I'm writing world lore and was wondering if it's possible to have an area of land in the material plane be a permanent "access" to the Feywild or if it breaks worldly 'rules'.
Basically that the separation between the planes is thin in that area, so mystifying effects and fey can be found in this area in the material plane like in the Feywild.
That's straight up an idea explored in the Dungeon Master's Guide, so I'd say it's definitely aces under the rules.
You could also, for more flavor, have it be a permanent access point that only opens sometimes i.e when it's a full moon, or when starlight hits it, etc.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
The concept of thin areas where the Feywild and Shadowfell are close to the Material Plane is indeed mentioned in lore. Those places share appearances with each other in the other plane with Feywild-ish magical areas in the Material Plane and the inexplicable presence of mundane things in the Feywild. I see no reason why there wouldn't be places that might actually overlap where one could easily accidentally walk into another plane by taking the wrong steps: A place where wanderers (such as curious children or the more adventurous townsfolk) mysteriously vanish in what the locals consider to be a haunted place...
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
As others have pointed out such regions aren’t problematic to world building they are almost a required part of world building. Elven forests are ideal locations for Feywild connections, dark canyons for Shadowfell connections etc. keep in mind that such transitions are also sometimes time portals or that time runs differently in the different planes so travelers could come back after a few (to them) months and find that years have past in their home world - or the reverse where they have spent years off plane only to find that meet months have past at home. Have fun with it.
You're talking about what the DMG describes as Fey Crossings, the Shadowfell has a parallel in Shadow Crossings. So it's not so much "can you" but it's what "you're supposed to do" in the default cosmology. As discussed above some are quite literal portals you walk through and then you're in the Feywild, but others are less clear. Like a pool you dive into and when you surface, now you're in the Feywild (and maybe it's not as easy to get back). Maybe there's a glenn, but you have to intend to take a long rest upon which you wake in the Feywild. Other times it may be a particular time of year, other times the transition doesn't happen or takes you to the Shadowfell. But yeah, the idea of the Feywilld and Shadowfell is that there are junctures between the prime material and what some call its "echo planes", some of those junctures are pretty firmly held, others are a bit more tenuous. You've got a lot of license to lean into your creative whimsy there.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Fairy rings, fairy mounds, fairy forts, et al are all long traditional fey places.
I set my new world up so that there are dimensions, and feywild is just one of them; so is hell, the Abyss, heaven, etc.
cross the Veil that is fabric of reality, go beyond the Pale, and learn what strange new world awaits!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
It is definitely possible and greatly encouraged. All sorts of things can be fey crossings, mushroom rings, fairy mounds, standing stones, the bottoms of ponds, etc. A did hear about one book and world crossing was something like if you step on the crack of a sidewalk during a certain day of the year while a comet passes by directly overhead, then you are magically transported. That could be a fun way to bring the characters from one place to another because it is funny, unique, and there isn’t a direct way to get back. Other portals may include a rabbit hole, the end of a rainbow, on the back of a magical horse, eating magic fruit, passing through the back of wooden furniture, getting caught in a tornado, being struck by lightning, passing through a mirror, wearing magic shoes, or going through a waterfall.
It is definitely possible and greatly encouraged. All sorts of things can be fey crossings, mushroom rings, fairy mounds, standing stones, the bottoms of ponds, etc. A did hear about one book and world crossing was something like if you step on the crack of a sidewalk during a certain day of the year while a comet passes by directly overhead, then you are magically transported. That could be a fun way to bring the characters from one place to another because it is funny, unique, and there isn’t a direct way to get back. Other portals may include a rabbit hole, the end of a rainbow, on the back of a magical horse, eating magic fruit, passing through the back of wooden furniture, getting caught in a tornado, being struck by lightning, passing through a mirror, wearing magic shoes, or going through a waterfall.
and, if they are children, there are homes for when they do return…
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I had a similar sort of area in my Underdark campaign that was concordant to the Fey dark, it was a mushroom grove called the Painted Forest and locals would always warn travelers not to enter it, or even stare too long at the too-vibrant colorful glowing mushroom caps... anyone who spent too much time there would be lured deeper into the other realm where nothing is quite what it seems.
I had a similar sort of area in my Underdark campaign that was concordant to the Fey dark, it was a mushroom grove called the Painted Forest and locals would always warn travelers not to enter it, or even stare too long at the too-vibrant colorful glowing mushroom caps... anyone who spent too much time there would be lured deeper into the other realm where nothing is quite what it seems.
I don't know/remember if it showed up in prior editions Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, but a 3rd party equivalent for 5e I got talks about "Devil's Taints" places so deep into the Underdark if you're not careful you can find yourself in one of the lower planes. When I was a kid and anyone was digging, that superstition of digging too deep would always surface in the chatter. But you could definitely do it with Fey and Shadow stuff too, I mean I want to say maybe in Domains of Delight there's even a description of what the Feywild Underdark would be like. And luminescent mushrooms providing rave like lighting was a feature.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I'm writing world lore and was wondering if it's possible to have an area of land in the material plane be a permanent "access" to the Feywild or if it breaks worldly 'rules'.
Basically that the separation between the planes is thin in that area, so mystifying effects and fey can be found in this area in the material plane like in the Feywild.
That's straight up an idea explored in the Dungeon Master's Guide, so I'd say it's definitely aces under the rules.
You could also, for more flavor, have it be a permanent access point that only opens sometimes i.e when it's a full moon, or when starlight hits it, etc.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
The concept of thin areas where the Feywild and Shadowfell are close to the Material Plane is indeed mentioned in lore. Those places share appearances with each other in the other plane with Feywild-ish magical areas in the Material Plane and the inexplicable presence of mundane things in the Feywild. I see no reason why there wouldn't be places that might actually overlap where one could easily accidentally walk into another plane by taking the wrong steps: A place where wanderers (such as curious children or the more adventurous townsfolk) mysteriously vanish in what the locals consider to be a haunted place...
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
As others have pointed out such regions aren’t problematic to world building they are almost a required part of world building. Elven forests are ideal locations for Feywild connections, dark canyons for Shadowfell connections etc. keep in mind that such transitions are also sometimes time portals or that time runs differently in the different planes so travelers could come back after a few (to them) months and find that years have past in their home world - or the reverse where they have spent years off plane only to find that meet months have past at home. Have fun with it.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
You're talking about what the DMG describes as Fey Crossings, the Shadowfell has a parallel in Shadow Crossings. So it's not so much "can you" but it's what "you're supposed to do" in the default cosmology. As discussed above some are quite literal portals you walk through and then you're in the Feywild, but others are less clear. Like a pool you dive into and when you surface, now you're in the Feywild (and maybe it's not as easy to get back). Maybe there's a glenn, but you have to intend to take a long rest upon which you wake in the Feywild. Other times it may be a particular time of year, other times the transition doesn't happen or takes you to the Shadowfell. But yeah, the idea of the Feywilld and Shadowfell is that there are junctures between the prime material and what some call its "echo planes", some of those junctures are pretty firmly held, others are a bit more tenuous. You've got a lot of license to lean into your creative whimsy there.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Fairy rings, fairy mounds, fairy forts, et al are all long traditional fey places.
I set my new world up so that there are dimensions, and feywild is just one of them; so is hell, the Abyss, heaven, etc.
cross the Veil that is fabric of reality, go beyond the Pale, and learn what strange new world awaits!
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
It is definitely possible and greatly encouraged. All sorts of things can be fey crossings, mushroom rings, fairy mounds, standing stones, the bottoms of ponds, etc. A did hear about one book and world crossing was something like if you step on the crack of a sidewalk during a certain day of the year while a comet passes by directly overhead, then you are magically transported. That could be a fun way to bring the characters from one place to another because it is funny, unique, and there isn’t a direct way to get back. Other portals may include a rabbit hole, the end of a rainbow, on the back of a magical horse, eating magic fruit, passing through the back of wooden furniture, getting caught in a tornado, being struck by lightning, passing through a mirror, wearing magic shoes, or going through a waterfall.
and, if they are children, there are homes for when they do return…
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I had a similar sort of area in my Underdark campaign that was concordant to the Fey dark, it was a mushroom grove called the Painted Forest and locals would always warn travelers not to enter it, or even stare too long at the too-vibrant colorful glowing mushroom caps... anyone who spent too much time there would be lured deeper into the other realm where nothing is quite what it seems.
All generalizations are false.
I don't know/remember if it showed up in prior editions Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, but a 3rd party equivalent for 5e I got talks about "Devil's Taints" places so deep into the Underdark if you're not careful you can find yourself in one of the lower planes. When I was a kid and anyone was digging, that superstition of digging too deep would always surface in the chatter. But you could definitely do it with Fey and Shadow stuff too, I mean I want to say maybe in Domains of Delight there's even a description of what the Feywild Underdark would be like. And luminescent mushrooms providing rave like lighting was a feature.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.