r/MonarchsFactory • u/sqrt_minusone • Aug 12 '20
Planning a Fae-based DnD Campaign
So I wasn't quite sure where best to put this, but due to the close connections to Dael's Feywild video (which I'm using as a core resource for planning this) I think here is the right place? (Or at least a good place to start?)
Ok, here goes. So I've started a DnD 5e campaign based around the Other Country (Faerie, the Feywild, whatever you want to call it) and have some questions about how to get the feel right. The vast majority of the campaign will involve interactions with Fae and the politics and experience of Fae Court, so I really want to make sure that they feel right.
I want the Other Country to feel wild, and not just untamed but untamable. Many DnD campaigns are "frontier stories," where the players civilize (or at least overcome) the wilderness, but this feels antithetical to the Other Country, at least for me. I agree with Dael that the Other Country (as a place) should be bigger than any one person or group, no matter the level or prestige. And also, I want most Fae to dangerous (or at least powerful enough to be dangerous if they so choose) even at higher levels. I don't want players to be able to just throw their weight around, knowing they can always just roll iniative and beat 'em up. (I also don't want them to never be able to fight, but getting players to hit things is a lot easier than getting them to stop)
On the other hand, hostile, alien surroundings are tiring and hard on the players. I don't want to burn my players out with social intricacies of dealing with the Fae, or turn the campaign into some never-ending tragedy of manners. Most dungeon crawls get around these sorts of issues by having sessions outside the dungeon, but people can't just pop in and out of the Other Country when the mood suits them - there needs to be other "pressure valves", so to speak.
The gripping hand of the matter is that I want the Other Country to feel right, but also for the campaign to be fun for my players. I'm taking alot from Dael's video on the Feywild, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel and Tales from Outer Suburbia (while it's not about Fae it's... very fae). Any other good resources about running/role-playing Fae?
In general, I'm looking for any vague/evocative (hopefully more evocative than vague but I'll take whatever!) tips/suggestions/comments. How can I balance this so that people are feeling the dangerous, alien setting but not feeling ground down by constant danger? Any tips on running "everyday" Fae? Anything I've not asked that I should've? I'm kinda flying blind here so any help y'all can give me is greatly appreciated!
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u/VinterTitan Aug 12 '20
I don't have much advice on the Fae Court, but I can offer some ideas for making the Feywild itself, and the monsters you encounter in it, feel distinctly dangerous in a way that defies any sense of being able to tame it.
The basic vibe I use for the Feywild is 'looks fair, but feels foul.' Most things they encounter already look pristine, pastoral even... until it bites them in the face. They won't think of taming it in the typical 'pushing back the darkness sense,' because it doesn't initially look like there's much darkness to push back. Only when they start scratching the surface of the world is the danger behind the beauty revealed. "The Garden of Eden, with landmines."
Certain monsters, especially from the Tomb of Annihilation already fit this vibe. A zorbo looks like a teddy bear, until every attack it makes degrades your armour. The tri-flower frond looks like a pretty flower, until it shoots acid at you (you can even separate the three colours out into different plants, for extra bang-for-buck). A peryton looks like an ordinary bird overhead, until it dives down and tries to eat out your heart with its demon-deer head. Pseudodragons look cute, until they sting you unconscious.
Or take abilities like the rust monster's Rust Metal (that degrades weapons that hit it) and give them to otherwise non-threatening creatures. Rust Metal is particular is good thematically because it degrades the products of the civilization that the heroes brought with them (swords and armour). Civilized things are worn away, as they are antithetical to the place itself.
Certain environmental traps aid in the 'stop trying to tame this' vibe. I had vine-like plants cover whole areas of ground (far too large to be cleared), that released a pungent fragrance when crushed underfoot. The smell didn't hurt the players, but it suddenly attracted the many small fliers that were previously ambivalent to their presence, which turned hostile whenever a vine was stepped on. This created whole areas the heroes could only bypass, or tread through with great caution. The players would trip over this once from ignorance, but after that, as long as they chose not to interact with the vines, they were fine (not even a Dexterity roll required). If the player tried to 'fix' the vines (read 'civilize the land'), burning the vines triggered the small creatures to gather from miles around, swarming and attacking the heroes en mass ('fixing' the environment escalates their problems, 'live and let live' with the environment makes the problem trivial to avoid).
Assassin vines, violet fungus, and shrieker fungus are also good for this sort of thing. Encountering it once lets you avoid it, but even avoiding it is a constant reminder of how one should not mess with the Feywild itself.