I have a question for y'all. I have a Centaur PC in a campaign of mine and their species is listed as Fey, not humanoid. It's a small note in their description, but I can't help but to feel like this is a really important note.
My player asked what that meant, and I really had no idea. I'm not aware of any other player races that are not humanoids. So my question is, what does being a Fey mean?
For example, hold person doesn't work on them right? Cause that spell says a humanoid creature. Fey aren't humanoid then, right? They are instead, Fey.
How does this interact with Charm spells? Does this mean the Centaur is somewhat resistant to being charmed? Can they be put to sleep by magic? Do they sleep at all?
Elves have that Fey Ancestry ability, so do Centaurs get it too since they're literally Fey? Or does simply none of this apply and Centaurs are Fey just for flavor?
It's confusing and I'm struggling on how to answer my PC. I've tried looking some stuff up, but there's not much information out there. I gotta wonder why WoTC made the Centaur have a different classification if its purely for flavor. Why bother then? There has to be some pros and cons to it, right?
Any opinions are welcome! I'm just not sure myself how to handle it ^^'
Basically if something only affects humanoids centaur would not be a valid target. Otherwise play as normal. Your example of hold person couldn't target a centaur but hold monster could. However since sleep doesn't specify humanoids a centaur has no special protection and would be a valid target.
TLDR: being fey doesn't grant bonuses, but impacts what spells/abilities can target the centaur
Your wrong about no player races being Fey, eladrin are Fey.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Your wrong about no player races being Fey, eladrin are Fey.
Not true. Centaurs specifically have a feature which says they are Fey instead of Humanoid - Eladrin do not - therefore they are still Humanoid like all Elves.
Your wrong about no player races being Fey, eladrin are Fey.
Not true. Centaurs specifically have a feature which says they are Fey instead of Humanoid - Eladrin do not - therefore they are still Humanoid like all Elves.
Indeed. Elves have the Fey Ancestry trait, but their creature type is still Humanoid. AFAIK Centaurs are the only race that have a creature type other than Humanoid.
DnD really puts emphasis on the verbiage used. When they say creature, they mean anything. When they say beast they specifically mean the beast tag/type, etc.
To simplify, every PC race, whether they're the avian Aarakocra or fiendish Tiefling or celestial Aasimar are all 'humanoid' as are goblins, orc, kobolds etc. As seen on their stat block.
This is to categorize them and to 'put everything in their neat boxes' and as Crawford always says, "it says exactly what it does". If a spell says it targets a creature then it targets only one. If it says up to x creatures then it can target that many or less. If it says it targets beasts then only beasts and so on. (not to say that there are still an almost unlimited amount of things that can be interpreted or understood in an also unlimited amount of ways but as mentioned above, it does classify and categorize things as explicitly as possible.
(for example, as you said, the elves have Fey Ancestry, yet Centaurs, who are actual Fey do not. Or Devil's sight -- which allows them to see through magical target. Although a common trait among devils, it does not mean that EVERY devil has this trait even though they ALL have devil's eyes/sight).
As to the original question “what does being fey mean?” In its most basic sense, it means being of the feywild, which is another plane like the material, only a little more dreamlike and magic permeated. If I understand correctly in DnD lore, elves (while fully native to the material plane) are descended from creatures from the feywild, which is why they get fey traits. Hags, pixies, satyrs, sprites, redcaps, and dryads are all examples of creatures native to the feywild, but which have migrated to the material plane and can be interacted with here. They are not humanoid, or get their unique relationship with magic from their fey genetics, not sorcery or wizardry, or celestial, or fiendish heritage. They are fey.
There are some abilities that only work on fey. For example, the Arcana cleric's channel divinity reads:
As an action, you present your holy symbol, and one celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend of your choice that is within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw, provided that the creature can see or hear you. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
So, a Centaur could be turned, while say...a half orc...could not. That actually came back to bite me in a 4e game. I was playing a drow sorcerer at the time, and we ran into a priestess who had an ability to dump her damage onto a drow. Obviously, it was written to allow her to dump damage onto her allies. But that's not what it said. The DM actually asked my opinion on it (he didn't want to ruin my session). I shrugged and told him it said drow, and I was a drow. I should be a valid target. That fight got a /lot/ more difficult.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Your wrong about no player races being Fey, eladrin are Fey.
Not true. Centaurs specifically have a feature which says they are Fey instead of Humanoid - Eladrin do not - therefore they are still Humanoid like all Elves.
The confusion here comes from the fact that playable Eladrin are humanoids but some Eladrin have actually reverted to being fey due to being in the Feywild for so long. The monster stat blocks are all fey.
I have a question for y'all. I have a Centaur PC in a campaign of mine and their species is listed as Fey, not humanoid. It's a small note in their description, but I can't help but to feel like this is a really important note.
My player asked what that meant, and I really had no idea. I'm not aware of any other player races that are not humanoids. So my question is, what does being a Fey mean?
For example, hold person doesn't work on them right? Cause that spell says a humanoid creature. Fey aren't humanoid then, right? They are instead, Fey.
How does this interact with Charm spells? Does this mean the Centaur is somewhat resistant to being charmed? Can they be put to sleep by magic? Do they sleep at all?
Elves have that Fey Ancestry ability, so do Centaurs get it too since they're literally Fey? Or does simply none of this apply and Centaurs are Fey just for flavor?
It's confusing and I'm struggling on how to answer my PC. I've tried looking some stuff up, but there's not much information out there. I gotta wonder why WoTC made the Centaur have a different classification if its purely for flavor. Why bother then? There has to be some pros and cons to it, right?
Any opinions are welcome! I'm just not sure myself how to handle it ^^'
Thanks!
Short version, it means you are a Fey and not a Humanoid. Longer version, spells/abilities/effects that can affect Humanoids but not Fey will not work on you. If they affect Fey but NOT Humanoids, you'll be the only member of your party affected. So someone can still cast Cure Wounds on you because you're a "creature". They CANNOT cast Hold Person on you because you're not a Humanoid. A vampire can't try to Charm you because you're not a humanoid. A Wizard who casts Protection From Evil And Good will be harder for you to hit because you're a Fey. An Arcana Cleric can use Arcane Abjuration to Turn you because you're a Fey. And so on. It does NOT give you things like Fey Ancestry, even though Fey is in the name of the feature. That trait is explicitly given to specific races(namely Elf types), there's no rule that says it goes to everything Fey or Fey-adjacent.
Ok this has been very helpful so far! What I've gathered is pretty much this:
The Fey trait only matters in targeting. Specifically in the targeting of particular spells and abilities.
And that's it. Nothing else, right?
I think I got really confused on the Fey classification because it seems so random to me. Why have one race that's different than all the others in classification, if it only affections a few spells or features? That seems, silly. Especially since they don't explain it much ^^' I'm assuming its for balance or something, but it just seems so odd to through that in. Why not just make the Centaur humanoid then? Any ideas?
I'm glad to know what the specifics mean now though. I guess I gotta hunt through the spells and features to make sure things work/don't work.
Pretty much all Humanoid creatures are ones that are bipedal with 2 arms. There's a couple exceptions I can think of, such as the Sahuagin Baron that has four arms and potentially Simic Hybrids, but otherwise Humanoids are almost exclusively built like humans. Centaurs - having 4 legs - don't fit the bill, and I feel like that's the a big reason they decided to change it.
I don't agree with some of the points above so I will ask if I missed something.
You don't get Fey Ancestry? Why not? That doesn't make sense to me.
I would think the player and the DM would have to read and understand deeply the lore of the feywilde. They have a very specific code of behavior. Being around fey is a chore if you stick to the lore. Now if the DM wishes to write all that off, or change it, then have a conversation during session 0 about what this character's fey definition means to the specific player and the party.
I wouldn't want to play in a campaign with a fey in my party for this reason. If you stick to the lore it would create friction often.
Fey Ancestry is a racial ability, not something all creatures that are Fey have. If the details for a race/creature don't say it has an ability, it doesn't have it.
I don't agree with some of the points above so I will ask if I missed something.
You don't get Fey Ancestry? Why not? That doesn't make sense to me.
I would think the player and the DM would have to read and understand deeply the lore of the feywilde. They have a very specific code of behavior. Being around fey is a chore if you stick to the lore. Now if the DM wishes to write all that off, or change it, then have a conversation during session 0 about what this character's fey definition means to the specific player and the party.
I wouldn't want to play in a campaign with a fey in my party for this reason. If you stick to the lore it would create friction often.
It our first question has been answered, so I'll address the rest I guess.
These are ravnica centaurs. Ravnica does not have a feywild and the fey there behave very differently (mostly they are just very in tune with nature). Centaurs are mostly selesnia or gruul (conservationists and anarchists respectively) and live in the greenbelts and rubblebelts of ravnica (areas where there are less standing buildings).
Using centaurs in a non-ravnica game will require a conversation about how they are different in that setting.
Shortest answer is: all PC races are Humanoid by default. PC Centaurs (Ravnica) have a trait that explicitly changes their type from Humanoid to Fey.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
RAW your right of course it just doesn't make sense to me. That if fey ancestry gives you charm resistance being fey doesn't? It's just a weird ruling. Probably because elves in 5e where written before the centaur where and they might have fergotten? Or there is a mechanic balance thing going on.
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Hullo!
I have a question for y'all. I have a Centaur PC in a campaign of mine and their species is listed as Fey, not humanoid. It's a small note in their description, but I can't help but to feel like this is a really important note.
My player asked what that meant, and I really had no idea. I'm not aware of any other player races that are not humanoids. So my question is, what does being a Fey mean?
For example, hold person doesn't work on them right? Cause that spell says a humanoid creature. Fey aren't humanoid then, right? They are instead, Fey.
How does this interact with Charm spells? Does this mean the Centaur is somewhat resistant to being charmed? Can they be put to sleep by magic? Do they sleep at all?
Elves have that Fey Ancestry ability, so do Centaurs get it too since they're literally Fey? Or does simply none of this apply and Centaurs are Fey just for flavor?
It's confusing and I'm struggling on how to answer my PC. I've tried looking some stuff up, but there's not much information out there. I gotta wonder why WoTC made the Centaur have a different classification if its purely for flavor. Why bother then? There has to be some pros and cons to it, right?
Any opinions are welcome! I'm just not sure myself how to handle it ^^'
Thanks!
Basically if something only affects humanoids centaur would not be a valid target. Otherwise play as normal. Your example of hold person couldn't target a centaur but hold monster could. However since sleep doesn't specify humanoids a centaur has no special protection and would be a valid target.
TLDR: being fey doesn't grant bonuses, but impacts what spells/abilities can target the centaur
Your wrong about no player races being Fey, eladrin are Fey.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Not true. Centaurs specifically have a feature which says they are Fey instead of Humanoid - Eladrin do not - therefore they are still Humanoid like all Elves.
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Indeed. Elves have the Fey Ancestry trait, but their creature type is still Humanoid. AFAIK Centaurs are the only race that have a creature type other than Humanoid.
Pretty sure that is correct (at least at time of comment).
I recall both the centaur and minotaur UA were monstrosities in addition to humanoids.
It's true, only centaurs are a different creature type.
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DnD really puts emphasis on the verbiage used. When they say creature, they mean anything. When they say beast they specifically mean the beast tag/type, etc.
To simplify, every PC race, whether they're the avian Aarakocra or fiendish Tiefling or celestial Aasimar are all 'humanoid' as are goblins, orc, kobolds etc. As seen on their stat block.
This is to categorize them and to 'put everything in their neat boxes' and as Crawford always says, "it says exactly what it does". If a spell says it targets a creature then it targets only one. If it says up to x creatures then it can target that many or less. If it says it targets beasts then only beasts and so on. (not to say that there are still an almost unlimited amount of things that can be interpreted or understood in an also unlimited amount of ways but as mentioned above, it does classify and categorize things as explicitly as possible.
(for example, as you said, the elves have Fey Ancestry, yet Centaurs, who are actual Fey do not. Or Devil's sight -- which allows them to see through magical target. Although a common trait among devils, it does not mean that EVERY devil has this trait even though they ALL have devil's eyes/sight).
As to the original question “what does being fey mean?” In its most basic sense, it means being of the feywild, which is another plane like the material, only a little more dreamlike and magic permeated. If I understand correctly in DnD lore, elves (while fully native to the material plane) are descended from creatures from the feywild, which is why they get fey traits. Hags, pixies, satyrs, sprites, redcaps, and dryads are all examples of creatures native to the feywild, but which have migrated to the material plane and can be interacted with here. They are not humanoid, or get their unique relationship with magic from their fey genetics, not sorcery or wizardry, or celestial, or fiendish heritage. They are fey.
There are some abilities that only work on fey. For example, the Arcana cleric's channel divinity reads:
As an action, you present your holy symbol, and one celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend of your choice that is within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw, provided that the creature can see or hear you. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
So, a Centaur could be turned, while say...a half orc...could not. That actually came back to bite me in a 4e game. I was playing a drow sorcerer at the time, and we ran into a priestess who had an ability to dump her damage onto a drow. Obviously, it was written to allow her to dump damage onto her allies. But that's not what it said. The DM actually asked my opinion on it (he didn't want to ruin my session). I shrugged and told him it said drow, and I was a drow. I should be a valid target. That fight got a /lot/ more difficult.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
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The confusion here comes from the fact that playable Eladrin are humanoids but some Eladrin have actually reverted to being fey due to being in the Feywild for so long. The monster stat blocks are all fey.
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Short version, it means you are a Fey and not a Humanoid. Longer version, spells/abilities/effects that can affect Humanoids but not Fey will not work on you. If they affect Fey but NOT Humanoids, you'll be the only member of your party affected. So someone can still cast Cure Wounds on you because you're a "creature". They CANNOT cast Hold Person on you because you're not a Humanoid. A vampire can't try to Charm you because you're not a humanoid. A Wizard who casts Protection From Evil And Good will be harder for you to hit because you're a Fey. An Arcana Cleric can use Arcane Abjuration to Turn you because you're a Fey. And so on. It does NOT give you things like Fey Ancestry, even though Fey is in the name of the feature. That trait is explicitly given to specific races(namely Elf types), there's no rule that says it goes to everything Fey or Fey-adjacent.
Ok this has been very helpful so far! What I've gathered is pretty much this:
The Fey trait only matters in targeting. Specifically in the targeting of particular spells and abilities.
And that's it. Nothing else, right?
I think I got really confused on the Fey classification because it seems so random to me. Why have one race that's different than all the others in classification, if it only affections a few spells or features? That seems, silly. Especially since they don't explain it much ^^' I'm assuming its for balance or something, but it just seems so odd to through that in. Why not just make the Centaur humanoid then? Any ideas?
I'm glad to know what the specifics mean now though. I guess I gotta hunt through the spells and features to make sure things work/don't work.
Pretty much all Humanoid creatures are ones that are bipedal with 2 arms. There's a couple exceptions I can think of, such as the Sahuagin Baron that has four arms and potentially Simic Hybrids, but otherwise Humanoids are almost exclusively built like humans. Centaurs - having 4 legs - don't fit the bill, and I feel like that's the a big reason they decided to change it.
I don't agree with some of the points above so I will ask if I missed something.
You don't get Fey Ancestry? Why not? That doesn't make sense to me.
I would think the player and the DM would have to read and understand deeply the lore of the feywilde. They have a very specific code of behavior. Being around fey is a chore if you stick to the lore. Now if the DM wishes to write all that off, or change it, then have a conversation during session 0 about what this character's fey definition means to the specific player and the party.
I wouldn't want to play in a campaign with a fey in my party for this reason. If you stick to the lore it would create friction often.
Fey Ancestry is a racial ability, not something all creatures that are Fey have. If the details for a race/creature don't say it has an ability, it doesn't have it.
It our first question has been answered, so I'll address the rest I guess.
These are ravnica centaurs. Ravnica does not have a feywild and the fey there behave very differently (mostly they are just very in tune with nature). Centaurs are mostly selesnia or gruul (conservationists and anarchists respectively) and live in the greenbelts and rubblebelts of ravnica (areas where there are less standing buildings).
Using centaurs in a non-ravnica game will require a conversation about how they are different in that setting.
Thanks DX. I only have the base rulebooks so vagaries and nuances related to different settings are lost on me. Happy New Year!
Shortest answer is: all PC races are Humanoid by default. PC Centaurs (Ravnica) have a trait that explicitly changes their type from Humanoid to Fey.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
RAW your right of course it just doesn't make sense to me. That if fey ancestry gives you charm resistance being fey doesn't? It's just a weird ruling. Probably because elves in 5e where written before the centaur where and they might have fergotten? Or there is a mechanic balance thing going on.