Sneak Peek: Check Out the Fairy Race in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight!

Tags author-michael-galvis feywild witchlight

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is nearly upon us! Releasing September 21, the adventure book will take players into the Feywild for a romp through the Witchlight Carnival and Prismeer, a domain of delight! Players will have new character creation options, including two new races: the fairy and the harengon, a rabbit-like humanoid.

Fairies are central to the Feywild and as varied as the realm's people. But while the fairy race shares physical characteristics with the creatures you might be familiar with, there are some key differences that bring them in line with other Dungeons & Dragons races.

Click below for a sneak peek at the fairy race and how you might build one:

Fairy racial traits

Fairies are a wee folk, but not nearly as much so as their pixie and sprite friends. The first fairies spoke Elvish, Goblin, or Sylvan, and encounters with human visitors prompted many of them to learn Common as well. Infused with the magic of the Feywild, most fairies look like Small elves with insectile wings, but each fairy has a special physical characteristic that sets the fairy apart.

Source: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Fairies have a long, storied history in the Feywild. Appearing as diminutive elves with insectile wings, fairy creatures come in all kinds of varieties. When you choose the fairy race, you'll get to decide what kind of fairy creature your character takes after. Will you have the midnight blue skin tone of a quickling and moth wings, the light green skin of a pixie and butterfly wings, or something else?

Unlike your typical fairy creature, you won't be Tiny. The fairy race is size Small. fairy race from The Wild Beyond the WitchlightThe following are other notable racial traits. Not all of the fairy's traits are represented below.

Fairy Magic. Fairies are magical by nature. At 1st level, you know the druidcraft cantrip. As you level, you'll pick up two additional spells, faerie fire and enlarge/reduce. You can cast one of these spells for free once per long rest. If you have spell slots of the appropriate level, you can use them to cast either of these spells.

When you select the fairy race for your character, you'll choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Flight. Your wings aren't just for show. You have a flying speed that is equal to your walking speed. Like the aarakocra, you can't fly if you're wearing medium or heavy armor.

What about ability score increases?

When you create a harengon or fairy using the rules found in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, you can choose to increase one ability score by 2 and another by 1, or choose to increase three different scores by 1.

A fairy's outlook on life

Fairies are as unique as the fey realm. When deciding how your fairy character might act, you can look to fairy creatures for inspiration:

  • Pixie: Kindhearted and naturally curious, pixies can be seen as childlike, but they are wise enough to identify friend from foe. Because they are delicate creatures, pixies prefer to play tricks on enemies rather than face them head-on.
  • Quickling: These fast-moving and mischievous fey are temperamental.
  • Sprite: Cold and calculating, sprites are natural-born warriors. These fey protect others from evildoers.

Characters that grow up in the Feywild will quickly learn the art of trickery, and that caution is a virtue. Seemingly innocuous requests in the Feywild can be dangerous. Has a kind old woman stopped you on the street and asked for your name? A character from the Material Plane might not bat an eye over such a request. But in the Feywild, you could grant someone power over you by giving them your name. To get a better idea of the unique dangers of the fey realm, check out this article on surviving the Feywild.

Make your fairy character your own

Don't feel obligated to dig through monster descriptions to determine your fairy character's personality. Your character and their backstory is your own. Perhaps your fairy character has insectile legs and is prone to rage whenever they are mistaken for an oversized insect. Or they look similar to a pixie but are mopey like a winter eladrin. The Plane of Faerie is a wild and untamed place, so let your imagine run free!

Building a fairy character

Fairies aren't just mischievous and beautiful to the eye. They can make mighty warriors depending on how you utilize their racial traits. Consider the following as you brainstorm character ideas:

  • Fairy Magic lets you be Tiny. If you've always dreamed of being Tiny size, enlarge/reduce will allow you to live out that dream in one-minute increments. Use this spell to get into otherwise inaccessible areas. Alternatively, cast it on the party fighter to boost their damage and more.
  • Fairy Magic adds faerie fire to your spell list. Faerie fire is a potent 1st level spell. It grants advantage on attack rolls against creatures who are affected by it and doesn't allow them to benefit from being invisible. But positioning this area-of-effect spell to avoid hitting allies can be tricky in tight quarters. Sorcerers, which don't normally get faerie fire, can apply the Careful Spell Metamagic to avoid affecting allies. Similarly, wizards can apply Sculpt Spell from the School of Evocation subclass.
  • Flight is a powerful racial trait. If the aarakocra have taught us anything, it's that having a flying speed at 1st level is a big deal. Need to scale a cliff to retrieve a roc's egg?  Fly. Afraid of trapped floor tiles in a dungeon? Fly. Orcs charging at you with greataxes? Fly.
Build your fairy on D&D Beyond

When The Wild Beyond the Witchlight releases, you can purchase the book or just the races and backgrounds in the marketplace and then use D&D Beyond's character builder to explore different builds for your character. Test out different classes for your fairy, adjust their ability scores, and more to bring your new character to life.

More previews from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

The latest D&D adventure doesn't just introduce additional player options, you'll also find new monsters to challenge your players! For longtime fans of the game, you'll even discover some old friends lurking between the covers of this book.

Check out Amy Dallen's interview with Chris Perkins to learn more about The Wild Beyond the Witchlight:

Get a Sneak Peek at Harengons, a New D&D Race From the Feywild!
by Michael Galvis
Campestris: Sing a Song With a Swarm of Shrooms From The Wild Beyond the Witchlight!
by Jeremy Blum
Get Exclusive Perks When You Preorder The Wild Beyond the Witchlight!
by Michael Galvis

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn't in the DM's seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he's playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.

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