Last I saw the list was...
1)Dryad
2)Gremlin
3)Leprechaun
4)Norn
5)Nuckalavee
6)Nymph
7)Redcap
8)Rusalka
9)Satyr
10)Sprites
Hopefully we will finally get those polymorph spells to turn into fey.
I would like to have seen Nixie, Pixie, Quickling, Boogeyman.
My vote goes for the leprechaun's drunken cousin, the claurican! :D
My personal preference is that they create a brownie race, and then have templates for that (Quickling, Redcap, etc). I don't really see the need to create entire races whole-cloth. Even the leprechaun can be shoe-horned into that (brownies in close proximity to non-fey often take on one of the templates).
I have my own entire 'fey lore' worked out, so these types of books I always have a love/hate relationship with. I buy them, and steal lots of ideas, but I've yet to see one that represents the fey world the way I picture it (a few have come close, though).
Out of curiosity, how do you picture it?
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Fey are the 'spirits' of plants. Weird, I know, but I've only just stumbled upon this concept recently (even though I've been researching Fey lore since 1979).
Even if you don't go with that idea, they are still spirits, and like many other non-prime material creatures they can change their shapes. Most chose a shape and stick with it for a long time (perhaps forever), while others change their form constantly (like the Phooka).
Its hard to take just one piece of my homebrew lore and 'get it'. I have a whole 'theory of everything' worked-out, and part of that is that everything that is not of the Prime Material world is technically 'dead' (even gods... deities need to 'die' in their mortal form in order to ascend to a higher one). Ergo, all fey are dead.
However, that's in the D&D Planescape way, not the RW way. In D&D, death is just another step in evolution - you move onto the next world.
So getting back to fey: Greater Fey (the large ones like the Shidhe) come from trees, and would include things like nymphs (all varieties). Small ones would come from bushes (all of those semi-bestial, brownie-like varieties), and the tiny ones would come from plants. This is why you always see things like pixies and faeries hanging around in flowered meadows. During their life, some fey/flora learn how to project an 'avatar' of themselves - these are the many fey we encounter in the Prime Material (and why in folklore many of them are 'hollow' from the back... these forms are difficult to maintain). If the plant lives long enough (like truly ancient trees), it can even 'evolve' into a mobile form (which is where we get treants). The most powerful archfey (Eldest in PF/Golarion) would be ones that obtained great power while alive, and have gained even more since their 'death' (which they consider 'going home' to the Feywild/First World).
Some refuse to make the transition, and become bitter creatures, while most embrace this new 'life' they move to. Also, because this is D&D, the only real difference between life and death is the travel - 'dead' fey can still visit their living fey relatives (but they can only stay a short time - there are rules about such things).
That was, believe it or not, a very brief synopsis of everything that is involved. My planer musings include everything form 'the gods' to undead, and everything in-between. Its all interrelated - the only difference between this world and the next is being able to 'see' it. Creatures like fey can cross back and forth fairly easily (given the proximity to the nearest 'thin spot' in the veil between worlds).
I can easily see that. It's similar to another homebrew of my own. Interesting.
Pixies and Nixies are the only 2 I'd be missing. Sprites will fill my Tiny flying creature desire.
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Well, I'd expand on what MarkusTay said and argue that fey are the spirits of the natural world (including rocks and waters and such). They reflect a world-view similar to that of my 3-year old, who apologises to flowers after picking them.
Trees and plants are a major part of the fey world because they are alive in a relatable way and they are important to the ecosystems in a straightforward way. But the terrain itself also has consciousness - i.e., the nereids, and so forth.
More similar to kami then.
I prefer a more "Celtic" approach to my Fey.
Ancestral spirits, that have spent far longer as spirits than they did as "living" mortals.
But that's just me ;)
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Like I said, its all interrelated (to me, anyway).
I use both. I am heavily influenced by the Oriental take (Kami - all things not of this world are 'spirits'), and that includes (as a subset) the Celtic outlook - ancestral spirits are also one group of 'spiritfolk' in oriental myth.
The funny thing is, the more you study folklore and mythology, and the further back you go, the more it all starts to look the same. There are some very basic 'kernels of truth' in that stuff that you can refine-out and build a system off of.
Spirits are also used to power certain artifacts (in fact, any magical item can get bound with a spirit - the more powerful ones usually are). Thats where ancestral weapons come from, and also how I power things such as golems and elementals (you summon something form the spirit world to animate/empower your creations).
The thing you have to remember is that to us, if it isn't of 'this world', then its from 'the next', which translate to the 'land of the dead' to our modern minds. We have to forget everything we have learned about the afterlife and realize it is just another reality - a place where all of these other-worldy creatures come from.
Aside from the shape-change ability (which they tend not to overuse because it cost them spirit-energy, which is all they really have), they also have a Jedi-like method of invisibility/non-detection. If you are not looking directly at them they can simply make you 'not see them' (so don't take yours eyes off them for a second). As they level, they learn other glamours (illusions).
Magic (including their racial abilities) costs energy, and they restore their spirit energy by re-merging with their plants, but if they use too much they can't 'heal', and that's how they dwindle (a well-known concept in faerie-lore). The idea is to level faster then they age, which really isn't all that easy (except for adventurers, most races don't). The higher level they obtain, the more energy they can carry around (eventually becoming Eldest). Most are simply too flighty to be bothered with any of that, and just go about their whimsical lives.
Like I said, its all interrelated (to me, anyway).
I use both. I am heavily influenced by the Oriental take (Kami - all things not of this world are 'spirits'), and that includes (as a subset) the Celtic outlook - ancestral spirits are also one group of 'spiritfolk' in oriental myth.
The funny thing is, the more you study folklore and mythology, and the further back you go, the more it all starts to look the same. There are some very basic 'kernels of truth' in that stuff that you can refine-out and build a system off of.
Agreed. I have had the pleasure of speaking with people from Sudan at work...who still practice their ancestral traditions.
We get horribly excited over the vast number of similarities between our traditions.Spirits are also used to power certain artifacts (in fact, any magical item can get bound with a spirit - the more powerful ones usually are). Thats where ancestral weapons come from, and also how I power things such as golems and elementals (you summon something form the spirit world to animate/empower your creations).
Again, agreed. I would like to see more mechanics for this kind of relationship. For example, most "shamanic" (I know...loaded word) items where vessels for helping spirits, which is what gave them their power.
The thing you have to remember is that to us, if it isn't of 'this world', then its from 'the next', which translate to the 'land of the dead' to our modern minds. We have to forget everything we have learned about the afterlife and realize it is just another reality - a place where all of these other-worldy creatures come from.
Exactly...not somewhere "else", but right here along side us, and just outside the average persons perception.
PRECISELY.
This is why most folks born with 'The Sight' go insane - they see all those things the rest of us are blissfully unaware.
And now I am starting to dip into my own RW beliefs a bit (which is what I base most of my gaming on... its really not so different).
The problem with seeing those things 'on the other side' is that they then they notice you... usually not a good thing.
PRECISELY.
This is why most folks born with 'The Sight' go insane - they see all those things the rest of us are blissfully unaware.
And now I am starting to dip into my own RW beliefs a bit (which is what I base most of my gaming on... its really not so different).
RW beliefs ???
The problem with seeing those things 'on the other side' is that they then they notice you... usually not a good thing.
Which is in part why it was so important for people with "the sight" to develop positive relationships with spirits who would act as advisors and protectors :)
What I believe is that what we 'know' to be true doesn't amount to even 1% of what this universe contains (and is all around us, all the time).
There are lots of things that fall under that 'belief system'. I prefer 'open-minded' and 'realist' (although the second one tends to confuse people). In Zen they teach you that a man is not truly wise until he realizes how little he truly knows.
Anyhow, I've noticed certain 'trends' in paranormal investigations, and I've noticed certain trends in folklore, and they mesh fairly well. Everything has energy, everything needs energy, and somethings can steal your energy. Its not that hard to codify all of that and turn it all into rules.
My vote goes for the leprechaun's drunken cousin, the claurican! :D
They have clurican is Kobold Quarterly, I think #4
I did a ctrl+F and found no references to gnomes, who I know for being fey-related. I thought you guys would know better.
Then again, they have gnomes of golarion. So maybe ignore my last statement.
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Gnomes are certainly mentioned in Fey Revisited, but they're humanoids and thus not fitting for a book on fey, despite their connections to the First World. Each chapter of the book focuses fairly strictly on the fey species at its center, so references to gnomes are tangential at best (which is likely just how a gnome would have it).
