Any thoughts on fairies ?

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

I may be soft, but I generally decrease the modifier on fairy con to 1/2 instead of 1/4. I don't however increase their wizardry score, which I have seen done in several house rule collections.

I don't change the strength, but even a smart player has trouble surviving on 1/4 initial con. I mean leprechauns have no modifier at all, are fairies really that much smaller and weaker?

Also does anyone use fairy strength bows?

Or do you just wait until they have the strength to use regular bows, I only ask because bows are used by fairies in a lot of stories and art.

I also tend to prorate armor by fairy size making it possible for fairies to at least use light armor.

There is an excellent article floating around on how to survive as a fairy that I heartily recommend.

Just wanted to know how others deal with fairy issues.

[order99]

Canna help you there lad, no one in my game has ever chosen Fairy...which is odd considering the 'try anything' nature of my Agents of Chaos Players!

They are probably a bit weak-especially in the Editions of T&T(5th and below) that base Spell cost on ST.

[koraq]

Considering T&T never was a game that focused on balancing kindreds, I'm not surprised they are a bit weak. But, think about it, they are tiny flying fairies with gossamer wings! They *are* puny.

So, if you want to jazz em up a bit, I'd suggest add something to their culture of background that makes them more interesting to play. Aim for the fluff instead of the crunch, so to speak. Otherwise I think you'll go down the never ending road of tweaking each and every kindred for "balance".

That's how I'd do it anyway.

[unclehyena]

Well, given that 5E Fairies are denser than aluminum, and 7E fairies are nearly five times more dense than the densest material known to man, I would say you are justified in doing whatever turns you on.

Fairy warriors are going to get creamed hanging around with the big folks no matter how you slice it; fairy wizards can be interesting, if you can keep them alive.

[Fenris]

May 20, 2008 11:41:02 GMT -5 unclehyena said:

Fairy warriors are going to get creamed hanging around with the big folks no matter how you slice it; fairy wizards can be interesting, if you can keep them alive.

You know, I never allowed Faery warriors. Well, okay, back 20 years ago when I started T&T, maybe, but shortly after that I limited them the same way Leprechauns are. They just struck me as an inherently magical race, and were automatically Wizards. However, instead of Wink-Wing, they could racially case a spell akin to Mind Pox for 1 ST point.

In melee combat, using standard T&T rules, they "stood to the back of the party" and followed the rules on taking the lesser number of hits... which of course still killed them, lol! Because they had wings and could fly, I did allow them to fly out of range of combat, but in that case they couldn't add to a combat total.... Since they also didn't have the ST to cast spells, they weren't much use in combat at all. But that wasn't really an issue, because instead I focused on their use as spies and information retrieval specialists, etc.

Koura's Homonculus on that Sinbad movie filled a similar role, and it was about the same size and also winged.

[mahrundl]

I, on the other hand, have no problem with the idea of a Fairy warrior. I haven't used them much (or Fairies in general, really), but there's just something irresistably cute about the image of a Fairy, clad in a gaudy set of light padded armour, crossing the blade of her tiny rapier with the heavy scimitar of an Orc. ;D

Yes, she'll probably die, fighting one-on-one and toe-to-toe. But in a melee, that little rapier will be zipping around, distracting wizards, goosing rogues and blinding (ouch!) warriors.

Think Tinkerbell...

[dwayanu]

They're definitely better in a reconnaissance role. Maybe you could give them a limited number of limited-use innate magical abilities?

In one of my games, players got shrunk and stuck in a fairy lair. The carnage from TTYF spells was tremendous.

[apeloverage]

If you use WIZ instead of STR to power spells, they become a lot better. Maybe that could be their special ability?

[Fenris]

May 20, 2008 22:15:48 GMT -5 apeloverage said:

If you use WIZ instead of STR to power spells, they become a lot better. Maybe that could be their special ability?

Wow, it took seven replies for someone to suggest that, lol! That's like a record on this board. ;D

I think that's a great idea, having them use Wiz... or even LK, for that matter. I think it would be cool to have a Fairy that can blast a 200 point TTYF at 10th level! She'd be like a fairy firecracker! Her whole body would just light up and send a ZAP blast!

Historically, my faeries have always been pretty light on the magic, "light" being a good word here... they could cast a Will-o-Wisp on themselves for 0 ST cost, and I gave them a special Mind Pox-type ability.

If you go with the standard T&T rules, Faeries are just tiny people with wings (perhaps like Windlings in Barsaive?). In that case, the spellbook is open to them and they can cast Oh-Go-Away (reasonable) just as well as they cast, say, Blasting Power (not reasonable). Only the amount of magic points they have limits what spells they have access to, and to what power.

Remove that cap, and you're clearly going to have silly results. It would be akin to taking a tribble off Iota Geminorum IV! The troubles will just keep multiplying!

I think I mostly agree with Koraq on this one: faeries are naturally "unbalanced" characters, and integrating them into a party might be more a function of fluff than crunch.

If you wanted to make them naturally magical, they could have their own racial spell list... perhaps they naturally acquire certain abilities as they mature... non-adventuring faeries never get beyond Lighting Up and Mind Poxing, but adventuring faeries will get powers like Breaker Breaker and Blow You To and anything else that you feel is "faery-like" in your world.

They could even come from another dimension entirely, and everything could be different. The glow I mentioned? Is just natural and has to be suppressed instead of activated. Perhaps it dims naturally as they weaken (you can tell how weak she is by her glow). Was Tink like that? I'm not really familiar with the character, but it seems like I've heard this before.

Anyway, yeah, even the stuff I've written here that's a little crunchy is still fluffy at the same time.

The big question I have is: what are the weapon stats for a faery bullwhip???

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

Thank you all for your insightful replies.

I think I will keep the 1/2 instead of 1/4 con multiplier, but I think that the kind of player who wants to game a fairy in the first place wants to play something out of the ordinary and any other attempt to enforce balance on fairies is defeating their very purpose.

Besides now that Wizardry is a widely excepted stat they can be quite effective as wizards, not that I will disallow fairy warriors. I just wont go out of my way to make life easy for them. ;D

Thanks again, it always helps to get the benefit of others opinions and experience.

Oh and obviously a fairy whip will do 1d more than a fairy broadsword, at least according to 7th edition!

[unclehyena]

I would love to see that article on getting a Fairy to survive, if you can give me a link, or at least a reference.

The survival problem with Fairies is that they aren't strong enough to wear decent armor, and there are no real rules for staying out of melee, so Fairies tend to die fast, even if they hang in the back and cast spells.

In 7E Fairy spellcasters are almost viable, until they get killed by blowby or Spite damage; I for one have no problem with Fairies casting god-awful energy spells.

I wouldn't disallow Fairy warriors, I just can't see any point in playing them by the current rules, unless they get some sort of Dodge skill to keep them alive.

[apeloverage]

May 21, 2008 2:58:39 GMT -5 unclehyena said:

I would love to see that article on getting a Fairy to survive, if you can give me a link, or at least a reference.

www.ains.net.au/~dlucardie/TnT_fairy.html

[dwayanu]

Given their diminutiveness and mobility, fairies may be due SRs to avoid getting whacked (just as they're harder to hit with missiles).

[unclehyena]

By the way, does it bother anyone else that 7E Fairies are nearly five times as dense as the densest material known to science? (5E Fairies have a density somewhere between aluminum and bronze...)

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

Ok a large average fairy is 7 and 1/10 inches tall ( a roll of 12 on the chart 5'11 divided by ten ) and weighs .95 pounds ( a roll of 12 again 190' divided by 200 ).

Hmmm, I admit that that is heavier than a bird of the same size, but I always figured that fairies unlike birds of a similar size do not have hollow bones since their flight is powered by inherent magic. I also figured that the increased density in muscle and bone tissue was responsible for their great relative strength to size.

Of course this brings up the question if like dwarves who also have denser bones and muscle tissue than humans they sink if unsupported in water. Not having positive buoyancy can really ruin your whole day in the wrong circumstances.