Quote Originally Posted by Gareth3 View Post
I've been reading up on the Fair Folk, and I'm surprised that there aren't any fully statted NPCs anywhere, aside from a couple of generic ones in the core that aren't even named. It strikes me that the game needs some signature Fair Folk NPCs - starting noble characters with names, backstories, and full stats. I'll have a go at making them myself, but I have a copy of questions:

First, four of the castes have an obvious "slot" in the setting: a Warrior from the East, who's part of the Opal Court and the Church of Balor, and so forth. This would save effort, but might come out a little too neat and simplified. So is it worth mixing it up a bit?

Second, what about Grace magic? Do all the characters need spells, oaths, and so on, or can most of them just use their charms? The core NPCs don't have any.
The core Fair Folk aren't eevn valid, anyway. The Errata gets in the way, to begin with. And, more importantly (or not) both of the core Nobles have access to a Charm that does not exist . By the book, Fair Folk cannot protect Creation-born from the Wyld. Or they can do it perfectly, at will, and at no cost. Either way, the Wyld Ward 'Charm' referred to in the core does not exist.


All the courts have (almost) countless numbers of commoner Fair Folk, so you have as many Diplomats, Entertainers, Warriors, and Workers as is convenient. And they all look and behave however the story dictates, because (barring heroic ones) they can't Shape so they exist as props in the Wyld.

There are twelve different sorts of Noble (well, sixteen if you count powerful Nobles, twenty to thirty if you count the Way Grace), so that's a lot more templates to consider - even if many of them are more a matter of mindset than aptitude.

The Raksha are drawn to narratives, and the tales of Creation are remarkably powerful. Thus, Fair Folk who live somewhere for an extended amount of time begin to resemble each other, as their stories interact and feed on one another. Whoever is dominant has a higher impact on the outcome, but they all contribute.

What this means is that the Fair Folk can be as type set or diverse as is convenient, and have perfectly good reasons for being thus. Or even being both at the same time.


The sample NPCs lack Grace Magic, and are incredibly fragile. Sane (er, long living) Fair Folk find that access to Grace Magic is crucial to their survival, and take full advantage of it.

Someone wrote a whole lot about the kinds of things that can be done with Grace Magic, and it may be worth using for inspiration. More to the point, you get the following outlines:

Inward Facing Oneiromancy is extremely cheap, and gives you access to social powers and a few neat tricks - many of which are fairly expensive to use as Charms, while the Oneiromancy is basically free. Enjoy.

Outward Facing Oneiromancy is a bit more expensive, and has two main uses: giving you dice pools that make the GM throw books at you, and turning everyone nearby (where nearby is the current nation) into enthusiastic participants in a re-creation of your favorite MLP epsiode. There are other options, of course, but the core premise of "I say that the current laws of reality are thus" remains.

Adjurations are things you pick up early in your career, and discard later. Almost all the charms you get from Adjurations are easy to get, and once you have them you don't need to commit your (precious few) motes to having them. There are a few outliers for certain specialized builds, but their main long term use is saving ~9 committed motes by giving you an Assumption form for 1 mote rather than 10. Assuming you don't want to have a permanent Assumption (0 motes), that is.

Behemoths are minions. Mostly. They're either copies of yourself with a slightly stronger physical focus, or nightmarishly powerful weapons of large scale war and social domination. As a common third option, they can convey fun powers to the Creation-born (and not you).

Wyld Treasures are placeholders. They do whatever normal artifacts do, barring magical material bonuses (mostly), meaning you can get your favorite 'core' artifacts anyway.

Chancels are new, and come from the Errata. If allowed, you will have one. End of discussion. They let you travel freely through Creation, use Wyld only Charms at will, escape danger with minimal effort, summon infinite wealth and armies... for a 1 dot item.


All that said, a thesis I enjoy asserting is that there are no Sidereals, only Fair Folk (and Zuul). In other words, Grace Magic (and Fair Folk) are so much of a toolbox as is, it's possible to build... many things (no, more than that) with them. And power levels are erratic (they tend to generate a lot of flames when higher tier options are contemplated).

So creating sample Fair Folk is certainly an interesting idea, and I'll be happy to help as opportunity presents itself. Just be warned that the Wyld allows for lots of options...