I have been thinking about playing an archfey warlock for a while. I have two problems with them. 1) their abilities seem very underpowered. Is there any homebrew rules that make them a little more powerful? 2) i don't know any patrons. The books don't provide much information on the archfey, seelie, and unseelie courts. Is there any books that have more information about the archfey?
Archfey aren't well defined in D&D because D&D basically says "go research real-world Irish, Scottiwh, Welsh or Celtic mythology about faeries and use that, instead." Every single example Archfey in the book is a real-life mythological faerie save for 'ancient hags'. The Feywild in D&D is basically Underhill. It's not even disguised, really - it's just straight-up Underhill.
Fey are, to the least little pixie, batshit. Seelie are happy batshit, unseelie are scary batshit. Neither is 'Good', but the Unseelie are Bad News Bears of the most unpleasant sort. legit - if your DM gives you the question "What would you be more afraid of as the BBEG of the campaign - a powerful devil prince of the Nine Hells, or an Archfey of the Unseelie Court?", pick the devil prince. At least then you have the faintest chance in Hell of understanding their plan.
Fey are, to the least little pixie, batshit. Seelie are happy batshit, unseelie are scary batshit. Neither is 'Good', but the Unseelie are Bad News Bears of the most unpleasant sort.
Not quite. They’re all scary. The Seelie are just slightly less likely to kill you for pure shits and giggles. If the Seelie kill you they usually have a reason other than “because it’s funny.” You may never have any idea what their reason is, and their reason may simply be because you were “a weed in their garden” whatever the heck that might mean. But the Unseelie....
If D&D had made Merfolk as Fae (and they should have, or at least Fae ancestry), then the Seelie merfolk would be the ones who might help drowning sailors, but also keep them in Underhill for decades before getting bored and spitting them back on the prime material plane, maybe on the same world. The Unseelie merfolk would be the ones that would lure shipsfull of sailors to a watery grave shipwrecked upon the shoals just because “the water’s so pretty when it turns all pink like that... *teehee* and the the people turn blue.”
The Archefay is not the most min-maxed option for a Warlock. But they are OK at 1-5th level or so. After that they begin to suffer in comparison to other patrons. They do have a good spell (Faerie Fire) and a good attack (Frighten/Charm 1/short rest)
But when others start getting cool stuff at 6th level they get a slightly stronger version of a 2nd level spell. All the other Warlock Patrons offer more than that, in my opinion.
The Archefay is not the most min-maxed option for a Warlock. But they are OK at 1-5th level or so. After that they begin to suffer in comparison to other patrons. They do have a good spell (Faerie Fire) and a good attack (Frighten/Charm 1/short rest)
But when others start getting cool stuff at 6th level they get a slightly stronger version of a 2nd level spell. All the other Warlock Patrons offer more than that, in my opinion.
Thanks. I will probably ask my DM if i can give the a homebrew ability, like puting someone within 30 feet of asleep for a minute if they fail their save once per short rest.
Man it bothers me when everybody dismisses the Archfey as a junk patron -_-
The Fiend and the Hexblade are better for people building combat monsters, yes. The Archfey, on the other hand, has one of the hands-down best expanded spell lists of the entire warlock class. Misty Escape can bail the warlock out of a terrible multiattack barrage after the first hit, causing the critter to waste the rest of its salvo. Beguiling Defenses' active component is mediocre, but becoming immune to charm turns off so many of the mind-twisting bull****ery of many higher-level critters. Dark Delirium is not an amazing feature, but if you're good at kiting you can take a single enemy completely out of the fight for however long your team needs it there.
The Archfey is not a damage king, no. Not every 5e character needs to be. The only thing a warlock needs to keep up in the damage department is Eldritch Bonk and Agonizing Doink; everything after that is gravy. The Archfey, instead, specializes in tricksy and beguiling subterfuge and being difficult to pin down. If you're making a warlock specifically to be an eldritch machine gun and are intending to pull out your phone and check Twitter any time you're not in initiative, don't take Archfey. But man, stop harshing mah bois because errybuddy wants everything to be all fyte all'a time q_q
Gotta echo Yurei1453 at this point. Archfey is not a blaster class but I have been running an Eladrin Feylock for about 2 years and damn she is effective. I am the primary caster of the group so I took Tome Pact and have alot of helpful ritual spells. Out of combat I am the face with a Noble background (I am the consort of Oberon in the Seelie Court) and use my high Charisma skills and diplomatic immunity (as a visiting dignitary from the Feywild) to get whatever the f I want out of people lol. In combat I am the battlefield controller and disrupter. As an example, last weekend we were playing and the DM has us down in the underdark facing Illithid. Our Pali-Bard failed his stun roll and the illithid had his tentacles around the guys head. I know I don't have the firepower to one shot this illithid as it had not taken much damage yet and I figured his mental saves were high so Banishment or Hold Monster would likely fail. So I polymorphed our Pali-Bard into a Mammoth. DM starts laughing hysterically as the Pali-Mammoth proceeds to gore the freaking crap out of the Illithid.
Pali-Bard is saved from instant death (He had 4 HP with an Illithid wrapped around his head) and we managed to finish off the other minions. This is just one of many save stories that my warlock has pulled off. The Feylock excels at battlefield control and the ability to move around the battlefield. I regularly out-damage our barbarian and paladin with the combination of Eldritch Blast+Agonizing Blast and Greater Invisibility. At level 11 and 3 shots of EB at advantage, I am usually getting a crit every round.
People always look at the abilities of the subclass but alot of the Feylock power comes in the amazing expanded spells list. ALOT of both in and out of combat utility in the Feylock spell list. That's not to say the abilities aren't bad. Fey Charm has saved me more than once from a melee swarm at low levels. Misty Escape is amazing and immunity to Charm takes away some of the worst spells and conditions imposed in the game from all sorts of high level creatures such as Mind Flayers and Fiends.
I see. My biggest problem with the archfay was the mistu step but form what you guys have said, the ability could be use to get a low heath warlock away from a powerful monster. That could come in handy. Besides i wanted to play a pact of the archfey for the chaos and mayhem i can create as well as charm abilities, not DPS, and all of the abitiys can create lots of chaos.
I agree. I'm playing an Archfey Pact of the Chain warlock right now and he's big on enchantment and illusion. He does battlefield control, sometimes from a bar stool, while the bruisers in the party get their knuckles all bloody. There's no reason for him to dirty his hands, that's why he has companions!
Look at it this way: when something has a huge, three or four-hit debilitating multiattack barrage, you get one free "Get me away from this *******!" blink per short rest. Similarly, if you're grappled, restrained, or otherwise stuck somewhere and either one big thing or a bunch of smaller things are about to make you the main event at Whoopass Circus, you can tell them all to go screw themselves. Skillful deployment of Misty Escape will save your ass - or allow you to deliberately tank a hit from a nothing minion in order to utilize your teleport to move to advantageous ground in a heavy boss fight, bypassing minion defenders or tough fortifications. On top of that, you're invisible until your next turn. That means virtually the entirety of the non-Giant Death Boss monster population of D&D can't find you to screw you up.
Misty Escape is the best of the Archfey's four funky warlock abilities, not the worst. Tack on the fact that the ESL has top-tier winners in every tier that're generally perfectly suited to the warlock's "make this count" style of pact Magic spellcasting, and an Archfey lock can easily hold its own on the battlefield whilst outperforming the slobbering legions of Fiend and Hexblade warlocks out of initiative.
My own Archfey warlock is my favorite character. I rarely get a chance to play her, but even in the few games she's had a chance to run in, she's seriously impressed both the DM and her companions. I've built her as a magical thief and infiltrator, with spells designed to enhance her mobility and options for getting into places she shouldn't be. A lot of what makes her tick is core warlock abilities rather than Archfey specifically, but frankly there's only one, maybe two spells on the Archfey ESL you don't want on that sort of character. Fey Presence lets you slip pursuers long enough to get clean of a sneak gone bust, covered Misty Escape above, and while I've never had a chance to tool around with Beguiling Defenses or Dark Delirium, Memory being immune to charms is so perfect for her character and Delirium is, if nothing else, an excellent interrogation tool.
God I love Memory. I wanna play her for realzies so much...q_q...
/Whisper not every Fey is Anglo-Celtic. With a little thought, you can turn many legends into Archfey, and if you discuss it with your DM and it might even enrich the Feywild. /Whisper
Here's some examples: Satyrs are originally Greek and had near godlike powers. Ditto Centaurs. You can even argue that creatures like the greater Cyclopes and the 9 muses are Archfey, since they're spirits and not gods.
In China, certain powerful Fey were called Mogwai. Need a reference? Watch Gremlins. And forgoshakes don't feed that Fey after midnight!
In Japan, there are kitsune - Fox like Fey.
In the middle East, Sheydim were guardian spirits of houses and with a little imagination, a powerful Sheyd would be a great Fey. (Shameless self promotion: Sheyd is my cat's name, pronounced like Shade).
In Africa, the Aziza were friendly West African spirits said to give magic to those deserving.
From my hometown area of Western NY come the Haudenosaunee spirits called Jogah, very much tricksters, though not usually malicious.
It's ok to think outside of the box and welcome something unique. You might even add flavor and adventure possibilities to the table beyond your own.
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
You're welcome. There's so many possibilities I think and I think D&D should think about a Feywild book that's more than just Anglo-Celtic.
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May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
You're welcome. There's so many possibilities I think and I think D&D should think about a Feywild book that's more than just Anglo-Celtic.
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
You're welcome. There's so many possibilities I think and I think D&D should think about a Feywild book that's more than just Anglo-Celtic.
Any expansion of Feywild material frankly is welcome. Though don’t hate on the Anglo Celts just cause we the OG Fae 😀
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
You're welcome. There's so many possibilities I think and I think D&D should think about a Feywild book that's more than just Anglo-Celtic.
Any expansion of Feywild material frankly is welcome. Though don’t hate on the Anglo Celts just cause we the OG Fae 😀
No hate here, just spreading the luv to six continents!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
So this inspired a thought: who's up for co-writing an expansion book on the Feywild that isn't Anglo-Celtic? There's a great one written called "Journey into the Feywild." Great material, but it's Anglo-Celtic centered. The Feywild is a plane, and as such, has no fixed dimensions other than that of our collective imagination.
Just thinking aloud...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
That could work actually. Divide into subsections like Volos but with each section leaning on a different region of the worlds mythology for inspiration on Feywild.
I recently started DMing my first campaign and am planning to offer my rogue a multiclass. The lack of definition of Archfey mentioned earlier is making planning the encounter difficult for me. Any suggestions?
In addition to the classics (which are worth a read or re-read), grab a book of your favorite kid's fairy tales, and just go dark... because that's where the fey live. Alternately, if you haven't read any of the Harry Dresden books, you could do worse. And there's a lot of background there with the whole courts of the Fey / Seelie / Unseelie split. Shakespeare is hard to beat, though...
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I have been thinking about playing an archfey warlock for a while. I have two problems with them. 1) their abilities seem very underpowered. Is there any homebrew rules that make them a little more powerful? 2) i don't know any patrons. The books don't provide much information on the archfey, seelie, and unseelie courts. Is there any books that have more information about the archfey?
Archfey aren't well defined in D&D because D&D basically says "go research real-world Irish, Scottiwh, Welsh or Celtic mythology about faeries and use that, instead." Every single example Archfey in the book is a real-life mythological faerie save for 'ancient hags'. The Feywild in D&D is basically Underhill. It's not even disguised, really - it's just straight-up Underhill.
Fey are, to the least little pixie, batshit. Seelie are happy batshit, unseelie are scary batshit. Neither is 'Good', but the Unseelie are Bad News Bears of the most unpleasant sort. legit - if your DM gives you the question "What would you be more afraid of as the BBEG of the campaign - a powerful devil prince of the Nine Hells, or an Archfey of the Unseelie Court?", pick the devil prince. At least then you have the faintest chance in Hell of understanding their plan.
Please do not contact or message me.
Not quite. They’re all scary. The Seelie are just slightly less likely to kill you for pure shits and giggles. If the Seelie kill you they usually have a reason other than “because it’s funny.” You may never have any idea what their reason is, and their reason may simply be because you were “a weed in their garden” whatever the heck that might mean. But the Unseelie....
If D&D had made Merfolk as Fae (and they should have, or at least Fae ancestry), then the Seelie merfolk would be the ones who might help drowning sailors, but also keep them in Underhill for decades before getting bored and spitting them back on the prime material plane, maybe on the same world. The Unseelie merfolk would be the ones that would lure shipsfull of sailors to a watery grave shipwrecked upon the shoals just because “the water’s so pretty when it turns all pink like that... *teehee* and the the people turn blue.”
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The Archefay is not the most min-maxed option for a Warlock. But they are OK at 1-5th level or so. After that they begin to suffer in comparison to other patrons. They do have a good spell (Faerie Fire) and a good attack (Frighten/Charm 1/short rest)
But when others start getting cool stuff at 6th level they get a slightly stronger version of a 2nd level spell. All the other Warlock Patrons offer more than that, in my opinion.
Thanks. I will probably ask my DM if i can give the a homebrew ability, like puting someone within 30 feet of asleep for a minute if they fail their save once per short rest.
Man it bothers me when everybody dismisses the Archfey as a junk patron -_-
The Fiend and the Hexblade are better for people building combat monsters, yes. The Archfey, on the other hand, has one of the hands-down best expanded spell lists of the entire warlock class. Misty Escape can bail the warlock out of a terrible multiattack barrage after the first hit, causing the critter to waste the rest of its salvo. Beguiling Defenses' active component is mediocre, but becoming immune to charm turns off so many of the mind-twisting bull****ery of many higher-level critters. Dark Delirium is not an amazing feature, but if you're good at kiting you can take a single enemy completely out of the fight for however long your team needs it there.
The Archfey is not a damage king, no. Not every 5e character needs to be. The only thing a warlock needs to keep up in the damage department is Eldritch Bonk and Agonizing Doink; everything after that is gravy. The Archfey, instead, specializes in tricksy and beguiling subterfuge and being difficult to pin down. If you're making a warlock specifically to be an eldritch machine gun and are intending to pull out your phone and check Twitter any time you're not in initiative, don't take Archfey. But man, stop harshing mah bois because errybuddy wants everything to be all fyte all'a time q_q
Please do not contact or message me.
Gotta echo Yurei1453 at this point. Archfey is not a blaster class but I have been running an Eladrin Feylock for about 2 years and damn she is effective. I am the primary caster of the group so I took Tome Pact and have alot of helpful ritual spells. Out of combat I am the face with a Noble background (I am the consort of Oberon in the Seelie Court) and use my high Charisma skills and diplomatic immunity (as a visiting dignitary from the Feywild) to get whatever the f I want out of people lol. In combat I am the battlefield controller and disrupter. As an example, last weekend we were playing and the DM has us down in the underdark facing Illithid. Our Pali-Bard failed his stun roll and the illithid had his tentacles around the guys head. I know I don't have the firepower to one shot this illithid as it had not taken much damage yet and I figured his mental saves were high so Banishment or Hold Monster would likely fail. So I polymorphed our Pali-Bard into a Mammoth. DM starts laughing hysterically as the Pali-Mammoth proceeds to gore the freaking crap out of the Illithid.
Pali-Bard is saved from instant death (He had 4 HP with an Illithid wrapped around his head) and we managed to finish off the other minions. This is just one of many save stories that my warlock has pulled off. The Feylock excels at battlefield control and the ability to move around the battlefield. I regularly out-damage our barbarian and paladin with the combination of Eldritch Blast+Agonizing Blast and Greater Invisibility. At level 11 and 3 shots of EB at advantage, I am usually getting a crit every round.
People always look at the abilities of the subclass but alot of the Feylock power comes in the amazing expanded spells list. ALOT of both in and out of combat utility in the Feylock spell list. That's not to say the abilities aren't bad. Fey Charm has saved me more than once from a melee swarm at low levels. Misty Escape is amazing and immunity to Charm takes away some of the worst spells and conditions imposed in the game from all sorts of high level creatures such as Mind Flayers and Fiends.
I see. My biggest problem with the archfay was the mistu step but form what you guys have said, the ability could be use to get a low heath warlock away from a powerful monster. That could come in handy. Besides i wanted to play a pact of the archfey for the chaos and mayhem i can create as well as charm abilities, not DPS, and all of the abitiys can create lots of chaos.
I agree. I'm playing an Archfey Pact of the Chain warlock right now and he's big on enchantment and illusion. He does battlefield control, sometimes from a bar stool, while the bruisers in the party get their knuckles all bloody. There's no reason for him to dirty his hands, that's why he has companions!
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Look at it this way: when something has a huge, three or four-hit debilitating multiattack barrage, you get one free "Get me away from this *******!" blink per short rest. Similarly, if you're grappled, restrained, or otherwise stuck somewhere and either one big thing or a bunch of smaller things are about to make you the main event at Whoopass Circus, you can tell them all to go screw themselves. Skillful deployment of Misty Escape will save your ass - or allow you to deliberately tank a hit from a nothing minion in order to utilize your teleport to move to advantageous ground in a heavy boss fight, bypassing minion defenders or tough fortifications. On top of that, you're invisible until your next turn. That means virtually the entirety of the non-Giant Death Boss monster population of D&D can't find you to screw you up.
Misty Escape is the best of the Archfey's four funky warlock abilities, not the worst. Tack on the fact that the ESL has top-tier winners in every tier that're generally perfectly suited to the warlock's "make this count" style of pact Magic spellcasting, and an Archfey lock can easily hold its own on the battlefield whilst outperforming the slobbering legions of Fiend and Hexblade warlocks out of initiative.
My own Archfey warlock is my favorite character. I rarely get a chance to play her, but even in the few games she's had a chance to run in, she's seriously impressed both the DM and her companions. I've built her as a magical thief and infiltrator, with spells designed to enhance her mobility and options for getting into places she shouldn't be. A lot of what makes her tick is core warlock abilities rather than Archfey specifically, but frankly there's only one, maybe two spells on the Archfey ESL you don't want on that sort of character. Fey Presence lets you slip pursuers long enough to get clean of a sneak gone bust, covered Misty Escape above, and while I've never had a chance to tool around with Beguiling Defenses or Dark Delirium, Memory being immune to charms is so perfect for her character and Delirium is, if nothing else, an excellent interrogation tool.
God I love Memory. I wanna play her for realzies so much...q_q...
Please do not contact or message me.
*looks around*
/Whisper not every Fey is Anglo-Celtic. With a little thought, you can turn many legends into Archfey, and if you discuss it with your DM and it might even enrich the Feywild. /Whisper
Here's some examples: Satyrs are originally Greek and had near godlike powers. Ditto Centaurs. You can even argue that creatures like the greater Cyclopes and the 9 muses are Archfey, since they're spirits and not gods.
In China, certain powerful Fey were called Mogwai. Need a reference? Watch Gremlins. And forgoshakes don't feed that Fey after midnight!
In Japan, there are kitsune - Fox like Fey.
In the middle East, Sheydim were guardian spirits of houses and with a little imagination, a powerful Sheyd would be a great Fey. (Shameless self promotion: Sheyd is my cat's name, pronounced like Shade).
In Africa, the Aziza were friendly West African spirits said to give magic to those deserving.
From my hometown area of Western NY come the Haudenosaunee spirits called Jogah, very much tricksters, though not usually malicious.
It's ok to think outside of the box and welcome something unique. You might even add flavor and adventure possibilities to the table beyond your own.
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Thank you. This makes making a patron much easier. I have been obsessed with mythology for a while, turning a fey-like mythological being into my patron will be a more fun then scouring thousands of wikis for information (though it is a close second)
You're welcome. There's so many possibilities I think and I think D&D should think about a Feywild book that's more than just Anglo-Celtic.
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
Agreed
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Any expansion of Feywild material frankly is welcome. Though don’t hate on the Anglo Celts just cause we the OG Fae 😀
No hate here, just spreading the luv to six continents!
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
So this inspired a thought: who's up for co-writing an expansion book on the Feywild that isn't Anglo-Celtic? There's a great one written called "Journey into the Feywild." Great material, but it's Anglo-Celtic centered. The Feywild is a plane, and as such, has no fixed dimensions other than that of our collective imagination.
Just thinking aloud...
May the gentle moonlinght guide you to greater wisdom
That could work actually. Divide into subsections like Volos but with each section leaning on a different region of the worlds mythology for inspiration on Feywild.
I recently started DMing my first campaign and am planning to offer my rogue a multiclass. The lack of definition of Archfey mentioned earlier is making planning the encounter difficult for me. Any suggestions?
In addition to the classics (which are worth a read or re-read), grab a book of your favorite kid's fairy tales, and just go dark... because that's where the fey live. Alternately, if you haven't read any of the Harry Dresden books, you could do worse. And there's a lot of background there with the whole courts of the Fey / Seelie / Unseelie split. Shakespeare is hard to beat, though...