Gods of Fey Magic, Part III

Fey Spells
Enchantment all, the magic of the fey cannot blatantly cause or heal direct damage, nor trouble itself with good or evil. Those are the province of mortal magic- but all else is fair game! Fey spells are thereby more subtle things, focusing especially on what brings fortune (and misfortune), transformation, illusion, charm, and wonder. 

• To determine which ones a fey enchanter might know, use the spell lists for two of the divinities that a type of fairy aligns with that also has their chosen aspect.
• Make sure to leave out any directly damaging or moralistic ones of course.
• Make sure to include the spells of Fey Lords if they match one or both of the divinities: 
  Arms & Armor (link), Blastings (link), Blessings & Curses (link), Champions (link), Food & Drink (link), Maidens (link), Puppets (link), Realms (link), and Wards (link).
• Being akin to spontaneity, fey enchanters need not prepare their spells ahead of time. They can cast the ones that they know on a whim, up to the amount per day and spell levels that a cleric of the same level can.

Actual fairies themselves can do much the same, though they may be able to cast such spells at will. The more powerful ones can draw fey spells for all the divinities that are associated with their type.

For example, a garden fey enchantress might know select spells from two divinities on the brownie list, since brownies also have the aspect of garden.

Thus, she could have such 1st level spells from Vesta as:

Light, Purify Food and Drink, Remove Fear, Resist Cold, Sanctuary, Hold Portal*, Mending *, and Unseen Servant*, but not Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, or Protection from Evil (+2 if near a hearth).

And from Frigg: 

Detect Magic, Purify Food & Drink, Remove Fear, Resist Cold, Sanctuary, Allure*, Feather Fall*, Shield*, Fylgja* (as Unseen Servant, but looks like the ideal mate or beast spirit of the cleric), and Hold Portal*, but also not Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, nor Protection from Evil too.

On the other hand, a fey enchanter of the day might know other spells from Apollo and Freya instead, accessing them via high elves, who align with those deities and have the day aspect.

Actual fey brownies and fey high elves could cast such spells at will, drawing from even more divinity spell lists.

If nothing else, all such castings are subject to fey magical side-effects too, making them distinct from the usual magic for such gods and goddesses. 

Changing Divinity Spell Lists

Fey enchanters can continue to draw spells from those divinity spell lists each day, or instead make a new bargain with that type of fey to draw from other divinities that they align with on a new day. For an even greater change, the enchanter could enter into a new bargain with a different type of fey who also has an aspect that matches theirs, and thereby access yet other divinities' lists. These modifications can be handled as either degree 1 or degree 5 bargains respectively, as described in Part II, or however the Referee wishes to proceed. As such, which spells a fey enchanter knows is always restricted to just 2 divinities' lists.

Belonging to a fey tradition (see below) would likely restrict an enchanter to only work with a certain type of fey in return for somewhat more predictable aspect requirements for their spells.

Continuing the example, the garden fey enchantress may strike a new deal to have access to different divinities' spells on the brownie list, or even work with a fey gnome for deities on that list.

Fey Gods & Fey Magic Traditions

Whatever is the exact nature of the divine to such ephemeral beings, fey enchanters can draw upon such magic all the same.

The Fey & the Gods

Few would call fairies gods, though they can be quite powerful. Still, the understanding of divinities is often that they far surpass the more limited focus of fairy ways, encompassing the entirety of mortal existence and beyond. Whether the gods are fey themselves depends greatly on one's campaign setting. What fey enchanters believe is up to them, though clerics of those gods might vehemently disagree.

Fey Magic Traditions

Beyond the aspect associations of fey enchanters and fairies, some of the former may wish to more strongly align with the latter. Those enchanters who do can choose to pledge allegiance to a certain type of fairy and thereby need only refer to their aspect list instead when rolling for fey magic side-effects or fey tests. In return, they are barred from switching to another type of fairy in which to bargain with different divinities and spell selections, and can get ensnared in fairy court drama too.

Fey Types

The fey are myriad. Many listed here, such as fey dwarves and fey elves, have mortal demi-human equivalents. Depending on one's campaign setting, those can remain distinct races, or even all such beings can be considered fey. 

Similarly, fey can be determined to be semi-mortal themselves, made of flesh or other matter and able to be harmed by magic spells and special weapons. On the other hand, the fey can be purely spirits, generally immune to all but turning and other fey weaknesses. For example, a satyr might be usually considered fey or not, having a usual physical form or not, depending on one's campaign, though most would have the two former cases apply. Yet other types can be different versions of spirits, such as ancestral dwarves or nature spirit satyrs- all with different abilities, though that would be described elsewhere.

In any case, a number of types are listed below with suggestions of how their interactions with mortals can proceed, though Referees should feel free to adjust them as they see fit. As discussed above, fey enchanters select a type that they work with based on their matching aspect, allowing them access to different spells via the aligned divinities. Those enchanters who go a step further and follow that type of fey as a tradition can also use those distinct aspects for the side-effects for their magic and tests too rather than the table in Part I.

• Nature: What the fey type is generally like. This trait may help in locating and knowing how to best work with them (or at least not earn their ire). 
• Seelie / Unseelie: Also listed is the base percentage of how often a fairy type is seelie (helpful) or unseelie (hostile), which can be modified of course by how the mortal acts. If their seelie / unseelie percentage doesn't occur in a particular situation, then they'll either be neutral, ignoring the mortal, or the reverse, being unseelie or seelie instead (an equal chance of either). Regardless, if suitably honored, seelie fey may even bestow benefits to mortals without a bargain, while suitably dishonored unseelie fey will cause harm in the form of tests, though a save vs. spell/ Will save DC 15 can resist if such was unprovoked by the mortal.
• Divinities: Whom the fey type usually aligns with. Such associations can further determine their approach to mortals. Note that these fey divinity associations may vary somewhat from their mundane versions. For example, fey dwarves and actual dwarves can follow somewhat different divinities. For what divinities standard demi-humans and even humanoids follow, see Volume V.
• Aspects: What the fey type often favors when it comes to magical side-effects and bargains. These can be used in total or in part along with other aspects as deemed fitting. They can thus serve as more condensed tables for what fey enchanters who follow traditions of these fairies would roll on instead. Even if they don't follow their tradition, it at least allows fey enchanters with a matching aspect to work with them.
• Bargains: What's the highest degree of bargain can the fey type generally bestow? The greater given, the greater the penalty for breaking it. For the blessing to counteract other fey effects, use the highest value for the fey type. For example, the highest counteracting bargain a brownie can make is 4, since that's what it can make for servants.

Brownies

   Nature: Helpful 

   Seelie: 85%

   Divinities: Athena, Frigg, the Dagda, Danu, Arawn, Vesta, Mokosh

   Aspects: Hearth, Garden, Trinket, Keeping Things Tidy, Leaving a Libation (milk), Never Saying Thank You, Performing a Service

   Bargains: Bonus 2, Spells 2, Wealth 2, Servant 4, Immunity 1

Fey Alfar

   Nature: Noble

   Seelie: 75%

   Divinities: Freyr, Freya, Idunn, Njord

   Aspects: North, Cold, Day, Following an Old Way, Keeping Things Tidy, Legacy, Mound, Weapon, Winds

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 4, Wealth 3, Servant 5, Immunity 5

Fey Black Dwarves

   Nature: Tyrannical
   Unseelie: 75%

   Divinities: Loki, Hel, Hades, Louhi, Chernobog

   Aspects: Cave, Fear, Hidden, Smithing, Black, Stone

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 4, Wealth 5, Servant 4, Immunity 3

Fey Dwarves

   Nature: Industrious

   Seelie: 75%

   Divinities: Thor, Loki, Vulcan, Ilmarinen, Svarog

   Aspects: Highland, Boundary, Telling a Tale, Cave, Smithing, Gold, Stone, Treasure, Weapon

   Bargains: Bonus 4, Spells 3, Wealth 5, Servant 3, Immunity 4

Fey Dark Elves

   Nature: Sinister
   Unseelie: 75%

   Divinities: Loki, Trivia, the Morrighan, Dis Pater, Louhi, Morana

   Aspects: Winter, North, Night, New Moon, Mound, Black, Purple, Keeping a Secret, Crossroads

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 5, Wealth 5, Servant 4, Immunity 4

   Variations: often aligned with a Winter Court, can include dock alfar & dark sidhe too

Fey Gray Elves

   Nature: Mysteriously Reserved
   Seelie: 70%

   Divinities: Trivia, Danu, Brigid, Ceridwen, the Morrighan, Mercury, Morana, Veles

   Aspects: Autumn, West, Dusk, Half Moon, Dreams, Crossroads, Road, Mist, Potion, Wand, Silver

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 5, Wealth 4, Servant 4, Immunity 5

   Variations: often aligned with an Autumn Court

Fey High Elves

   Nature: Radiantly Elitist
   Seelie: 75%

   Divinities: Apollo, Freyr, Freya, Venus, Lugh, Danu, Dazbog, Lada

   Aspects: Summer, South, Day, Full Moon, Weapon, Meadow, Gold, Rainbow

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 5, Wealth 5, Servant 3, Immunity 5
   Variations: often aligned with a Summer Court

Fey Wood Elves

   Nature: Naturalistically Xenophobic
   Seelie: 65%

   Divinities: Artemis, Pan, Ullr, Cernunnos, Danu, Mielikki 

   Aspects: Spring, East, Dawn, Crescent Moon, Boundary, Staff, Forest, Green, Tree

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 4, Wealth 3, Servant 3, Immunity 4

   Variations: often aligned with a Spring Court

Fey Gnomes

   Nature: Hobby-tinkering
   Seelie: 85%

   Divinities: Artemis, Sif, Frigg, Vulcan, Ilmarinen, Mielikki

   Aspects: Trinket, Garden, Meadow, (Missing) Courage, Forest, Cave, Performing a Service, Carving, Saying, Knocking On Wood After Speaking

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 3, Wealth 3, Servant 2, Immunity 2

Fey Goblins

   Nature: Mischievous
   Unseelie: 95%

   Divinities: Tezschnaz, Balor, Louhi

   Aspects: Night, Cave, Blood, Fear, Legacy (First Born)

   Bargains: Bonus 2, Spells 1, Wealth 1, Servant 2, Immunity 1
   Variations: fey hobgoblins, fey goblin kings

Fey Kobolds

   Nature: Unpredictable
   Unseelie: 65%

   Divinities: Loki, Fenrir, Arawn, Veles

   Aspects: Cave, Dusk, Fear, Performing a Service, Whistling

   Bargains: Bonus 2, Spells 1, Wealth 1, Servant 2, Immunity 1

Fey Trolls

  Nature: Grumpy

  Unseelie: 65% 

  Divinities: Loki, Hel, Balor, Louhi

  Aspects: Cave, Highland, Night, Stone, Waterway, Bridge

  Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 2, Wealth 2, Servant 1, Immunity 3

Leprechauns

   Nature: Treasure-focused

   Seelie: 70%

   Divinities: Brigid, the Dagda, Danu, Lugh

   Aspects: Belief, Desire, Gold, Green, Rainbow, Circling Something, Something Promised, Something of Three

   Bargains: Bonus 4, Spells 4, Wealth 5, Servant 4, Immunity 5

Nixie / Fossegrim

   Nature: Watery

   Seelie: 70%

   Divinities: Balder, Aegir, Poseidon, Manannan

   Aspects: Wetland, Cloud. Desire, Keeping a Secret, Music, Rain, Road

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 3, Wealth 3, Servant 1, Immunity 4

Nymphs

   Nature: Beautiful

   Seelie: 65%

   Divinities: Aphrodite, Pan, Freya, Venus, Lada

   Aspects: Bed, Desire, Dreams, Full Moon, Summer, Bath, Wetland

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 3, Wealth 2, Servant 5, Immunity 4
   Variations: dryads, naiads, etc.

Pixies

   Nature: Whimsical

   Seelie: 65%
   Divinities: Artemis, Eostre, Idunn, Danu, Ilmatar

   Aspects: Children, Garden, Fairy Ring, Sweets

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 4, Wealth 1, Servant 1, Immunity 5

Redcaps

   Nature: Violent

   Unseelie: 65%

   Divinities: Ares, Surtr, Balor

   Aspects: Blood, Dreams, Fear, Summer, Weapon, Winter
   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 4, Wealth 1, Servant 1, Immunity 5

Satyrs

   Nature: Sexual

   Seelie: 65%

   Divinities: Pan, Dionysus, Cernunnos, Veles

   Aspects: Crescent Moon, Desire, Fear, Forest, Joy, Music, Leaving a Libation (wine) 

   Bargains: Bonus 3, Spells 2, Wealth 2, Servant 2, Immunity 4
   Variations: sileni, panes, fauns, etc.

Sidhe

   Nature: Aristocratic

   Seelie: 75%

   Divinities: Danu, Lugh, Brigid, Nuada, Manannan, the Morrighan

   Aspects: Boundary, Clouds, Good Manners, Keeping Secrets, Legacy, Potion, Something of Three, Silver, Stone, West

   Bargains: Bonus 5, Spells 5, Wealth 5, Servant 4, Immunity 3

Talking Animals

   Nature: Innocent Bestial

   Seelie: 80%

   Divinities: Artemis, Eostre, Idunn, Danu, Veles, various Beast Spirits

   Aspects: Children, (Missing) Courage, Forest, Garden, Meadow, Circling Something

   Bargains: Bonus 2, Spells 2, Wealth 2, Servant 3, Immunity 3

Walking Moppets

   Nature: Sing-songy

   Seelie: 85%

   Divinities: Freyr, Loki, Vesta, Vulcan, Ilmarinen

   Aspects: Belief, Children, Garden, (Missing) Heart, (Missing) Brain, Road, Keeping a Secret, Legacy, Something of Three (enjoying counting to other numbers too)

   Bargains: Bonus 1, Spells 1, Wealth 3, Servant 3, Immunity 4

See also Roman Penates, Slavic fey, & Finnish fey in Volumes II & IV.

Beautiful Mount Fairy Lodge

a series of Fey Encounters

Much can be found in this breathtaking place. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall- all you have to bring is your love of everything fey. Enchanting, the party can arrive upon one or more of the following courts. They are all situated upon a bucolic mountain, fairies who engage in much sport (and intrigue). They can be found together, different times of the day, or even different times of the year as fits best with one's campaign.

Fairy Courts

Elves and similar types tend to lead courts since they have a lot of aspects- at least one connecting the rest. Each may vary in its approach depending on which types of fairies within it are ascendant, even if its not the elves who at least hold it together. Roll 1d4.

   1. Winter       2. Spring      3. Summer      4. Autumn

Winter Court

Led by Esmera Hail, it can range from harsh to simply chilly, tied mostly together via the aspect of night. They enjoy much sledding and Yuletide candy.

Associated Fairies (roll 1d4 to see which are ascendant: 1. Dark Elves, 2. Goblins, 3. Nixies, 4. Trolls

For example, if dark elves are ascendant, then the court will be more sinister; if trolls, simply grumpy.

Esmera Hail, Lvl 5 fey enchantress of the north

Align: N, MV: 40’, AC: 9, HD: 5, HP: 23, Atk: 1, Dmg: 1d4+1 (+1 dagger), SP: fey enchanter abilities, spells known (via Dis Pater and Morana)

   1st Level: pick 5

   2nd Level: pick 4

   3rd Level: pick 3

SV: C5, Mor: 10, Items: fey symbol, blue and white robes, icy jewelry, +1 dagger, 878 gps. Appearance: pale complexion, white hair, slender.

Spring Court

Led by Finnegan, it can range from hostilely rural to unfledged bucolic, tied mostly together via the aspect of garden. They enjoy tossing light discs and searching for painted eggs. 

Associated Fairies (roll 1d4 to see which are ascendant: 1. Wood Elves, 2. Pixies, 3. Fey Gnomes, 4. Talking Animals 

For example, if wood elves are ascendant, then the court will be naturalistic and xenophobic; if talking animals, innocent bestial.

Finnegan, Lvl 5 green fey enchanter

Align: N, MV: 40’, AC: 9, HD: 5, HP: 29, Atk: 1, Dmg: 1d6+1 (+1 staff), SP: fey enchanter abilities, spells known (via Artemis and Eostre)

   1st Level: pick 5

   2nd Level: pick 4

   3rd Level: pick 2

SV: C5, Mor: 9, Items: fey symbol, green robes, woodland pendant, +1 staff, 300 gps. Appearance: medium complexion, white beard, medium build.

Summer Court

Led by Ephedria, it can range from highbrow to bloodthirsty, tied mostly together via the aspect of summer. They enjoy much sunbathing and swimming.

Associated Fairies (roll 1d4 to see which are ascendant: 1. High Elves, 2. Alfar, 3. Nymphs, 4. Redcaps

For example, if high elves are ascendant, then the court will be radiant and elitist; if red caps, violent.

Ephedria, Lvl 5 fey summer enchantress

Align: N, MV: 40’, AC: 9, HD: 5, HP: 21, Atk: 1, Dmg: none, SP: fey enchanter abilities, spells known (via Freya and Lada)

    1st Level: pick 5

   2nd Level: pick 4

   3rd Level: pick 2

SV: C5, Mor: 10, Items: fey symbol, white and gold robes, golden belt, 589 gps. Appearance: fair complexion, blonde hair, voluptuous.

Fall Court

Led by Dorvar, it can range from secretive to unknowable, tied mostly together via the aspects of dreams and fear. They enjoy much leaf piling and costume.

Associated Fairies (roll 1d4 to see which are ascendant: 1. Grey Elves, 2. Sidhe, 3. Satyrs, 4. Kobolds

For example, if gray elves are ascendant, then the court will be mysterious and reserved; if kobolds, unpredictable.

Dorvar, Lvl 5 fey enchanter of dusk

Align: N, MV: 40’, AC: 9, HD: 5, HP: 30, Atk: 1, Dmg: +2 club, SP: fey enchanter abilities, spells known (via the Morrighan and Veles)

   1st Level: pick 5

   2nd Level: pick 4

   3rd Level: pick 3

SV: C5, Mor: 9, Items: fey symbol, brown hooded cloak, 73 gps. Appearance: fair complexion, gray beard, slender.

Next week: Gods of Wizardry

RPG srd Old School 1st ed AD&D Pixie Sprite Wizard of Oz Labyrinth Alice in Wonderland Magic System