Earlier this year, we got an Unearthed Arcana article called Folk of the Feywild. Some of those playtest options are now officially available in the Feywild-themed adventure, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Let’s talk about the updates to these new option!
The fairy and rabbitfolk options appear in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight with a few changes. The rabbitfolk are now called harengon.
We also see the now-usual guidance around your character’s height and weight, lifespan, and additional language. It seems that fairies and harengon’s lifespans are around a century, which is typical for most D&D player characters. I hope we’ll see the owlfolk and Feywild hobgoblin options appear in a later source book!
Fairy
The fairy option has the same size, creature type, and walk speed as the Unearthed Arcana version. Both versions grant the druidcraft cantrip, but the official version’s other spell options differ.
Instead of an ability to squeeze through small openings, the official fairy gets enlarge/reduce once per day at 5th level. At 3rd level, they get access to the faerie fire spell (the UA got it immediately). A fairy can cast these spells once per day. They can also use any appropriate spell slots to cast these spells if they have them.
The spell tweak feels like an appropriate follow-through with giving additional spells. It’s another intuitive, pleasant departure from the standard of the Player’s Handbook.
The UA version’s flight was magical and allowed the fairy to hover. The official version is different—it’s dependent on their wings, and thus they can’t use flight while wearing medium or heavy armor. Also, the official flight feature doesn’t allow you to hover.
Rabbitfolk -> Harengon
The harengon has the same size options, creature type, and walk speed as the rabbitfolk. They still get proficiency in the Perception skill, and they can still add their proficiency bonus to their initiative rolls.
The Lucky Footwork feature had a sentence added stating that you can’t use this feature if you are prone or if your speed is zero (for example, if you were grappled). This tweak makes sense; the idea is that harengon can move quickly out of danger.
The hop feature got a significant rework. Now, it is a bonus action you can use a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. It allows you to hop and move without provoking opportunity attacks. You can hop a number of feet equal to 5 times your proficiency bonus. So at level 1, you can hop up to 10 feet.
Do you have plans to play a fairy or harengon character? I don’t usually play small characters, but the fairy option looks very fun!
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