A Tour Through the Feywild

Welcome back to How To Be a Better DM, the Official podcast of Monsters.Rent.

I’m your Tour Guide today, Justin Lewis, and we have another special tour lined up today.

First, before we get into today’s tour, we need to talk about our sponsors: you. Without you, we wouldn’t have this tour, so thank from the bottom of our hearts.

2nd, we do have a gift shop. You can visit it at the end of the tour, just go to monsters.rent/shop and there you can pick up all the knick knacks and things that you’ll never use that you only pick up on vacation. There will be also your classic “I went to the Feywild and All I got was this T Shirt” T shirt, but you don’t really want that because let’s be honest, Vacation gimmick shirts never ever look cool.

3rd thing, in the show notes of today’s tour, there are some links that may be affiliate in nature, meaning that if you purchase something from the link, part of that will go towards supporting Better Dungeon Master Tours. Be aware of that fact.

Ok, with the boring stuff out of the way, let’s get ready. First, everyone, make sure you are wearing your protective yellow vests. Do these vests have special protective charms? No. Are they reflective and very bright so they are easy to see? Yes. Will Better Dungeon Master Tours charge you a fee for losing your vest? Yes. So please do not lose them.

I see we have some familiar faces here today. I recognize a few of you from our Tour through the Shadowfell. It’s great to also have some first timers here with us a Better DM Tours. As I said, I am Justin Lewis, and I’ll be your tour guide today. If you love the tour or have comments about my Tour Guide style, feel free to leave a rating or a review. If I get a good rating and a review, my bosses might give me a raise (although let’s be honest, my boss is a real hard case and would never give me a raise). Anyways, who’s ready to have some fun!!!

Mirror Planes

Ok, follow me, the tour has officially begun. As most of you know, there is a multiverse of dimensions and planes. Most of you know this because most of you came from different realms.

Within each Universe, there are also different planes of existence depending on the model that the Universe follows. The Dungeon Master’s Guide actually makes pretty good mention of this. It talks about different  Universe models that connects different planes. It ranges all the way from the Soap Bubble model where each plane is sort of like a soap bubble, randomly bouncing off or intersecting with other planes, all the way to the One world model, where all of the planes are just places on the same world.

In many models, the Feywild is a distinctly different place than the material plane. In many of those models, the Feywild is also considered a mirror plane. In fact, in this universe, that is exactly what is the case. The planes are separate places, but the Feywild is a mirror plane of the Material Plane.

Ok, follow me everyone. So pay attention to your surroundings right now. As you’ll notice we are in a forest, you can see that in this part of the forest, it is fall. The leaves are losing their color, you can see that we’ve been walking through piles of leaves and there is a slight nip in the air. Remember that. Oh and yes, Mr. and Mrs. Craig, please don’t wander off, I know those bunnies are cute, but I really wouldn’t. Bunnies can often lead you into places that are rather difficult to escape from.

Anyways, let me give you a brief refresher on mirror planes. Mirror planes are planes that closely resemble another plane. Often, landmarks like cities, forests, oceans are in the same location and the same general shape. Each plane does have its own effect on the landmark though so you may notice some changes. Yes, I see a couple of you who were with me on our tour through the Shadowfell nodding in remembrance. When we pass into the Feywild, you’ll notice similarities but also important differences. Ok everyone keep up.

Traveling to the Feywild

As you may remember with the Shadowfell, traveling to the Feywild in most universes is a process. In most cases, you’ll have to use a spell like Gate, or the more accessible Plane Shift Spell. Gate will let you transport there easy peasy, no problem. Plane shift will require you to know either the Sigil sequence of a teleportation circle within the Feywild, or you’ll need a tuning fork attuned to the Feywild. This means you’ll have to find someone who’s traveled to the Feywild before and hopefully they have a tuning  fork that would work.

Today, we are going to use a convergence. Some of you may remember that that is how we got to the Shadowfell, well that’s how we are getting to the Feywild too.

For those of you joining us for the first time, a convergence is essentially where the planes intersect so much, that they are one and the same. This overlap allows creatures to pass through from one plane to another. The convergence we are going to is a very interesting place and I can’t wait to show you.

One last bit of warning before we get to the convergence. Even though the Feywild is technically the plane of Faeries, it is still home to many wild and dangerous creatures. Even if you see something “cute” don’t be fooled. Also, don’t just take any food that any individual or creature gives you. Some of the food of the Feywild could be considered charmed so check with me before you eat.

The Convergence

Ah, and here we are at the convergence. So a couple points to note. Do you see how those trees over there are evergreen and covered in snow, yet not even 20 feet away are the trees we’ve been walking through, the trees that seem to be in fall. And over there, you can see a swath of cherry trees in full Spring bloom. Lastly, in between the cherry trees and the trees of fall, you can see a swath of trees green with the sunshine of summer. You see, we weren’t just walking through the forest. Instead we walked to the corner of the forest, the very edge of this ancient forest. It just so happens that 3 other forests share this corner. Where each forest meets each other forest, we have this, the convergence.

In this case, no one quite knows how this convergence came to be, but as you can see from the large rough stone monuments built in a rough circle around the exact point where all forests converge, this place is considered holy for Druids. 

In fact we do have permission to be here, if you look over there. Hello Fairwind.

Fairwind: “Hello Justin, and hello guests of the Better Dungeon Master Tours Company. Welcome to the Druidic Circle of the Seasons. Yes this place is very holy, so I’d ask you kindly not to step on any of the plants of pull of leaves and then rip them apart as you walk along. I hate it when people do that.”

Thank you Fairwind. We should only be here for a few more minutes. Ok, so because this site also functions as a druidic circle, it isn’t the same as the Shadowfell entrance we used last tour. We can’t just walk into. In this case we all have to enter the Druid circle and then start skipping around. The feylike attitude and action will trigger the convergence and pull us into the Feywild. It only works if you commit so everyone,  enter the Druid Circle. Now on my count, I want you all to start skipping around, if you want to hum a little diddy, that’s fine, but if you don’t do it, you’ll be left behind and the tour is not giving any refunds.

Ok, 3, 2, 1, Skip.

La la la la la la la la la la

It worked!

Everyone is here… except the Petersens… of course.

Oh well.

So, the first thing you should not is the similarity to the Material Plane, but let me assure me, we are on the Plane of Faerie.

For one thing, note how the converging forests aren’t representative of all of the seasons any more. Instead, now it feels like twilight on a summer’s day. It’s warm, and pleasant. You can also note how the sun seems to be setting, though you can’t see it. It will remain like that during our entire journey through the Feywild.

You can also look around and see random Faerie lights. Those small bobbing little lights are what I’m talking about. You may occasionally giant fireflies lazily flying along.

Good question Miss Pratt. Though the Feywild may appear light and pleasant, it is still a dangerous place. 

In fact, let me draw your attention to the forest in front of us. You see a nice forest that seems open and inviting. Now turn around, look at the forest directly behind us. See how it is full of brambles and very overgrown? That’s because we are actually on a boundary line between the Unseelie and the Seelie.

Let me explain to you a bit about the Seelie and the Unseelie, but first, we must walk.

Everyone, please follow me.

The Courts of the Fey

Ok, so please, nobody eat any of the fruit, as I said. If you get charmed and “choose” to remain here in the Feywild, we will not be giving you a refund.

The Courts of the fey are divided into two factions. You have Queen Titania who rules the Summer Court of the Seelie fey, and then you have the Queen of Air and Darkness who rules the Gloaming or Winter Court of the Unseelie Fey.

No, that’s not entirely correct Mr. Roberts. The Summer and Winter Courts do not directly align with good and evil, though that’s an obvious mistake people make. You may have many Seelie who are good and many Unseelie who are evil, but the divide of the factions comes, more than anything else, from the opposition the two Queens feel for one another. They are jealous and utter rivals and will try to oppose each other simply out of principle if need be.

Of course, you may have other creatures that do not give allegiance to either court. Formorians and night hags are wonderful examples of this. You may also have independent fey entities who reject the courts entirely. In my homebrew campaign, an entity named Dreamtaker was a great example of this, until he went crazy and tried to take over everything.

Ok, as we are walking, definitely notice how your surroundings almost seem like you’re in a dream, but you know you aren’t. And actually, this might be an opportune moment to talk about some of the effects on adventurers while they are in the Feywild.

Effects on Adventurers in the Feywild

They Feywild is a very magical place.. Oo did you see that, over there, that bobbing light is actually a little pixie. 

Anyways, as I was saying. While you see a place of trees and wildness, and yes the trees are getting progressively bigger, but while this is what you see, people on the material plane view this place as a dangerous place, and with good reason. 

There are tales of children going missing into the feywild, kidnapped or lured away by fickle fey creatures, only to return decades later without ever having aged a day. The feywild is a strange place and there are many different version with different rules so to speak.

In fact, the Dungeon Master’s Guide give you some really great examples. There are different ways to affect an Adventurer’s Memory or you can reflect the fact that time may move differently in the Feywild than in the material plan. In the DMG it does give you some mechanical ways to play this out, but I would encourage you dungeon masters to first opt for a narrative reason as to why the characters had a time warp and what the difference in time with the material plane is.

Alternatively, another effect you can have on adventurers in the Feywild is that with any spell that is cast or magic item used, there is a certain percentage of strange things happening. Choose a percentage, let’s say 10% just because that would make things really fun. So any time a character casts a spell (excluding cantrips) or uses a magic item, roll a percentile dice. If they get your chosen percentage or lower, then roll on the Wild Magic table or make your own Wild magic table. Doing this can be a really fun way to display the randomness and whimsy of the feywild.

This is a completely arbitrary rule and you don’t even need to follow it. 

Hey what happened to Mr. Armonav? He what? I told you. Don’t accept any food from anyone on this trip, well, unless I say so.

Mr. Armonav, come here. (Snap noises) Hey, Hey, can you hear me.

Yes, I know he’s charmed, I can see that. Does anyone know here Dispel Magic or Break Curse?

No one? You came to the Feywild and you didn’t prepare any spells? 

Well, lucky for you Mr. Armonav, I have a Magic Mind here. Here drink this.

What’s Magic Mind? Oh that’s right, there are a few of you here that weren’t on our tour through the Shadowfell.

So Magic Mind is a potion and a productivity shot from the Material Plane. It’s designed to replace your morning coffee, tea, or energy drink. It also works very well to get rid of charmed spells that might fall upon you when you accept food from a scantily clad dryad like Mr. Armonav over here. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to trust scantily clad women.. Or men for that matter.

Anyways, Magic Mind has a lot of really magical ingredients including Ashwagandha, Lionsmane Mushrooms and even Vitamins. While it does work wonders on Charmed Persons, it also helps promote productivity in the ordinary person. 

Oh, you want to know where to get Magic Mind? Well sure. So, as of January 2024, you can now purchase them in any Sprouts Food Market across the Material Plane, or maybe a more economical way to get them would be to go to https://www.magicmind.com/JANbetterdm and use the code BETTERDM20 for a discount of 20% of a one time purchase or a discount of up to 56% if you sign up for a subscription. Also, in case you couldn’t tell, Magic Mind is the sponsor of today’s Tour through the Feywild, so a big thank you to Magic Mind. They actually provided these special vests you are wearing that have the enchantment to stave off any of the random effects of the Feywild, that’s Magic Mind infused garments. 

One last thing about magic mind. For this month of January, they are giving an even better discount. You can get 1 month for free when you subscribe for 3 months. So with the BETTERDM20 discount code that can get you up to 75% off of a 3 month subscription. Pretty useful if you are going into the Feywild!

Anyways, Mr. Armonav, drink this… down the hatch…

That’s better. Ok, where was I? Oh that’s right, I was just talking about the effects of the Feywild.

Well, as you can see based on what is around us right now, one of the effects of the feywild is that plants can grow to very fantastical proportions. You see those giant mushrooms over there next to that giant fern? Not to mention the massive trees all around us. 

Yet at the same time, you can pass through a wood where the trees are normal sized.

Creatures of the Feywild

So let’s talk about the Creatures of the Feywild. Obviously, if you wanted you could have your players meet elves in the Feywild, they are afterall descended from, or directly from the Feywild themselves. I suppose you could lump the eladrin in with that as well. Almost all of the elves are somehow descended from elves in the Feywild, but Eladrin seem to be much more closely connected. They are analogous to the Shadar-kai of the Shadowfell.

Basically any creature of whimsy would be a good fit here. Naturally you have your pixies, I mean we’ve seen an abundance of pixies this whole time. Fairies likewise. You could also find some unicorns in the Feywild, but more often than not, the Unicorns will find you. 

A note on Unicorns. The legends say that Unicorns are perfect and good. For the most part that is true, however, I’ve heard tales of adventurers meeting some unicorns that were less than helpful. They were arrogant and had a superiority complex, so be warned.

Hmm, if you look over there right now, you can see a treant moving among those fir trees. Treants are most often grouchy and crotchety. They would usually kill adventurers rather than speak with them, so that might be a good foe for your campaign.

Because the Feywild is, well… wild, any sort of wild thing can feasibly be here. If you want a magical lion to fight your party, you could probably find it here. Same with plants. It would not be too far fetched to find a carnivorous plant here that would be a great challenge for your party.

And just like with the courts, don’t make the mistake of associating the Shadowfell with Evil and the Feywild with Good. A better summation would be Shadow versus light, in the physical sense. As you can see around you, this place remains in a sort of soft warm light, compared to the Shadowfell’s general darkness. So I would play on that particular theme and use creatures that might be extra charming, or fantastical. Honestly, even the comparison of light versus shadow isn’t even that accurate considering that the queen of the Unseely fey, the Queen of Air and Darkness, well you get the point. 

It might be interesting to let your players think that the Feywild is quite safe, but in reality it isn’t…

Queen Titania

You might be wondering where we’ve been walking this whole time. Yes, I can see that there are many more flowers around us, also, yes I did see that giant caterpillar smoking a Hukkah. Best not to mess with that.

We are on our way to have an interview with Queen Titania herself. We are actually walking to the Summer Court. Normally, this would be very difficult, because the Summer Court moves,  but we were able to come to a deal with Queen Titania that she would allow us to come and have a nice chat with her. 

Everyone, a couple rules.

First rule: Use the buddy system. The Feywild, and fey creatures in general are very charming. The Seely Court especially. If you notice your buddy acting dreamily or in a strange way, give them a cuff upside the head and that should clear things up.

Second rule: Always obey my commands. If I say to run, we need to run. For those of you who remember the tour through the Shadowfell, you know what I’m talking about.

Third Rule: Do not eat any of their food. As they are quite charming, sometimes, whether incidentally or intentionally, their food becomes laced with a bit of their charming magic. I’ve never had this happen, but other guides have had tour members eat some food and decide to stay in the Feywild forever.

Last rule: Enjoy yourself! You’re on vacation so just sit back and enjoy the experience. Flash photography is allowed, though I’ll be honest, photos from the Feywild never really turn out. Don’t know why.

Ok, so here we are. Notice the perfectly manicured gardens that almost seem to have sort of a wild side? Notice how the forest seems to embrace the Summer Palace as if hugging an old friend. These denote the power of the Seely Queen.

Guard: “Halt”

Tour guide: “Of course.”

Guard: “What is your business...