I've currently working on my first homebrew setting using 5E rules, and I've come upon a logistic issue regarding the Feywild's time warp feature, which I'm having some serious trouble figuring a solution for.
In my setting, I've established that in the distant past, the elvish race used to frequently come and go between the Material Plane and the Feywild, but eventually they splintered off into the typical elvish subtypes, with the wood elves deciding to establish themselves permanently on the Material Plane while the high elves remained in the Feywild. I intended to keep relations between the 2 cultures open, if somewhat strained due to their differences, but therein lies the problem...
Basing myself on the time warp rules for the Feywild listed in the DMG, I'd opted for a fixed ratio of 1 day on the Feywild = 1 week on the Material Plane. However, this ratio effectively means that 1 year (F) = 7 years (M), and therefore 100 years (F) = 700 years (M). So what I'm trying to figure out, is how are these 2 groups supposed to maintain any meaningful relations when a wood elf's entire lifespan on the Material Plane amounts to the same time it takes a high elf to reach maturity in the Feywild. I love the Feywild, and the idea of the time warp is too good to not use it, but I'm currently at a loss to figure out how exactly I can resolve the logistics involved.
Just so I'm clear on what you're proposing. Would it then mean that the time warp doesn't consist of 2 different time frames operating simultaneously on their respective planes, but rather that a "fast-forward" effect occurs at the moment someone crosses over from the Feywild into the Material Plane, unless they are creatures with the fey type, which would make them immune to the phenomenon?
Just so I'm clear on what you're proposing. Would it then mean that the time warp doesn't consist of 2 different time frames operating simultaneously on their respective planes, but rather that a "fast-forward" effect occurs at the moment someone crosses over from the Feywild into the Material Plane, unless they are creatures with the fey type, which would make them immune to the phenomenon?
Unless they're creatures with the fey type or the Fey Ancestry feature (or were born in the Feywild), yes.
Just so I'm clear on what you're proposing. Would it then mean that the time warp doesn't consist of 2 different time frames operating simultaneously on their respective planes, but rather that a "fast-forward" effect occurs at the moment someone crosses over from the Feywild into the Material Plane, unless they are creatures with the fey type, which would make them immune to the phenomenon?
Unless they're creatures with the fey type or the Fey Ancestry feature (or were born in the Feywild), yes.
Alrighty, thanks! This solution does fix the issues I had with the time warp, though I was kind of uncomfortable with the notion that the time warp was due exclusively to crossing the barrier between dimension rather than time running at a different pace on each plane, so I thought about it some more, and I think I figured out how to mix your idea with my initial concept. Let me know if my reasoning makes sense...
Time moves simultaneously on each plane, at the ratio of 1 day (Feywild) = 1 week (Material Plane). However, creatures with the fey ancestry trait are immune to the time warp's effects because they are spiritually and biologically linked to the Feywild, which keeps them chronologically synched with their home plane whenever they cross over to the Material Plane.
Some form of magical talisman/charm could also be devised as a temporary ward against the effects of the time warp for creatures without fey ancestry, basically to avoid splitting the party if they decide to do some plane-hopping (although the confused look on my players' face would almost be worth it).
Just so I'm clear on what you're proposing. Would it then mean that the time warp doesn't consist of 2 different time frames operating simultaneously on their respective planes, but rather that a "fast-forward" effect occurs at the moment someone crosses over from the Feywild into the Material Plane, unless they are creatures with the fey type, which would make them immune to the phenomenon?
Unless they're creatures with the fey type or the Fey Ancestry feature (or were born in the Feywild), yes.
Alrighty, thanks! This solution does fix the issues I had with the time warp, though I was kind of uncomfortable with the notion that the time warp was due exclusively to crossing the barrier between dimension rather than time running at a different pace on each plane, so I thought about it some more, and I think I figured out how to mix your idea with my initial concept. Let me know if my reasoning makes sense...
Time moves simultaneously on each plane, at the ratio of 1 day (Feywild) = 1 week (Material Plane). However, creatures with the fey ancestry trait are immune to the time warp's effects because they are spiritually and biologically linked to the Feywild, which keeps them chronologically synched with their home plane whenever they cross over to the Material Plane.
Some form of magical talisman/charm could also be devised as a temporary ward against the effects of the time warp for creatures without fey ancestry, basically to avoid splitting the party if they decide to do some plane-hopping (although the confused look on my players' face would almost be worth it).
My head hurts.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Its simple. The Fey are like Timelords from Doctor Who... They aren't effected by all the Timy Wimy stuff and they don't understand why everyone else thinks it's a big deal.
The Feywild is a big place. Perhaps time moves differently in different parts. The majority of the Feywild could move at your chosen 1 day = 1 week ratio. But then the elves have built their cities on the fringes of the wild, near borders with the material world (or perhaps the city is kept in a different time zone by powerful magics) so they live where time moves only twice as slow as the material plane. All the better for them to keep watch on the mortal worlds, and to maintain links with their brothers who seem to age and die at only twice the rate. And then there is the Deep Wild. Even the elves dare not tread in those places without powerful time bubble charms. Some have gotten lost while out for an afternoon stroll only to return home 3000 years later after even their elven grandchildren had passed away.
This way you can maintain healthy relations between the elves, keep a fairly standard set of time differences, maintain the mystery and sense of danger to wandering the unknown wilds, all while avoiding too much brain hurts.
I haven’t thought this all the way through, but if you have a party (some fey, some non-fey), the fey would watch their fellow non-fey age fairly rapidly if they stayed in the feywild for an extended period of time and upon return to the material plane how could the entire party re-enter at the same point in time.
Solution: The fey character’s time warp immunities extend in a field about them keeping non-fey in proper time sync with the material plane provided they are within that field at least once every 24 hours to re-synch them.
i’ve also been considering a severe variation of the time warp feature that allows both accelerated progression and reversal of time using a d100. Anything below a 50 reverses time. 50 and above accelerates time. Roll once per day. The closer to a 1 or 100 the more amplified the effects. Roll 3 100s in a row for an exclusively nonfey party, those three days equal 300 years have passed in the material plane. Roll 3 1s and they return 300 years in the past.
that said, while it sounds fun, I can hardly keep a calendar for their time in the material plane.
I'm actually trying to figure this out as well. I have a game I'm running where an elf character is from the Fey and has been on the Material Plane for over 100 years in Material Plane time. How would I go about seeing how long has passed in the Feywild? It's all a bit confusing o me.
I'm actually trying to figure this out as well. I have a game I'm running where an elf character is from the Fey and has been on the Material Plane for over 100 years in Material Plane time. How would I go about seeing how long has passed in the Feywild? It's all a bit confusing o me.
The rules OP is referencing are in Chapter 2 of the DMG under Optional Rules: Feywild Magic. It's basically a table you roll on to see how elapsed time has differed between the planes. You can have anything from "days become minutes" to "days become years." In true useless random table fashion, the most common result is "no change."
This is a cool thing, but it's optional for a reason. In a campaign heavily featuring the Feywild, this could really strain your narrative in a lot of ways. It's cool for a single jaunt into the Feywild, but I'd hesitate to use it otherwise unless you're building your setting around it.
Tis discussion is great because I've been looking at Feywild time as a 2-D image having a sine wave intersecting a straight line, with either Feywild time being the straight line OR the Prime Material timeline being the straight line. For gaming purposes I usually represent Material Plane time as straight line.
Also, the 'Sine wave' isn't constant. It is more like a 2D representation of a a variable sound wave with different amplitudes and frequencies. That is—time varies, yet crosses the Material timeline at random intervals where 'time' coincides' and when 'the veil' is thinnest and easiest to cross, if you can find a portal, such as a mushroom ring. In this manner, time in the Feywild from a Material perspective speeds up and slows down, but never reverses, yet while in the Feywild characters experience time normally.
A magic device can be created that notifies its wearer when the timeline intersect AND the direction-distance to the nearest Feywild-Material plane crossing--or Feywild-Shadowlands crossing, or Feywild-astral crossing, etc—which could be an adventure in and of itself.
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I've currently working on my first homebrew setting using 5E rules, and I've come upon a logistic issue regarding the Feywild's time warp feature, which I'm having some serious trouble figuring a solution for.
In my setting, I've established that in the distant past, the elvish race used to frequently come and go between the Material Plane and the Feywild, but eventually they splintered off into the typical elvish subtypes, with the wood elves deciding to establish themselves permanently on the Material Plane while the high elves remained in the Feywild. I intended to keep relations between the 2 cultures open, if somewhat strained due to their differences, but therein lies the problem...
Basing myself on the time warp rules for the Feywild listed in the DMG, I'd opted for a fixed ratio of 1 day on the Feywild = 1 week on the Material Plane. However, this ratio effectively means that 1 year (F) = 7 years (M), and therefore 100 years (F) = 700 years (M). So what I'm trying to figure out, is how are these 2 groups supposed to maintain any meaningful relations when a wood elf's entire lifespan on the Material Plane amounts to the same time it takes a high elf to reach maturity in the Feywild. I love the Feywild, and the idea of the time warp is too good to not use it, but I'm currently at a loss to figure out how exactly I can resolve the logistics involved.
Simple: It doesn't affect natives, just visitors.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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First of all, thanks for the reply, Matthias.
Just so I'm clear on what you're proposing. Would it then mean that the time warp doesn't consist of 2 different time frames operating simultaneously on their respective planes, but rather that a "fast-forward" effect occurs at the moment someone crosses over from the Feywild into the Material Plane, unless they are creatures with the fey type, which would make them immune to the phenomenon?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Its simple. The Fey are like Timelords from Doctor Who... They aren't effected by all the Timy Wimy stuff and they don't understand why everyone else thinks it's a big deal.
The Feywild is a big place. Perhaps time moves differently in different parts. The majority of the Feywild could move at your chosen 1 day = 1 week ratio. But then the elves have built their cities on the fringes of the wild, near borders with the material world (or perhaps the city is kept in a different time zone by powerful magics) so they live where time moves only twice as slow as the material plane. All the better for them to keep watch on the mortal worlds, and to maintain links with their brothers who seem to age and die at only twice the rate. And then there is the Deep Wild. Even the elves dare not tread in those places without powerful time bubble charms. Some have gotten lost while out for an afternoon stroll only to return home 3000 years later after even their elven grandchildren had passed away.
This way you can maintain healthy relations between the elves, keep a fairly standard set of time differences, maintain the mystery and sense of danger to wandering the unknown wilds, all while avoiding too much brain hurts.
I haven’t thought this all the way through, but if you have a party (some fey, some non-fey), the fey would watch their fellow non-fey age fairly rapidly if they stayed in the feywild for an extended period of time and upon return to the material plane how could the entire party re-enter at the same point in time.
Solution: The fey character’s time warp immunities extend in a field about them keeping non-fey in proper time sync with the material plane provided they are within that field at least once every 24 hours to re-synch them.
i’ve also been considering a severe variation of the time warp feature that allows both accelerated progression and reversal of time using a d100. Anything below a 50 reverses time. 50 and above accelerates time. Roll once per day. The closer to a 1 or 100 the more amplified the effects. Roll 3 100s in a row for an exclusively nonfey party, those three days equal 300 years have passed in the material plane. Roll 3 1s and they return 300 years in the past.
that said, while it sounds fun, I can hardly keep a calendar for their time in the material plane.
I'm actually trying to figure this out as well. I have a game I'm running where an elf character is from the Fey and has been on the Material Plane for over 100 years in Material Plane time. How would I go about seeing how long has passed in the Feywild? It's all a bit confusing o me.
The rules OP is referencing are in Chapter 2 of the DMG under Optional Rules: Feywild Magic. It's basically a table you roll on to see how elapsed time has differed between the planes. You can have anything from "days become minutes" to "days become years." In true useless random table fashion, the most common result is "no change."
This is a cool thing, but it's optional for a reason. In a campaign heavily featuring the Feywild, this could really strain your narrative in a lot of ways. It's cool for a single jaunt into the Feywild, but I'd hesitate to use it otherwise unless you're building your setting around it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Tis discussion is great because I've been looking at Feywild time as a 2-D image having a sine wave intersecting a straight line, with either Feywild time being the straight line OR the Prime Material timeline being the straight line. For gaming purposes I usually represent Material Plane time as straight line.
Also, the 'Sine wave' isn't constant. It is more like a 2D representation of a a variable sound wave with different amplitudes and frequencies. That is—time varies, yet crosses the Material timeline at random intervals where 'time' coincides' and when 'the veil' is thinnest and easiest to cross, if you can find a portal, such as a mushroom ring. In this manner, time in the Feywild from a Material perspective speeds up and slows down, but never reverses, yet while in the Feywild characters experience time normally.
A magic device can be created that notifies its wearer when the timeline intersect AND the direction-distance to the nearest Feywild-Material plane crossing--or Feywild-Shadowlands crossing, or Feywild-astral crossing, etc—which could be an adventure in and of itself.