Hey all. I've been working for a bit on a custom race which is a fey creature, but the more I research -- on messages boards like this one, in game content, and on other, non-related lore websites -- I question whether or not fey can be player characters?
There can be seemingly helpful fey, like the brownie.
But there are also evil fey. But aren't fey creatures supposed to be crazy and obsesses with asserting their dominance in the prime material plane? Or at least preserving the areas of it they hold?
The other question I guess I had was, fey are supposedly immortal, are they not? So how would this translate to a PC? Do they mean immortal in so far as Tolkein elves where they can live indefinitely but killed otherwise? Or do the fey have even the ability to cheat death itself and return to form after being slain?
Just wanted to get a fair degree of opinions on this. I'm kind of 50-50 on the matter, but I think it would be really helpful to get insight from a cross section of players who might have struggled with this decision before or used fey in their campaigns.
If the GM allows it...no problem right?
I've been looking at it, mainly because I want to build a Tiny sized Dirty Trick master.
It really depends on your setting, the specific breed of fey, and the like. There have been several fey races that have been used in the game's history as PCs - pixies probably most notable of all, but there are others, and 3.5 even had a race called Killoren who were "young" fey (as in, a relatively newly-created species) and were about on par with the normal PC races for power.
Any race can be a player race, just really depends on how good your GM is.
Depends on your fey. In D&D 4E Eladrin are basically a fey player race. As far as I know there's nothing in Pathfinder about all fey being crazy and they follow normal rules, so if you want to cheat death you have to do it like everyone else. Get someone to raise you. So I would guess that they in the best case simply don't age. (An old nymph would be a strange thought.)
You have two options.
1) Use the rules laid out in Monsters as PCs in the back of the bestiary.
2) Use the race-building rules in Chapter 4 of the Advanced Race Guide to build a fey-flavored race that suits the character concept and the campaign.
In both cases, get GM approval first. Playing a monster-based PC can be very fun, but it also has two pitfalls. First, it's moderately more complex than playing a stock race. Second, if you're not careful to keep your monster PC roughly in line with the power level of the other PCs in the party, you run the risk of totally outshining them all the time -- which is no fun for them.
So proceed only with the advice and consent of your GM.
and Fey Creature
ARG has a statted fey PC race. They also have amazing stats for lizardmen and gnolls. Flexible stats modifiers, yes please!
GATHLAIN
These strange fey creatures have a symbiotic relationship with an ivy-like plant that serves as their wings. The relationship is so close, it is impossible to separate fey from plant. Gathlains are sometimes helpful, often mischievous, and native to deep primeval forests and jungles, but are also prone to wanderlust and adventuring.
Ty p e
Fey 2 RP
Size
Small 0 RP
Base Speed
Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers
Standard (+2 Cha, -2 Con, +2 Dex) 0 RP
Languages
Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Natural armor 2 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Spell-like ability, lesser (entangle, feather step
[Advanced Player’s Guide 221]) 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits
Flight (40 ft. poor) 6 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-light vision — RP
Total 12 RP
Oh wow, I did not know that the ARG had a fey PC race in it. Might have to pick it up after all.
I guess some of my concern was about the different ways fey can be portrayed between 4e / 3.5e / Pathfinder. Some thread I was reading in here claimed that fey creatures had no soul, which to me seemed like it would prevent them from being raised from the dead. Things like that, where how normal mechanics work for them might be called into question.
ARG has a statted fey PC race. They also have amazing stats for lizardmen and gnolls. Flexible stats modifiers, yes please!
GATHLAIN
These strange fey creatures have a symbiotic relationship with an ivy-like plant that serves as their wings. The relationship is so close, it is impossible to separate fey from plant. Gathlains are sometimes helpful, often mischievous, and native to deep primeval forests and jungles, but are also prone to wanderlust and adventuring.
Ty p e
Fey 2 RP
Size
Small 0 RP
Base Speed
Normal 0 RP
Ability Score Modifiers
Standard (+2 Cha, -2 Con, +2 Dex) 0 RP
Languages
Standard 0 RP
Racial Traits
Defense Racial Traits
Natural armor 2 RP
Magical Racial Traits
Spell-like ability, lesser (entangle, feather step
[Advanced Player’s Guide 221]) 2 RP
Movement Racial Traits
Flight (40 ft. poor) 6 RP
Senses Racial Traits
Low-light vision — RP
Total 12 RP
I was thinking along those lines. Like, maybe they don't die of natural causes, but certainly of poison, disease, and of course physical injury. There was a post to the 3.5 section of the WotC site which talked about mortality vs immortality, but the post pretty much said it's up to whoever is GM to decide how it works and if fey fall into that category. So, I guess as many of you said, I should ask my GM. ;) Thanks for the feedback all!
Depends on your fey. In D&D 4E Eladrin are basically a fey player race. As far as I know there's nothing in Pathfinder about all fey being crazy and they follow normal rules, so if you want to cheat death you have to do it like everyone else. Get someone to raise you. So I would guess that they in the best case simply don't age. (An old nymph would be a strange thought.)
Immortality doesn't really have a mechanical factor unless you're going to allow the mental skills to rise per age category. Even then what's an age category for an immortal creature?
Personally, I'd be for immortal creatures not accruing bonuses or penalties for aging. part of the reason is on account of magical aging spells. Like, if you take benefits but no penalties from aging, you can just get your sorcerer buddy (or whatever class can cast aging spells, I don't honestly recall) to age you over and over until you have astronomical Wisdom. A lot of abilities like the Druid's Timeless Body specifically state that upon gaining the ability, they are no longer effected by magical aging for this reason.
Maybe there can be some kind of story reason for this? I mean, if you know you have an eternity to learn something, would that really encourage you to buckle down and study hard?
Immortality doesn't really have a mechanical factor unless you're going to allow the mental skills to rise per age category. Even then what's an age category for an immortal creature?
Personally, I'd be for immortal creatures not accruing bonuses or penalties for aging. part of the reason is on account of magical aging spells. Like, if you take benefits but no penalties from aging, you can just get your sorcerer buddy (or whatever class can cast aging spells, I don't honestly recall) to age you over and over until you have astronomical Wisdom. A lot of abilities like the Druid's Timeless Body specifically state that upon gaining the ability, they are no longer effected by magical aging for this reason.
Maybe there can be some kind of story reason for this? I mean, if you know you have an eternity to learn something, would that really encourage you to buckle down and study hard?
Immortality doesn't really have a mechanical factor unless you're going to allow the mental skills to rise per age category. Even then what's an age category for an immortal creature?
Well, I don't think aging alone is enough. You need the experience that typically comes with it. Magical aging won't really make you smarter, but having X years worth of expereinces to draw on can. In theory anyway.
Oh wow, I did not know that the ARG had a fey PC race in it. Might have to pick it up after all.
I guess some of my concern was about the different ways fey can be portrayed between 4e / 3.5e / Pathfinder. Some thread I was reading in here claimed that fey creatures had no soul, which to me seemed like it would prevent them from being raised from the dead. Things like that, where how normal mechanics work for them might be called into question.
All that stuff is entirely fluff, so it depends on what world you are playing in and what rules your GM wants to enforce. Try not to conflate a given world's assumption with the rules mechanics as they are not necessarily the same thing.
Most fey monster entries don't pay attention to aging or immortality -- there are abilities that allow resistance to aging or affect aging and notably there are fey creatures that do NOT have abilities related to aging so it isn't necessarily a universal thing.
So basically, yes, you can play a fey race as long as your GM allows it. The ARG would be especially helpful in designing such a race.