathfinder farie realm and its residents? Sandman is another good source of info on Fey Lords.
Anyway, I'm looking for flavorful and interesting powerful Fey beings with interesting agendas and followers for inspiration.
You've already recieved many good ideas. (Lilith especially is right about Emma Bull's 'War for the Oaks') But if you don't have the time to read some of the suggested books, here's another thought. Fey implies mythical and storied. If you are looking for opposing yet related forces, consider that much of mythology was created to explain the world around us. Therefore, why not base your Fey lords on the opposing seasons Spring And Fall. One encourages growth, the other brings an end to growing. Each requires the other, with each ascending, then, inexplicabily to mortals, abandoning the field of battle to the other.
You could base the common troops on the same race, yet fill the role of champions with individuals who showcase some facet of their lord. Perhaps a Corn Prince leads the troops of Spring, and he faces the troops of Fall led by a Frost Princess.
The best part of this is its easily explainable to the players, yet has space for complications and misunderstandings that showcase the mindset of Fey. (I keep seeing the players expression when the Lord of Spring rewards their help in defeating the Fall Lady's Pumpkin Riders with a feast of Epic proportion, and they realize source of the pies and tarts.) It might be necessary to avoid too much humor, depending on your style of game.
Ninja'ed to Labyrinth - Jareth is fantastic, and gets the best lines. And walks upside down - it doesn't get better than that.
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The Ghaele of Winter and Ghaele of Summer are certainly iconic fey lords (whatever name they go by). But my 2cp is on Sebastion lookig for something not quite so obvious. The above mentioned "spring and summer" are good twist, but I think seasonal Fey Lords are bit played, as well as the huntsman.
My mind turns to the more sinister aspects of the chaotic fey: The Fey Lord of Fungi pops into mind, with "fairy circles" and all...but that seems a bit obvious too....Fey Lord of Corruption: Cancer, tumors, viruses, are all "alive" but they represent growth run amok. Perhaps take the Kruthik(?) from the MM and give the creatures some fey-like powers. This might make a good antagonist...but as for a patron it works too. The fey lord seeks to "improve growth" on the material plane. Perhaps the campaign start has poor crops, stilted trees, etc...their patron sends them on quests for "pure" seeds or some such thing, increasing the growth. Perhaps the antagonist in this case is a fey lord of rot and decay...by campaigns middle, however, it becomes apparent that the growth is out of control...crops are "invading" the village, the forest grows denser...the space "between" fairy and the material "thins"...the fey lord of death and decay becomes their ally as they stem the tide of growth. By campaigns end balance is restored and the fey lord of rot and decay must be vanquished as well...
long-winded, but if you simply take "natural forces" and make a creature that is a "lord" of those, you're on the right track...trick is find unique and interesting "natural forces" rather than the classic four elements, Animals, plants, seasons, weather...basically avoid the old cleric "domains", lol.
I need a Fey Lord or two - basically the equivalent of a devil/demon prince, but with a fey bent to it.Anyway, I'm looking for flavorful and interesting powerful Fey beings with interesting agendas and followers for inspiration.
Michael Jackson. ;)