Myrddin's Guide to Faerie

When you read someone’s work it’s sometimes easy to see who is faking the knowledge they’re trying to convey and who is legit. Myrddin’s Guide to Faerie authors, Colin Caelin and Garth Herbert, definitely fall into the latter category. When I read this supplement I often couldn’t distinguish between what was D&D canon and myths from the real world. And that’s a good thing! Presumably, one experiences the Feywild as one might experience a hallucinogen. Or how Alice felt in Wonderland. The line between reality and fantasy blur yet you simultaneously experience an “over-acuteness of the sense” and you are immersed. That’s the feeling I assume you would have in Feyland.

Myrddin’s Guide to Faerie

Creators: Colin Caelin and Garth Herbert
Publisher: DMs Guild
Cost: $2.99
Product Length: 47 pages

My first question when I approached this guide was, Who is Myrddin? Although they never answered to my satisfaction, I nonetheless enjoyed the conversational tone of Myrddin, the guide’s narrator. I’m still curious about when I’ll thank him for his prophetic warning to “never pick up a toadstool during the new moon in Autumn.”

As you can see by in the Contents page above, the guide has 5 chapters plus a brief pronunciation guide. If I had my druthers, the pronunciation guide would be expanded. Even after consulting the guide there were still a fair amount of words that were, for me, unpronounceable. Minor complaint.

The creators set the tone early in this guide with a casual voice for the narrator as well as contextual call outs for historical references to their material. They have a good blend of traditional and original (i.e. new to D&D) fey such that I often wasn’t sure which was which.

Despite a truly inspired chapter on magic items, the class options is the most ambitious. For example, Colin and Garth try to compensate for the ranger, widely denigrated as 5E’s most underwhelming class, with their hunter ranger. I’m not sure if it’s just me, the class, or the attempt but I still don’t love this class. And as someone who loves playing rogues, I wonder whether their roguish archetypes, especially the plane hopper, is over-powered. That being said, the warlock jabberwock sounds like tons of fun! Just watch those vorpal swords! They offer something for every PHB class and some feel like minor variations on existing material while others are game changers.

I’ve reviewed a fair amount of things concerning fey creatures before and while I don’t particularly care for choosing favorites, this guide is among the best. Overall, it’s highly thematic and a great piece of work. Under-priced at $2.99 but we all love a good deal, go buy it.

Pros