Across the Planes The Feywild from Jackson Lewis (@HoneyBadger3495)

I normally include the credits at the end, but look at this ridiculously STACKED Team Supreme®!

Credits Project Management & Class Design Jackson Lewis (@HoneyBadger3495) Subclass Design Jessica Marcrum (@Miss_Jess03) Monster Design E.R.F. Jordan (@ERFJordan) Adventure Design Chai Powers (@ChaiLatteMusings) Lore Writing Matthew Whitby (@whtibyWrites) Editing Chris Hopper (@chrishopper2) Layout Lydia Van Hoy (@LydiaVanHoy1)

The Team Supreme® are a fantastic band and throughout the supplement each get to have their solo moment. ...give it up for Chris Hooper on drums virtuoso editing clickity clacks and Lydia Van Hoy on bass gilded face melting layout solo

A truly beautiful, bountiful and bloody lovely book absolutely bursting at the seams with everything you could want to learn, plan and play in the realm of the Fey. Presented in a spectacularly gorgeously gilded layout and wonderful design, this is a sumptuous and special supplement to match the wonder and mystique of the Feywild.

Whitby’s (@whtibyWrites) way with words lend the lore the luminescence of a lilting lullaby, at once engaging, captivating and informative without ever being dense, enabling the conveying of the mind-bending and esoteric aspects of the plane and people with aplomb. The information flows like a twinkling stream with the beautiful floating leaves in the form of Fey Tales, tables of ideas and optional rules, among the histories, factions, locations and notable figures of the Feywild. CW: Torture (referenced in one seed)

Powers’ (@ChaiLatteMusings) presents a plethora of seeds and hooks for Feywild follies, which work as individual inspirations, as well as weaving together to form the basis of a full level 1 to 20 campaign, “Feywild’s Last Winter”. These budding adventures span the length and breadth of the plane of Fey, running the gamut of tiers, trials and tribulations, featuring all manner of people, creatures, locales and personalities. A perfect collection of inspiration for a little or lot of Feywild forays, though to create the campaign a fair bit of parsing and thread are required. This comes from there being such a wealth of concepts and quandaries that need some DM creativity and player interaction to bring them to life.

This is a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration, rather than adventures ready to roll right off the page. While rich and interesting, elements of the story seeds seem a little confusing and convoluted, which is not unusual for the Feywild, but there is a little disconnect between the tone and accessibility of the lore the book presents and the density and timbre here. So much of this book is of essential use for all levels of experience with the Feywild and DMing, but I believe this aspect calls for a more maturity and experience, which could be a little overwhelming for never readers.

Jordan’s (@erfjordan) unique and truly inspired creatures come with rich lore grounding them in the Feywild with their lair, lair actions and regional effects (where appropriate) brimming with character and flavour.

The mirage dragon, “said to be descended from green dragons that settled in the Feywilds”, are a whole new class of dragon utilising illusion and confusion.

The Mother of Witches is a title for the head hag honcho who resides “in the depths of the gnarled, thorny heart of the Feywild.” A CR 21 hag with the ability to summon up to three night hags from their coven! That’s enough to give witches nightmares!

Grandfather Ogre is a huge “unique fey spirit that belongs to the wild fey with a penchant for sleeping under fields and violently opposes lies and deception.

Rumour has it The Crucified were “created when the corpse of a dead god crashed into the feywild, the rotting slab of divine energy fused with the landscape, and from its flesh” they emerged. These extremely rare fey almost seem to reflect chain devils in a number of respects, though they save their vitriol for the faithless alone.

Greater redcaps are “simply an elder redcap, one that has absorbed so much violence and blood that it has grown into a form that is much more suited to walk among the mortal races.” They are also horrifying raging, dervishes of malevolence and terror! The Atavist

“A magician that records and keeps the stories of the Feywild” A wholly original class that justifies its existence is a rare thing indeed, but Lewis’ (@HoneyBadger3495) Atavist has me the most excited about a class I’ve been in a long time! The concept is absolutely wonderful and intrinsically part of the Feywild, so fully realised and rooted in the realm of the Fey as to have seemingly always existed.

“As wise as they are crafty, Atavists keep the stories and legends of the Feywild alive through their actions and words while protecting both fey and mortal alike from the machinations of each other.”

The Atavist wields the power of story, bringing tales, legends and secrets of the Feywild to life with the very magic that infuses stories and suffused the Fey Realm. They “summon facsimiles of these stories to aid them in battle” and can tap into the intrinsic magic of the plane and the fey themselves.

The Atavist chooses a storytelling genre as their subclasses created by Marcrum (@Miss_Jess03), choosing between Big Bad Wolf, summoning “more than just beasts...monsters [that] are the living incarnation of fear, punishment, and fate itself” that howl, rend and devour their enemies, Melodic Monarch, the power of happy endings, romance and friends to foes, summoning an enchanting and beguiling humanoid companion to see them through thick and thin, and Shining Knight, who summon the heroic, chivalrous platonic ideal, a “Shining Knight [who] rushes into battle on the atavist’s behalf, healing their friends and making quick work of their foes.” Their chosen genre and summoned companion also lend the power Atavist of the qualities found within their stories.

CW: Charm, Loss of Agency

While I have fallen in love with this class, the Atavist has a feature called “Kowtow” they unlock at 15th level that allows them to “attempt to bring the various creatures of the Feywild to heel”, which I have some complicated feelings about.

Firstly, the choice of the of the word “kowtow”, a loanword from the “叩頭 (Cantonese kautàu, Putonghua kòutóu), meaning “knock head”, in reference to the act of kneeling and bowing to show great respect, seems an incongruous choice.

“The word “kowtow” came into English in the early 19th century to describe the bow itself, but its meaning soon shifted to describe any abject submission or groveling. The term is still commonly used in English with this meaning, disconnected from the physical act and the East Asian context.” (South China Morning Post, 2017)

If the ability is establishing a rapport and mutual respect, evoking the original meaning and prevalent courteous customs of East Asian cultures as with Japanese bowing that is one thing, in spite of the questionable nature inherent in the Charmed condition and the bypassing of immunity to the condition. This could be interpreted as sharing a bond of understanding that makes the fey in question amenable to the atavist, which I genuinely believe is Lewis’ intention. However, the context is further informed by the language of ‘bringing to heel’, referencing the obedience training command for dogs. This moves away from the respectful origin of “kowtow” to the Anglicised “abject submission” as described by Professor Lim. With this ability affecting all fey within the level/ CR parameters and bypassing their immunity, Charming the target/s on a failed save, this raises issues agency and free will of the many sentient and sapient fey that fall within the scope of this ability.

I would like to be clear that I am not casting aspersions, but rather feel this is an unfortunate combination of word choice, phrasing and, semantic and cultural weight. This is something that seems baked into the design philosophy of D&D, which has until more recent discourse been par for the course. What I mean by this is that cultural appropriation and misappropriation of culture exist within D&D at a foundational level, and the onus is on us to address this going forward. Again, I want to be clear that I do not think there is any intentional insensitivity here, I simply feel that it is my responsibility as a reviewer to raise these issues and ask questions to attempt to open a dialogue and the chance to consider design philosophy and the mindful use of language, hopefully for the betterment of the game as a whole.

The handling of the atavist and their journey to understanding and communion with the Feywild, seemingly portrayed as coming from an outsider’s perspective in the wording of the class, “Tall Tales: Your research into the Feywild...” and “Fruitful Observer: you gain the ability to learn from the fey...” is something to be mindful of, as there is potential for a character to develop a colonial aspect if they believe or are assumed to have a greater understanding and/or connection to the realm of the fey than those native to the plane – a problematic trope to actively be avoided.

I do not know exactly what to suggest and, as previously stated, I can see the intention of this ability, a bond or accord between the fey and the atavist based on a mutual understanding and the wealth of knowledge and experience the atavist would have gained in 15 levels.

Bloodline, Blood Divine

CW: Mind/ Dream Manipulation, Threat of Loss of Agency/ Put to Sleep (including children), Kidnapping, Gaslighting

This adventure is designed for a party of 4-5 characters at 4th level.

“An archfey of the Gloaming Court once traded one of her children for a mortal baby to let her child learn about the Material Plane. Years later, she comes to miss her child, and asks the characters to escort the traded mortal back home and swap the two children to their proper places. She promises handsome rewards if they succeed.”

This adventure is laid out differently to the previous seeds/ campaign, though it is another kind of minimalist presentation with chapters, loose descriptions with some checks and, important information and developments (though due to the options and chaos anything could happen), as we well as ideas to carry on the chaos.

The loose, chaotic approach certainly fits the absolutely calamities of chaos all over the Feywild and back. There’s so much to play with, be inspired by and see where the faerie dust lays. Essentially, it’s the reversal of the classic baby switch, with the arch fey wanting their baby back, baby back, baby back...

From the impressive way to quickling get things going if players are reticent to accept the call to adventure, the torch paper is lit and this cavalcade of calamity and capers all over the Feywild and back is off like a runaway mine cart barely able to keep to the rails!

The frenetic, random and optional nature of the adventure is certainly put across, even in the reading (which is an impressive wild ride) and the two similar, but different approaches to adventure writing in this supplement definitely make getting an overview of the story as a whole easy, with a clear view of your options. Personally, I’m a sucker for a full adventure with sexy boxtext and/ or the bullet point information. I think I personally struggle a bit with this approach, but this is from an organisation and visualisation personal preference.

I think with my strained relationship with my family and the subject matter and actions of the awful archfey parent were a little difficult for me to enjoy. I was unsure and probably over tagged my content warnings for the adventure, but I do think the supplements adventures, particularly this one would have benefitted from them, along with a nod towards safety tools.

A final criticism is a difficult one to lay at the Team Supreme® being that it’s an inherent part of the source material, but still, it is unfortunate to see bio-essentialism and monolithic cultures with regard to people and creatures of the Feydark, fomorians and goblinoids, as well as hags above ground. There is some discussion of the differences between Feywild goblins and their material plane cousins, but I feel just a simple nod of the ‘evil’ creatures not all necessarily being evil, and this description of what happens to the ‘evil’ brought before the Great Gark was an interesting read: “through manipulating the very fey magic of the realm, individuals who are evil in heart have their bodies warped to become goblins themselves, bolstering Gark’s unending numbers.”

It might be a big ask, but I’d just love to see a fabulous, fun and friendly fomorian having some fun in the sun, rather than being stuck in the Feydark like a FOMOrian...

I have had a lot to say when it comes to some critiques, which is something I am trying to bring to my reviews because I truly think it’s important to talk about these things. It doesn’t change the fact that I love this and believe it’s really important to be critical of the things you love. I absolutely cannot wait to see, which plane this Team Supreme® pitter patter across next!

A truly beautiful, bountiful and bloody lovely book absolutely bursting at the seams with everything you could want to learn, plan and play in the realm of the Fey. Presented in a spectacularly gorgeously gilded layout and wonderful design, this is a sumptuous and special supplement to match the wonder and mystique of the Feywild.

References: Lim, L. (2017) South China Morning Post opinion. Available at: https://amp.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2101547/how-kowtowing-acquired-negative-connotation-english (Accessed: 24 January 2020).

My Affiliate Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/337218/Across-the-Planes?affiliate_id=1507682