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Children and Champions of the Fey
Verlag: Dungeon Masters Guild
von Sebrina C. [Verifizierter Käufer]
Hinzugefügt am: 10/09/2021 16:45:26

Children and Champions of the Fey from Sven Truckenbrodt

Children and Champions of the Fey captures the essence of a wide variety of Fey beings, making many of them playable characters for the first time, or at least their Fey forms, without reducing them to one single aspect and treating them like a monolith. This includes a general overview of the central culture and experience of each these people, which can influence elements of any character, as it does in our world. With elements inspired and based on existing elements of lore and myth, and expanding and evolving mechanics based on existing material, the feel of playing these characters and their essence is in no way diminished, rather it allows for a player to connect more deeply with the aspects of their character and consider how and why they choose their specific Traits.

“What’s in this Book?

In this book, you can find narrative and mechanical player options for the following Feywild cultures: • Centaurs • Darklings • Dryads • Goblinoids (including goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins) • Hags and hag-kin • Korred • Selkies • Sprites • Tooth Fairies For each culture, this book contains the following mechanical and narrative options, all tied to the people they originate from: • An introduction that acquaints you with the culture’s core values and traditions. • Physical, social, and vocational traits— see the Character Creation section for details on how to use them to build your own lineage and backstory! • A subclass tied to the culture. • One or more feats tied to what you could learn from the culture. • A legacy item that evolves with you as you level, tapping into core concepts of the previous options. • Where we felt that something was missing and there were no established mechanics to fit these features, we included additional boons: Transformation rituals for becoming a true hag or a darkling elder, and fairie boons bestowed on trusted confidants.”

Beautifully written introduction, explanations and creator insights, as well as wonderful, evocative flavour prose.

Character Creation

“This book uses a new character creation system, inspired by the lineage rules put forth in Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.”

This is great to see, as the Tasha’s rules didn’t go far enough in addressing the bio-essentialism and baked in racism in D&D, see POCGamer’s article for more on that (https://pocgamer.com/2020/11/20/tashas-cauldron-of-no-change/). Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/314622?affiliate_id=1507682) and other supplements like it, such as An Elf and an Orc Have a Little Baby: Parentage and Upbringing in D&D (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/321845/An-Elf-and-an-Orc-Had-a-Little-Baby-Parentage-and-Upbringing-in-DD?filters=45469?affiliate_id=1507682) [My Review here: https://ko-fi.com/post/My-Review-of-An-Elf-and-an-Orc-Have-a-Baby-Y8Y71Z8P9], go a long way to addressing this, as well as providing so much more freedom, creativity and individuality for character creation when character’s origins and ancestry aren’t presented as monoliths.

In the supplements own words: “Why did we do this, instead of sticking with established rules? First and foremost: To enable flexibility and diversity of characters. No two centaurs or selkie are going to be alike, just as no two humans or halflings are going to be alike. So we designed a character creation system that lets you account for that, by offering not a fixed set of lineage traits, but a range to pick from. Even more importantly in the context of this book, this system allows you to create characters of any race or lineage with some Feywild influence—with their backstory tied into how they play right from the start.”

The step by step process is laid out with explanations of the introduced aspects, such as Major and Minor Traits and Powers, which are divided into Physical Traits innate to each ‘race’” based on physiology or anatomy”, Social Traits, which any character “who grew up among or influenced” by a ‘race’ can choose, and Vocational Traits, which any character “taught their trade by or trained with” a ‘race’ may choose, included as default suggestions with each ‘race’ or can be mixed and matched from so many options to most fit your character should you wish in one of these combinations: 2 Major Traits or Powers and 2 Minor Traits or Powers
1 Major Trait or Power and 3 Minor Traits or Powers 5 Minor Traits or Powers There is also advice around beginning at higher level with additional Traits.

Fey Boons are optional special Traits that can be awarded in game through the developing story, offering mechanical bonuses for significant narrative moments and interactions. This allows for significant changes and character development to emerge outside of the traditional progression, something particularly fitting when dealing with the Feywild.

Legacy items are a special kind of magic item of significance to a character, often picked at character creation, that relates to the backstory and evolves with them on their adventures, getting stronger once certain parameters/ experiences are met. These items hold more sentimental or intrinsic value to characters about who and what they are, and/ or where they are from, staying with them and evolving alongside them as a touch stone for their journey. The requirements to level them up create all manner of goals, hooks for adventure and can have all manner of interesting influences on how a character might be played or the things they may wish to do and places their adventures may take them, which is awesome.

Meet The Fey

“Centaurs. Enigmatic and solitary stargazers, centaurs are masters of divination and always on the move. Traits: gentle oracles, introspective stargazers, awe-inspiring and fierce combatants—centaurs come with varied traits! Archetype: The Moon Warden ranger protects the power of Selûne Feats: learn to use your momentum and hooves to devastating effect! Legacy Item: The Pendant of Prophecy guides your third eye and informs your prophecies”

The emphasis on prognostication, alongside speed and martial prowess, has some wonderful Traits, including Seer, which grants proficiency with Seer’s Tools. These six tools include, crystal ball, Tarot cards, astrological charts, bone dice, intoxicating vapours, and tea leaves, each with their own mechanics and aspect of divining, on their own creating all manner of different interpretations from a single Minor Vocational Trait.

“Moon Wardens guard the power of Selûne wherever they venture.” Augmented by and wielding the power of the moon, these Rangers specialise in “hunting down shapechangers and lycanthropes who use the moon as an excuse to manifest their most terrible passions and urges.” I was initially concerned about it as an archetype that is all about hunting down shapechangers and lycanthropes, but it being those who use their largely moon-blessed/ cursed powers to do harm improves it significantly, though it is important to consider who or what are ascribing “most terrible passions and urges” and how that can be interpreted.

The Pendant of Prophecy – Moon – Stars – Heavens is a thematic legacy item for a prophetic ambassador that begins with a boost to Persuasion with royal or government figures of authority that grows with a player gaining Divination spells, Radiant resistance and an increase to AC, including a prognostic ability akin to the Shield spell.

Darklings

“Cursed to have the light itself poison them by the Summer Queen, darklings survive in the most shadowy of places. Traits: the many different places darklings hide from the light inform their culture and teach them how to persevere—from the Shadowfell to the Abyss Archetype: The Nethermancy wizard bends shadows to their will Feats: learn to master the spiked chain, one of the darklings’ traditional weapons Legacy Item: The Pendant of Prophecy guides your third eye Boon: transform yourself into a darkling elder!”

Darklings have a rich, tragic history and are found in many different settings. The information on them here goes into detail, providing all manner of history, inspiration, the ultimate Darkling adventure hook, and even a table of Underdark fungi, as well as great advice on playing a character so fundamentally sensitive to light and how this could be handled at the table.

Social Traits are included that reflect whether a Darkling calls the Abyss, Feywild, Prime Material, or Shadowfell their home, incorporating the effects of the plane, though these are not locked to these settings.

The Feydark is added as a land a Circle of the Land Druid can choose, adding darkness, shadow and strange Feydark spell list, as well as some thematic interpretations of existing archetypes.

“Controlling the forces of darkness, students of Nethermancy manipulate shadow to create objects from seemingly nothing, sap the light from their surroundings, and strand their foes in the unending void.” The Nethermancy Wizard is a phenomenally thematic class with some wonderful use of shadows, delumination and ties to the Shadowfell. However, the Door to Darkness ability having the possibility of causing Shadowfell Despair in the target creature is a point of contention for me and certainly something that will need to be understood and agreed at the table due to the nature of Shadowfell Despair essentially being a ‘madness table’ that literally contains: “Madness. The character has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws that use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, and gains the following flaw: “I can’t tell what’s real anymore.” Alternative options that maintain the Shadowfell tone, but don’t breach into mental health and issues of loss of agency would be preferable.

The garrotte and spiked chain weapons seen on some Shadowfell and Feydark creatures are added as thematic weapons with interesting design notes with feats to specialise in the spiked chain and to make a modified version of the Assassin’s main feature available to all with restrictions.

The Darkling Elder Boon contains a ritual to transform a Darkling into a Darkling Elder, changing the size and longevity of a Darkling, as well as increasing their affinity with Darkness. A variety of ways to playout the ritual are included as a solo or group exercise.

The Darkling Legacy Item is the Umbral Shroud, a magical cloak said to have been originally owned by ‘Dark Crow’ the Eladrin noble first cursed by the Summer Queen creating Darklings of them and their house. The cloak has various increasing properties, making hiding in darkness easier and aiding, and ultimately making it safe, for Darklings in the light, which is a welcome game changer at higher levels, as well as containing various charges of shadowy spells.

Dryads

“Bound to a home tree, many dryads enjoy the company of travellers—and some are even gripped by wanderlust themselves! Traits: deeply connected to trees, dryads can teach myriad ways of surviving in the wild, forest magic, and caring for plants Archetype: The Charmguard ranger fights to defend their grove—but with the power of their persuasiveness more than with violence! Feats: deepen your connection to the trees—or even become one! Legacy Item: dryad or not, you can show your devotion to the woods by implanting a heartseed and grow it into a gnarly heartwood inside yourself”

Dryads are presented in a way that really allows them to be however you might wish to play them, despite the interesting lore. I greatly appreciate the note on gender presentation: “Dryads tend to have feminine presentation, although presentation may vary based on the dryad’s identity before their transformation. Non-dryads who live among dryads have varied gender presentations.” A necessary note with Dryads originating in Greek Mythology as nymphs of oak trees. Nymphs being understood as minor female nature deities, which is why so much art of Dryads is feminine in aspect, while in D&D a Dryad can be of any gender.

As you would imagine the bulk of Dryad Traits revolve around nature and an affinity for natural magic. I particularly enjoy the addition of the Gardner’s Tools as an item, presented with the full Xanathar’s Guide to Everything run down of components, use with different skills and activities with DCs.

“In the defense of a grove, violence is a last resort. This is not because dryads are opposed to violence, but because violence often leads to more mortals with axes who want to destroy the forest to spite the creatures that live there. Rangers who train to protect groves learn ways to deal with threats before they turn violent, and to calm fights before they lead to worse. “

I had some initial concerns about Charmguard Ranger being an Enchantment based archetype using their “persuasive voices”, but rather than removing the agency and controlling others through their magic and abilities, these Rangers are designed in a way to use this power to resolve conflict without violence, put our fires and protect their allies. You love to see it! The emphasis on Charm is something to be aware of due to the way it is used by certain players, but I’m seriously impressed with this.

The Dryad feats essentially allow another fey to become part Dryad, at least in being bound to a tree and all that entails and allow the deepening of the bond and roots with said tree.

The Dryad legacy item is the Heartseed-root-graft-wood from their bonded tree with a variety of forms and effects based on the type of tree, which grows while they rest in a single place and then can be grafted into their heart. The growing abilities deepen your affinity with nature, allow you to gain awareness through other trees, ultimately gaining significant varied bonuses based on your tree type, as well as the ability to fully become a tree with tremorsense.

Goblinoids “All goblinoids—goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears—of the Feywild strive on competition, whether brutal warfare or friendly sparring! Traits: whether tiny goblin, imposing hobgoblin, or hulking bugbear—nobody should underestimate any of them, they have tricks up their sleeves! Archetype: The Battle Boss fighter commands allies to maximum effect Feats: come on, be honest: everyone who ever played a goblin wanted to become a living projectile and be chucked at the enemy—and now you can! Legacy Item: The Great Gark’s stick of leadership is a symbol of authority”

Goblinoids are presented in a much fairer and humane light than in other materials, which is wonderful to see. The fascinating lore includes a sidebar on The Great Gark, self-titled “Ruler of all goblinkind” with enough information and reference to introduce them into your game.

Goblinoids are presented as three different physical varieties: “the diminutive goblin, the taller hobgoblin, and the bulkier bugbears. Each type of goblinoid comes with its own set of additional Physical Traits and Physical Power options”, though base Physical and all overall other Traits can be applied to each, particularly apropos with the “infinite variety” of Goblinoids.

“Behind every rabble of goblins there is a boss, the charismatic leader who is considered by far the strongest and smartest. There are countless differing traits among bosses, but one consistency is survivability. In a world of extremes with trickery around every corner, you have to be wily to stay alive and remain on top. A battle boss is curiously somehow equal parts leader, coward, fearless, powerful—and more than willing to put allies in danger if it’ll keep them safe. The greatest bosses know, however, that this only works as long as those under their command respect them.”

The Battle Boss Fighter is an impressive extrapolation and expansion of the abilities from the Goblin Boss statblock into an archetype, focusing on fighting with and using your allies to survive combat.

The feat turns a small creature into a living projectile! I would expect nothing less from a project lead who brought us Yeet! A Guide to Throwing (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/320937/YEET-A-Guide-to-Throwing-5E?affiliate_id=1507682).

The Legacy Item is the Stick of Leadership-Cudgel of Command-Scepter of the Great Gark, a club that is locked to Fighters, which begins as a +1 weapon with benefits to your commands, growing in potency until it has the possibility of turning humanoids into goblins.

Hags

CW: Ritualistic Cannibalism/ Eating a Humanoid, Drowning, Ritual Desecration, Blood, Suggested Ritual Skinning a Young Creature (Giant), Suggested Ritual Skinning an Intelligent Creature (Dragon) I included content warnings in this section because some of the content of the suggested rituals is particularly full on and of a very different tone/ content than the rest of the supplement so far.

“Hags and Hag-Kin. Hags see beauty where most would turn away in disgust. They delight in confronting others’ sensibilities with their own unique aesthetics—as do their adopted children! Traits: hags have a unique magic and can teach how to read people to get the best deal Archetype: form an actual coven as the Bonded Coven bard and share your spellcasting and skills! Feats: delve deeper into Illusion magic and develop your eye for the desperation of others Legacy Item: from poppets to jars of viscera—a hag’s lair overflows with strange paraphernalia of her trade! Boon: perform a sinister ritual to become an actual full-fledged hag!”

First of all, the lore here removes the need or at least creates room for creating new Hags without the need for eating children, which is nice, but a number of the rituals are still horrible enough to cause distress in some players and unnecessarily cruel. There is still too much of an emphasis on cruelty, “You take a perverse joy in upsetting and terrifying other beings”, that has just a bit too much of a whiff of Hags being overall generally ‘evil’ for my liking when discussing a whole people, which is a shame, especially compared to some of the other entries in here, though it is somewhat mitigated than the official entries. In taking a more sympathetic and less monolithic approach to these peoples I would have like to have seen more subtlety and suggestion that perhaps Hags are the way they are generally portrayed, or maybe that is an unfortunate viewing of them based on their relatively strange, solitary lives and different views on beauty, or just something more explicit about the variety of individuals. I think a trick was really missed here by not granting them the same breadth and scope as individuals as other Fey in this supplement.

“Hags know that, whatever frustrations they may have with each other aside, they can achieve greater power together than they ever could alone, and there is no greater bond among them than that of a coven. Those who have encountered hags know of the dangers posed by the secret knowledge of a hag coven; and sometimes, those who live long enough amongst hags bring those secrets out to the rest of the world. The College of the Bonded Coven has no formal schools—only hidden teachers scattered to distant corners of the planes, passing on knowledge and hoping they are never caught betraying the secrets of the hags.”

The College of the Bonded is an impressive extrapolation and expansion of the Coven rules for Hag creatures with a ritual bond, additional shared spellcasting, shared Bardic Inspiration and ultimately sharing proficiencies and skills.

The Feats grant an insightful eye and expand the potency and independence of Illusions.

The Boon allows for high level, high Hag Trait characters to enact a Hag Transformation ritual, which will allow them to fully become a hag, choosing one of the 5 types, each with their own appropriate bonuses and abilities, and each with their narrative suggested rituals for inspiration with mechanical considerations for the rituals as a whole. These suggestions are grim, which is fine, but a couple are particularly dark and unequivocally ‘evil’. The suggested rituals include, “devouring the body of a humanoid in its entirety” in a blood circle on a freezing mountain, “forging a new body for yourself from detritus, muck, various magical substances, and parts of your own body, then travelling to the bottom of the sea...and allow your original body to drown” (this one I actually love!), finding an amenable Green Hag to give you a cauldron bath in the right ingredients, desecrating a holy relic in a powerful Fiend’s blood and then drinking the rest, and “skinning a young giant, dragon, or similarly large and intelligent creature, making that skin into a leather coat covered in intricate arcane glyphs...coating your hands and teeth in molten metal that form your new teeth and nails as the coat becomes your new skin.” This last one is particularly full on and seems strange in the context of something a player character would be expected to do in a heroic fantasy game with its shocking callousness (This is, again, within the context of this supplement and pushing for progression in the game, as it would be wholly believable for many players past and present holding no regard for the lives of sapient, intelligent creatures). I also have concerns about the specificity of a” humanoid” in one example and “large and intelligent creature” in another and the possible implications and othering of sapient intelligent creatures.

Hags have Legacy items, the first is Grandmother’s Dolly-Creeping Dolly-Sinister Dolly-Blooded dolly, a terrifying animated wicked doll that first just tries to hide, then steal, Curse, and then drain blood. Incredibly creepy cool and I love the way it evolves by having to find its hiding places, it having stolen enough for you and having enough creatures fail its saves. I want one! The second is a Jar of Viscera-Bubbling Viscera-Accursed Viscera, a grim unguent that is a cauldron in a can, filled with grisly ingredients with their own bonuses that you’ll need a strong, conveniently boosted, Constitution to handle it and the gore needed to empower it. A fun and flavourful must for the modern Hag on the go.

I can see that effort went into keeping the Hags Hag-y, but I think in a supplement doing so well in being inspired by, yet still breaking the mould of singular expectations the mark was missed here. I absolutely love Hags, but I think in the context of the work here they could have been shown in a more sympathetic light, particularly after the broader and more humane perspective on Goblinoids, while retaining their flavour. I also note that they are referred to as “they”, but there is no sidebar discussing Hags and gender, as with Dryads and Green Witch for example. While Hags traditionally have a femme presentation, there’s no reason why they couldn’t characters of any gender.

Korred

“Korred are famous for their ability to hear the voices of the stone and respond in kind. They are gentle but you better not get on their bad side—stones break bones! Traits: learn how to commune with the fickle spirits of the stones and animate your hair just like korred do! Archetype: The Stonespeaker sorcerous origin allows you to manipulate the very earth beneath your foes’ feet Feats: become stubborn and immovable as the stone itself Legacy Item: korred can weave their own hair into animated ropes—and if you bond with one of these prized items, you too can wield that power!”

These Fey have a deep affinity to stone that is conveyed through their lore and Traits wonderfully, as well as granting others a portion of this and the ability to have magical hair through optional Traits.

“Stonespeakers tap into the korred’s knowledge for communing with and manipulating earth and stone. Some stone-speakers hail from races with a strong connection to the earth, like goliaths and earth genasi. Others acquire their magical connection to the earth by participating in one of the korred’s ceremonial dances or through an encounter with a dao or particularly powerful earth elemental.”

The Sorcerous Bloodline: Stonespeaker significantly deepens a character’s connection to the earth making bludgeoning damage pack an extra punch, gaining all manner of thematic spells, an awareness through and taking on the strength of stone, eventually bending natural battlegrounds to your whim. A sidebar has some nice suggestions about adding a rock aesthetic to certain spells.

The Feats add a little of the Korred Magic, stubbornness and immovability, flavourful, situational, and specific build stye abilities.

Their Legacy Item is Korred Hair Rope-Awakened-Ascended, crafted from their magical hair that “almost seem to be possessed by a mind of their own, and legend has it that they carry part of the soul of the korred the hair of the rope originated from.” This magical, regrowing rope evolves into a magical whip through the power of Korred and/ or earth elemental friendship, become incredibly powerful by being awakened by a Korred Elder or its creator.

Selkies

CW: Animal Harm (Skinned Seal Image) [While the “Seal Skin” item and ability reflects innate and gifted power/ item, it is not explicitly said that the Seal Skin is the skin of a seal, with then Celtic myth they originate from refers to Selkies shedding their human skin to take on seal form. However, on page 71, Sorcerous Bloodline: Cold Waters, there is an image of what appears to be a skinned seal worn around the shoulders of a character that some may find upsetting.]

“Bards of the deep, selkies can effortlessly change shape to switch between their land-going humanoid form and their aquatic sea form. They love to collect and share stories from both realms. Traits: the culture of selkies centers on the songs they use to remember, music and creativity have a high importance to them Archetype: The Cold Waters sorcerous bloodline makes the water your element like no other archetype has done before! Feats: learn how to call the creatures of the sea to your defense and really immerse yourself in the hostile depth Legacy Item: the seal skin of a selkie is their means of transforming—and they gift them to chosen adopted children as well!”

These wholesome wereseal-like people are described in a lovely, intriguing manner. I particularly like the mention of them “often take in abandoned creatures, or rescue those lost at sea” and how they become part of their “rookery”, being gifted their own “seal skin”.

Selkie Traits revolve around the sea, their seal form, and magical voices with some particularly useful Vocational Traits for sea and coastal adventures, as well as the wonderful “Heartsong” that is a story taught by a character’s rookery that grants them a Bard spell.

“The waters selkie live in are deep and dangerous, a place removed in ways that are difficult to comprehend to land dwellers. Deep currents of magic run through this submerged world, and selkie—or those who have been taken in by them or otherwise learned to live here—sometimes grow up to being able to tap into these powers. They use them to protect them-selves and their home from the countless dangers of the deep as well as those intruding from the dry land above.”

The Sorcerous Bloodline: Cold Waters is empowered by the ocean with an incredibly powerful, incredibly situational first level ability, various water magic, being able to become a “being elemental water”, ultimately being able to share some of your watery boons with your allies.

The Feats have some thematic watery utility with Selkies having the possibility of using Conjure Animals to effectively summon +1 aquatic creatures, which is awesome!

Their Legacy Items are their Skin of the Seal-Sea-Selkie, allowing them to become Seal as if through Wild Shape, diving “to a depth no light reaches” allows a Minor Water Elemental, after receiving a boon from Selkie Elder, it grants the ability to become a powerful Selkie Seal hybrid able to cast spells and use their lineage traits in this form, and a Seahorn, an “ornately carved tusk plays a low, mournful call when blown. It seems to carry a supernatural distance on the wind.” This is more a thematic standard magic item, but great, nonetheless.

Sprites

“Fierce guardians of the forests, sprites are practitioners of Green Magic and have a gift for learning another’s true feelings and intentions. Traits: brave and knowledgeable about plants and poisons, sprites can teach wilderness survival like no one else Archetype: The Witch of the Green wizard embraces herbalism and other nature magic Feats: mastering poisons is difficult and dangerous—but no better people to learn it from than sprites, who live among poisonous plants all their life and know how to utilize it to even the odds against larger foes Legacy Item: no Green Witch or poison maker would ever dream of going without their cauldron—some of which are magical!”

These somewhat solemn, empathic fey are interestingly different to their more expressive kin.

I have some concerns about elements of their Heartwise entry: “With a touch, a sprite knows if someone is secretly angry or sad, if they’re burdened by grief or giddy in love, and even if their heart pulses with goodness or evil. Sprite communities place tremendous value on goodness, and abhor evil.” This concern stems from the historic and problematic understanding and handling of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in D&D, exemplified by this quote from Gary Gygax himself in 2005 (Strong CW for extremely racist language and descriptions of torture and capital punishment: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/dtpgim/gygax_on_lawful_good/). The ability itself allows the detecting of alignment and later the casting of Detect Good and Evil, concepts and abilities that exist in the game and fits with the lore, but alignment is a complicated and unfortunate binary (I know there are two axis and nine possibilities), especially with how it has classically been tied to ‘races’, which thankfully D&D has done away with, but still has for creatures, including sapient peoples, of which many are represent in this supplement, though they are not alignment locked in here.

There’s been much discussion about alignment and suggestions to do away with it completely or approach it in an entirely new way, much like Ancestry & Origins, with supplements like Realigned: Alternative Alignment Mechanics from Realm Warp Media (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/313290/Realigned-Alternative-Alignment-Mechanics?affiliate_id=1507682), which discusses both the history and issues with alignment, while putting forth a whole new system based on Focus, Conviction and Reputation.

Their Traits include a natural ability to cast invisibility that the supplement makes clear is only available at a DM’s discretion, among other Traits around being tiny, stealthy, stalwart and forest guardians.

“Witches of the Green, or Green Witches as they are often called, are deeply connected to the natural world. Through their study of plants, flowers and herbs, Green Witches become expert healers, potioners, and more. These good-hearted individuals look to nature for guidance, and they respect and protect life whenever possible. As they grow in knowledge, Green Witches record their spells in a book known as a grimoire.”

The Witch of the Green: School of Herbalism Wizards are an interesting hybrid of Wizard/ Druid/ Ranger/ Cleric with an additional spell list representing this. HEALING WIZARD BAYBEE! You gain intimate knowledge of harmful and healing plants, can chuck poisonous seeds, rotten fruit, and stinging and restraining vines. It’s worth pointing out that while the poison damage is particularly thematic, over a quarter of all D&D creatures are immune to poison, far more than the next damage type, so the class abilities are somewhat hit and miss, especially for higher level abilities. Making this a choice of Poison or Necrotic damage could make these more viable. I’m not often a wizard player, but this is amazing! (Pay no attention to the fact that this Cleric-loving gal suddenly becomes interested in a Wizard when they become more Cleric-y).

There’s a great note on how Green Witch is a gender-neutral term.

Their Feat allows you to become a potion master with access to a flying ointment

Their Legacy Item is a magical cauldron: Sirona’s Favor, The Cauldron of Purification-Taliesin’s Blessing, The Cauldron of Brigid’s Forge, The Cauldron of Renewal-Cauldron of Ceridwen, The Cauldron of Transformation, which begins purifying food created in it of poison and disease, after a brush with death drinking from it confers a choice of magical boons, gaining knowledge of and using powerful healing magic makes it so it can restore limbs and possibly even life, having a connection to animals and the ability to alter your form finally grants a holy mass polymorph concoction! This item is locked to non-evil aligned characters, which makes sense, though I don’t love that about it.

Tooth Fairies

“Shiny white like fresh-brushed teeth, tooth fairies are much more benign and helpful than many of their capricious cousins—always out to spread light and love! Traits: dwelling in enchanted forests and a love for exchanging gifts have led to many unique tooth fairy cultures who all embrace the light Archetype: The Wind Striker ranger is as difficult to pin down as the breeze—always poised to strike yet, somehow, always out of reach of their foes Feats: learn how to bring sweet dreams to your companions or soothe them with Illusion magic Legacy Item: what greater and more amazing gift could the tooth fairies bestow upon their adopted children and chosen champions than their own fairy wings?”

These curious, inquisitive, and philanthropic Fey of the more chill kind of fairy with an interest in the Material Plane, guiding those who lose their way in the Feywild, and caring for those who are unable to find a way home.

An amusing sidebar explains the origin of the name Tooth Fairy: “People of the Prime Material Plane have given them the name “tooth” fairies because of their appearance—shiny white, they gleam like freshly brushed teeth! Over time, they have proudly adopted the name “tooth fairies” for themselves. A later legend, that tooth fairies would actually take the teeth of children, is false—they aren’t creepers, like some of their fairy cousins!”

Tooth Fairy Traits revolve around their natural affinity to magic, selfless bravery, being a guiding, helpful light, and bolstering their companions.

“The Wind Strikers are as old as the Fey-wild itself. They are the guardians of its mythical forests, most sacred places, and some of the fey courts. Other names for these rangers are ‘Watchers of the Roots’ or the ‘Everlasting’. They draw their powers from the magic of the Feywild itself.”

The Wind Striker Ranger gains access to several quick and windy spells, abilities around speed, focus, and using the wind to strengthen your stride and attacks.

The Feats grant the gift of illusion and the power of a good night’s sleep to add a bonus to a roll once a day, which is a lovely utility ability.

There are three Fairy Gift Boons for someone whose experience “with the fairies brought you great insight into their culture and their beliefs. They appreciate you, you are a close friend to them, and they know they can count on you if help is needed.” These add a natural energy-based healing touch, the ability to shield oneself, and the ability to radiate light that harms foes.

Their Legacy Item is Fairy Wings-Shiny Fairy Wings-Glittering Fairy Wings, which can be gifted to outsiders. These wings grant the ability to fly and boost Charisma, can fly further and radiate light after being particularly helpful, and ultimately after aiding two Fairy leaders they allow even longer flight and a radiating boost to allies.

An adorable shrinking Fairy Dust item is also included.

This supplement is stunning to look at and absolutely crammed with art showing various aspects of the Fey and evocative title art that sets the background and palette for each chapter, reflecting the people being discussed. Unfortunately, some of the coloured fonts make some of the titles and details rather difficult to read, which is a shame. I have been making a point to discuss accessibility in TTRPGs, which should be a priority in a space where we are pushing for a greater diversity of voices, experience, expression and players. I believe all games and releases, particularly those design intensive and playing with background and font colours should at least come with a plain text version, as well as making the robust an accessible version that conveys the design and art in text form available for those who need it, for example those using screen readers.

Children and Champions of the Fey captures the essence of a wide variety of Fey beings, making many of them playable characters for the first time, or at least their Fey forms, without reducing them to one single aspect and treating them like a monolith. This includes a general overview of the central culture and experience of each these people, which can influence elements of any character, as it does in our world. With elements inspired and based on existing elements of lore and myth, and expanding and evolving mechanics based on existing material, the feel of playing these characters and their essence is in no way diminished, rather it allows for a player to connect more deeply with the aspects of their character and consider how and why they choose their specific Traits.

Taking inspiration from Arcanist Press’ Ancestry & Culture and continuing to push for progressive and inclusive approach to ‘race’, further than WotC seem to be willing to go to address the racism and colonialism baked into the game, is a vitally important thing and only serves to improve the game, making it more welcoming, and giving players more meaningful options and ways to engage with their characters. I’m still not a fan of the word ‘race’ being used to describe ancestry and origin options because it is a human social construct that doesn’t even make sense in the real world and doesn’t really apply to the beings found in the fictional world of stories and TTRPGs, though I understand it as a standard set by D&D, one I hope they will finally change.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and will definitely be playing a Fey character next time I need one.

Credits

Designers: Colin Caelin (@colincaelin), Chris Hopper (@chrishopper2), Carolyn Kunze (@MetalicClassy), Ryan Langr (@ RealmwarpM), David Markiwsky (@DavidMarkiwsky), Lynne M. Meyer (@Lynne_M_Meyer), Erin Tierney (@triggy42), Sven Truckenbrodt (@TheRubyFeather), Duncan Watson (@eldritchtophat), Matthew Whitby (@WhitbyWrites) Lead Designer, Editing & Layout: Sven Truckenbrodt (@TheRubyFeather) Proofreading: Duncan Watson Cover Illustration: Tithi Luadthong (aka Grandfailure) Interior Illustrations: agrus, Alexandra Petruk, Atelier Sommerland, Darkmoon Art, david, David Markiwsky, Dean Spencer, Dominick, Evgeniy Bobrov, Evgeniya Savchenko, liuzishan, lordpeppers, Matt Morrow, MoVille, myersalex216, Rick Hershey (Fat Goblin Games), tibanna79, Tithi Luadthong (aka Grandfailure), venimo, Warmtail, DMs Guild Creator Resources

Articles to check out regarding ‘race’ in D&D and Fantasy: https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/1/13/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-i-a-species-built-for-racial-terror https://pocgamer.com/2019/08/02/decolonization-and-integration-in-dd/



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