THE FAE

Fickle and enigmatic, the Fae are impossible for a mortal to completely understand. Their ways are steeped in tradition, honor, and, above all else, bargains. They do not simply appreciate these virtues, they embody them.

LOOK (pick as many as apply):
• Ambiguous, Female, Male, Neither
• Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-Elf, Halfling, Gnome, Half-Orc (half-humanoid killer whale)
• Colorful Clothing, Expensive Clothing, Wild Clothing, Revealing Clothing


DEMEANOR (pick one): Alien, Eccentric, Feral, Charismatic

CHARACTER STATS (Add 1 to one of these):
--Blood -1
--Heart 1
--Mind 0
--Spirit 1

STARTING FACTIONS (Add 1 to one of these):
--Mortality 0
--Night -1
--Power 1
--Wild 1

INTRO QUESTIONS
• Who are you?
• How long have you been in the city?
• What do you love most about mortals?
• Who is your closest confidante in the city?
• What do you desperately need?

GEAR :
• A nice house or apartment, a steed, a pocket crystal ball
• A relic from your homeland
• A symbol of your court (sun, moon, storm, winter, spring, etc.)

DEBTS
• Someone broke an important promise to you and swore they would make it up to you. They owe you 2 Debts.
• You are keeping something hidden for someone. They owe you a Debt.
• You entrusted someone with a dangerous task. Ask them (PC or GM) if they succeeded or failed. If they succeeded, you owe them a Debt. If they failed, they owe you 2 Debts.

FAE MOVES:
You start with this one:

--Faerie Magic: Whenever you use a faerie power, choose 1:
• Mark corruption
• You owe your monarch a Debt
• Suffer 1-harm (piercing)

FAERIE POWERS (CHOOSE 3):
• Wild Fury: You summon an element of nature capable of striking your enemies (2-harm close area or 3-harm close/far).
• Nature’s Caress: Your touch heals 2-harm. You cannot use this power on yourself.
• Wither: You imbue your touch with the power to kill (3-harm intimate piercing).
• Glamours: You create illusions to fool the senses. The effects don’t last long.
• Shape Change: You can briefly change your shape into that of an animal.
• Bedlam: Touch a target to place them in a specific emotional state (your choice). Mark corruption to have that emotion directed toward a target of your choosing.



And then choose two more moves:
--A Dish Best Served Now: When you commit to exact revenge on behalf of someone (including yourself), gain +1 to all rolls against the target of that vengeance. For every scene in which you do not pursue vengeance, suffer 1-harm (piercing).

--In Our Blood: When you attempt to trick someone, roll with Heart instead of Mind.

--Scales of Justice: You may cash in a Debt with someone to use a power from faerie magic (including powers not normally available to you) on them at no cost.

--Draw Back the Curtain: When you escape, add this option to the list:
• You escape to your homeland, for better or worse

--Words Are Breath: When someone breaks a promise to you or lies to you and you find out, they owe you a Debt and you take +1 forward against them.




DRAMA MOVES:
»Fae Corruption Move:
When you break a promise or tell an outright lie, mark corruption.

»Intimacy Move:
When you share a moment of emotional intimacy with another person, demand a promise from them. If they refuse you or break the promise, they owe you 2 Debts.

»End Move:
When you die or retire your character, choose a character and bestow the favor of your court upon them. They can choose either to take faerie magic and two of your faerie powers, or to advance persuade an NPC.


STANDARD ADVANCES:
Advances available from beginning of play:
• +1 Blood (max +3)
• +1 Heart (max +3)
• +1 Mind (max +3)
• +1 Spirit (max +3)
• A new Fae move
• A new Fae move
• A move from another playbook
• A move from another playbook
• Change your Faction

After 5 advances you may select:
• +1 to any stat (max +3)
• +1 any Faction (max +3)
• Erase a scar
• Join or lead a faerie court
• Erase a corruption advance
• Advance 3 basic moves
• Advance 3 basic moves
• Retire your character to safety
• Change to a new playbook


»The Fae: Faerie Court:
A faerie court is a collection of fae who swear fealty directly to you, instead of answering to a fae higher up in the hierarchy, like your monarch. Most fae who gain such a following take on an honorific-- Duke or Duchess, maybe-- but some fae are more modest, preferring to keep their budding royalty quiet for a time.

• Gain a faerie court
When you select this advancement, work with the GM to name a few of the NPC fae who make up your court and determine why they’ve sworn fealty to you and the conditions of your oaths. These can be broad-- fealty for a year and a day in exchange for protection-- or specific--killing a member of the Night faction a month for a drop of your blood-- but each court member must have a defined oath to you that compels you to do something.

Your court won’t fight for you as a group, but their fealty gives you leverage to persuade them without seduction, promises, threats, or Debts unless a task is truly dire or dangerous. So long as you maintain your oaths to the court, you gain access to Debutante:

• Debutante: When you present a mortal to your court, roll with Wild. On a hit, you bestow a faerie power upon them, provided the mortal publicly swears an oath and holds it true. On a 7-9, the power permanently marks the mortal in accordance with your court, even if they give up the oath at a later time. On a miss, a member of your court reveals that a powerful faerie from another court already holds power over this mortal, precluding your claim.

Presenting a mortal usually requires a formal ritual; work one out with your GM. You can draw the faerie power from the list of faerie magic, or create something new with your GM’s permission.


CORRUPTION ADVANCES:
• Take a corruption move
• Take a corruption move
• Take a corruption move
• Take a corruption move from another playbook
• Retire your character. They may return as a Threat


CORRUPTION MOVES
• Gach Cumhacht: You gain the remaining faerie powers that you don't already have access to. When you use faerie magic, you may no longer choose to suffer harm.

• Shrewd Negotiator: When you roll a 10+ to refuse to honor a Debt, mark corruption to cancel the original Debt and claim a Debt from the person you refused.

• Unearthly Grace: You get +1 Heart (max +4). Whenever you roll with Heart and roll a 12+, mark corruption.

• Everyone’s Got One: Touch someone and mark corruption to declare one of their vulnerabilities. All damage from that source (fire, steel, iron, magic, wood, etc.) is treated as +1 harm (piercing).

PLAYING THE FAE:
Fickle, enigmatic, cold, illogical. The Fae is a being from beyond this world or the offspring of a creature with ties to distant realities. They are able to draw upon the logic of their native world, tying themselves to oaths and promises in exchange for great power.

To put it bluntly: you aren’t from here. You’re a visitor, an immigrant (or the child of immigrants), who has one foot in this world and one foot in another. No one-- not the mortals of this world nor the faeries of your homeland-- will ever let you forget that you don’t belong.

But “not belonging” has power. You walk in this world, but carry powerful magics and relics. You are bound by oaths and promises and gain power in return from those who would bind themselves to you. They might not understand the depth of their commitments, but their Debts spend just fine.

Ask for promises. Tell no lies. The Debts you collect will keep you safe and alive.

»Notes on Your Moves:
The relic you carry from your homelands may hold magic powers, but remember that the more powerful it is, the more likely that someone powerful is looking for it.

Faerie magic is always accessible to you, provided you’re willing to pay the cost (corruption, Debt, or harm).

Some notes on your powers:
• Wild Fury summons an elemental weapon, but you still need to unleash an attack with the weapon to harm others. Unlike The Wizard’s Elementalism spell, you don’t need to summon the weapon again each time you use it during a scene.

• Wither cannot be used on the same target more than once per day. You may need to keep your cool to get close to a resistant target.

• Glamours don’t last long, but they are extremely effective. A generous GM might allow you to mislead, distract, or trick someone with your glamours as if you rolled a 10+.

In Our Blood requires that you do more than mislead or distract your target. It has to be a trick, an intentional falsehood that captures their full attention.

Scales of Justice can only be used if you have a Debt on the target of your magic. Remember that you can cash in a Debt with someone to transfer a Debt they have on someone else to you, so getting Debts on your chosen target shouldn’t be too hard. Mark Faction whenever you use this move, as if you cashed in a Debt.

When you escape to your homeland using Draw Back the Curtain, the GM may decide that other characters who are also trying to flee end up in your homeland with you.

Whatever you declare as a vulnerability using Everyone’s Got One does +1 harm (piercing), even if the target wasn’t previously vulnerable to that element. The vulnerability lasts until the end of the scene, but some damage has to occur to add the additional harm.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:43, Mon 13 June 2022.