In Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, Fairies aren't called "fairies," they're called faen, because, like, the word "fairy" sounds kinda dumb or something. Perhaps grown men are embarrassed to say, "I like to imagine I'm a Fairy." I don't know. But I'm the one doing this adaptation, and I'm embarrassed to type a made up word like "faen" when there's a perfectly accurate English word at hand. If you can't handle a Fairy fantasy that's your own problem.
At any rate--
__Fairies__ are all the little critters you read about in storybooks. Leprechauns. Pixies. Brownies. Gnomes. Nymphs. Dryads. Pookas. Spriggans. Whatever those two idiots were supposed to be in Willow. The Fair Folk. You know the deal.
In the Land of the Diamond Throne, most of the Fairies dwell in the forests of Harrowdeep, though some of them can be found in the empire of the Giants, where their skills as craftsmen and artistans earn high praise.
Pools
Fairies must begin the game with a Vigor pool of 3 or less. They may have up to 7 in their Instinct pool to begin with.
Abilities
The Fair Folk are charming, graceful, and wonderfully artistic, but they do not excel in martial matters. When creating a Fairy character, Artistic abilities must be rated A or B. Fighting abilities must be rated B or C.
Innate Ability: Fairy Magic (Reason)
Fairies are magical creatures who continually use minor cantrips to confound people. When doing something "fairy-like," like suddenly being on the left side of you when you thought they were on the right, or similar little special effects stuff like that, they can use this skill.
Fairy Species Secrets
Fairies aren't exactly a single species. There's Leprechauns with their pot o' gold, dryads and their beloved trees, and so on. I'm gonna handle this by saying that one sub-species of Fairy can gradually shift into another, which is sort of how things work in the Arcana Unearthed rulebook. So, you should select Secrets with this in mind.
Secret of Fairy Size
This works identically to the Secret of Rat Size (a Ratkin species secret in the TSOY rulebook). Basically, you get a bonus die to any situation where being small would help. This Secret is required for Fairy characters.
Secret of the Catroptromancer
You can use Fairy Magic to peer into one mirror and look out of another. Cost - 1 Reason per 20 miles.
Secret of the Gremlin
You bring bad luck those nearby. If you make a resisted Fairy Magic check, your target takes a penalty die to their next action. Cost - 1 Vigor.
Secret of the Naiad
You are perfectly at home underwater, but cannot refresh Vigor on land.
Secret of Pixie Dust
You have a pouch full of invisibility dust. A Fairy Magic skill check confers bonus dice to Stealth checks for one hour, or until the recipient fails any skill check, whichever comes first. Cost - 1 Instinct.
Secret of the Sprite
You can fly on shimmering insect wings, but you are so frail that all actions relying on physical strength, including melee combat, are penalized -1 Success Level.
Fairy Species Keys
Fairies have a lot of different motivations. Some love clinking, shining, glittering gold coins. Others love helping Human children... or stealing Human children. Anyway:
Key of the Contract
Fairies drive a hard bargain, particularly when it comes to magical services. Gain 1 XP whenever you strike a profitable contract with some gullible non-fairy. Gain 3 XP if it involves fairy magic. (I kind of like the idea of fairies running around trying to lure people into bad bargains, and having a reputation as shrewd, devious businessmen.) Buy-Off - Breach the contract on a technicality.
Key of Hedonism
Fairies are a happy bunch. Gain 1 XP whenever you drink lots of alcohol, dance like crazy, tell a funny story, play beautiful music, or sleep around. Gain 3 XP when you have a wild, crazy, magical party where everybody's invited. Buy-off - Say no to a chance to party.
Key of the Trickster
Fairies love to play jokes on non-fairies. Gain 1 XP when you play a prank on someone. Gain 2 XP when the trick is deliciously ironic, like taking away a glutton's sense of taste so that he eats slops like a pig. Gain 5 XP whenever this twist of fate is inhumanly cruel, like kidnapping the only child of a lonely old couple. Buy-off - Get outfoxed by a non-fairy and accept it, instead of getting even with a prank.
For AU Purists: Loresongs and Quicklings
Loresong and Quickling Fairies are featured in the Arcana Unearthed rulebook, and can be modelled with this Secret:
Secret of Specialization: History or Running
Loresong Fairies specialize in using Storytell to relate sagas of ancient days; they receive a bonus die for that purpose. Quickling Fairies, meanwhile, move like the wind: they receive a bonus die to any Athletics skill check that relates to running like hell.
