What defines a Fey...?

[Knight Otu]

... in a ruleset where outsiders can be native? ...fey can be extraplanar? ...elementals can reach a near-humanoid anatomy?

Dryad - forever tied to her tree, she cannot venture far from it.

Nymph - Beauty Incarnate, she craves purity in body and mind, and hates impurity.

Satyr - Party, Fun, Orgy! Which other pastime would he choose?

Sprite, Grig - Did he play a trick on you? Why, of course he did!

Sprite, Nixie - She won't leave the lake, and you certainly won't see her if she doesn't want to be seen.

Sprite, Pixie - Pranksters, like the grig, but if they can take from the misers and the greedy folk with it, they do it.

With just six fey in the core rules, it is hard to establish a clear idea what, except being "nature spirits," defines a fey, but I think there are two common traits which, for lack of better terms, I'll call Addiction and Obsession.

When is a fey Addicted? It is bound to a place, object or maybe person. Outside a certain range to the Addictive, the fey weakens and may die. The dryad is the prime example of the Addicted fey, though there are many others, such as the Oread and the Mirage Mullah.

When is a fey Obsessed? It is tied to an activity or idea, which it pursues constantly, single-mindedly. It propably thinks nothing of it - pursuing the idea is to the fey as breathing or walking is to a human. Nymphs and Satyrs are certainly Obsessed, as are the prankster sprites. The redcap pursues murder, the petals seek to bring restful sleep to everyone.

The nixie? She is likely obsessed, but she hardly shows it. Twice obsessed, one to remain unseen, two to remain in the lake she calls home.

The shadar-kay? Addicted, and obsessed! Addicted to the Shadow Plane, the only place to restore their soul. Obsessed with keeping their soul.

Would that make the elemental weird oracles fey? Yes, I would say so.

Comments? Thoughts? Questions about my sanity?

 

[BOZ]

asking questions never shows one to be insane (unless the questions are insane to begin with, hah!)

it's a good one, actually. i'd say fey races usually have one or more of the following traits:

a natural tendency towards magic
rooted to nature, a place or object, or an element
playful nature, possibly mischevous, sometimes even malign
lack of "good" humanoid morality and inhibitions (even when they are of good alignment)
apart from humanoid civilization

 

[Argent Silvermage]

This is the best Book for D20 I have found on the Fey
I really think it takes the Faerie to a much better place than the basic books and it fits into any game.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I think you (the make of the thread) pretty much hit the on the head.

 

[Alzrius]

We may not actually be able to define a fey...but we know it when we see it.

Kinda reminds me of something else.

 

[Knight Otu]

asking questions never shows one to be insane (unless the questions are insane to begin with, hah!)

it's a good one, actually. i'd say fey races usually have one or more of the following traits:

a natural tendency towards magic
rooted to nature, a place or object, or an element
playful nature, possibly mischevous, sometimes even malign
lack of "good" humanoid morality and inhibitions (even when they are of good alignment)
apart from humanoid civilization

Yep, those are pretty common traits. The second is effectively my Addicted, the third and fourth, and maybe to a lesser extent the fifth, are pretty similar to my Obsessed trait.

This is the best Book for D20 I have found on the Fey

Thanks. I'll try to keep in mind buying it sometime.

We may not actually be able to define a fey...but we know it when we see it.

Kinda reminds me of something else.

Wonderful. But as a flavor distinction, not quite usable.

I think you (the make of the thread) pretty much hit the on the head.

Thanks. Sometimes, it is odd what goes through someone's mind.

 

[Shade]

Interesting thread. I never gave much thought to what made something a fey, but it seems to work.

A few more:

LeShay (ELH): Obsessed with etiquette, additcted to survival of their race

Hoary Hunter (ELH): Obsesses with hunting specific quarry, addicted to cold

 

[Krishnath]

Interesting thread. I never gave much thought to what made something a fey, but it seems to work.

A few more:

LeShay (ELH): Obsessed with etiquette, additcted to survival of their race

Hoary Hunter (ELH): Obsesses with hunting specific quarry, addicted to cold

You should try your definitions on the fey I have posted here, you might be surprised...Also, why you're at it, Yuki-Onna and Spirit Animals are fey.

Not all fey are obsessed or addicted, but many are. They do share something in common though. They're alll nature spirits.

The definition of Fey from Chapter 7 of the revised Monster Manual:

Fey: A fey is a creature with supernatural abilities and connections to nature or some other force or place. Fey are usually human shaped.

Later,

 

[Knight Otu]

They do share something in common though. They're alll nature spirits.

Well, I did say that, too. But my problem is that it is, to me, incomplete. Isn't an elemental effectively a nature spirit, too? What about elemental outsiders?

Also note the "nature or some other force or place," which only serves to increase the ambiguity. Evil is a force, the abyss is a place. Are demons fey? (some might actually be...)

 

[Krishnath]

Well, I did say that, too. But my problem is that it is, to me, incomplete. Isn't an elemental effectively a nature spirit, too? What about elemental outsiders?

Also note the "nature or some other force or place," which only serves to increase the ambiguity. Evil is a force, the abyss is a place. Are demons fey? (some might actually be...)

Well, the original myths place fey, elementals, giants and demons in the same category. Of course those myths also defined Genies as elemental spirits...