Baba Yaga’s Hut found!

After my last post, I was a little chagrined when I suddenly remembered that Baba Yaga does exist in Dungeons & Dragons 4e.  Specifically, she is mentioned as one of the Archfey in the Manual of the Planes.

Baba Yaga lives in the heart of Murkendraw, a swamp as large as a sea.   Evil cultist, warped creatures, and all manner of horrible twisted life exist in this realm.

Baba Yaga’s appearance, attitude, and hut are not very different from how they were described back in Dragon Magazine #83 (or as they are described in Slavic mythology).

I still think my last post was valid, and that their has been a definite move away from traditional mythology towards a D&D specific mythology.  I am glad to see that Baba Yaga managed to buck this trend.

Perhaps I shoudn’t be too surprised to see her in the Feywild, as I have often thought that it was one of the best additions to Dungeons & Dragons 4e.

The fey were never handled well in previous editions of the game.  They were presented as mostly friendly creatures who at worst were harmless tricksters.  They seemed informed by the (sadly) modern view of faeries as half-naked tiny women flitting around on butterfly wings.

This always bugged me because the fey in mythology were always regarded as dangerous.  They were called “The Fair Folk” not because of their beauty, but because you did not wish to incur their wrath.  The slightest could result in you being horribly cursed or worse taken under the hill never to be seen again.

I am glad that this is the type of fey we find in Dungeons & Dragons 4e.  The section on the Feywild in the Manual of the Planes reinforces this by presenting a us with a dark mirror of the natural world.  It is a realm of both terrible beauty and abject horror.  More importantly, it is a dangerous place for mortals to roam as even the slightest mistake can bring down the wrath of its capricious inhabitants.

In fact, if I have a complaint about the Feywild in D&D, it is that I want to see more of it!  I would love to see a book similar to the Draconomicon or Open Grave which detailed the Archfey.  Of course, the realist in me realizes it probably wouldn’t sell well enough to justify the cost of producing it. 

Oh well, I suppose that is what Dragon and Dungeon are for.

Fey and the Feywild in 4th Ed

One of the aspects of 4th Edition that has me most excited is the introduction of the Feywild to the D&D universe. I have always felt that the fey were given a bum rap in previous editions of D&D. I think this is less the fault of the D&D creators and more a consequence of what I call the “fairy” vs “faerie” dichotomy in most people’s minds.

I am using “fairy” to refer to the popular image of friendly fairies with butterfly wings. They are generally friendly, silly, and beautiful. They can be mischievous, but are rarely portrayed as malicious. This is the way the fey have generally been portrayed in D&D since its inception.

On the other hand I use “faerie” to refer to the fey as traditionally depicted in myth. They are powerful, intelligent, and capricious creatures. It is dangerous to be around even the most benign of them because their sense of morality is alien to our own. People use terms like “The Good Folk” or “The Kindly Ones” when describing them not because it is an accurate description, but because they fear incurring their wrath. This seems to be the direction that fey in D&D are moving in 4th Ed.

I am glad to see 4th Ed moving towards the “faerie” side of things for many reasons. Frankly, they make better monsters. That is important in a combat oriented game like D&D. More importantly, they can make complex opponents. With a plethora of magical abilities at their disposal, combat is more interesting than fighting it out with a group of orcs.

Also, many fey are highly intelligent, and will likely have more complex goals than most monsters. In the new game it might be just as likely that a village is being threatened by a group of fey as a band of orcs. But the reasons why a group of fey is threatening a village may be just as interesting as the combat itself.

Just as interesting as the fey themselves is the introduction of the Feywild as an adventuring environment. One advantage the Feywild has as an adventuring environment is it can literally be used at any time. Much like the “Mists of Ravenloft” coming in, an adventuring party stumbling into the Feywild can totally change the tone of an adventure. As long as it is not over used, this can be an effective way to add an unexpected sense of danger and excitement to an otherwise standard gaming session.