SJE/FairFolk
Fair Folk
For various reasons, I cant stand Exalted: Fair Folk. Of course, you mention such an opinion on RPG.net and people challenge you to better it. This is what I came up with
Short version- John Wicks Elfworld meets Nobilis' Excrucians.
Fair Folk would be so beautiful that to see them is to die. But that is because they have killed whole species' just for something to wear. Fair Folk are the destroyers of Worlds, who tear down Order, just so they can release the infinite possiblities of doing whatever they can conceive. Fair Folk have no true name, for to name them is to define them, and they exist beyond definition.
Their great secret is that they have murdered other Creations out there in the Wyld. In the Wyld, they are as unto Gods, but in that swirling vastness' there are these points of hardness, of Order that form a Creation. These Creations deny the Faes omnipotence, and like an itch, they must be scratched away. Each has fallen before the insane glee and chaotic imposition of the Faes' incursions, and now it is the turn of this Creation. Their splendid shapes and varied forms are mere memories of those dead worlds and their former inhabitants.
Their powers follow no hierarchy, no Charm Tree. Rather each Fair Folk is omnipotent in the Wyld, but must choose a shell to shield their inner chaos from Order when they enter Creation. This whimful shape would define their powers and abilities in Creation, but could be changed totally on their next visit. No attempt would be made to balance them for play- that would be against their very spirit.
In a single type campaign, they would be fantastic made real, inflitrating Creation to bring about its End. They would tamper with Causality, turn aside the threads of Fate by interfering with destiny, destroying the sources of Order through assassination and destruction, impressing the primitive natives so much that they invite the Wyld in, transforming themselves willingly into infinite possibility.
On Playing One
Evil. Absolutely, in the sense that the Abyssals and Infernals who want to murder/tear down Creation. But the Fae share the over the top Exalted ethos of turning their world destruction up to 11. They dont want to simply kill everyone, but to kill the very concept of Life and Death and break the rules which says Death follows Life.
If you were comparing them to the Siddies, it should be remembered that the default goal of the other Exalted (Solar, Lunar, DB or Siddie) is to save, or at least preserve Creation. They are the Good guys. The Siddies may be morally ambiguous fate ninjas out to save this world, but the Fair Folk should have an even broader perspective as they transcend the limitations of this reality.
Naturally you'd have your broad spread of opinions on their mission (with infinite diversity comes infinite opinions) so some Fae might want to preserve parts of Creation for a visiting zoo, or others might want to revenge themselves on other Fae while they are vulnerable in Creation. But most agree that the Infinite Wyld is much improved when you dont have this annoying sand in your metaphorical shoe called Ordered Creation.
I'd establish though thier innate sense of superiority and arrogance over the provincial Creation-bound. The Fair Folk would be the cosmopoliton traveller, having seen many realities, sampled their finest vivands, known their most exquisite of sensations and then causually but elegantly destroyed them. So for an infinite, omnipotent, immortal Fae, they can dally in this reality, torment species, cultivate the most sophisticated sense of ennui and destroy nations, all as they work on their poetry of beauty. (for some reason I keep getting a Parisian vibe off them)
They dare to be cooler, grander, prettier than the Exalted and must either exult in this (if PC's) or be smacked down for it (if NPC's)
And oddly enough, nothing I've written here seems to clash with their presentation in Scavangers Sons. What might have been- Graceful, Wicked Masks and not Exalted:Raksha.
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Hm... I really don't see where your views on the raksha differ so vastly from how they are presented in E:FF -- OhJames
Well I dont call them raksha to begin with- they are the Fair Folk, the Fae, the Lords & Ladies of Pratchett. Plus I dont use any of the silly rules from E:FF, only Scavenger Sons & corebook. In the Wyld they are beyond rules of any sort, its only when they venture into Creation or the Border Marches that they become interesting and solid.
SJE
- I take slight umbrage that you refer to the rules presented in E:FF as "silly," but I'll let it slide. And I think the most important difference between us is that I do not think anything is beyond rules. The raksha are not beyond rules so much as they are in control of the rules, and that is a vastly different thing. -- OhJames
I believe the biggest difference between your reinterpretation of the Fair Folk and the one presented in the book is that the Fair Folk, in your view, are united at least to some degree. And White Wolf simply will not present anyone who is completely united in purpose or even general ideals. That's why it's actually possible to play so many different things, because there is at least one major basis for conflict WITHIN each kind of Exalted, Fair Folk, Dragon Kings, God-blooded, you name it they can fight anyone and everyone. It would be reducing options to design the Fair Folk as a force of evil rather than the muddled, confused entities the book presents. It is not really possible for the Fair Folk to truly unite in Exalted:FF, they're just too unhinged by interacting with shape. --Prions
