New class: Fey Noble (racial class)

[Geleg]

Working on my homebrew world I decided to try my hand at a racial class. [prompted in part by the responses I got to the 'what do my players want?' survey I posted earlier]. After I had about 75% of this complete I found Clavis123's excellent thread viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9687&hilit=fey on fairies, as well as DangerDwarf's and Serleran's on Fey-Elf and Elf racial classes. Good inspiration there.

It's a first draft, and I'd love to hear some comments. My concerns are these

1. I had a lot of fun dreaming up abilities, but is it too much?
2. in a similar vein, is this unbalanced? Some of the time I'm happy to say balance-shmalance, but I don't want to create a monstrosity.
3. This is a pastiche of some folklorish elements, some dimly remembered favorite fiction, and my own desires. It isn't meant to model any particular 'real' fey world at all. But I worry that some (my players?) will want to interpret it by the canon (whichever one they choose to use).

Oh well, any feedback will be great.

Fey Noble (Charisma) [racial class]

Tir-nan-Og, the land of the Fey, is filled with hundreds of varieties of fairies or fey folk. While any and all of the fey are able to make their way into the mundane world, and while some of the more simple fey (pixies, brownies, and the like) are known to normal humans, the fey nobles are of a different sort. Closer in some ways to the other sentient races, the fey nobles are attracted by what they see as the strange and fascinating qualities of the mundane world, and will occasionally decide to spend time - even years - traveling among mortals.

While in the mortal realm, fey nobles are able to manifest some - but not all - of their considerable magical abilities. Recognizing that humans and demi-humans sometimes can be frightened or angered by fey magic, most fey travelers (or at least those who last for any length of time) have learned to modify and curtail their capricious natures so as to better blend into the mundane world. They are thus less likely than their more wild cousins (e.g., sprites) to barrage all comers with their magical powers, for they have learned to put their goals ahead of their pleasures ... at least most of the time.

Fey noble characters need to develop a rationale for why they have left their realm and House for any length of time. As indicated below, this rationale is likely either to involve a specific quest (for an item, for knowledge, to aid a cause, etc) set by the Lord of the character’s house, or to reflect the fact that the noble has fled from his House for reasons that the player and DM should decide in advance.

Although thought by sages (particularly elves) to be formed of pure magic, and thus to possess bodies that are more akin to spirits than to mortals, fey nobles who travel in the mundane world have chosen to adapt their essence to the realities of mortality. Their bodies are truly flesh, and can experience pain, pleasure, and decay while away from Tir-nan-Og. Still, the fey noble’s magical essence does cause him/her to age and decay at a much slower rate, a fact which causes most mortals to believe that fey nobles are immortal. It is also the case that fey nobles have no soul and cannot therefore be raised from the dead or resurrected. What happens to a fey noble who dies in the mortal world is not exactly certain, but most scholars believe they are reincarnated as a new fairy (of a nature determined in part by their House Lord) in Tir-nan-Og; whether this new fairy recalls his/her former life or not is also unclear.

Racial Affinities and Hatreds
Fey nobles respect the elves and are fascinated by their culture and balance; they are disappointed, however, by the elves’ general disdain for faeries and by the elves’ unwillingness to allow the fey to live permanently with the elves (elves see the fey as imperfections or corruptions to Cilborian’s creation; the inconstancy and lack of wisdom of the fey is off-putting to elvish sensibilities). Fey nobles are frequently enamored of human culture, finding its extremes of action, emotion, and belief to be invigorating and worthy of emulation, at least for short periods. As a result, fey nobles are drawn to human population centers, particularly those which boast high degrees of creativity, whether it be artistic, political, intellectual , or so on. Fey nobles have little time for halflings, seeing them as boring. They genuinely dislike dwarves, who have been known to forge special cold iron weapons designed to permanently destroy or torture fairies. The goblins they treat as enjoyable children; they are fun to be around for a short time, but are unlikely to present enough of interest to require extended visitation. Fey nobles hate ophidians. Of the humanoid races, the fey nobles have little to say; orcs, trolls and such are occasionally interesting, but generally pale in comparison to human and elvish society.

Prime Attribute: Charisma

Hit Dice: d8

Alignment: any form of neutral

Race: n.a. since this is a racial class

Weapons: club, dirk, sickle, scimitar, dagger, hand axe, short sword, rapier, long sword, spear, staff, sling, short bow (n.b.: they may not use iron weapons)

Armor: leather coat, leather armor, ring mail, studded leather, mail shirt, cuir bouille, mail hauberk, breastplate (bronze or steel)

Attribute Modifiers: +2 CHA, -1 WIS, -1 INT


Level//HD//BtH//EPP
1//d8//0//0
2//d8//+1//2,500
3//d8//+1// 5,000
4//d8//+2// 9,500
5//d8//+2// 18,000
6//d8//+2//34,000
7//d8//+3//68,000
8//d8//+3//130,000
9//d8//+4//275,000
10//d8//+4//500,000
11//+2//+5//700,000
12//+2//+6//900,000
13+//+150,000


Special Abilities

Assume Form (CON)
Fey characters are able to assume different forms. The character can hold this form for 1 hour/level, after which time the character reverts to normal form and cannot assume any alternate form for eight hours. Note: the character’s distinguishing physical feature will still be evident in some way even when he/she is in an altered form. Those using true sight will always see the fey character’s true form. Those who see a fey character change forms will never again be fooled by that specific form. The number and types of forms available to a fey character depend on his/her level. A fey noble knows one form at first level, and gains another form at 3rd level, 7th level, 9th level, and 12th level

forms available at 1st Level:
small, terrestrial: e.g., rat, squirrel, chipmunk, hedgehog, cat, etc.

forms available at 3rd level:
small, avian or aquatic: e.g., sturgeon, robin, eel, barn owl, etc.

forms available at 7th level:
medium, terrestrial: e.g., large dog, deer, lynx, goblin, kobold, dwarf, small elf or human, small bear

forms available at 9th level
medium, avian or aquatic: e.g., tuna, shark, eagle

forms available at 12th level
large, monstrous: any large monster

The types of forms listed here are very general. A fey character must choose specific forms as the ones he knows, and cannot take any or all shapes; thus a 3rd level fey might be able to take the form of a robin, but not that of a crow. The DM should encourage players to choose forms that are appropriate to the character’s governing emotion (see Distinguishing Features); hence a character governed by fear might elect a mouse form at first level, whereas a character governed by joy might elect a puppy (or something).

While in an altered form, the fey character possesses all physical characteristics of that creature; thus a fey in robin form could fly. The fey character does not automatically gain special magical powers; thus a 10th level fey who takes the form of a black dragon could not breathe acid, but would deal out whatever damage is appropriate for a black dragon.

Change Size (CON)
Fey noble characters can use their glamour powers to alter their size. A fey character can increase or decrease his size by 10% per character level for a duration of 1 round per level. This ability is usable once per day. Thus a fifth level fey could increase or decrease his size by 50%. Note that a 10th level fey could either double his size (100% increase) or effectively disappear (100% decrease). Beyond obvious the physical advantages (squeezing into tight spaces, further disguising one’s appearance), this ability offers the following combat advantages and disadvantages:
Change in size Level possible Damage inflicted AC bonus or penalty
+25% 3 +2 -1
+50% 5 +4 -2
+75% 8 +8 -4
+100% 10 +12 -6
-25% 3 -1 +1
-50% 5 -3 +2
-75% 8 -6 +4
-100% 10 -10 +10

Connection to Faerie (CHA)
Although access to the realm of faerie is normally limited to traditional junction points (faerie circles, stone rings, barrows, etc.), all fey can sense the presence of Faerie at all times. At 1st level this manifests as an innate sense of the closest junction point. At 4th level, the fey can send a telepathic message to his faerie lord once per day; such a message has a 10% chance per level of receiving a response. The response will be informational, but probably elliptical. At 7th level a fey can step briefly into faerie for a second or two twice per day, although he/she cannot pass the veil absolutely. In combat this acts as a +2 AC (like a blur spell). In noncombat, or social circumstances, this ability might well provoke negative responses. At 10th level, the fey can completely shift his form into or out of faerie once per day. The effort of doing so, however, has a cost; the fey character’s CON is reduced by 5 for a period of 1d6 hours.

Disguise Self (CHA)
A fey character can modify his/her basic appearance through the use of minor illusions. The fey character can thus appear as a different human or demi-human being, with one exception: the fey character’s distinguishing physical feature never changes. For example, a fey character has black hair with a distinguishing physical feature of a prominent shock of pure white hair. The character could change every aspect of his person save for the shock of white hair. If the CHA roll fails, the disguise is imperfect in some meaningful way.

Distinguishing Features
All fey characters have a certain distinctive and distinguishing features.
1. Physical Feature:
All fey nobles have some prominent and distinguishign physical feature. Such features might include a shock of pure white hair amid normally black hair, an extremely long nose, an abnormally large foot, a large strawberry birthmark on his/her face in the shape of a moon, black finger- and toenails, an unusual timbre to his/her voice (e.g. soprano for a male), etc. Physical features must be obvious to observers, although potentially conceal-able; thus, the fey with a shock of white hair might wear a hat, which would mostly conceal the shock for at least part of the time.

2. Emotional Feature:
Each fey character must choose one of the following emotions as his/her governing emotions: anger, fear, sorrow, love, hatred, joy, or the absence of emotion. This emotion will guide his/her normal response to stressful situations, but should not be understood as dictating a player’s behavior in every circumstance. Merely because a fey character is governed by fear, for example, does not mean that he/she will necessarily flee at the drop of a hat, for there are other ways of responding to or expressing fear. The player and DM should talk in advance about a range of responses that might still reflect the core emotion.

3. Martial Feature:
A fey noble character should choose a specific unusual weapon as his/her distinguishing martial feature. Weapons might include a bone shillelagh, a pure ebony spear (no metal), a copper dirk engraved in silver, etc. Use of one’s distinguishing weapon confers a bonus of +1 to hit and +1 to damage. A fey noble character can also use his/her glamour ability to conceal the true nature of his/her weapon. The glamour will cause the weapon to look other than it is, although not completely different (a shillelagh would look like a club; an ebon spear like a normal spear). Every time the weapon hits, however, it will briefly appear in its true form.

4. Mysterious Feature:
All fey have one object they cannot touch, action they cannot perform, or action they must peform. Examples might include being incapable of touching silk, being unable to utter his/her own name, or always having to wear a feather in his/her cap. Fey nobles who transgress the boundaries of this mysterious feature involuntarily, even if tricked into doing so, immediately suffer a temporary CHA loss of -5 for 3d4 days. The CHA loss should manifest in some obvious external way (as well in terms of game mechanics): the character’s normally well-proportioned head grows by 50%, the character grows donkey ears, etc. A character so tricked will be sullen, angry, and vengeful for 1d6 months. [thanks to Clavis123 for inspiration here]

Faerie House
The land of faerie is divided into houses ruled by powerful lords (who in turn pay homage, willingly or reluctantly, to King Oberon and Queen Mab). Each faerie house has a favorite color and flower, and a noble fey character will normally dress in that color and bear either the flower or a representation of it. Fey characters who travel in the mundane world are either sent to do so by their lords, in which case they may periodically owe obligations to the lord, or have fled from their house, in which case the lord and/or the house may periodically machinate against the PC.

Faerie Sight
Fey nobles instantly recognize other fey creatures, even when those creatures are invisible.

Glamour
Fey noble characters are able to produce one or more glamours depending on their character level. All 1st level fey nobles know 2 glamours; they gain a third at 4th level, a fourth at 7th level, and a fifth at 10th level. These glamours may be employed twice per day. Note: a player of a fey noble must make permanent choices of which glamours his/her character knows; once these glamours are selected, they may not be replaced or substituted. Thus, if a 4th level fey noble has chosen Fool’s Gold, Obscuring Mist, and Invisibility as his three glamours, he/she could not then create an Illusory Feast.

Glamours available at 1st level:
Dancing Lights, Illusionary Hounds, Fool’s Gold, Illusory Feast, Obscuring Mist, Prestidigitation.

Glamours available at 4th level:
Invisibility, Faerie Gold, Hallucinatory Terrain, Suggestion, Scare, Blur, Magic Mouth, Minor Image

Glamours available at 7th level:
Improved Invisibility, Seeming, Confusion, Blink, Major Image, Emotion

Glamours available at 10th level:
Veil, Mislead, Mass Suggestion, Mirage Arcana,

Great Hunger and Thirst
Fey nobles must consume twice the normal amount of food and drink every day or begin to suffer temporary CON losses (-1 CON after 2 days of sub-normal rations, -2 CON after 4 days, and so forth). Lost CON may be regained after an appropriately large feast. They do not gain weight, however, nor do they get drunk (except on fairy wine). [thanks again to Clavis123]

Resistance to Illusion (CHA)
Fey characters are naturally resistant to spells or spell-like effects which attempt to conceal the true nature of something. They receive a bonus to save versus such effects of +2 at 1st level, +4 at 5th level, and +6 at 9th level. Exception: due to their Fairy Sight, Fey Nobles instantly recognize the true form of other faeries.

Soulless
Fey nobles lack a soul and cannot thus be raised from the dead or resurrected.

Vulnerability to Cold Iron
All fey are vulnerable to pure iron. Touching cold iron will inflict 1d4 damage per round of contact. Weapons made of cold iron will do an extra 1d4 damage per hit. For obvious reasons Fey characters do not like to visit smithies.

[edited for formatting issues]

[CKDad]

Very intriguing. I'm not sure I'd insert these as PCs, but they definitely would make for interesting NPCs. I get a definite "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" vibe from this.

A question about the glamour power - do you mean that a fey noble may use two glamours per day, or can use each glamour power twice per day? I would lean towards the former, as the latter would be very powerful indeed - at least for a PC. For an NPC, however...

[Geleg]

thanks, CKDad. Yup, Strange and Norrell was one influence, as was Tad Williams' War of the Flowers.

as for your question, I had originally thought of allowing each glamour power twice per day, but perhaps that is too powerful. Maybe each power once per day?

[clavis123]

I like this class. I don't think its too powerful, especially since I see only a dedicated role-player choosing class like like this. I like how you've taken some of the Fairy characteristics (such as the mysterious bans) and made them usable for a PC class. I also like the touch of Shakespeare! The one suggestion I would make is to not inflict a penalty to both Int and Wis. I'd suggest one or the other, maybe using a Con penalty to keep the total Ability adjustment balanced. Great work!

[Geleg]

Clavis - that means a lot, as I find your work completely inspirational.

I, too, worried about the penalty to INT and WIS, in part because I couldn't decide which trope to go with : fey as more primal and opposed to booklearning (INT penalty), or fey as impulsive and rash (WIS to penalty). Part of the problem - as you well know - is that you can find good original sources to justify any attribute as being a 'core' one for fey. I actually toyed with reducing STR, rather than CON, as I wanted to keep the trope of them as tough a part of the concept. I'll think about it and post an update.

[CKDad]

WRT the glamours, I hadn't fully read your example and was going by the size of the list. Per your example, the 4th level fey noble having three powers that it could use twice per day each isn't bad at all. It's just that on my first reading, I was thinking it was 15 powers, twice per day each, which is obviously a very different kettle of fish!

Have to read this again and think about it some more. But I will reiterate that these will make awesome NPCs. I can already see where they might fit in either Airdhe or my homebrew world.

[Geleg]

no worries. I'm still thinking about all these things!

[serleran]

In the proper setting, this class could prove very effective and interesting. In the rather normal setting, they may be seen as somewhat "weaker" than the other classes, having more restrictions than abilities. However, that does not make them any less fun. I would probably give some sort of animal affinity (based on their assumed form) but that is not completely necessary.

I would play one...

[Geleg]

thanks, Serl. That's what I wanted to hear about (relative strengths). You've got a good eye/nose for such things.