So, for my next campaign, I'm planning for my players to have to visit the fey at one point or another. One quest in particular would revolve around them having to infiltrate the court of the fairy king oberon himself. I want to describe the places as this really oddly bizarre, yet beautiful place, with a lot of weird and exotic creatures walking around .... except, I can't come up with beings to fill the place. The problem is that most creatures that would call a place like that home in most fantasy settings, aren't really all that special or rare in D&D. For example elves and gnomes, who'd usually make their home in a place like this in most fairy tales, are a pretty common sight within your standard D&D setting. Same for kobolds, though they are a whole different beast than their usual depictions in fiction. Even talking animal people aren't that special with folk like the aarakocra, tabaxi or firbolgs walking around. So far I managed to throw together a couple of fairies, dryads and leprechauns, as well as a handful nymphs and one or two satyrs. Still, this seems an awful meager yield for a place that should be as awe-inspiring as this. I mean, this is THE court of the fairy king, it should be a fantastic and magical place, but I'm honestly struggling with making its inhabitants as fantastical as the place deserves.
So, tl;dr: I wonder, are there any creatures I could add to the places to make it look more varied and interesting? Or am I really limited to that handful of creatures?
Thanks for all of your attention and as always, I wish you a nice day. Cya later^^
Well, you can come up with lots of one-off creatures, and a lot of things that would traditionally be fey are a different category in D&D (e.g. duergar, goblins, trolls), but 5e hasn't provided a lot of fey (neither did 3e), though I get two pages when I search for fey without limiting the books.
You can always ignore the normal rules when it comes to flavor things like this. Put in a devil dancing with a mermaid. A band made up of giant slugs playing the cantina song from Star Wars. A dancing bear, talking of course. An anthropomorphic rainbow. A star in human (or half-orc) form. A young brass dragon who is very, very drunk. If your players ask, assure them there are very good reasons why they are there and leave it at that. Have fun and don’t worry about if it shows up in a book. I also picture lots of elves and forest animals, maybe some pixies, but that’s probably not as weird as you were looking for.
Blink dogs, giant frogs, shapeshifters. Don't forget that a fey castle itself should be very magical and bizarre...doors that appear and disappear, rooms that suddenly change appearance, strange and unexpected, illogical things like, say, a secret door with a heavilly trapped corridor that leads to a tiny room with a single (nonmagical) glove lying on the floor.
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Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) WoodElf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2 Last Tree StandingTabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1 Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
First, if the characters are going to actually fight all these fey then you need stat blocks. Otherwise all you need are some descriptions of all of these strange and wonderful fey creatures (which can be both good and evil types). If you need stats you can use the existing stat blocks as a starting point but for most all you need is a description.
- uneathly beauty - pale blue skin - tall
- ephemeral, almost translucent skin - hair in a golden cloud around her head
- 6 legged dog with long ears and a cute face - and amazing fangs if they happen to open their mouth
- heavy set smith with the smell of iron about them - rough and craggy features - teeth that come to a point
Of course you can also have large groups of fairies, dryads, satyrs, centaurs, sprites as well as hags and others. Some can look beautiful, other not, most might have some sort of glamour that hides their true appearance.
However, having the characters infiltrate a fey court is a huge challenge since they will be obvious unless they have some very powerful magic to disguise them and possibly some accomplices on the inside aiding them.
Finally, if you really want some more fey creatures there are third party products available on DMs Guild that include descriptions and stat blocks for hundreds of fey creatures. You could check those out and see if they are worth the investment.
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So, for my next campaign, I'm planning for my players to have to visit the fey at one point or another. One quest in particular would revolve around them having to infiltrate the court of the fairy king oberon himself. I want to describe the places as this really oddly bizarre, yet beautiful place, with a lot of weird and exotic creatures walking around .... except, I can't come up with beings to fill the place. The problem is that most creatures that would call a place like that home in most fantasy settings, aren't really all that special or rare in D&D. For example elves and gnomes, who'd usually make their home in a place like this in most fairy tales, are a pretty common sight within your standard D&D setting. Same for kobolds, though they are a whole different beast than their usual depictions in fiction. Even talking animal people aren't that special with folk like the aarakocra, tabaxi or firbolgs walking around. So far I managed to throw together a couple of fairies, dryads and leprechauns, as well as a handful nymphs and one or two satyrs. Still, this seems an awful meager yield for a place that should be as awe-inspiring as this. I mean, this is THE court of the fairy king, it should be a fantastic and magical place, but I'm honestly struggling with making its inhabitants as fantastical as the place deserves.
So, tl;dr: I wonder, are there any creatures I could add to the places to make it look more varied and interesting? Or am I really limited to that handful of creatures?
Thanks for all of your attention and as always, I wish you a nice day. Cya later^^
Well, you can come up with lots of one-off creatures, and a lot of things that would traditionally be fey are a different category in D&D (e.g. duergar, goblins, trolls), but 5e hasn't provided a lot of fey (neither did 3e), though I get two pages when I search for fey without limiting the books.
You can always just make fey modifications to mundane things. Pigs with wings. Foxes whose fur shimmers like it’s on fire. Blink monkeys.
You can always ignore the normal rules when it comes to flavor things like this. Put in a devil dancing with a mermaid. A band made up of giant slugs playing the cantina song from Star Wars. A dancing bear, talking of course. An anthropomorphic rainbow. A star in human (or half-orc) form. A young brass dragon who is very, very drunk. If your players ask, assure them there are very good reasons why they are there and leave it at that. Have fun and don’t worry about if it shows up in a book.
I also picture lots of elves and forest animals, maybe some pixies, but that’s probably not as weird as you were looking for.
Blink dogs, giant frogs, shapeshifters. Don't forget that a fey castle itself should be very magical and bizarre...doors that appear and disappear, rooms that suddenly change appearance, strange and unexpected, illogical things like, say, a secret door with a heavilly trapped corridor that leads to a tiny room with a single (nonmagical) glove lying on the floor.
Edeleth Treesong (Aldalire) Wood Elf Druid lvl 8 Talaveroth Sub 2
Last Tree Standing Tabaxi Ranger, Chef and Hoardsperson lvl 5, Company of the Dragon Team 1
Choir Kenku Cleric, Tempest Domain, lvl 11, Descent Into Avernus Test Drive
Poinki Goblin Paladin, Redemption, lvl 5, Tales from Talaveroth
Lyrika Nyx Satyr Bard lvl 1, The Six Kingdoms of Talia
First, if the characters are going to actually fight all these fey then you need stat blocks. Otherwise all you need are some descriptions of all of these strange and wonderful fey creatures (which can be both good and evil types). If you need stats you can use the existing stat blocks as a starting point but for most all you need is a description.
- uneathly beauty - pale blue skin - tall
- ephemeral, almost translucent skin - hair in a golden cloud around her head
- 6 legged dog with long ears and a cute face - and amazing fangs if they happen to open their mouth
- heavy set smith with the smell of iron about them - rough and craggy features - teeth that come to a point
Of course you can also have large groups of fairies, dryads, satyrs, centaurs, sprites as well as hags and others. Some can look beautiful, other not, most might have some sort of glamour that hides their true appearance.
However, having the characters infiltrate a fey court is a huge challenge since they will be obvious unless they have some very powerful magic to disguise them and possibly some accomplices on the inside aiding them.
Finally, if you really want some more fey creatures there are third party products available on DMs Guild that include descriptions and stat blocks for hundreds of fey creatures. You could check those out and see if they are worth the investment.