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Yora
2014-03-05, 02:16 PM
I just read a short statement, that fey and spirits would make really cool and unexpected villains. And now that I think about it, that is probably very true.
However, at the same time, I don't really have any specific idea for villainous fey.

Rakshasa come to mind, but even with those it doesn't get any more elaborate.
Does anyone have any interesting ideas for that premise?

Reverent-One
2014-03-05, 02:42 PM
Afroakuma ended up doing a fey for one of his "Vote up a Villain" (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5253896#post5253896) threads.

BWR
2014-03-05, 02:43 PM
How villainous do they need to be? Spirits and fey playing pranks, perhaps malicious ones, on a community can be an adventure.
Changeling types - infiltrate a community and bring it to despair from inside - perhaps just because it wants to, or for some slight it suffered.
Kidnappings - kids, grown-ups, people are disappearing and taken by the spirit. Eaten, kept as slaves, kept as enchanted 'guests', whatever.

Red Fel
2014-03-05, 02:46 PM
It depends on the type of villain you want.

Do you want a single, creepy encounter? A recurring rival or nemesis? Or a masterful BBEG that orchestrates everything?

I'll offer some examples of each, because that's just the sort of affable monster I am.

1. The One-Off: This is an encounter over the course of one or two sessions. It's bigger than a random encounter, but not quite a boss battle. Spirit and Fey can be used here interchangeably, for the most part. A simple example is a fey or spirit that's stepped up from trickster to malice. An easy example of this is the Murderjack (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040828a), your typical predatory foresty Fey-monster. But you don't need D&D for this sort of thing; really any forest is a perfect spot to store something that's more beast than person, but more fey than beast. Something supernaturally agile, cunning, and gleefully sadistic. Something predatory, hungry, and cruel.

2. The Rival. This is a recurring NPC who may not be a major arc villain, but remains a thorn in the players' sides. It may have a grudge against the PCs collectively, it may have a vendetta against a single PC in particular, or it may be a slightly more vicious version of Q from Star Trek, just popping in from time to time to make the PCs' lives hellish (with a distinct possibility of grisly death). Mild mind-affecting or reality-altering powers are definitely an option if you're going with the Q choice. In the alternative, a vengeful Fey noble is a fun option, particularly one who feels spurned by the PCs' conduct. (ProTip: You can't accept gifts from them, but you really can't refuse them, either.) For a Spirit, it can either be a vengeful ghost who can't find peace, or the incarnation of an abandoned or ruined object, or even a buried emotion. For example, the PCs are pursued by an angry shadow-spirit, only to finally discover it to be the manifestation of their Paladin's buried hatred; only by accepting the darker aspects of his personality (or by some cool supernatural juju) can the players defeat it.

3. The BBEG. Now we're in the big leagues. These are NPCs who could be driving entire story arcs, or even the entire campaign. I'll break them out for convenience.
- Fey: BBEG Fey are cosmic forces, manifestations of the raw, savage, unpredictable brutality of the forces of nature. However, they have limits. They cannot lie, although they can obfuscate. They cannot break a promise once made. They must repay a debt, in full. That said, they will twist every word, wring all meaning from it. They will decide what constitutes repayment, and offer it at the worst possible time. The only way to truly stop them, short of exploiting their weaknesses (e.g. cold iron) is to outthink them, to catch them in their own web of half-truths and debts.
- Spirits: A spirit is generally the manifestation of something - either it's the remains of a once-living thing, or it's an incarnation of an emotion or the embodiment of a collective feeling, or something like that. A BBEG spirit is likely to be something born from the collective consciousness (and nightmares) of an entire populace. A powerful spirit may well be untouchable due to its otherworldly nature. But all spirits have one flaw - they want. Spirits are incomplete beings, and they want, and want, but are never satisfied. A BBEG spirit will either want to become incarnate - that is, to embody all of its powers but in physical form - or to make all physical beings suffer the same hungering emptiness that it has.

Like any good villain, what matters is the character's motivation. But part of the fun of fey and spirit-creatures is that their motivations are alien. They don't have the same concepts of good and evil. Mortals are frail little playthings to them, not people, not even food - just things, things they don't quite understand except on an academic level. To really bring home the sense of evil, emphasize that total lack of sympathy or understanding.

Thinker
2014-03-05, 03:05 PM
Keep in mind that fey should be portrayed otherworldly. They are not just nature elementals, but they are also the things that go bump in the night. While many are derived from mythologies, there are plenty of others that are only local folklore.

Some sources of inspiration for your fey:
Modern folklore such as Sasquatch, Yeti, Chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, the Slender Man, Cthulu monsters, wendigo, Mothman, etc.
Folkloric creatures such as merfolk, changelings, sentient beasts, Baba Yaga, Koschei the Deathless, leprechauns, pugot, etc.
Goblin-like creatures like kobolds, redcaps, spriggan, bugbars, kludde, etc.
Angels and demons like the bogeyman, ancient Abrahamic/Semitic angels (that were very different from modern depicitions).
Trickster deities like Coyote, Loki, Anansi, etc.
Undead creatures from folklore such as vampires, wights, chiang-shi, revenants, etc.


More than anything, you have to keep in mind the villainous fey's motivation. I find that using one of the seven-deadly sins as both motivation and fatal flaw works well. For example, a redcap is an embodiment of wrath. One could be motivated by hatred of others and sew misery upon others in their territory. This determination to sow ruin can also be its downfall, as it can be distracted from traps or cunning by its anger.

Also, keep in mind that many fey are unwavering and unchanging in their personalities, opinions, and tactics. Those drawn from natural occurrences act with respect to that nature.

Also, Monstropedia (http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page) is a good resource for looking up monsters (including fairy creatures). I hope this helps!

LimeSkeleton
2014-03-05, 07:27 PM
If you want some inspiration for how exactly a Fey creature could be villain, I'd highly recommend taking a look at the World of Darkness game, "Changeling: The Lost". That game takes the capriciousness and cruelty of the creatures in fairy tales and runs with it, creating some of the most terrifying, insane antagonists I've ever seen in an RPG.

"True Fae (http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/True_Fae_(WOD)) are godlike in their own realms, being able to change form to whatever they desire and warp the very fabric of reality that's around them. Moreover, they're complete and utter sociopath, lacking any understanding of human emotions, needs, or desires. These are creatures that might fall in love with a human being one day, treat them wonderfully for a week, then suddenly snap when they don't pass the salt one day, or get bored suddenly and turn their body into a sculpture put in their foyer.

Jeff the Green
2014-03-05, 11:35 PM
I adore fey, especially in a non-standard (i.e. Not D&D) cosmology where Faerie can be truly scary because there just aren't other planes of existence.

First off, they should have a truly bizarre, yet understandable motivation. For example, in my home setting fey are the embodiment of the mixed elemental matter, and as such oppose all elementals and outsiders. However, most mortal magic also depends on contracts with those same creatures, so killing them off is going to have major detrimental effects on society.

Your players don't even necessarily have to understand the villain's motivation at first. I'm a fan of Schrodinger's villain, in which you let the PCs speculate on the villain's motivation and then pick the one you like best.

Take a look at the Dresden Files, probably the best depiction of Fey in modern media. They have plans that won't come to fruition for eons. They have obligations and roles and duties that constrain them, but only to the extent that they can't weasel out of them. They are mostly unknowable and unfathomably powerful. They don't necessarily need a motivation as we usually think of it. If a pixie has a sudden whim that she likes blue flowers, she's going to spend a few days in the royal gardens with a paint bucket. Now imagine that on the scale of Mab or Titania.

Thinker
2014-03-08, 10:41 AM
I thought of two other good examples of fey villains, both from Star Trek.

Q, while not a standard villain, caused many problems for the crew of the Enterprise. His constant tests, deceit, trickery, and judgement would be a good basis for a fey villain. Just don't use anything about Q from after Next Gen though. If I remember right, it was all ****.

The Changelings, rulers of the Dominion, also fit this type. They conquered a quarter of the galaxy to protect themselves from harm. They have power that seems magical and their actions are terrible for those who would resist. They also created other species that would serve them better.

Mastikator
2014-03-08, 11:15 AM
I just read a short statement, that fey and spirits would make really cool and unexpected villains. And now that I think about it, that is probably very true.
However, at the same time, I don't really have any specific idea for villainous fey.

Rakshasa come to mind, but even with those it doesn't get any more elaborate.
Does anyone have any interesting ideas for that premise?
...
Rakshasa are fey?:smallconfused:

Lord of Shadows
2014-03-08, 11:47 AM
Here is a snippet from a campaign I am currently running. The speaker is Lady of a Fey Court, basically royalty, and she has just been rescued by the party:

If the question of “evil” is brought up, she will smile and explain that some Fey could be called that, but that harvesting Dreamstuff is not normally detrimental to mortals. In fact, most would hardly notice it. It may be remembered as a particularly vivid dream, or an especially disturbing nightmare. The Fey have motivations so alien to mortals that they can't hope to comprehend them. She likens it to a cow calling the farmer “evil.”

.

Honest Tiefling
2014-03-08, 12:12 PM
...
Rakshasa are fey?:smallconfused:

I think they are in Exalted. To be fair, DnD fey are a mishmash of several different mythologies and several things pulled from various writer's minds. So I would have to ask the OP, what exactly is a fey in your setting? A being of emotions? A spirit of nature? A traveler from a different world? The first people created?

Mastikator
2014-03-08, 12:55 PM
I think they are in Exalted. To be fair, DnD fey are a mishmash of several different mythologies and several things pulled from various writer's minds. So I would have to ask the OP, what exactly is a fey in your setting? A being of emotions? A spirit of nature? A traveler from a different world? The first people created?

It comes from Hinduism where it's an unrighteous spirit in humanoid form. (the equivalent to a demon in Abrahametic mythology).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Taraka_Ramayana.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/The_three-headed_rakshasa_Trishiras_sits_in_lalitasana_on_a_ throne_facing_a_fire_altar_in_which_a_severed_head _is_burning.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/The_boar_avatar_Varaha%2C_the_third_incarnation_of _Viṣṇu%2C_stands_in_front_of_the_decapitated_body_ of_the_demon_Hiranyaksha.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Ravana_water_painting.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Demon_Yakshagana.jpg
D&D obviously went with the Demon Yakshagana depiction. The others are pretty spooky too.

Thinker
2014-03-08, 01:23 PM
It comes from Hinduism where it's an unrighteous spirit in humanoid form. (the equivalent to a demon in Abrahametic mythology).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Taraka_Ramayana.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/The_three-headed_rakshasa_Trishiras_sits_in_lalitasana_on_a_ throne_facing_a_fire_altar_in_which_a_severed_head _is_burning.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/The_boar_avatar_Varaha%2C_the_third_incarnation_of _Viṣṇu%2C_stands_in_front_of_the_decapitated_body_ of_the_demon_Hiranyaksha.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Ravana_water_painting.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Demon_Yakshagana.jpg
D&D obviously went with the Demon Yakshagana depiction. The others are pretty spooky too.

The term "fey" is not a specific word referring to a specific group of creatures like saying canines or felines. They typically include all of the nature spirits, nymphs, lesser deities, and the like of various mythologies. They can also include deities and spirits that have been altered by later religions and become lessened in scope.

Honest Tiefling
2014-03-08, 05:06 PM
Even if you use fey in a different sense, if you start mixing up mythologies with different rules and outlooks, things...Can get a bit confusing as to what the whole category is, and what people think of when they think of fey and how to use them.

Scowling Dragon
2014-03-08, 05:08 PM
The Trickster from supernatural is an example.

Mastikator
2014-03-08, 05:19 PM
Even if you use fey in a different sense, if you start mixing up mythologies with different rules and outlooks, things...Can get a bit confusing as to what the whole category is, and what people think of when they think of fey and how to use them.

Very true. If we are going with Rakshasa as a villainous fey then in the D&D Eberron Setting they are a group of that work behind the scenes to free mega-demons from Khyber, they use their shape shifting abilities to infiltrate mortal societies.

A group of demonic shape shifting fey creatures that infiltrate mortal society and take various key social roles to bring about some nefarious goal is a pretty interesting (if overwhelming) campaign.

Thinker
2014-03-08, 08:51 PM
Even if you use fey in a different sense, if you start mixing up mythologies with different rules and outlooks, things...Can get a bit confusing as to what the whole category is, and what people think of when they think of fey and how to use them.

So, what do you normally consider fey? Elves? House spirits? Nature spirits? Creatures from another world? Small human-ish things with magical powers? Creatures that grant wishes if they're captured? Dwarfs? Animal spirits? Gnomes? Magical creatures from woods? Magical creatures from wetlands? Supernatural creatures from folktales? Are you only counting British creatures? British and Germanic? All of Western Europe?

Yora
2014-03-09, 03:49 AM
Doesn't really matter, since in any case they are spirits. :smallwink:

Honest Tiefling
2014-03-09, 03:57 AM
Doesn't really matter, since in any case they are spirits. :smallwink:

So what is a spirit in this setting? I could imagine a being that is a spirit of an idea or a place looking and seeming human at first, but as time goes on the players realize they have a completely different mindset and motivations from a human.

The Oni
2014-03-10, 12:14 PM
The mythology buff in me feels the need to point out that fey are generally known to be capricious, ruled by emotion, and sometimes even unintentionally malevolent. You could very well have a world-threatening villain who genuinely doesn't see the harm in what it's doing. This is especially exacerbated by the nature of the First World in, for instance, the Pathfinder settings, where sometimes Fey don't have the best grasp on "permanent consequences" because of the constantly shifting, "resetting" nature of their own world.

The ten-year-old in me feels the need to point out that a Paladin devoted to tracking such villainous-but-not-necessarily-wicked fey/spirits wouldn't have detect evil, but rather feydar.

Mewtarthio
2014-03-10, 12:38 PM
You know who's an awesome fey villain? The Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair, from Johnathan Strange and Mister Norrell. He's not really evil, per se, just incredibly self-centered with an alien sense of morality. He honestly thinks his victims should love that he abducts them every night and forces them to dance in his bizarre balls, and if they imply otherwise, it's clearly because their horrible friends and family are making them say that, and they'll be much better off without them. There's a scene where he presents a gift to one of his "friends" and casually talks about how many innocents he murdered to get it; when the guy reacts in shock, the Gentleman assumes he's flattered by all the trouble he went through.

The Oni
2014-03-10, 12:42 PM
You know who's an awesome fey villain? The Gentleman with the Thistle-Down Hair, from Johnathan Strange and Mister Norrell...(snip)

^ ...Yeah, pretty much like that. That gives me wonderful ideas.