"This is the feywild, child. Your mortal druidcraft cannot guide you here. If you see something, trust it not. If you do not see something, trust it less." -Galinndan Oakencourt, eladrin archmage, son of archfey, Felindral the Wanderer.
Considering Druids are the defacto people who deal with Fey wouldn't it be kinda stupid to say not to trust their druidcraft? I mean, at least the Druids know what Fey are, how to differentiate and defer to them, what they do etc. Now, sorcerers, paladins, even rangers, those would be completely untrustworthy, while fighters and barbarians might just as well peace the hell out and run off. While the advice is solid, druids are the one group of people you wouldn't tell it to, specifically because they are the one group of people who know that by heart as well as how to deal with fey (their do's and dont's, their taboos, their interactions etc).
@@lyravain6304 The druids are of the material plain. The feywild is not the material plane. It's naive to think that a druid who spent their entire life in the material plane would know anything of how the feywild works. It is also naive to think that the feywild's nature is anything like the material plane's nature. Another form of naivitey is assuming that a fey is trustworthy, just because it tells you that the feywild is untrustworthy. R/woooosh.
@@lawaern3474 The druids might be of the 'material plane' but, even ignoring the Fey circle or whatever it's called, the Feywild is mostly the 'Plane of Nature' in a way. Nature is at its strongest, purest and most, well, wild there. And guess who IS Nature personified? Druids. Sure, they might not walk the feywild as we would walk in a road, but if ANYONE knows about the kind of trickery fey are up to, it would be the Druids. It's kinda their shtick, really. I mean, do you have any ideas how many 'shrooms a druid smokes to 'commune with Nature'? I'm guessing most fey spells would be pretty tame by comparison.
"my father once said to me, I'd never shake the hand of the devil, but given the fae of the woods. I'd sooner sell my soul to that which is most evil, than to the tricksters of the woods. Never trust those fae of the woods son, for they'd sooner lead you lost than ever help; a devil would tell you straight, and a demon only wants to kill."
Story time: our group had run into a particularly nasty manticore who promptly kicked our hides six ways from Sunday, almost bringing about a tpk. I barely managed to take it out but I was near death myself with no more allies to lend some assistance. I started making my way back to town rolling constitution saves every so often. Eventually I failed one and the DM started having me roll death saves. Two fails later I find myself waking up in a dwarf encampment with a medic treating my wounds. Apparently a patrol had spotted some dancing lights in the distance and went over to investigate finding me laying under them critically wounded but miraculously stable. They left me to rest and a successful perception check later the DM pointed out a pixie lounging on top of a lamp smiling down at me. Turns out this little one had developed a hardcore crush on my character and had been subtly helping me and my companions throughout the campaign.
@@MarigoldMorrigan thank you very much. Here's an update for you. The pixie took me home with her and an archfey of the unseelie court posing as Titania cursed her with human form and hurled her out of the feywild, leaving my old character trapped there. I am now playing the former pixie on a quest to rescue her love interest and restore her connection to the feywild.
Not how they're depicted in d&d but one micht consider genies to be middle-eastern faeries, granters of wishes but capricious, bound by odd codes. Their alignment is a bit abnormal, but not entirely incongruous.
@@berserkshirtbear1271 well treemen in warhammer fantasy are fey/elemental creatures. Basically they're giant trees animated by sprites (dryads) or elven spirits. So yeah a gjinn could be seen as a fey.
In mythology the differences between different types of supernatural beings were often lost. In old Norse there were stories of "elves" who were dead local champions who would supposedly come back to protect the locals. Fore-runners of stories of King Arthur who is supposed to return to protect Britain in it's time of greatest need?
Except the Headless Horseman of Ravenloft. He's very much being undead, forever riding in search of his head, which he will never find, as 'forever riding' is literal. Dude can't get off his horse or stop it galloping along.
@@DaDunge I am aware that in most of the Norse stories the names for various supernatural creatures were often muddled with other creatures. That there wasn't any uniformity; that's essentially saying. The Alfar were technically a specific group of beings but the storytellers often muddled them in with other unrelated creatures.
I’ve always taken non-magic weapons harming ghosts as a kind of expressed intent. It is the intent to harm that causes a kind of sympathetic pain to the ghost.
Also, because incorporeal undead are meant to be faced by PCs at all levels, and 1st level characters rarely have magic weapons. But yes, the Rule of Sympathy is a good answer.
_"umm... you do know you cant kill ghosts, right? We're sorta incorporeal and all. I was just lowering my hp because I didn't want to be rude. sorry... I just made this more awkward... pretend you beat me... oooooooo"_
9:26 "Can you imagine a group of regular dogs attacking something that's stronger than a rhinocerous?" Absolutely. Especially if they're bred as guard/attack dogs and are trying to protect territory or their master. Totally plausible dog behavior.
I'm gonna tell you straight, it's gonna take more than a pack of even the biggest hunting dogs to take down a Rhino. They're literally evolved to survive attacks by full prides of lions. I don't doubt they'd give it a good go but they would get fucked up
@@Ghostking5904 Actually packs canines will attack larger foes even if they lose members of the pack if it is what's good for the survival of the pack itself.
@@DaDunge Yeah that's a misconception. Dogs don't place the needs of the pack over their own life. Wolves and other wild dogs will attack larger prey items than themselves but only ones they know there is minimal risk of injury. It's literally almost always better for the lack to have more healthy members than a temporary meal.
@@Ghostking5904 Except they do, especially dogs do. Dogs have been trained to do near suicidal things and the reason they can be trained as such is this strong pack mentality.
@@esperthebard id imagine a combination of a deathknight/paladin class... a dreadknight a fallen paladin cursed with undeath still seeks to help thier good god even though they've been disowned relying on some dark magic but used it against evil or a like a fallen angel tricked into being evil only for it to go against others of its kind call it a doom slayer! maybe the second one im thinking of the doom games but come on a good "fallen" angel kinna sounds cool
I actually just homebrewed most of these into player races. A friend of mine wanted to run a game in the Fey wild, so I helped put together flavorful stuff for the game.
So you lumped Nymph and Dryads together? But they are different creatures even if they're similar. But Nymphs have their intense beauty that can blind people or kill them if they're naked.
Interesting you mentioned the brass dragon with satyr. I had a dessert band of satyrs ibex flavored living with a brass dragon. They were immune to brass dragon sleep gas. They genuinely enjoy each other's companion except when both want to be center of attention.
52:04 I just remembered a moment I was playing an nsfw campaign out of sheer curiosity. And the Oath of the Ancients Wood Elf Paladin and Satyr went into an inn to do some not so RU-vid guidelines things.
They don't have to change, they just *can* if they feel like it. Their emotional state usually guides their aspect, not the other way 'round. It's not that you're suddenly depressed because you went from Summer to Winter, it's that you went from Summer to Winter after going through some depressing stuff and it got to you.
Seelie are emotional and compationate, but they might be short sighted in that way. Unseelie are unconditional in their reasoning, looking at the long term in all things. A Seelie might grant you a magical transforation to help you get to the ball. An Unseelie would show up a few weeks early, and set you up with a sewing set and show you where to find materials because you survive on your own merit. But yah. Annis Hags are so Rich in story possibilities
I have to imagine that somewhere in the world someone has ran a game where the players have met a group of four musical Eladrin, with each one in a different form, which call themselves the Four Seasons and it’s just a Four Seasons tribute group.
Listening to that description of the 4th edition Meenlock has me of two thoughts: 1: I need to incorporate them into the goblin town questlines at some point, or at least investigate if they're a thing for Pathfinder and if not, how to recreate them. 2. It is a sad thing when the edition most people consider inferior does something far better than the version after, and BOY did the Meenlock get the shaft in that regard.
Gotta agree with the comments on hags, in general they're a fun concept. My first ever Pathfinder character was a Changling summoner, which is important because in Pathfinder, Changelings are the offsprings of Hags, and eventually in a changling's life, they will hear the calls of their mother hag, to bring them back to their mothers and become hags themselves. A cool little bit of lore tidbit, and led to at least one instance of poor Calypse staring off into the distance before quickly focusing on the task at hand, looking a bit more disgusted and ashamed for no reason.
Your level voice is perfect for falling asleep to. Not a diss against your videos, it just took me 3 tries to be able to finish one fully awake. Your voice is just at the perfect pitch.
Also, there are too many humanoid fey creatures, in my own project I love to make more of the animalistic fey such as Cu Sith, Awd Goggie and Bonguru for example, but D&D only uses humanoids and some dogs... I always wonder why D&D doesn't use awesome fey like Kelpies and Nuckelavee more...
Actually, if you think about it. Meenlocks are kind of like fey in the fact that fey in myths would snatch up people (more likely children) to turn them into fey them selves while leaving a changing (a fey that no one wanted to take care for) in it's place. But I understand your frustration. Edit: Anus Hag huh? Looks like I know what I am using as Baba Yaga. HAHAHA! >:D
I just want to thank you, this video helped me a lot on how to RP and build my current character, a powerfull and old elven druid that focus on summoning fey and beasts to his side using spells like Conjure Woodlands Being and Conjure Fey.
I forgot to mention, when you do voice acting for the creatures being presented, I get goosebumps, shivers or bursts of laughter! It is simply the FUCKING best! Thank for adding that element of depth and complexity to the characters that VERY FEW do! I bow to you and am honored to witness your GENIUS! I truly wish on lonely, early stars that you were my DM. *SIGH*
Fun fact: if you’ll drink a shot each time Esper talks how baaaaaaad the DnD 5e is, you’ll be drunk as a fiddler after no more than a quarter of any of these videos
Иван Шершнев Also definitely don’t take a drink every time he calls something “annoying” or “poorly designed” because it’s not a classic fantasy archetype, you’ll be dead of alcohol poisoning. Seriously, if he would just present his stuff as “hey this is just my personal preference” instead of calling everything he doesn’t like objectively bad and qualifying with “well if YOU figure out a way to make it good, that’s fine but OBJECKTUVELY SPEEKING...”
@@bookwyrmbaneoftheplothole8500 yeah but considering the statistics and story points in 5e it is objectively(meaning reference to real data not feels AKA stat blocks, etc) bad its actually bad 5e is for babies
Oh, I did not know that the Red Cap was anything but a mob in Minecraft’s Twilight Forest mod, although I should not be surprised, that mod did have elements of fairytales.
My d&d crew have a homebrew rule called mob mentality where if all creatures who are classified under a species that would group attack( example sprites or other small creatures) are within half there movement from the center of the group they can choose to attack as a group ( using the median number on the initiative rolls) and giving a +1 for each monster in the attack
You might like the 5e tome of horrors, by Frog God games, it includes a good chunk of interesting and varied fey (my favorite would probably be The Folly)
Your intro reminded me of playing Changeling the Lost. I loved White Wolf Games back in the day. The whole world of Darkness fit so well together. I think it's why I enjoyed Spell jammer when it came to D&D I liked a really full world that allowed for a lot of different story threads. These videos are Memory miners for sure! I am glad you found no F tier Fey
Why do I feel like Esper just might have fallen asleep surrounded by toadstools at some point. He speaks entrancingly enough to have fey influence somewhere in there.
Fae are great because of how they present an excellent opportunity for the players to get clever with things in order to out fox a fae they are in with
The Yeth Hound’s Baleful Baying is most likely inspired by the legends of the Cú Sith, who’s howl was so terrifying that if you could not find shelter by the time the third howl sounded, you would drop dead of fright
Fascinating stuff, especially seeing how the lore that worked everything in has changed over the years. I remember researching for a fae inspired character to play, with an old group of friends but unfortunately I never got around to it before personal differences set in over my job and disrupted what I thought was a fairly mutual friendship group by that point. Still nice to watch or listen to table top stuff from time to time, think about what could have been, even tried picking up warhammer again but it is tough. Guess I'll add yours to the list watchlist.
20:30 Alright tropical monster holiday resort. Should be a goblin konga line any minute now, maybe we could go dragon turtle surfing and after that we can get some magical fairy drinks.
Finally! I've been waiting for so long for this to come out ^^ Fey is my favourite race and I love using them as a DM and as a player, the bring so much chaos into the table!
Hey, Esper! Great video as always. Have you ever thought about using your DnD experience to make a video series on how to take maximum advantage of different monsters and their skills in combat? I find many DMs tend to turn all monsters with cool abilities to brutish damage sponges. Perhaps you could even suggest cool spins on standard strategies for the monster you talk about in the video. Cheers!
in regards to the yeth hound, there are another example of such immunities, with all lycanthropes, who are also immune to non magical and non silver weapon attacks
Concept: a darkling bard, who has learned to utilize the non-visual side of the arts. Music, oral storytelling and poetry, cooking, and so on. Sure, visual beauty is still tempting, but this individual has learned how to create art without relying on sight. And even then, some art could definitely be made visually that takes advantage of how darkvision functions for its shading and black and white color palette. If darklings were a playable race this could even be a great PC. I would probably play this if I wasn't currently semi-friendless and in the middle of a campaign with people I haven't talked to since 2020. Haha.
I played as an Eladrin in one version of D&D getting fey step on a character at level 1 was god tier... and access to great spear proficiency essentially made it one of the best backup dps (in the early game), combined with another class that gave shadow step and you had an extremely versatile player character that could do the whole monk movement thing while hitting like a truck.
Have been loving the videos for a long time, but first time commenting. First i love that you mix entertainment, with information which is always good. Also as a DM has made me rethink of some monster that like you are underwhelmed with in monster manuals. but your ideas i have implemented or used as a stepping stone for my own modifications. I've been curious though if you have any intention of ever looking at Homebrews online and making lists for stuff like that? Obviously the more serious additions, not like goku in D&D or anything like that. I think it could be need though i'm sure it may be time consuming. Was just a thought
Holy crap you're back! I was wondering why your voice sounded so familiar. I saw you Island of Horns series YEARS ago. It was my favorite story and the way you narrated was exquisite. It's great to have you back!
If your looking for more fey you should get the tome of beasts by kobold press it has 400 new creatures! alot of feys and fiends , dragons , constructs , and so on and its "sequel" creature Codex. That has a lot kobolds to! I love your videos their so inspiring.
Well timed video, given the recent release of Magic: The Gathering's newest set, Throne of Eldraine. You even used a bunch of art from the set. Right on. I think what's always tripped me up about the Fey is how...arbitrary the category is, from a mythological perspective. Which makes sense, given that the idea of neatly categorized supernatural beings is a modern convention, at odds with the more fluid definition of folklore. In the old days, the difference between a fairy, a ghost, a vampire, a witch, and a werewolf were, at best, vague and perhaps unimportant. What I'd like to see is more attention paid to the deliberately non-technical, more fantastical aspects of fairies in the game. The idea that fairies can be confused by a person wearing their clothes backwards or inside out, or get warded off by iron nails in one's pockets or driven into a door. Where Unseelie fey (or, for that matter, giant type creatures like trolls or ogres) being tormented by the sound of music (giving a reason for even a non-Bard to take proficiency in a musical instrument). Or how fairies often have very esoteric rules that they follow and that they expect mortals to follow, with dire consequences for a failure of each. A Fey rider who cannot be chased down, but must instead be asked to stop. Mortals being entangled by magical obligations if they accept gifts from the fey. A fey who is rendered powerless by someone knowing their True Name, or else making the guessing of the True Name a part of whatever deal they make with a mortal.
@@kaloyanpetrov7863 Trust me it's better than them getting stuff wrong the way they do with norse/nordic myth. For an example there are no elves in Norse mythology. The word that's usually translated as elf is Val which means nondescript supernatural being, essentially Fey.
Ok ok I subscribed 😂 This was like my 4th video of yours and I’ve got a few more saved but that little dice roll bit was enough to make me subscribe haha well played 👏
Sent this to my DM, even though we are playing Pathfinder, I figured it could help him plan ahead, since he is planning to send us into the Feywild soon.
2nd ed had one of my favorite adventures of all time, and it featured Meenloks, in an issue of dragon. A prison was losing both prisoners and guards, and.. oh crap. While I'm typing this, you mentioned it. LOL, never mind.
You're spreading the greatest and most creative d&d content out there! One hour of this journey through fictional wonders... Cheers brother. 33:07 That's a second cheers!
I have a rogue who was level 2 and I wanted to cross class into warlock. My rogue was a half elf raised in the sewers of a huge city by a goblin. Because he was poorer then poor all he wants is money. So when he learns about this magic Apple that cures all sickness he pretends to have some. Meeting a odd but friendly enough merchant, with a abnormally large smile, he tricks him into buying the fake apples. 2 days later he and his party end up in the fay wild and Nathair Sgiathach a fairy dragon archfey. The dragon is very upset about being lied to and basically just tells my half elf “you belong to me now and I’ll be in touch.” After making me try out my new magic on a tree (leading to a very pissed off tree lady trying to kill us.) my character loves his power but is terrified of what this bond will lead to.
"Look out, they are coming through; Thunder the Quickling. Look out, they have an attitude; Thunder the Quickling. Thunder, they can really move. Thunder has a questionable attitude?" More or less that bit above this line is the long full name of a character I made that is a "X" level monk Quickling, which by the way is quicker than a Tabaxi of similar build. On the sheet their spd was like 200 just about so yes out running is not really an option at this point.
I absolutely love what you do! I don't get to game anymore but you keep that part of my soul alive and salivating for another game! I would, in a perfect world, like to see you and Mr. R.... SHIT. I can't remember his name but he does the," What they didn't tell you" series of vids. I don't know what topic it would be on but together I feel it would be nothing short of marvelous MAGIC!!! THANKS AGAIN!
All fey are F tier. I have never met a fey I've liked. And no, I'm not just annoyed that they always charm or paralyze my fighter leaving me completely useless in combat, shut up.