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3 questions about fey'ri PC mechanics compared to PnP

Started by nether, May 09, 2024, 02:09 PM

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nether

As the title says, I have three questions about fey'ri PCs on CD that are different from PnP, as far as I am aware, and I am mostly curious if they were made on purpose or were oversights.

1. Ability adjustments

Fey'ri PCs on CD currently receive an ability adjustment of +4 INT, -2 CON. This is different from PnP, unless I am wholly mistaken, where they would get +2 DEX, +2 INT and -2 CON. "Faces of Elves" also acknowledges this:

"Statistical Adjustments: For fey'ri, they have elven traits but ability adjustments replaced with +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, and -2 Constitution. They are quick and intelligent due to the mixed blessing of their fiendish blood, but their inbreeding over time has withered their constitution. Fey'ri are natural shapeshifters who can change their form to any humanoid close to their size. Individual fey'ri adopt abilities dependent on their bloodline. Races of Faerûn has a full list of the traits one can pick. Our system has all fey'ri as the +3 ECL ones in abilities, but with an adjusted ECL of +2, for balancing purposes." (Faces of Elves, page 114)


2. Elven Blood

In PnP, fey'ri would get an ability called "Elven Blood", that would make them be treated as Elves for all abilites, items and PrCs that check for race, despite being native outsiders. "Faces of Elves", once again, confirms this, saying:

"For the purpose of being read by elvish wards, fey'ri and other planetouched elves also still read as elves, making the threat the Daemonfey pose all the more dangerous." (Faces of Elves, page 113)

I understand it is likely impossible to program this into NWN but a simple mention of this under "RP abilities" on their wiki article would do the trick of informing players and DMs that this ability exists. If it is wanted and not omitted on purpose.


3. Wings

Fey'ri are often depicted with wings and do gain flying movement in PnP. Faces of Elves also depicts a winged fey'ri as an example of their kind (Faces of Elves, page 110). Yet their write up on the wiki, formerly the forums, does not grant them the Wing widget.

Plot Lost

Oh well, a new player here, who has no idea whatsoever of anything at all. But I cannot best my nature here, and so I will speculate in hopes that I might be later corrected, and thus arrive at a better understanding of the inner machinations of this server.

And yes, you are correct that in PnP Fey'ri do indeed get +2 to dexterity and +2 to intelligence. Therefore, the entry on the wiki could be just a typo. But if it is not, well, it does feel like a change I could and would have actually argued for somewhere else, a far far away, and a long time ago.

First of all, the server already has races available such as the Drow and Tieflings who receive the aforementioned +2 to dexterity and +2 to intelligence. Thus if Fey'ri offered the exact same, in the game-play sense, it would just offer more of the exact same. So why not just play a regular Tiefling, or a Drow? Therefore, the +4 intelligence offers something different that no other variant of elves offer. Not to mention that if we keep the PnP ability scores in mind, in addition to the fact that the Fey'ri live in a self-sustaining society, the player character Fey'ri is something that would actually stick out like a sore thumb. In simple terms, the player character would be more clumsy than the other Fey'ri, and we should not forget how clumsy people could be  considered to be stupid by others and by reason no different than the sheer virtue of having failed to meet the expected standard. All the other Fey'ri children could have performed the "Stabby-stabby-dance" on the captured Orc to perfection, but the player character simply failed by tripping on his or her own legs during the performance, and so the other children jeer and mock, the adults roll their eyes, and our player character knows deep down that he or she is not stupid. Therefore, it presents a crack in the social cohesion of the Fey'ri society, and then presents the avenue for the player character to actually venture out on their own in order to master their own fate, or by sheer willingness to volunteer for some mission as the excuse the just get away. And in a way, the ability to make such a distinction in the player application for the race, kind of suggests that the player likely knows what he or she is getting him or herself into.

And then we have the mechanical aspects to consider. The Fey'ri are a +2 ECL race, and as a result the highest level they can reach is 28. If we assume the use of Weapon Finesse or ranged Weapons, the PnP racial bonus of +2 dexterity would actually mean that the Fey'ri character could actually negate the loss of the one point of Epic BAB progression compared to a Sun Elf character of the exact same character build. But at the same time, the Fey'ri character would be short of either one or two Epic Feats, and in exchange of what exactly, a bunch of innate abilities that could be all replaced by adventuring gear gathered by something like level 10? And then you add in the role-play requirements, the need to be hiding your true nature at all costs or you would get gutted by other elves on sight, and your whole life made very difficult everywhere else as well. One might conclude that it would be so much more easier for you to just play a regular evil Sun Elf that has turned his back to the Elven way. Therefore, if we then consider the +4 intelligence that is listed on the wiki... Well, that could be +5% chance for your DC spells to succeed above a Sun Elf of equal build. Not to mention that increase in intelligence ability modifier would also manifest a sum total of either +2 or +3 spell slots at varying spell levels. Therefore, if you are going for an Fey'ri Arcanist, the access to these additional spell slots will make the leveling experience feel a little easier for you. Not to mention that if you choose the "Damage Reduction 10/+1", "Fire Resistance 10", "Dimension Door 1/day", and whatever else, you can to a degree ignore your squishy hit point pool, the breath of certain oversized rats, and have a convenient tool for reaching otherwise difficult to get to areas for either low level loot or quest completion experience. Therefore, there is actually some mechanical point to actually playing a Fey'ri character instead of just rolling an evil Sun Elf, which you would actually end up pretending to be when playing a Fey'ri.

And yes, Fey'ri are able to fly in PnP. Fey'ri can have wings, and even those that would not, should by sheer virtue of their "Alter Self" ability. But that said, Fey'ri could also have those additional limbs such as arms and tails... I think there is a robe or pelvis clothing appearance for a tail if you really want to have one. But, the fact is that as a Fey'ri, you really should try to keep the fact as much of a secret as humanly possible... And the moment people see a Sun Elf with huge bat wings, someone will snap a screenshot of it, and then what might follow is a mob with those pitchforks and torches, and upset players. Thus, the lack of wings actually helps our Fey'ri to remain secret.
You can only find me in game, or through forums. No Discord installed here.

Plot Lost

Oh, and another thing... In PnP, Fey'ri are either ECL 2 or 3 race based on what four things they pick. And as said before, those can be great at level 1-10, but on this server you can find equipment to do it all without the ECL. Therefore, the loss of wings could be also a way to keep the race a ECL 2 race, and regardless of what traits you happen to pick. Which again would happen to be another excuse for why your character has left the Fey'ri society, as your character might feel as if he or she is somehow defective. And this way, there is no need to make a "Fey'ri" town... to be used by the one sporadic for grand total of ten minutes before porting to sit in Arabel instead.
You can only find me in game, or through forums. No Discord installed here.