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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:02PM
#1
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Date Joined:
May 12, 2009
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Wandering Monster
The Fair FolkBy James WyattJames whisks you away from your mundane monsters, abnormal aberrations, and conniving fiends so that he can show you the enticing and sometimes deadly fey folk. Do you have a strong enough will (and grip) to keep the Queen of the Faeries from claiming your Tam Lin? Neither are required . . . yet. But maybe soon.Talk about this column here.
Yan
Montréal, Canada
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:17PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2005
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I'm going to bring up the same thing that I brought up the last time that we talked about fey: PLEASE stop limiting some of these creatures to being depicted as women. There is NO good reason that they can only ever be women.
Let me try something to see if it'll help get this point across... Can you picture yourself writing up a depiction for one of these creature that's completely gender-neutral and yet still doesn't draw attention to that fact? That still lets the reader continue with their preconceived notions while still not precluding alternative concepts?
If you think that this sounds difficult to do, then I have a surprise for you, because you just did it PERFECTLY with the Hag. Everybody knows that Hags are typically depicted as women, but your write-up for it allowed for alternative possibilities without needing to call them out specifically. For anybody not looking for it, you didn't -need- to say that Hags are women for them to already think that, so why should Dryads or Nymphs be any more challenging?
Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TMSpeaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask? "If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB "If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave "WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm "Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further. Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:24PM
#3
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CC - I never considered it that way.
But it's true. I always picture the medusa as female and the Minotaur as male.
But maybe that ought to change. It's already messing my mind.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:31PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Sep 17, 2004
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Has he completely ignored everything in the last Dragon's Eye View? Are the authors even talking to one another?
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:47PM
#5
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2003
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Anyone else besides me missing a tiny 2-3" faerie for their characters to interact with? If atomie are the smallest wee folk at 1' tall, that makes sprites and pixies of comparable height, somewhere between 1-2' tall. I need a teensy, sparkly faerie to make my D&D complete! 
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:52PM
#6
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2003
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Anyone else besides me missing a tiny 2-3" faerie for their characters to interact with? If atomie are the smallest wee folk at 1' tall, that makes sprites and pixies of comparable height, somewhere between 1-2' tall.
I need a teensy, sparkly faerie to make my D&D complete!
Eh, then again, perhaps the wee folk are a class of tiny-sized fey that explicitly excludes the fine-sized faerie I have in mind?
But then, what do we call it?
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 9:55PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2005
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Anyone else besides me missing a tiny 2-3" faerie for their characters to interact with? If atomie are the smallest wee folk at 1' tall, that makes sprites and pixies of comparable height, somewhere between 1-2' tall.
I need a teensy, sparkly faerie to make my D&D complete!
Eh, then again, perhaps the wee folk are a class of tiny-sized fey that explicitly excludes the fine-sized faerie I have in mind?
But then, what do we call it?
I agree that extremely small fey should exist. How about we call them fairies?
Why, yes, as a matter of fact I am the Unfailing Arbiter of All That Is Good Design (Even More So Than The Actual Developers) TMSpeaking of things that were badly designed, please check out this thread for my Minotaur fix. What have the critics said, you ask? "If any of my players ask to play a Minotaur, I'm definitely offering this as an alternative to the official version." - EmpactWB "If I ever feel like playing a Minotaur I'll know where to look!" - Undrave "WoTC if you are reading this - please take this guy's advice." - Ferol_Debtor_of_Torm "Really full of win. A minotaur that is actually attractive for more than just melee classes." - Cpt_Micha Also, check out my recent GENASI variant! If you've ever wished that your Fire Genasi could actually set stuff on fire, your Water Genasi could actually swim, or your Wind Genasi could at least glide, then look no further. Finally, check out my OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE article, an effort to give unique support to the races that WotC keeps forgetting about. Includes new racial feature options for the Changeling, Deva, Githzerai, Gnoll, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, Kalashtar, Minotaur, Shadar-Kai, Thri-Kreen, Warforged and more!
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 10:00PM
#8
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2003
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I agree that extremely small fey should exist. How about we call them fairies?
I could live with that.
Why was it decided that D&D pixies are 1-2' tall anyway? How big is Tinkerbell?
EDIT: She's 5-5.5" tall. -- I'd still prefer a tinkling, shimmering something smaller.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 10:09PM
#9
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Date Joined:
May 22, 2003
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Next on When D&D Has Gone Too Far: Grown men researching Tinkerbell stats at one o'clock in the morning.
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6 months ago ::
Nov 26, 2012 - 10:42PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Aug 23, 2007
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I rather liked the descriptions.
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