Thanks to Max Moon for sending us a review copy of Fairyland. It is a system-neutral old school psychedelic micro-setting; thanks to it, author Kyle Reimergartin introduces us to the world of fairies, such as pixie and goblins.
If this manual arouses your interest, know that it is available on the official store at the price of $20 (about €19 at the moment) in its physical version; the digital format is included in the purchase.
The world of fairy creatures can be wonderful or unforgiving, a sweet dream or a terrible nightmare; pay attention: we are going to the fairy kingdom!
The Charm of the Fairy Kingdom
An essential aspect of this manual is the charm. Just like the creatures featured on its almost fifty pages, a first glance is enough to fall in love with it.
The soft cover has a black base and the illustration comes in several variants to choose from at the time of purchase; they are all iridescent colors, which create hypnotic light tricks.
The internal illustrations are instead all in black and white, with a bizarre and delightfully archaic style. Sometimes grotesque, sometimes graceful and sometimes disturbing figures and scenes alternate. Some images take up almost a full page, while others are as small as a fairy.
Max Moon’s artistic and design choices work perfectly with the proposed themes, giving a further touch of magic to the contents; the layout on a single column and the clear (but refined) font, however, also allow an excellent legibility. The combination of eccentric and classic makes this work unique.
However, the charm cannot be limited to aesthetics and for this reason now, in this review, we will get lost in the contents of Fairyland. In this regard, I really appreciated the list of works that inspired the author, placed at the end of the manual. This allows us to understand what influences he has had and to explore them ourselves in case we are enchanted by them. Among them we find, for example, Dictionary of Fairies by Katharine Briggs and Pan’s Labyrinth (by Guillermo del Toro).
Fairyland Locations Review
This setting is system-neutral, although any old school RPG is fine, especially those with eccentricities. I like this choice because the introduction explains that entering these lands is never trivial and can generate truly unexpected events. Here we see what is normally invisible to the eye.
Those who visit these places will never be the same again; sometimes the characters may encounter creatures that have trodden the fairy ground and may have memories of them, whether true or false. Here a key element of the manual comes into play: the tables; with a die roll (made by the master or by the players, depending on the circumstances) an aspect of the narration is randomly determined.
First of all, however, a question arises: how do you enter? The possible answers are many; through a door in a rock, the trunk of a tree, a field of flowers… Crossing the threshold will not always be a choice!
The Secrets of This Realm
And when you start walking these lands beware: the little folk tend to take great joy and amusement in setting weird traps! They are often not mechanical, but they tend to use the magic that permeates this realm to confuse the senses and deceive the unfortunate.
Sometimes fey use these means to conceal their most precious treasures. Here too random tables help us and allow us to generate many original ideas. Each object belonging to a treasure can be characterized by various peculiarities; visible effects, hidden qualities, enchantments, curses and engravings. Some combinations are truly bizarre; imagine the face of an adventurer wearing a crystal and beautiful helmet, only to discover that it cannot be removed and that it gets heavier every day! There are also a few examples of ready-made items, but honestly the thrill of randomness seemed more appealing to me.
I also really enjoyed the random fairy tomes generator. I can’t wait for one of my players to browse the Catalogue of Magic Worms and Forgotten Dreams!
After all, however, adventurers often have more courage (or silliness) than prudence and could still decide to steal these goods. Be careful, sometimes the inhabitants may not like it, while in other cases the objects themselves will react.
The Inhabitants of Fairyland
The protagonists of Fairyland (and of this review) are its inhabitants, the little creatures belonging to the folklore of many cultures. They are known by many names: goblins, elves, pixies, imps, and more. Their nature totally reflects that of the place where they live; they are fickle, deceitful and fond of disturbing jokes.
The same chaos is also evident in their appearance. I loved the random tables that allow you to give unique and bizarre appearances to the fairies, choosing each body part individually. I did a test, just to satisfy my curiosity; now I absolutely have to play my little being with a catlike head, a feathered body and insect legs in some adventure! One thing is certain: I’ll have to be careful with the iron; the manual clearly explains the nefarious effects of this material on the fey.
The Fairyland manual also includes interesting notions about their uses and customs, which I will now summarize in this review. Another table allows us to generate very different ways of saying; obviously, given the randomness, they risk not having a precise meaning. But you know, the wisdom of the small people must be interpreted! Another section of this work offers us an insight into the whimsical fairy magic; its effects are much more useful in discouraging curious visitors and amusing the fairies, rather than becoming truly useful resources for adventurers. In fact there is also a section dedicated to magical maladies; it will be fun to tell a player that their character can only speak in rhyme now on!
A die roll also reveals where they are and what they are doing when encountered. In case you want something a little more structured, there are also some ready-made circumstances. They are very simple, but also interesting and original.
Experience the Magical Realm
In case this isn’t enough and the strangeness of this world intimidates you, fear not: the author has thought of you too. At the end of the manual there is a system-neutral a premade adventure: The House of the Sunken Stars. The characters, following unsuspecting circumstances, arrive at a house built inside a huge oak stump (represented by Andy Webber’s magnificent map); inside they find many magical beings, who invite them to stay on the occasion of a planetary conjunction. In exchange for treasures and information, however, a request is made to them; the inhabitants ask for help in removing Blobby Things from the cellar. The plot is simple, the characters you meet are bizarre and described exhaustively, just like the rooms of the house and the possible endings. A very interesting adventure!
Inside there are various dangers and with them the probability that a character will die is high. The manual, however, also in this case helps us. In fact, a table shows us the effects of the fairy world on the deceased; how scenic can it be, for example, the appearance of a fairy from the heart of the corpse?
A final die roll reveals what happens if the characters manage to return to their world. There are many options, but the situation will not go back to how it was before. Among popular superstition, lack of memories and permanent influences from the fairy world, narrative cues abound.
Fairyland Review Conclusions
Finally, there are two summary diagrams; one is dedicated to the contents of the adventure, the other to all the setting material present in this work. A soundtrack is also available and you can find it here; after listening to it while reading the manual, I can say that all the songs are perfectly themed and further enhance the immersion.
After carefully reading Fairyland in order to write this review, I can state that the tabletop RPGs that can best support this setting are Mörk Borg, Troika!, Old School Essentials and Dungeon Crawl Classics. In general, an immediate and old school system is needed, one capable of leaving a lot of room for the possibilities of the chaos of the fairy world.
I recommend this manual to anyone who wants to have a classic roleplaying experience, but with strong, bizarre features; I consider it very suitable in particular for all fans of small creatures belonging to the folklore of many populations!