Archfey are among the most powerful beings in the Feywild. Consciously or unconsciously, they transform their Feywild homes into reflections of their desires and complex personalities. Powerful archfey such as the Summer Queen and the Queen of Air and Darkness rule vast domains, and their influence is so great that their courts stretch beyond the borders of their Domains of Delight to the far ends of the Feywild. Other, lesser known archfey rule domains that are minuscule by comparison, but no less wondrous.
Where to Start?
Most archfey are ancient creatures, and no two are alike. When creating an archfey, here are some good questions to ask yourself:
- Under what circumstances might adventurers encounter the archfey?
- Does the archfey have any allegiance to the Summer Court or the Gloaming Court?
- What traits does the archfey have? Specifically, what do they look like, what is their personality, and what magical powers do they possess?
These questions are tackled in the sections that follow. The answers will help you flesh out the archfey's Domain of Delight.
Encountering the Archfey
Think about how and when you expect the adventurers to encounter your archfey. The archfey might infiltrate the party using illusion magic or spy on the characters from afar to discern their intentions before confronting them. The archfey might test the characters' mettle with a series of challenging encounters or puzzles before deeming them fit to bask in the archfey's presence. Conversely, the archfey might be blissfully unaware of the party's intrusion or show no interest in the characters. A shy or reclusive archfey might not want to be disturbed at all.
How and when the archfey crosses paths with the adventurers can be determined by answering the following questions:
- Does the archfey engage with visitors or shun them?
- Does the archfey wander their domain, or do they prefer to remain in their lair?
- Does the archfey visit other domains? Are they involved in the politics of the Fey courts?
Fey Court Allegiances
The Summer Queen and the Queen of Air of Darkness are so powerful that other archfey might feel it's in their best interest to ally with one or both of them. By swearing allegiance to either queen, an archfey gains the privilege of audiences with the queen and faint assurances that the queen's court will not meddle in the affairs of the archfey or their domain.
Archfey that do not pledge allegiance to one court or the other can find their domains overrun with Seelie or Unseelie spies or overlapped by the domains of archfey in league with one or both queens.
Presentation
Archfey have one thing in common: they're all Fey. Beyond that, their features vary widely. To randomly determine what your archfey looks like, roll on the Archfey's Presentation table.
| d8 | Presentation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Adorable. The archfey has taken on the form of something adorable, such as an otter, a fawn, a sugar glider, a wombat, or a beautiful butterfly. |
| 2 | Ancient. This archfey appears to be eons old. They might have gnarled skin like teakwood and long, gray hair that looks like elaborate lacework. |
| 3 | Bizarre. This archfey looks like something from the realm of dreams. They could take on the appearance of a scintillating ball of light, a floating mask, or a whispering shadow. |
| 4 | Floral. Flowers bloom from the archfey's fingertips, and their skin is covered in petals. Their body might have thorns, or they could have vine-like hair covered in sweet-smelling blossoms. |
| 5 | Fluid. The archfey can change body type or transform from one creature into another. |
| 6 | Iridescent. The archfey floats off the ground and gazes about with glowing eyes, their body surrounded by a nimbus of light and their skin sparkling like sunlight on water. |
| 7 | Metallic. The archfey appears to be made of metal. Their face is an exquisitely crafted mask of mithral, silver, or gold, and their body is made of finely tooled metal etched with organic designs or cryptic symbols. |
| 8 | Monstrous. This archfey has a monstrous form. For example, they might resemble an enormous spider, a hydra whose heads look like oversized elf heads with fangs, or any other horrific form you can imagine. |
Personality
If you haven't already settled on a personality for your archfey, you can determine it randomly by rolling on the Archfey's Personality table.
| d8 | Personality |
|---|---|
| 1 | Benevolent. The archfey welcomes all into their domain and does everything in their power to assist those who come to them in true friendship or grave need. |
| 2 | Covetous. The archfey hoards things they consider valuable and uses spies to find more of what they covet. The archfey never leaves their lair for fear that their hoard might be plundered. |
| 3 | Imperious. The archfey surrounds themself with a court of sycophants and expects visitors to grovel before them. Their mercy is rare, and their superiority complex is legendary. |
| 4 | Madcap. The archfey loves to sing, dance, drink, wear silly masks, do cartwheels, and throw parties where everyone is free to cavort and revel how they wish. |
| 5 | Mercurial. The archfey has two personalities (choose two other personalities from this table). They shift back and forth between these personalities at certain times or when certain conditions are met. |
| 6 | Mischievous. The archfey is a trickster who likes to confound and frustrate visitors to their domain and who surrounds themself with sly creatures such as boggles, pixies, foxes, magpies, and crows. |
| 7 | Reclusive. The archfey prefers to be left alone and seldom, if ever, leaves their domain. They might adopt disguises or turn invisible when they travel, and they might use magic to conceal their lair. |
| 8 | Wild. The archfey has the demeanor of a wild animal and shuns the trappings of society. |
Obsessions
Obsessions are common among archfey. An archfey might be obsessed with a painting of themself and spend days, months, or years staring at it. An archfey might obsess over a perceived injustice and work tirelessly to correct it. An archfey might obsess over their collection of acorns, believing the acorns are keys that unlock the secrets of the multiverse.
If you want your archfey to have an obsession, you can determine it randomly by rolling on the Archfey Obsession table.
| d8 | Obsession |
|---|---|
| 1 | Beauty. The archfey does everything in their power to rid their domain of that which they consider ugly. What they consider beautiful is not always clear, however. |
| 2 | Color. This archfey is obsessed with a particular color and puts their subjects to work making sure the archfey's favorite color is predominant. Wearing another color in the domain could be seen as laughable, obnoxious, or downright rude. |
| 3 | Etiquette. The rules in the archfey's domain change as they learn about some new custom that is popular in the Summer Court. The archfey requires all creatures in their domain to respect the new rules of etiquette. |
| 4 | Magic. Magic in all its forms fascinates the archfey. They collect magic items and spellbooks, and they enjoy seeing demonstrations of magic from visitors. |
| 5 | Material Plane. The archfey is obsessed with creatures and objects from the Material Plane. There is a scent, an energy, and a uniqueness to them that fascinates the archfey. |
| 6 | Monsters. The archfey has a menagerie of monsters and is obsessed with finding marvelous new creatures to add to its collection. |
| 7 | Rule of Three. The archfey is obsessed with the Rule of Three. They look for patterns, deeper meanings, and ill omens in things that occur in threes. The archfey's obsession is reflected throughout their domain, where things seem to naturally come in threes. |
| 8 | Stories. The archfey wants nothing more than to listen to stories told by creatures from faraway places. They love to gather lore so they can build their own internal world of imagination or transform their domain with ideas from other worlds. Their lair is festooned with books, which give the archfey inspiration. |
Signature Magic
Almost every archfey has a signature magical power, and this power might be tied to their appearance or personality; for example, a metallic archfey might have the power to corrode or heat metal, while a madcap archfey might have the power to cause wild magic effects similar to those described the Wild Magic Surge table in the "Sorcerer" section of the Player's Handbook. The Signature Magic table presents some other possibilities.
| d8 | Magic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arcane Antlers. The archfey has antlers made of metal, crystal, bone, or some other substance, which allow the archfey to raise the dead. They shed their antlers and grow new ones every hundred years, prompting thieves to sneak into the domain to acquire the shed antlers. |
| 2 | Compelling Voice. The archfey has a magical voice that can charm creatures of a certain type (such as Beasts or Fey). This voice might be as soft as a whisper or loud like thunder. |
| 3 | Dreamwalk. When they sleep, the archfey projects a ghost-like version of themself that can leave their body and go anywhere in their domain. |
| 4 | Hand of Knowing. One of the archfey's hands blurs as though it were in multiple places at once. The archfey can learn the entire history of a creature or object by touching it with that hand. |
| 5 | Health Aura. The archfey's presence rids creatures and vegetation of disease. Healthy vegetation yields an overabundance of flowers and fruit. |
| 6 | Scrying Eye. This archfey has an ornately crafted, removable eye that has the power of truesight (as described in the Monster Manual). The archfey can see through this orb at all times. If the detached eye is destroyed, it rematerializes undamaged in the archfey's empty eye socket. |
| 7 | Simulacra. The archfey can make magical copies of themself and other creatures. These simulacra are similar to those created by the simulacrum spell. |
| 8 | Time Distortion. For each minute spent in the archfey's presence, an hour passes elsewhere. |
Magical Gifts
Some archfey have the power to give magical gifts to those they deem worthy. A gift could be anything from a trinket that grants safe passage through the archfey's domain to a magic item that can be used to defeat a powerful monster. As the DM, you decide whether such a gift is warranted. To randomly determine what kind of gift your archfey might bestow on a character, roll on the Magical Gifts table.
| d8 | Gift |
|---|---|
| 1 | Charm. The archfey bestows a charm of the DM's choice (see "Supernatural Gifts" in the Dungeon Master's Guide). |
| 2 | Guide. The archfey summons a magical guide that takes the form of a faerie dragon, a sprite, or some other creature. The guide is a harmless figment that can't be damaged, and it knows its way around the Feywild. It can't leave the Feywild and disappears after eight days. |
| 3 | Lore. With a touch, the archfey magically imparts useful knowledge about a particular subject of the archfey's choice. This knowledge might be permanent, or it might fade over time. |
| 4 | Magic Item. The archfey bestows a useful magic item (such as a crystal ball or an oathbow) but warns that the item will vanish after a specified period of time, which it does. |
| 5 | Refuge. The archfey creates a wooded glen, a dome of brambles, a silken cocoon, or some other kind of refuge. Creatures hostile toward the gift's recipient can't enter this refuge without the recipient's consent. After a specified period of time, the refuge vanishes. |
| 6 | Resurrection. The archfey offers one free casting of the true resurrection spell, which they can cast as an action without material components once per century. |
| 7 | Training. With a touch, the archfey grants the benefit of months of special training (see "Marks of Prestige" in the Dungeon Master's Guide for different benefits of training). |
| 8 | Transformation. The archfey offers one free casting of the true polymorph spell, which they can cast without material components. The spell's effect can be made permanent, if you wish. |
Archfey Statistics
If your campaign includes an archfey whom the characters might end up fighting, create a stat block for the archfey or modify some other creature's stat block to suit your needs. The Dungeon Master's Guide contains guidance for modifying existing stat blocks.
Alternatively, choose a stat block of CR 5 or higher that has one of the following creature types: Beast, Elemental, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, or Plant. Change the creature's type to Fey, make its Intelligence at least 10 (+0), and give it two languages if doesn't speak any languages. Also give the creature one or both of the following traits:
Fey Rebirth
If the archfey dies in its Domain of Delight, it revives with all its hit points 1d4 days later in a safe location in that domain.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day)
If the archfey fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.