Classifying Monvesian Creatures: Fey [& Plants]

The fey of Monvesia are classified into courts--one for each of the elfish seasons, and roughly corresponding to the four common elfish genders or baseline elements.  These courts are ruled by the archfey which either inspired or created them.  Two new types of fey are introduced below:  Paracelsians, fey with a close relationship to the elements; and Thiasians, fey in service to a particular archfey.

In addition to seasonal court, three other subtypes or tags have also been applied to the fey:

Beastie.  Some fey are also animals--but not quite beasts.  They still have an innate connection to Faerie.

Plant.  Several of the fey on the lists below are ordinarily classified as other types, particularly plants, but are treated as fey in Monvesia.  They are still treated seperately as plants, as well.  That is, spells and abilities that would affect fey would also affect plants; but those which only affect plants would have no affect on other fey.

Classifying Monvesian Creatures

RETCON NOTE:  Portions of this posts are sysematically being replaced by a series of posts under the heading of "Classifying Monvesian Creatures":

• Aberrations, Celestials, Fiends
• Anachromisms, Doubles, Thoughtforms
• Beasts & Monstrosities
• Divinities
• Elementals
• Fey [& Plants]
• Humanoids & Giants
• Undead

General information about creature classification in this setting will remain in this post.

As has been pointed out in previous posts, the nature of Monvesia is different from that other D&D worlds.  To accommodate these differences, there needs to be some minor shuffling of creatures.  A few new monster types have even been created.  The creature types of Monvesia are listed below, showing those both new and altered.

Beasts

Many creatures normally classified as monstrocities are included among the beasts of Monvesia. 

• Catoblepas [beast]
• Roc [beast]

Daemons (Multiple Types)

Daemons are a family of several monster types, each tied to one of the three-Sphere transitive planes. Five of these types already exist in the game, and three are new: Aberrations, Anachronisms, Doubles, Celestials, Fey, Fiends, Thoughforms, and Undead.

Elementals of Monvesia

In order to accommodate a world with a paradigm that includes six elemental forces, new monsters need to be introduced in order to support them.  Below are new variants on creatures fundamental to the game:  elementals and genies of light and void.

Elementals

Light Elemental

A light elemental is a radiant personage hovering in midair; its exact features are hard to distinguish, but limbs and head are often discernible.  Sometimes, it appears as little more than a pillar of light.  As a being of pure radiance, it is the fastest of all elementals--gliding through the air or across the land with equal ease.

Creatures NOT of Monvesia

In "Other Races in Monvesia," I briefly touch on player character races that do not [currently] exist in the campaign setting.  While some of those were ruled out completely, others were reserved for speculative purposes.  The difference between does not exist and will never exist is fuzzy--after all, halflings came to be an important part of the setting, when I had first ruled them out as over-used; similarly, half-orcs have also since found a home here.  Nevertheless, there remain some aspects of traditional fantasy gaming that I have continued to avoid.

Having already learned to avoid saying never in Monvesia, my aversion to certain elements can still be rated:

• Aversion Level:  0 - This is an element of fantasy gaming that I think may have a fit in Monvesia, but I have yet to fully incorporate it.  There may not be a need for this element in the world--but I reserve the right to introduce it at a later date.
• Aversion Level: 1 - This is an element of fantasy gaming that I often enjoy, but I do  not think it has a natural place in Monvesia
• Aversion Level: 2 - This is an element of fantasy gaming that I think is overused, and would like to avoid using in Monvesia
• Aversion Level: 3 - This is an element of fantasy gaming that is hand-crafted for another game world, and/or has developed a very particular, expected culture that does not fit in Monvesia.  Such elements would require an amount of work to untangle that may not be worth the time {ex. Drow}
• Aversion Level: 4 - This is an element of fantasy gaming that is poorly conceived and/or wholly redundant.