This book is all about the fey, and about how to include them in your campaign wherever it may be set: for faerieland is accessed via mystical doorways that take you somewhere else, somewhere magical, somewhere fey. The fey feature in many traditional stories from around this world, which makes sense, we want to embue our lives with something a bit magical. Yet, the fey have their place in a fantasy world where magic already exists too.

The book comes in four sections. The first deals with 'character' - including using fey as player-characters. Then we can also read about the geography and interesting locations in 'FaerieLand', then the law and lore of the place, and finally fey magic. It's mostly intended for characters who will be interacting with the fey or FaerieLand itself, but some material is appropriate for consideration for your game even if the fey rarely if ever make an appearance themselves.

To start with, if you want to have fey player-characters or NPCs in your game, all the information you need is provided here. There are a lot of different fey to choose from and in addition it's possible to use fey creatures presented in monster books, you'll learn how to do that too. There's material on adapting the standard classes to suit the fey mindset and new feats galore. Prestige classes cater both for fey characters and those who make a profession out of interacting with them.

Chapter 2: Lore of Faerie explains what the fey are like. The information here will aid you in making FaerieLand stand out as a distinctive and different place within your campaign world, should the party visit there (on purpose or otherwise). You can find out about the everyday life of the fey, as well as the laws that govern both the fey and anyone visiting FaerieLand, not to mention the conduct of fey when travelling in the 'real world'. There are warnings of the things you need to be mindful of when dealing with them, and information about political and philosophical factions - stuff the fey themselves can get quite uncomfortable discussing.

Next, Chapter 3: The World of Faerie lets you take a good look around. Discover the lay of the land, and possibly more importantly, find out how to get there (and get back home again!). Sometimes, characters will find themselves there unintentionally which can prove amusing to all but the poor character... but at least there are details of some of the interesting places that may be visited while you are there.

Finally, Chapter 4: Magic of Faerie takes a look at the particular magic practised by - and inherent in - the fey. They make use of magical power sources, practise rituals and know the power of knowing someone's real name. There are plenty of new spells, of course, and a fair few magic items. The book rounds off with some critters and templates that may be used to give a fey twist to existing monsters.

If you want to bring the wonder, the otherness of the fey into your game, this book will equip you with a good grounding of what you need to know. Whilst game mechanics may need modification, the concepts hold good whatever ruleset you are using.

Return to Faeries page.

Reviewed: 14 October 2019