Ultimate Bestiary: Secrets of the Fey for 5E

This book contains over 130 monsters across 8 main chapters and 4 appendices!

Centaurs - Calling them ‘half-human, half-horse’ is a mistake that will get you a hoof in the teeth. These plains-dwelling nomads are unwelcoming to outsiders, but their unique knowledge might be worth seeking out regardless. This chapter also includes alseids, their deer-like, forest-dwelling kin.

The mounted contingent were worried about causing offense, but the horse-folk only gave them a quick look of confusion before snickering and whispering a few jokes back and forth in their own tongue. From what we could gather, they farmed horses, so we might as well have ridden up all proud on pig-back, as far as they were concerned. After a bit of conversation, though, the idea of cavalry seemed to intrigue them - we had to explain to them that, no, they couldn’t strap our smaller captives to their backs with crossbows to double their shots. If captain hadn’t been looking, though…

- Mercer Dale, ‘Tales From a Soldier of Fortune’

Fairy-Folk - These tiny, capricious, and surprisingly powerful beings are often described as ‘child-like’ - this is accurate, and should fill you with a sense of dread. This chapter is split into three subgroups: trooping fairies are those which form societies of their own; house fairies are occasionally helpful, though often moody, and tied to the dwellings of other races; and solitary fairies are those which, as the name would suggest, strike off on their own, often to more sinister ends.

“The big one’s starting to bore me. ‘Santhemum, what happens to big folk who bore us?”

“They dance for us, Delph, they dance themselves to stumps.”

- Chrysanthemum and Delphinia, trooping fairies

Hags - In ages past, hags might have been some of the most powerful beings in existence, and helped shape the magical laws that govern all fey. Whether true or not, even lesser hags today are not to be trifled with, and long to regain their former glory.

“When they call themselves ‘godmothers’, they have a different definition in mind. And, who knows, maybe they’re right.”

- Aticus Greenmoss, minstrel

Merfolk - These fish-tailed humanoids are a mystery to most land folk, known for the power of their songs and a changeable nature. This chapter is split into three subgroups: pelagic merfolk, whose great offshore palaces fulfill the common conception of the species as a whole; freshwater-dwelling estuarine merfolk; and the vicious and primitive benthic merfolk of the inky depths.

By our reckoning, we were 500 fathoms down, or near as makes no difference, when we felt the bump against the hull of the sphere. Immediately, we thought of the grotesque, long-nosed sharks we had sighted before, and wondered if one had taken interest in our strange craft. Then another bump, and a reverberation, as whatever it was scraped against the steelwork. We crowded to the viewing port and there, illuminated by the faint glow of our lamps, was a face. I shall never forget it: bug-eyed, thorn-toothed, and hateful. It was a face from the blackest hell.

-Albrecht Kessler, ‘The Depths, and What We Saw There’

Nymphs - Uncompromising nature guardians, nymphs inhabit a variety of environments. Whether a dryad of the forest, an oread of the mountains, a naiad of the waters, or a sylph of the air, woe betide the mortal that transgresses against their home.

I misliked that forest the moment we set foot in it. I have trekked the vilest, most pestilential jungles of the material, filled with every manner of predatory, stinging, sucking beast, and nothing - nothing - comes close to the oppressive sense of watchfulness in that place. At every step, it was clear that our presence there was known, and unwelcome.

-Walfred Rothe, naturalist, expedition journal

Satyrs - Carousing with satyrs can be fun for a time, but it’s a fool that tries to keep up with them, and a thrice-damned fool that tries to stop the party.

Precious little satyr music had been transcribed and professionally performed before - especially not by a full orchestra - and, after the incident, it never would be again. The survivors seemed unable to report anything of the performance itself, save that the experience had been dreamlike, and singularly beautiful. In the years that followed, most faded into obscurity, though the few whose paths can be traced through the records seemed to display artistic and magical talents hitherto unknown.

The denouement, if you will, of Braxias’ ‘Fantasia on a Woven Vine’ was its last known witness, sighted just before sunrise on the solstice, walking barefoot towards a crossroads, before disappearing from history entirely.

- Ona Waelen, ‘Memories of Melodies’

The Fey Court - No amount of mortal politicking can prepare an outsider for the multi-layered morass of vipers that is The Fey Court. It is an ever-shifting landscape of deceit, bargains, and extravagance, where very little can be assumed, and even less can be trusted.

“A devil will take your soul, but at least they’ll do it all in one go - a fey will take it piece by piece, song by song, memory by memory. They’ll hollow you out slow, but you’ll end up just as empty.”

- Bibi Bundi, shepherd

The Wild Hunt - Riding through the veil between the Material, Fey, and the realm of death, the ghastly cavalcade known as The Wild Hunt is spoken of in fearful whispers by those for whom its unpredictable predations are a force against which they are powerless, panicked quarry.

‘The Fifth Court’, some call it, or ‘The Court in Exile’, though to say as much to The Lord of The Hunt himself is to invite woe beyond mortal imagining.

It is said by some that the true quarry of The Hunt is The Hunt itself - that, in its looping progress around the cosmos, it is chasing its ever-elongating tail. One dark, cold day, as the icy winds howl, so they say, The Hunt will catch itself, and so will end the world.

- Finthareal Ellanwe, ‘Parting the Mists’

Appendices include selections of fey beasts, animated plants, and fey spirits to add even more variety to your journeys in Faerie. Here, you'll also find additional player options and a selection of lair maps.

Each chapter includes a breakdown of a creature’s culture and environment, roleplaying notes and combat tactics, and a table of encounter groups at a variety of CRs. Each statblock is followed by a rollable loot table (for creatures with equipment), and each chapter ends with options for trinkets and lair details, as well as a collection of tales, which provide flavorful examples of how you might include the creatures in your game, quest hooks, or simply stories to deepen your game world.